Sunday, February 7, 2016

Kenai's Birth Story: Feb 1st 2016

Being pregnant with Kenai was so easy! Side note, for anyone wondering what Kenai means, it's Inuit for black bear--he's our lovable little bear 😉 Inever had morning sickness, and I even worked out the last week I was pregnant! We went to the doctor around mid January and I was dilated at a 4! The doctor said I could pop at any moment! Once we heard that, we got ready as fast as we could--I went and got a pedicure, Carlos cleaned the cars, and we packed our bags to get ready for the possible appearance of little Kenai! But he had other plans…


The last time I went to the doctor, she told me she wanted to induce the last day of January.


February 1st
Because I was getting induced, my mom was able to plan and got to Memphis on Sunday. It was so nice to have her one day early--we went to the outlet mall and went to McCallisters (which became mom’s favorite restaurant). My feet got soo swollen though! Mom got me a wheelchair, and I got pushed around like a little chubby--and the wheelchair at the outlets was TINY! I barely fit in it! I don’t know how the people from MS fit in there! We stayed up SO late just talking and catching up--because my mom got in at around 2 pm, we were able to go to church in the morning. Carlos was SO ready for little Kenai to come, and we were joking about skipping church the third hour because I wasn’t “feeling good”. I made my mom a little sign when we picked her up, and it was just so good to have her in Memphis!


So we stayed up super late talking, and watching tv. I had to be at the hospital at 5am, and the hospital, which was in Germantown, was about a 30 minute drive, so we needed to be ready at 4:15am. It was such a surreal feeling to be able to control when the baby came. It was so calm, and we just strolled right on into the hospital. Kenai was so ready to come though, because I started feeling contractions right as we were 10 minutes away from the hospital. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. The lady at the hospital that checked us in was a meanie head though, but it was probably because it was 5 am. 

Once they got me all checked in and hooked up to the drugs, I started feeling contractions pretty quickly--but I didn’t know that’s what they were. So once they started getting consistent, I started really feeling the pain. It was something that I could barely even comprehend. It hurt my whole body and it was so intense. I was crying, but I didn’t insult Carlos(which he thought that I would), and I think that I kept it together pretty well. It was “funny” because I could tell that Carlos and my mom were extremely stressed out because they couldn’t really do anything to help me through the pain. I dealt with really intense contractions for about 45 minutes, and it was so so painful. I don’t know how anyone could have a natural birth--that’s so intense! 

The anesthesiologist came in and at that point, i was going crazy with the pain. He came in and I panicked, I started crying and I got extremely nervous. Carlos had to calm me down. it hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as the contractions--it was more the fear of the unknown. Once I got the epidural, it was smooth sailing. I got extremely drowsy, and I was super relaxed. The nurse even encouraged me to take a nap--Carlos and my mom even fell asleep with me! I progressed really fast at that point.

The only problem was that Kenai hadn’t dropped--the doctor wanted to wait to let nature drop him. I waited for about an hour and a half. It was fast because the nurse had to put in antibiotics and they were cold and it really hurt my hand where I had the IV! But I could endure it because I had the epidural. Once, Kenai had dropped, it was time to push. I really couldn’t believe it, I was like, are you sure?! I did about 4 sets of 3 “practice pushes” before the doctor came in--my biggest fear was that I pooped on the table--and guess what? I didn’t! Once the doctor came in, I did about 2.5 sets and once his head came out, Carlos was like, he has a head full of hair! I couldn’t believe it, and it really motivated me to push.


He came out, and boy he had a set of lungs on him! At that point, I was in bliss. Carlos started crying as soon as he got to hold Kenai, and my mom just looked amazed that her grandchild was here! It was so sweet to see Carlos hold him, and to see that moment that he first met him. I was so happy, and I just wanted to see what he looked like!

Side note, Carlos and I still hadn’t decided on his name and wanted to see him before we named him. I had one idea, and Carlos had another idea for his name. I ended up getting the name I wanted--but Carlos was the one that came up with it, so we both won. :)


Kenai Lorenzo Grandela was born on February 1st, 2016 at 11: 40am. He was 7 lbs, 8 oz, and was 21 inches long.



It was a pretty quick birth, less than 7 hours, and it really was not that bad at all! I am ready to have 5 more kids if all of their births are this easy! I have to thank Heavenly Father for helping me and answering all of our prayers from having an easy pregnancy to a quick delivery and finally to having such a healthy baby--I think he knew that I couldn’t handle anything else. :)

Carlos was ready to leave the hospital as soon as I was done having Kenai. Once we got settled, the nurse came in to check on me and Kenai. We each had our own nurses that monitored us--and I realized why it’s so expensive to have a child--there’s a lot of work that the hospital has to do! She checked his vitals and waited for him to warm up so she could give him a bath. At that point, Andrea (from work) came in and visited me. I already felt so different and I was really out of it.


The hospital food was surprisingly really good! The first night I ordered, I didn’t really get much food, and it didn’t matter because my mom brought us Chick-Fil-A! It was so delicious. Yay for the Chick!


We let Kenai stay at the nursery, because I was really tired, and why not take advantage of the hospital “babysitting” services?


The second day at the hospital was a lot more low-key, but it was so nice to be at the hospital. We had to stay because they wanted to monitor Kenai because I had tested positive for a type of bacteria, and they wanted to make sure that he was okay. Carlos was kind of disappointed because he really wanted to go home, but it was fine to stay at the hospital--I was getting treated like a queen jk jk.


After two days in the hospital, our new family of three was able to go home. The car ride home was actually extremely tough, I got very nauseated, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Carlos made a stop at Walgreens, because we needed a few things. Kenai started crying, and I felt really sick, and Carlos took forever! Once he was done, we headed home, and we were greeted by Calvin and Hobbes--they started barking like crazy. I don’t know what it was, but I think their barks got the best of me--I completely lost control of my emotions. I got so scared that I cried really really hard, I could barely breathe! My mom and Carlos had to calm me down, and what was funny was that Kenai didn’t even get up!

We are so in love with Kenai, and so far, he has been SUCH a little angel. He feeds so well, and he is so calm. He’s started smiling, and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. My heart has expanded a million times, and I’m so happy to be a mom.