Kyle Allen Esquivel

Born Thursday, March 3, 2011

Here's the story:

I woke up around 2:30 Thursday morning wondering what the pain was that I was feeling. Once realizing that they must be contractions, I started timing them. They were coming every 5 or more minutes. They were uncomfortable but not extremely painful so I tried going back to sleep. I couldn't. Mostly because of the discomfort but partly because I couldn't believe I was actually having contractions and that my son could be born soon! I tried walking around and even watching a little TV to see if they were staying consistent. I took a shower around 5:30am and woke Jose up at 6 letting him know that I thought "it was time." By this time, they were coming every 2-3 minutes and were pretty painful. 

We got to the hospital a little before 7 and were sent up to the labor and delivery floor. After answering a lot of medical questions and signing lots of paperwork, they checked me and I was still barely dilated. They had me walk the halls and move around and when they checked me a few hours later, I had progressed to a 3, almost a 4. Then I got the good news that baby would be born this day for sure! My mom had just arrived and my friend Jamie was there with us. They started my IV and ordered the epidural! Contractions were really coming now and I was very much looking forward to that epidural. 

Getting the epidural was not as bad as I had imagined it might be. With contractions coming on so strong and fast, I knew that any pain or discomfort I felt with the epi, the sweet release I would soon feel made anything worth it. My anesthesiologist was amazing. The epidural was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I labored several more hours when my doctor came in and broke my water. There was meconium in my water but my doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about but that he would be keeping a closer eye on him. I was only about a 5 at this point. They started me on pitocin to get things moving along but in a few hours I was only at a 7 and Kyle still hadn't dropped. He started showing signs of distress and my doctor didn't think that several more hours of labor would be good for him. He recommended we do a c-section. I was bummed, nervous, and scared. I never thought a c-section would be a part of Kyle's birth. But I knew that if my doctor recommended it, its what we needed to do. Within minutes they had me prepped, Jose dressed in scrubs and us out the door on the way to the OR. Mom said we left the room and 5:10 and Kyle was born at 5:30 on the dot. The c-section was definitely the way to go. Not only was he 9 pounds 5 ounces and 20 1/4 long, he was also facing up and had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck 3 times. But the best news was that he was and is perfectly healthy. Everything I had prayed for with his delivery. 

Jose stood and took pictures of the whole delivery. He has been so involved since day one and this was game time. They tried to convince him to sit down next to me several times (no one wanted to catch him if he passed out!) but he didn't want to miss a thing. He got to follow Kyle to the next room to get cleaned up and weighed and then he brought him back to me for us to meet for the first time. Yes, there is such a thing as love at first sight! While they stitched and stapled me back up, Jose got to go with him to the nursery where they bathed him, gave him his shots, and ran tests. Everything came back great. A few minutes later I was back in my room and then joined with my beautiful son once again. 

For the few days I was at the hospital, I stared at him with disbelief that he was actually here and that I was actually a mom! It just didn't feel real to me. We stayed in the hospital two nights and were released Saturday afternoon. It feels so good to be home with my sweet boy. He is the delight and joy in our life and its hard imagining that there was life before him.