Avery's Birth Story

One year ago today, I went into labor with Avery. I've been looking forward to sharing this story for a long time, since it's probably one of my most favorite memories of my entire life. No exaggeration. So get ready, I'm sure this will be a long post, since I don't want to leave anything out that I might forget years down the road ...

My due date was November 11th, which was a little troubling considering my hospital wasn't accepting patients after midnight on the 12th! Pascack Valley Hospital is about 2 miles away and I had such a wonderful experience there when I had Reagan. Reagan came 7 weeks early, so she spent 19 days in the Special Care Nursery (NICU) ... we spent a lot of time there and I got to know many of the nurses, so I REALLY wanted to deliver there again. When Reagan came, the BRAND NEW maternity wing had been open for about 5 weeks, so I was one of the first to enjoy the beautiful new facility. Two years later, I was one of the last to enjoy it. I was one of the few women to have 2 children there, since it was only open for 2 years.

Since I went so early with Reagan, my doctors monitored me VERY closely throughout the entire pregnancy with Avery. I had so many tests, ultrasounds, a fetal ecocardiogram, and numerous other tests that weren't standard. I had to monitor my blood pressure at home each day to look for signs of pre-eclampsia. Once I got passed the 33rd week, I felt confident that I was in the clear. I felt relatively great throughout my entire pregnancy and I wanted to keep Avery inside me for as long as possible. Avery was so active in my belly, always moving, kicking and punching me. I loved it! Reagan didn't move around a lot and I always wished to feel more movement, given that it was my first pregnancy and it was such a neat feeling to experience the sign of life within my belly.

On Thursday, October 24th, when I was 37 1/2 weeks, I felt her "drop." I remember it so clearly ... John and I were in the bathroom, giving Reagan a bath, and I felt Avery completely change positions and move downward. I thought I was going into labor right then and there, it was so much movement. For some women, "dropping" doesn't mean anything and they still carry the baby until their due date. For others, it can mean the end is near. For me, it took exactly one week. The following week wasn't terrible, but I definitely felt a lot worse; uncomfortable and very tired. Whenever people saw me, they immediately noticed and said, "wow, you dropped!" My biggest worry was that I'd go into labor and have her on Halloween. No offense to my wonderful brother-in-law Brett, but I didn't want her to have a Halloween birthday!

Here is our last family photo as a family of 3, taken on Halloween night.

The next day, November 1st, 2007, I woke up feeling terrible. I had a headache, I was tired, and I just didn't feel quite right. Reagan had developed a pretty nasty cold, so I took her into Dr. Battista's office to have her checked, to make sure she didn't have an ear infection. The staff and nurses at the pediatrician's office all commented on how I didn't look like myself and they could tell I wasn't feeling well. They all joked that I was going to have the baby any day. I went home and snuggled into bed with Reagan and took a nice long nap that day. I woke up feeling much better ... thank goodness, since I needed the rest!

That evening around 5:30 PM, I was standing in the kitchen, cooking bacon for Reagan (one of the few things she'll eat!) when I felt a strange sensation. I wasn't completely sure, but I thought my water had broken. I went to the bathroom to check, but there wasn't a lot of fluid, so I wasn't quite sure. With Reagan, I had felt a "pop" and then a gush of fluid, so this was definitely different and more difficult to decipher. Wow, that's a lot of "d" words in one sentence! Anyway, I called my doctor's office and they said they'd have my doctor call me back. When Dr. Dicker called me, he told me to come into the hospital. I went upstairs, took a nice long shower, dried my hair, and packed my bag. I was excited! But I was in no rush and I took my time. John's mom was staying with us, so we said our goodbyes to Reagan and headed to the hospital around 7:00 PM. Just before we walked out the door, I told John to check the mailbox; about a week before, I had ordered a brand new 8 GB High Capacity memory card for my camera because I wanted to video the birth. Sure enough, it had arrived that day in the mail, just in the nick of time!

My contractions had started at home, but they weren't too bad. I was feeling great and I was giddy. I was calling my family and friends, excitedly telling them I was in labor. I think I received my epidural around 8:30 or 9:00 that night. I was dreading this part, since it was rather painful when I got it with Reagan, but my anesthesiologist was awesome and it went really smoothly this time. Of course, once I had the epidural, life was wonderful. I sent John home to put Reagan to bed and when he returned, we tried to figure out what Avery's middle name would be. We kept throwing out names, seeing how each one sounded with Avery. I remember very clearly the moment that he suggested the name Olivia. I said it aloud, Avery Olivia Mendez, and then said "I love it!" He agreed and that was it. We had finally decided on her full name.

I was in no rush to give birth before midnight ... in fact, I was trying to stall, since I didn't want her birthday to be the day after Halloween either. I also had my own agenda: if I gave birth AFTER midnight, it would technically be Friday morning and I'd get an extra night in the hospital! Some people would rather go home as soon as possible after having a baby. Not me. I wanted as much time in the hospital as possible! Being in the hospital was like a mini vacation for me. The rooms of this new maternity wing were very nice and the bathroom looked like a luxurious hotel. A hospital is a place where you get to lay in bed and focus on resting and recovering. A place where they bring you 3 warm meals a day. I don't care what anyone says about hospital food; to me, anything that is cooked for me and brought to me on a tray while I stay in bed tastes pretty darn good. Anyway, I wanted to give birth on Friday morning as opposed to Thursday night so I could stay Friday and Saturday nights, then go home on Sunday. If I'd given birth at 11:55 PM, Thursday night would have counted as one of my nights and I would have been discharged on Saturday. So, I was in no rush.

For the most part, the Labor & Delivery area was pretty dead. There was a small staff of nurses, since the hospital was close to closing down. The first nurse that helped me get settled when I first arrived had gone home and a new nurse was now assigned to me. To be honest, I wasn't happy with her at all. The nurse that assisted Reagan's birth was awesome! Her name was Barbara and John was extremely impressed by her. So we were a little disappointed when the new nurse came in and she wasn't the most friendly. Here's a woman who was going to be a part of one of our greatest moments - we certainly wanted to share it with someone who was warm, kind and excited to be there. Around midnight, all kinds of alarms went off and all the nurses disappeared. Apparently, a woman was giving birth, but had to go into an emergency C-section. My doctor was the "Doc-in-a-box" (what they call the doctor who is there and on-call for emergencies), so he had to go perform the C-section.

At 1:10 AM, Dr. Dicker came in to check on me and apologize, in case we felt abandoned by everyone. At this point, I asked, "So Doc, when will it be time to start pushing?" He responded with, "as soon as you start to feel a lot of pressure." Obviously, I had an epidural, so I wasn't feeling any contractions, but I was definitely feeling pressure and I had been for a while. But I wasn't uncomfortable and I certainly didn't know whether or not it was time to push. He asked if I'd like him to check me, to see how far I was dilated (I think I'd been at an 8 or 9 the previous time he'd checked me). I told him to check me, then he made one of his usual jokes, "Well, let's make this quick because I go on break at 1:15." I'm writing this because we all looked at the clock and noticed it was 1:10, then we all laughed, since obviously, doctors don't take scheduled breaks. When he checked me, he said, "Oh, no wonder you're feeling pressure, I can see her head! It's time to push!" All the nurses were still tending to the woman who had just had an emergency C-section, so Dr. Dicker had to pull two nurses from the post-partum side that didn't typically work in Labor & Delivery. These nurses were both wonderful! I was so happy that they were there instead of the other nurse!

It took about 5 minutes for Dr. Dicker and the nurses to get everything set up ... they were moving very quickly, getting all the tools and instruments ready and getting me situated. John was getting the camera ready, but then Dr. Dicker said it was against hospital policy to allow the birth to be videoed. Bummer.

Around 1:15, Dr. Dicker told me it was time to push. When Dr. Shakarjian (Dr. Dicker's partner)said these words to me during Reagan's delivery, I panicked! We were only 2 weeks into our 6 week long birthing class and hadn't learned anything about pushing yet! I felt clueless that day. I had no idea what I was doing. It was a good thing Reagan was only 4 pounds, 2 ounces because she was so easy to push out. When it came time to push with Avery, I announced, "I didn't know what I was doing last time, so I still don't know how to push!"

Then I started to laugh. And I couldn't stop! Pretty soon, everyone there was laughing, Dr. Dicker, the two nurses, John and me. Dr. Dicker would say, "Push" and I would laugh even more. I was giddy. The more I laughed, the funnier the whole situation became. Dr. Dicker said, "I think you'll be my first patient to laugh the baby out of you!" I think I pushed about 4 times. I honestly can't remember, since all I remember is all the laughing that was taking place! It was truly a joyous moment.

At 1:19 AM on Friday November 2nd 2007, Avery Olivia Mendez entered the world and took her first breath. Yes, it was only about 4 minutes of pushing and laughing. It was honestly one of the most incredible moments of my entire life and I look back at it so fondly. As soon as the nurses took Avery to the bassinet to weigh her and towel her off, Dr. Dicker allowed John to turn on the video camera. We got the next 20 minutes on video as they took care of Avery and I delivered the placenta (nothing graphic on video, just footage of Avery and the nurses). Avery weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

This was around 1:40 AM ... John let me hold Avery first, then I handed her to John ... here's the video of John holding Avery for the first time:

Reagan holding her baby sister for the first time

Dr. Battista (her pediatrician) giving her an initial exam

Nila and Avery

I was blessed to receive many visitors during my hospital stay, which made me very happy.

John's cousin Jose and John's brother Jesus

Jose and Doreen

Gabby holding Avery

Meredith

Nicole

The Trimm Family

Sunday morning ... preparing to leave the hospital

Can you believe I caught this little grin on camera when she was only 2 days old??? I just love it!

Family of 4 leaving the hosptial

Papa and his girls

Avery has always been such a happy girl and I've often joked that it's because "I laughed her out of me!" It's hard to believe this all happened 1 year ago, since I remember it like it was yesterday. She has been such an amazing addition to our little family and it's hard to imagine life without her. She brings us so much joy and her sweet smile is always contagious. We love our little Avery and look forward to many wonderful years ahead!