Baby Daniel is here!
My sweet baby boy Daniel was born on Tuesday, June 6 at 8:24 AM weighing 2.800kg, 11 days before his due date, which means, he is 1 month old today!
Daniel is a happy boy and really only cries when he’s wet, hungry, or tired and need us to help him fall asleep.
Before I get farther to the good stuff, I would like to share his birth story. so here we go:
The evening before, I asked my husband on a date to a bar we love to go to (Beer Garden) ’cause I really wanted to eat this meat sandwich they have there. Also, we moved to a new apartment 2 weeks earlier and have been spinning around to get the house in order since then, so I felt I have to go out and do something nice.
Alexander, on the contrary, wasn’t feeling it that night and wanted to stay at home. I lured him eventually, with the excuse that quickly became our reality later that night; I told him “come on… I can deliver any day now.. and then, who knows how long will it take for us to go on a date night.”
Oh boy, I was so right!
So, after 1 meat sandwich, 1 burger, 1 chips basket, tons of laughs and fun conversations, and 600ml of beer I convinced Alex to drink, we arrived home and went to sleep at approximately 11:30 pm.
I remember it took me a while to fall asleep, but eventually I did, just to wake up again at 1:00 am, as my water broke.
I woke Alexander up, who didn’t quite understood how to process the news and the fact we need to get to the hospital (we were lucky he was already sober and could drive us).
“You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather”.
We both didn’t expect to become parents for at least a little longer.. to stress it out, I prepared my hospital bag just a few days earlier, after continuous nagging from my friends I should’ve already done it. Also, I arranged the baby clothes just that weekend, also with my friend’s encouragement and help.
I was convinced I have plenty of time. It’s almost as I was trying to delay the inevitable. Don’t get me wrong, I was dying to meet our baby boy and to feel his skin on my skin, to see the color of his eyes and to hear his breath. But, I was rushing nowhere.
When I checked in, I was dilated to 2.5 cm but having no contractions.
So my status was: water broke, 2.5 cm dilated, no contractions.
I was hospitalized for about 2 hours or less when I begged the nurse to check me again because I was in great pain. Soon I realized, the pain I was feeling were contractions. They were 3 to 4 minutes apart and lasted what felt like forever.
The nurse was surprised I was already dilated to 3.5 cm and on that point I was moved to a delivery room.
My pain level was literally at a 10 while being dilated only to 3.5 cm. Thankfully I had been given an epidural not long after arriving to the delivery room.
Within two minutes afterward, I had gone from 3.5cm to 9cm.
Suddenly, the baby started showing signs of distress, the doctor and nurses all came in at the same time preparing the ventouse.
I looked at Alex and he looked at me, not saying anything to each other, letting the doctor and his team do what they know best, not interrupting.
After couple of minutes, the baby’s pulse was stabilized, and we moved back to standard delivery.
We watched the contraction monitor waiting for the right moment to push, and I pushed and pushed and pushed.
And our baby boy was soon in my arms, with all his perfection.
I knew from the start I wanted to breastfeed. It just sounded right.
I was committed to all of the amazing health benefits breastfeeding provides – immunity and antibodies, simpler digestion, fewer ear infections and lower risks of diseases.
I knew I needed to start immediately after delivery and it was on my birth plan.
Also, I knew to watch out from hospital staff giving my baby a pacifier and a bottle as this might cause nipple confusion.
Besides that, I didn’t know much about breastfeeding. I didn’t read on the subject nor did I prepare myself properly, and I certainly didn’t know that breastfeeding could be such hard work.
In the beginning, there were so many times I wanted to quit. My breast ached, my body was hurt and still healing, and I was constantly worried about whether my baby eats enough.
With all that, I was really determined. I didn’t give up. It was really hard for him to nurse properly but we were slowly getting there until we did.
Daniel is a healthy boy and he is getting stronger and stronger every day! His grip is hard and he raises his head nicely while on his tummy. It seems like his tracking things with his eyes already, and he’s very responsive to sounds. He makes fanny things, like lifting his eyebrows while sleeping or sticking out his tongue when he falls asleep after eating. The sounds he makes are the cutest, oh and he starts to smile!
I feel so blessed and grateful for having you, Daniel. You have our hearts forever.
