Birth Story: Isabelle

 

Our precious little girl really did decide to be a Thanksgiving baby. After 2 weeks of my body getting ready to have her, we finally got to meet our precious little angel. The night before I tossed and turned all night, so uncomfortable and not able to get any sleep. And this is following many many sleepless nights. Thanksgiving morning was very peaceful. We cuddled in bed with Eliana after we all woke up, just the three of us for the very last time. We ate a delicious breakfast of peach pancakes and gave Eliana a bath. Eliana was running a fever, thanks to her canines finishing coming out, so all she wanted was mama. We just snuggled up with her and relaxed all morning. After Eliana's nap we all got ready and went to my parents house to enjoy a huge Thanksgiving feast.
My stomach was feeling stretched to its limits. Having measured 40 weeks at the beginning of the week still, I knew that the time was closer than ever. My doctor, Margie, was shocked our baby girl had not burst my water and we hadn't had her yet. I was dilated to a good 4cm and her head was as low as ever. Baby girl was pushing and making my stomach into the oddest shapes. She was done being cramped inside, it seemed. We got a few last photos of just us 3 before dinner. Crazy to now look back and realize how many things we were doing for the last time with just our baby girl Eliana, just the 3 of us. We went home and put our tired baby girl to bed a bit earlier and settled in to watch some NFL. My hubby, Bogy, and I love football and sure were excited for the game.
Since we got home I had started to feel quite a bit of pressure and my stomach was hardening a lot. I lay back to relax, as I knew from the previous times I was cramping, it would pass after I rested a while. This time though, the pressure was not going away. Instead it started feeling more intense. I went to pee at least once every half hour. Baby girl was bearing down on my poor bladder. After about 2 hours or so, we decided to go in to the hospital and get checked out, this wasn't passing nor easing up. My sister arrived to stay with Eliana and we grabbed our hospital bag and headed out.
When we arrived at the hospital at 11 pm, it was so empty. There were just a few nurses working the night shift in labor and delivery with no one else in sight. They put us in a room and had me change. They hooked me up to monitor my contractions and the babies heartbeat. She was doing great, and I was having consistent contractions, but nothing I would call painful at all. Just my back was starting to hurt and stomach continued hardening. After about half an hour of answering questions the nurse checked me but I still had made no progress, still dilated to 4. She unhooked me and suggested we wait another hour and she would check me again. Hubby and I were pretty tired and sleepy by then. We wandered the halls, reminiscing about the first time we were there. We got coffee for Bogy and water and some lemon sorbet for me. An hour passed, the nurse checked me again, but no progress. She gave us the option to go home and come back if I felt things change. We decided to stay another hour just in case. Its such a hassle getting a babysitter and coming all the way to the hospital, just to end up going home.
Another hour passed and I started feeling more contractions, with pain this time. At first we were able to walk around some more. I even did a lot of deep squats, with my husbands disapproval, to pass the time (I had read somewhere it would help me progress quicker). But after a bit, even walking started to hurt. My back felt like its broken and I couldn't straighten it. I would have to stop to catch my breath. We were getting pretty hungry, having not eaten since having dessert following our Thanksgiving feast. We got a sandwich and ate, the whole time watching the clock and timing my contractions. They were consistent, every 2-3 minutes and each lasting a minute or so. Towards 1:30am, I was definitely no longer comfortable. The nurse checked again, but I had no real progress. I dilated slightly during contractions but would go back to 4. Once again we were being politely asked to go home and come back when things progressed. At this point there was NO way they were kicking me out and sending me home. I told the nurse that this pain I'm feeling is nothing like I've been experiencing the last two weeks, plus, its intensifying. I told her my doctor had said if I felt strong contractions, to come in and she would break my water so we would get the show on the road and hurry things along. The nurse didn't like that idea. She was saying they are short staffed and she doubts the night shift doctor would want to break my water and have us stay on, but she would check anyhow.
My contractions were getting really painful. It hurt to sit, my back hurt bad. But, I couldn't get up and walk around because I was hooked up to the monitors again. The nurse came back after half an hour and explained that they would go ahead and admit me in for labor now. They had spoken to my doctor and Margie said they absolutely cannot send me home. Margie said she already knows, after my first delivery, that my labor is very quick and she would be in as soon as possible. It was such a relief to see Margie come in around 3 am. She got things ready to break my water and when she checked me, I had already dilated to a good 7cm; just in the hour since the nurse checked me. Margie broke my water and the contractions continued, wave after wave of pain washing over me.
The nurses and Margie were getting things ready in the room for the delivery. My hubby was holding my hand, encouraging me as I leaned against him through contractions. I was sitting up in the bed, there was no way I could lay down. Around 4 am I started to feel like I need to push, so I told them. Margie and nurse quickly came to the foot of the bed and had me lay back and put my feet up. With the next contraction I pushed really hard, the pain felt like I was on fire, so excruciating! I heard Margie exclaim that she sees the head already. Trying to distract myself from the pain, I asked my hubby what color her hair was, of course they couldn't tell yet. Another contraction hit about 30 seconds later I gathered all my strength and with a final push, she was here!
At 4:07 am on 11/28/2014, Isabelle Bogdanovna Mulyar was born; weighing 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long. The pain was done and forgotten about and my little angel was laid down on me. She was so perfect, lots of dark hair, pouty lips and long skinny legs and arms. Margie showed us that she had a perfect knot in her umbilical cord. She was so active she made a knot when she was much smaller apparently. Thank God it  never tightened and she thrived just fine with it there. Hubby cut the umbilical cord and the nurses quickly wrapped her up and gave her back to me. Oh the love I felt. She was so perfect, so strong! She grabbed my gown and held on tightly when we tried to hold her little hand.
Hubby and I just kept gazing at her and smiling at each other. We couldn't believe that she was here, the waiting was over. And the delivery was SO quick. The nurses never took her from me. They just let me hold her warm little body against me. While Margie stitched me up and cleaned me up hubby thought to ask, "Did anyone check to confirm that shes a girl?" lol. We all started laughing because none of us including the doctor checked. We confirmed, shes a girl. :) After the nurses weighed her and cleaned her up, they gave her to Bogey to hold. He was beaming with happiness, staring at our precious little girl with so much love. There truly is nothing like seeing my amazing hubby holding our tiny little baby. I don't know how I was ever blessed  to be able to experience this twice now. I couldn't stop smiling and kissing her. She immediately started rooting around, looking for food. I nursed her for the first time. How special it is to be a mommy, to have a healthy strong little girl who knew exactly what to do from the get go. It felt like a dream. She didn't leave my sight or my arms for more than a few moments. I felt so relieved, blessed and happy. We just felt so much gratitude for this incredible delivery.
Around 7 am, once again I was forced to ride in a wheel chair to my recovery room. Although, I could walk perfectly fine. Isabelle with us the entire time. So amazing. Still was unreal to Bogy and I that she was with us, no one taking her anywhere. I took a shower while hubby settled down for a nap. I tried to nap as well, but unfortunately that's exactly when everyone started making rounds. Getting our food orders, room service came by, nurses came to check my vitals and Isabelle's...needless to say, that night we got no sleep. Around noon my family all started coming by to visit. It was so special to see everyone loving on her. Exclaiming over how tiny she is and how much she looks like my side of the family. In the evening right when we recieved our celebratory dinner, our siblings brought our daughter Eliana to meet her little sister. She looked at us shyly and almost gave Isabelle a kiss, but pulled back last second shyly. All she wanted was mama and daddy. She did not leave our side. We were blessed to take Isabelle home the next day. We have been enjoying her so much! She has the biggest appetite imaginable. Lets us know every time she wants to eat or needs a diaper change. We have been enjoying staying at home as a family of 4. Bogy and I are enjoying watching our girls bond. Eliana wakes up every morning and gives her sister kisses. So much love. We are so excited to watch our girls grow up together, play together and just do everything with each other.

Our last photos as a family of 3. 

 11/27-11/29/2014

Pink and White Bow Hats: Etsy: NatalkaShop

Brown Pompom Hat: Etsy: NatalkaShop

Birth Story: Eliana

11/07/2014

Perfect Knit Beanie: Etsy: NatalkaShop

Yesterday was World Prematurity Day. In honor of this day when we raise awareness of preterm birth, I decided to share the birth story of our very own preemie baby, Eliana. 19 months ago we met our first daughter for the very first time, 5 1/2 weeks early. My pregnancy was healthy over all, baby was growing well and we were both doing great. Although, we did have several scares where I started having contractions; as early as 20 weeks, the first time it happened. As a result I took it easy, refrained from exercise and continued to eat healthy as much as I could. Needless to say, it was a complete shock, when my water started leaking.

My husband and I were both up pretty early on the morning of April 3, 2013. Both having to be at work by 6am. The night before at 8pm, I had started to leak. I never thought anything of it, this being my very first pregnancy. I had the strongest bladder imaginable and figured that my bladder finally became weak and decided to succumb to this 'pancake bladder' that pregnant women tend to have, where they have to pee a million times a day. I did however think something of it when the next morning I couldn't walk without leaking. My husband and I decided to call the nurses line, just in case to find out what it could be. We must have caused quite an alarm because my doctor called me back immediately even though it was only 4:30am, and told me to grab my things and head to the hospital, our baby was coming today!

I got off the phone laughing in shock, telling my husband, lets go to the hospital, my water broke. His response was, "This isnt funny baby, why are you laughing?!". It wasnt funny ofcourse, but thats just what I do when in shock. Hubby and I jumped in the car and zoomed to the hospital, with nothing but the clothes on our backs (we did not have a carseat, or hospital bag or anything ready). We walked in, and quickly got settled into our labor and delivery room. They hooked me up, to monitor me and the baby. We could see that I was having contractions, yet I couldnt feel them. We still dont know if it was due to my high pain tolerance or because of shock, I just didnt feel anything. By 8am, I wasnt dialated enough and it had been 12 hrs since my water started leaking, so they decided to induce me to speed things along. 

As soon as the pitocin kicked in the contractions got consistently worse and by noon they completely took over. The pain was so surreal, so painful. I couldn't move, literally paralyzed in pain. One contraction ended and the next one took over, no breaks. My poor hubby was holding my hand, encouraging me, telling me to squish his hand. But I couldn't, I physically couldn't move, unable to even squish his hand, no strength from the paralyzing pain. I couldn't lay on my back anymore, hurt too bad. I just kept switching from one side to the other, while telling my hubby over and over that I cant do this, I just cant anymore. The contractions were nonstop, pain was so bad, I couldn't even cry if I had wanted to. I focused on breathing deeply through every contraction because there was nothing else I could do. Eliana was doing great the whole time, it was adorable, she even got hiccups right before I started pushing and we saw it on the monitor. Before I delivered her, her heart beat went through the roof, over 200 beats per minute and she started moving around like crazy! I was shaking like crazy, I couldn't control myself. They told me its the adrenaline coursing through my body. 

At 12:30pm my doctor rushed in, didn't even have time to change because I was ready to push. The pressure subsided and my doctor quickly changed into scrubs and rushed back. She sat down with a big plastic bag in her lap. I asked my doc if it's for catching Eliana, if I pop her out quickly. We all laughed. We joked because I'm so tall, I may have her so quickly that my doc may not be quick enough to catch her. Eliana arrived after a few more excruciating pushes. At 12:58pm, weighing 5 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches long. 

They lay her on my stomach and I touched her little head, full of lots of dark hair. We were shocked shes a brunette, we were expecting a blondie the entire time. My little doll was just laying there, staring up at me with her big dark eyes; so tiny, so perfect. My husband cut her umbilical cord. We were smiling and laughing, we couldn't believe she's finally here! They took Eliana from me and started working on her. She cried twice and went limp. Apparently from the shock of the delivery, she was having trouble breathing. They tried moving her arms and legs but she wasn't responsive. They quickly whisked her upstairs to the NICU and my hubby went along. That was the only moment I got to hold my baby until the next day.

After my hubby and baby girl were gone, my doctor stitched me up and finished up with me within 20 minutes. Then, all I could do was wait. After about 1 1/2 hours my husband came back to the delivery room and showed me pictures of our Eliana. He told me how she's doing and gave me her weight and length. Until that moment I was yet to hear or know anything about her, besides the quick glimpse I got of her. They put me in a wheel chair to move me into my recovery room; even though I told them I could walk just fine on my own. We still couldn't go see Eliana, they were doing surgery on another baby upstairs. Within a few minutes the NICU doctor came downstairs to update us. She was breathing on her own pretty much since birth and after the initial shock wore off, she was doing amazing! After visiting with our family a bit, we were able to start going upstairs to introduce her to everyone and touch her and love on her. It was so surreal. She was all ours, so tiny, yet so absolutely perfect. We couldn't imagine a bigger blessing!

For the next 2 1/2 weeks we went every single day to visit her. We got to change her diaper, eventually we got to hold her, feed her and touch her, any time we wanted while there. She was such a trooper, gaining weight and getting stronger by the day. I started pumping and she was able to have my breast milk from the very first day. Its certainly called 'liquid gold' for a reason. I was blessed with so much, they even told me to stop bringing anymore to the hospital. Days passed slowly. In between her feeds/diaper changes we went shopping; buying a car seat, rocking chair for the nursery and all the other small things we never got around to getting. Every day it became harder and harder to leave her, even for a few hours. I was strong and cried maybe twice from missing her throughout those weeks. Having a part of you, your baby far away from the safety of your arms and not being able to hold and touch her and give her all the love you want to...its absolutely heart wrenching!  

On a stormy rainy day, April 20th, 2013, we finally got to stay the night with her in the room with us. The rain was coming down in huge gusts, beating against the windows. We fed her, changed her and just adoringly stared at her, without any feeding tubes or monitors attached to her precious little body. What an amazing feeling. This is how it must feel for parents with full term babies. We waited a long time for this day but it was worth it! We finally had our baby all to ourselves! We were just giddy with joy, bringing her home. 

Since that day 1 year and 7 months ago, we have gotten to have her with us every day; feeding her, holding her, playing with her and loving on her. She truly has been our little world! She's always been so happy. Rarely if ever crying. She was a trooper with teething, and has all her teeth now, with just her canines having to finish coming out completely. She brings us so much joy and happiness. Our love for her is unconditional, and those days spent away from her, are now just a distant memory. Being parents to a preemie has some challenges, she was always weaker and took her time in the strength department, but she is perfect none-the-less, nothing time doesn't take care of. Looking at these sweet pics I took a week ago, you wouldn't be able to guess that she was born so tiny, so early. She is our little miracle baby who surprised us with her early arrival. 

A few memories from the NICU:

P.S.  On Instagram, under the hashtag #LifeOfEliana, you can see pictures of Eliana from birth along with more snippets of her story.

P.P.S. There are two miracle babies, named Claire and Charlotte. God saw fit to bring them into this life very early at just 25 weeks. They have truly been pure miracles in all they have survived and accomplished in their short lives, thus far. True fighters, who have shown our good Lord's mercy and grace with every day they live and grow stronger. I have so much love for them and they are always on my mind and in my prayers. My heart goes out to their parents, Mark and Tina, and how hard it has been for them. Please pray for these identical little angels and their strong beautiful mama and papa.
- If you would like to see and hear updates on how they are doing please follow them on here: Instagram.
- If your heart is open to sharing and giving, please donate to Claire and Charlotte here. Having a NICU baby was so expensive for us, over $80K before insurance just for the 2.5 weeks our doll stayed there, with no complications and no surgeries...imagine the expenses for Mark and Tina and their precious girls. May God bless you for your kindness!