Motherhood

My Rainbow Baby – Jameson’s Birth Story

Jameson Rosell Tarroza – Born October 17, 2018
8lbs 4oz

Actual due date – October 23, 2018
Arrived 1 week early

October 16 – mid day
Noticed bloody show when going to the bathroom and contacted doctor. Was told to come in only if contractions are 5-7 minutes apart or leaking fluid, bleeding, or decreased fetal movement. Had none of these so I decided to wait.

October 17
4am
Contractions happening all night and getting closer together. I know it’s time so we call my MIL to come watch our daughter. I then start packing my daughters lunches/snacks for the next three days and planning out her dinners so the MIL won’t have a hard time feeding her since she has many food allergies. My husband is telling me to relax but I just can’t stop worrying about my daughter since we have never left her alone with my MIL overnight.


(this pic snapped right before heading out – we literally had the nurses help us decide on our baby’s name while in labor)

6am 
Head out to the hospital – at this point I can barely walk, the contractions are intense and about 4-6 minutes apart. (We stopped by McDonalds drive-thru on the way there lol – insert nervous laughing emoji here)

6:30am
Nurse checks me in – monitors my contractions for about an hour, tells me I’m not dilated enough and has me walk around the labor and delivery floor. My contractions are so painful that I just can’t handle it so I go back to the room and lie down. The midwife then checks me and tells me she can move me to the delivery room and give me the epidural right away. THANK THE LORD! I was in so much pain, I kept asking myself “how could I do this again?!!”

8:30am
We get to the other room and they ask Justin to leave for about 30 minutes while they give me the epidural – I was wondering why they would ask him to leave but they told me that many dads get woozy and sometimes faint because of the size of the needle going into your spine. Well, this freaked me out because I never knew how big the needle was lol. Even with my first, it was just so chaotic that I had no idea what was going on.

The epidural kicks in and I’m straight chillin!!! (This made me realize that they had put the epidural in wrong with my first born because I was still in tremendous pain with her even after the epidural.) Justin still hadn’t come back so I just relaxed for a couple hours. The Midwife came in saying I was ready to push but Justin was nowhere to be found so we waited. (Obviously, I wanted to kill him lol) Somewhere during this time the midwife came in, broke my water for me and gave me an IV. I can’t remember exactly when.

Justin finally comes back and the midwife comes in – I tell her the epidural is no longer working because I feel pain. She takes a look under the sheets and says “Oh, wow! You’re ready!! We see his head!” He was already coming out, that’s the pain and pressure I was feeling! The staff gets everything ready and I begin to push –

2:35pm  BABY IS BORN! 
I honestly wish I had written this right after it happened because I cannot remember all the exact details but I think it took less than an hour and the baby was out!! The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck and I saw the staff acting fast but with concerned looks. They unwrapped it with no problem and placed him on my chest. OOF! He was heavy!! I did not expect that, but he was also so warm and beautiful! I instantly started crying and could not stop! I was so in-love already. They did not take him away to clean him or weigh him or anything for an hour so we could bond. This is something new they said, with my daughter they took her away and did all of that immediately, then gave her back to me. I had him all to myself for a full hour and tried to nurse while being in complete awe of how perfect and beautiful he was.

He was here..he was reallyyy here! Up until this point it didn’t hit me that this baby was real. Especially arriving a week early, I just didn’t feel ready. But when I saw him and felt his soft little body on my skin, it all sank in and the hole that I never even knew I had in my heart was completed filled. How could I love another human as much as I love my daughter? It just wasn’t possible I thought …but your heart makes room and suddenly you don’t understand how you ever felt whole before this day. I truly am blessed.

This labor and deliver was absolutely different in every way from my first. I had a 32 hour labor with my first born and I was in absolute hell. This one was much quicker and less painful thanks to the epidural – I did end up having postpartum hemorrhaging after but I will save that story for another day, another post.

Thank you for reading!! I love sharing my journey with you all!

 

Motherhood

Pregnancy Tips & Tricks – What Works For Me!

There are tons of pregnancy products out there and everyone has a preference – I just wanted to share a few of the things that I’ve been using, doing and snacking on during this particular pregnancy.

Prenatal Vitamins

With my first pregnancy, I probably tried a different type of prenatal vitamin every month or two. I stuck with mostly vegetarian prenatal vitamins from Whole Foods. This time around, I had planned to do the same but I’ve ended up alternating between these two – They are most easily accessible to me because of where I live now. My absolute requirements are that they need to have at least 200mg of DHA and 800mcg of Folic Acid – The One-A-Day is just 1 soft gel per day and the Nature’s Way one is 2 soft gels per day and is vegetarian/plant based. I tend to get nauseous easily so I take them right before bed and haven’t had any issues. 

Stretch Marks – Nightly Moisturizing Routine

I can’t say these actually prevent stretch marks because I did end up with a few during my first pregnancy and I’m sure I will have a few more after this one – but I do love these products. I use Palmer’s Coconut Oil Body Lotion everyday and I think it smells so good. The Bio Oil is something I need to use more of – I honestly haven’t been using it often but my stomach is stretching like crazy and is super itchy these days so I’m definitely going to start working it into my bedtime routine. 

Snacking & Heartburn

When I’m craving a soda or something cold, I’ll usually opt for a La Croix. I pretty much love any flavor – they’re all good! I found that these really help when I have heartburn too! They have 0 calories, 0 sugars, 0 sodium, 0 carb, 0 protein – ingredients are carbonated water & natrual flavor. What is this “natural flavor?” On their site it says that the “flavors are derived from the natural essence oils extracted from the named fruit in each La Croix flavor.” 

I’m definitely not the healthiest but if I’m craving sweets, I try to eat a banana or a bowl of cereal. Sometimes, I go real crazy and have a Chobani Flip – these guys are so darn good, I’m kind of obsessed. They’re about 180+ calories each. I love Jamba Juice smoothies too but they actually have quite a bit of sugar in them so I don’t do those too often. When I crave savory I like to go for some Frigo brand light string cheese & lightly salted popcorn or cashews. 

Staying Comfy at Bedtime 
I’ve always wanted a pregnancy pillow and there’s been one sitting in my Amazon cart for the past 6 months, but I just can’t pull the trigger. I guess it’s just the fact that I probably won’t ever use it again and that it takes up so much space. Instead, I use 4 pillows total to keep me comfortable. One for my head, one behind me, one to hug and one between my legs. This has been working pretty well for me, it really is comfy! You’re only supposed to lay on your left side when sleeping while pregnant and it’s been SO hard for me this time around. I always wake up on my right side and freak out. Putting a pillow on my back has been helping a little though. My doctor told me not to worry but it still freaks me out. I’ve also been having “pregnancy insomnia” and uncontrollable bladder – I go pee at least 4-6 times a night. It’s literally crazy!!! Sorry, I have no tips for this except maybe don’t drink too much water before bed lol. I also use a diffuser every night with a doTerra essential oil. I love how they smell and it helps keep moisture in the room. It is so incredibly dry this time of year – especially where we currently live.

These are just a couple of the things that I’ve been doing and I plan on making an updated list later on, but I hope it’s helpful for someone and thank you for reading!

Motherhood, Recipes

My Super Girl Turns 4! – Legoland

Our usual birthday tradition for babygirl is to throw her a big theme party and then take her to Disneyland – This year, we decided to keep it low-key w/ just a pre-school party and then taking her to Legoland. I didn’t even get her a cake, which I still feel a little guilty about. Instead, I baked her and her classmates some Super Hero themed gluten & dairy-free cupcakes.

I ordered the super hero masks and cupcake toppers on Amazon.com – they arrived quickly and were so freaking adorable! All the kids loved them!

Then off to Legoland we went!

We got a 2 day park hopper pass so we booked a hotel and stayed 2 nights. Joelle’s favorite part of Legoland was the water park! If we ever go again, we would probably just go straight there!

Motherhood

Third Trimester – 32 Week Bumpdate

32 Weeks + 4 days
Photo below is from exactly 1 week ago. 

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Wow! I can’t believe how fast this pregnancy is going! Baby Tarroza is coming in less than 8 weeks?! I have so much to do yet I feel completely immobile. Working full-time with a 3 hour roundtrip commute then coming home to an active 4 year old – when do I have time to prepare for this little man coming at me in lightning speed! 

Well, I’ve decided not to stress it – why? God has a plan for us and everything will work out in the end. As long as my baby is healthy and my family is happy, I’m happy! (At least that’s what I’m telling myself) lol! For now, I’ll worry about satisfying my boba cravings and keeping my family fed because that’s all that I can handle at the moment and it’s completely OKAY! 

I want to focus on enjoying our crew of 3 before we become a party of 4! My little girl has my whole heart and sometimes I worry about how I can possibly love another child as much as I love her. I know this sounds ridiculous and once he’s here, of course, I’m sure I’ll be madly in-love – It’s just hard for me to accept/imagine that right now because I don’t ever want Joelle to feel like I love her any less. Oh, how strange that even blessings can be struggles at times.