Monday, April 23, 2012

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: Queen, lol, we probably could have a twin, we both sleep right in the middle and have fallen asleep so many times on the couch watching movies together.

C. Chore you dislike: putting away laundry, fixed that though. Now I do laundry, fold it, then call the kiddies to put it away. Nice!

D. Dogs: Nope, we have enough kids, and were always on the go, a poor doggie would get neglected.

E. Essential start to your day: a toothbrush

F. Favorite color: purple


G. Gold or silver: silver

H. Height: 5’7”

I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet, all through middle school, now my Mariana plays, and all I can remember is “Mary had a Little Lamb”, hmm? Lost that brain file somewhere.
J. Job title: Proud mommy of 6
K. Kids: Mariana, Rocky Jr, Briana, Julia, Mikey, & Isabella

L. Live: in Menomonee Falls, WI

M. Mom’s name: momma, ma, mom, Marta
N. Nicknames: Cin by everyone, kid (by Rocky Sr)
O. Overnight hospital stays: Just when I had my babies

P. Pet peeves: negative people

Q. Quote from a movie: “Me? I always tell the truth, even when I lie” (Scarface)

S. Siblings: 5 sisters, 2 older, 3 younger, and one younger brother

T. Time you wake up: around 6 am

U. Underwear: umm, yes?

V. Vegetables you don’t like: califlower

W. What makes you run late: my kids, my kids telling me before school, they need a poster board, a snack for the entire class, or new gloves cuz they lost theirs for the bazillionth time, my kids, um, and , oh yeah, my kids.

X. X-rays you’ve had: broken arm

Y. Yummy food you make: frozen cookies, ha! I’m a busy momma!

Z. Zoo animal favorites: gorillas, monkeys, elephants. I looove the zoo!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Isabella Nicole

Our daughter is here. Isabella Nicole Martinez, born April 12th, 2012 at 10:35pm. She's healthy and beautiful and perfect. She weighed 7lbs and 5.8oz and is 20" long. Her birth was painful but beautiful at the same time. I've never loved Rocky more. He helped me stay calm when contractions were at their worst and somehow knew exactly where to push on my back to help relieve some pressure. He's smile came out. He smiles and laughs but I only see this certain smile on very special occasions. Just thinking about it can make me cry. I watched as he stared at our little girl, only a few minutes old, with such love, such a proud and happy daddy. I love him more than words.

My due date was April 27th. But, when my cholestasis levels went from 40's to mid 80's we decided to induce. My babies were off for Spring Break which was perfect. We decided to spend our last night as a family of 7 and go to the movies. Wednesday night we saw Lorax in 3D and I held Mikey in my lap for almost the whole movie. I needed that extra cuddle time with him, I snuggled him onto my small lap over my huge belly hoping he wouldn't get antsy and want his own seat. Everyone was excited but I was nervous, trying to keep my mind with my family and not on the list of things I still wanted to get done before the big day. After the movie, we headed home after stopping at Mc Donald's for icecream.

It was hard to get to bed. I wanted to get last minute things done, cleaning, packing extra things, and writing notes to my babies to go in their baggy of Hershey kisses. We finally went to bed sometime after midnight and had to be up at 6am. I woke up before my alarm around 5am and couldn't fall back to sleep. I got up and did my hair and makeup while everyone still slept and a bazillion thoughts went through my mind. When it was time to leave Rocky and I woke up Mari, Rock, Bri and Jules to say bye and left Mikey sleep. We gave lots of hugs and snuck in to give Mikey kisses while he slept.  I lost it about a mile from home. Thinking about Mikey and how maybe I should have woke him up to say goodbye to him....the next time I'd see him, he'd be a big brother....I was crying so hard, telling Rocky I can't believe it's time already, and how I couldn't believe how we're actually driving to the hospital. He got me laughing by saying "well, how else are we gonna get there? Run?" Gosh, I love him.

We were about 15 minutes late to the hospital and walked in with everyone waiting on us with big smiles. I lost it again when I saw my nurse holding one of the newborn babies. So many emotions at once, excited, happy, nervous, and scared. They got us set up in room 426 and had me change into the wonderful birthing gowns. Everything went pretty quick at first. IV started, talked with doctor and nurses, Pitocin started....and then we waited....and waited. I've had so much energy this pregnancy that I was always doing something. Now to sit and wait was driving me crazy. I read my Bloom book, complained to Rocky I was bored and flipped through the 20 channels on the hospital t.v. Finally around noonish I started feeling some contractions and asked to get up and walk around. I walked and rested, organized my stuff, walked more.

Some time in the late afternoon contractions got bad. Rocky was so great and walked back and forth through the halls. I thought about the other five times we'e been there together walking those halls when we had our other babies. How grateful I am to have such beautiful, healthy babies. We worked through the contractions and Rocky convinced me to use the birthing ball that helped relieve a lot of pressure...oh, the pressure. I wanted to feel the pain knowing my body was working to bring this little baby into this world. I felt I had control and with Rocky helping me, I was working through the contractions.

We called my Mom when contractions were at their worst. For some reason, Isabella was still very high up, so when they checked to see how dialated I was, they had a hard time and had me go through some pretty excrutiating pain. It was awful. I went through this twice both times, the nurses told me there was little to no change. Very disappointing when you're going through contractions hoping their doing something. My Mom got to the hospital and when they checked me again, telling me I was still at 5cm and Isabella was not coming down, I closed my eyes and cried....and prayed she would come down and I would dialate and the pain would go away. I finally asked for the epidural.

The anestisiologist was so kind. He took a while to get there, there was some confusion with the nurses that he left and was on his way back, but then he said he was there the whole time. I didn't care, I was just happy he was finally in my room, ready to numb me up. I held onto my Mom and was ready for the sting to numb my back for the epidural needle to go in. I thanked the man a million times when the pain started to let up and told him we'd name our new daughter after him.

I tried to shut my eyes for a bit, I couldnt sleep but it was such a nice relief to just lay in the bed and rest. I used so much energy concentrating and working through the contractions that I was exhausted. For some reason, about a half hour later, the contractions came back full force. I yelled to Rocky to push the button on the epidural pump, and he jumped up and pushed it. I felt the cold medicine go down my back and felt relieved until 2 minutes later another strong contraction. I told my Mom to push the button again, but you can only push it once an hour so it didnt do anything. I panicked and Rocky left the room to tell the nurses. Someone came up quick and adjusted the epidural and got me feeling better. I started feeling a little pressure and mentioned it to the nurse when she came in. She checked me. She told me she'd be right back and left the room. I thought something was wrong. I whispered, something's wrong, but she didnt hear me and asked me if I was OK, but I just stared off thinking, and saying a prayer that everything was ok. My nurse came in with another nurse who checked me. She said is that the head? I was at 10 cm and my baby finally dropped and now the nurses were hurrying to call my doctor and getting the room and bed set up. My body started shaking. I was excited and taking big breaths to calm myself down. I felt some pressure and light contractions so I knew I'd be fine pushing. My doctor came in and it was time to push. Rocky stood by one side and a nurse on the other side. My Mom was next to Rocky. I pushed 3 times for 10 seconds each. I got excited when I asked the doctor if my baby moved at all, and had I done anything, and she responded telling me yes, and that she has a lot of hair. That motivated me, energized me, I was so ready to meet and hold my baby. I pushed 3 more times and then 3 times again and her head was out. Later, we saw the cord was wrapped around her neck once, which was why her heart decelerated a few times when I was having contractions. I pushed lightly and my doctor asked if I wanted her on my chest right away. I think I screamed yes, and then she was here. On my chest, crying a little, and perfect. I cried so hard thanking God that she was OK and perfect and healthy. I looked at Rocky and saw that proud daddy smile and realized how much I truly love him more than he'll ever know. So thankful for him at that moment. I snuggled my knew baby and cried, asking her if she was OK, telling her I loved her, and telling her she had a lot of people who wanted to meet her. Then she peed on me. I had my hand under her tush and felt something warm and asked Rocky if she peed and he said she did and everyone laughed. I was laughing and crying so hard,so incredibly thankful and happy for the life I have, the babies God has given me and for Rocky.