The story of Eva's birth:
Mike and I left for the hospital around 5:45 am on April 25. Nonna had gotten in the night before and the kids were so excited to see her that they woke up before we left and were able to send us off!
The hospital was only about a 10 minute drive from our apartment at 6 in the morning.
When we got to the hospital we had to find public parking since hospital parking is outrageous at Santa Fe. We had a lot of bags since I had to bring everything for the birth, and I mean everything. Diapers, wipes, clothes, pads, adult diapers, blankets, recovery supplies for me, etc. The hospital doesn't provide anything except a gown to labor in. When we got to the tiny reception area (after going through the secure area with no one noticing) we had to wait for about 30 minutes for the staff to get around to us. They finally did after some coaxing on Mike's part and by about 7:30 am we were into my "labor" room.
The room was actually pretty much the same as any other hospital room I've seen in the States except that it didn't have a TV which ended up making the whole process feel even longer. We didn't have a whole lot to do while waiting for things to get going. Around 9 am my doctor came in to say hello and instruct the nurses to start the Oxytocin to induce labor. Here's Dr. Rueda!
They hooked me up to the machine to watch my contractions before starting the Oxytocin and it turned out that I was already having contractions! They were small and I wasn't feeling them but I was glad things were already starting naturally. After the Oxytocin kicked in the contractions started getting stronger and closer together. Around 11 am Dr. Rueda broke my water. Around 12 am I was asking for the epidural! That was an interesting experience. It worked fine once it was in but they wouldn't let Mike stay with me while putting it in. Dr. Rueda was actually there and was great helping me through it. Since it's a teaching hospital the anesthesiologist had an intern helping him which seemed to make the process slower than normal. After that I went right to sleep for about an hour. It was so nice to finally have that relief! As things progressed I slowly started feeling the pain come back. The anesthesiologist said he wanted me to feel a little pain to help things along, which made enough sense. During it all the nurses were definitely not responsive to us. The little call button on the bed was a joke. Good thing Mike was there to kick them into gear when it was needed. Things progressed pretty slowly until around 6:45 pm when I suddenly started feeling things a lot stronger and had a serious inclination to start pushing! It took the nurses forever to come in and check on me and when they did to their surprise I was suddenly dilated to a 10! It then took them forever to find Dr. Rueda and by the time he got there I was really, really ready to have my baby. To do so though they had to wheel me to another room which looked like some crazy sterile operating room with huge lamp lights on the ceiling. The nurses got mad at Mike for not having scrubs on yet... no one had told him he needed them. No one told you? they asked. Yup, that was the frase of our entire visit. No one told you? Who would have told us if not you!?!?!? Anyway, he finally got into the right clothes as the doctors scrubbed up for what seemed like at least 15 minutes. In the meantime the nurses and I somehow got my half numb body from one bed to another (so lame when you're desperately trying to hold a baby in!). The nurses then had attach some stirrups to the table and I swear it seemed like their first time doing this. It took a ridiculous amount of time and in the end Dr. Rueda had to force them in. Remember by this time I have been desperate to push for about 40 minutes! FINALLY everything was ready and not only was Dr. Rueda in the room but so were 3 nurses, an intern and a student. Let the show begin! Dr. Rueda finally gav the command to push and her little head came out right away after about 2 or 3 pushes. As I gave the last push to get her all the way out Dr. Rueda had me help guide her out and up onto my tummy. She was here! Eva Leanna Connelly was born and we heard her healthy little cry at 7:32 pm. After a few minute of bonding and once Mike cut the chord, Mike and the nurses took her to the next room to bath her and clean her up. She is absolutely perfect in every way and surprise surprise :) it looks like we'll have another blondie! I love my little blond Connelly babies so much!
The rest of the hospital experience was less than stellar. They stuck me in the "recovery room" which pretty much looked like an ER room with beds and curtains between them. I was supposed to only be there for 2 hours but when we asked about it they said, "no one told you? There are no more rooms." Yup, that meant spending the rest of the night in the loading bay with other moms, babies, lights going on and off and crazy beeping noises sounding throughout the night. They wouldn't take my IV out even after she was born and every time I bent my arm (necessary when trying to breastfeed) an alarm on the machine would go off. They also permanently kept a pulse monitor on my toe and a blood pressure cuff on my calf - so random - and every time they came off an alarm on that machine went off. There was also nowhere for Mike to sleep (I literally had a bed with curtains around it) so the nurses suggested Mike go home!! No way that was happening. He just told them he was confiscating the bed next to mine and that was that. Que pena. Needless to say by 5 am we were desperate to leave! They woke Mike up around that time because they needed his bed but then refused to even give him a chair to sit next to me! After another 8 hours waiting around for the notary, pediatrician and nurse to administer Eva's first vaccine (apparently they cater to woman who actually have rooms first) we were finally released at 1 pm. Mike was not happy about the experience.
Oh to top it all off as we left the security lady checked my wristband against Eva's and apparently they had written the last number of my passport wrong on Eva's band (yup, they just write the numbers on there). Don't worry, we know she's ours. Mike wouldn't let her out of our sight for a second in that hospital - not that they have a nursery anyway. The nurse who had made the mistake came out and confirmed she had written the number wrong and we were finally able to leave. I don't think Mike will ever set foot in that hospital again! All in all though I'm so glad I stayed to have her here. If I had gone home I would have had to leave Jay here for 3 months! 36 hours of dealing with Santa Fe was well worth the tradeoff. And we sure have a gorgeous, perfect baby girl in the end which is the most important part. I love you so much my tiny Eva!!!
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*Blanket made by Papa :)
