Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Love, Mark, Susan, & Emma
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Welcome, Emma!
Lying on the bed next to me as I type this entry is the newest edition to the Mission: La Paz Team. Emma Izabella was born in the early morning (3:50AM to be exact) on Saturday, December 10th in Fidepaz Hospital, La Paz, Mexico. Emma weighs in at a healthy 8.2lbs and is 19.5 inches long, with lots of dark hair, blue eyes, and at the moment…a case of the hiccups. She joined us after 25 hours of labor which began at about 3AM on the 9th. At 8AM we had a regularly scheduled appointment with our OBGYN and our friend, and translator (and the inspiration for Emma’s middle name) Iza. After one final ultrasound the doctor indicated that he would be seeing us later in the day!
After running several errands, we arrived at home and thought it might be a good idea to start timing the contractions. A call to Susan’s doula (birthing coach), her arrival, and a re-checking of my math, and we were loading up the truck to meet the doctor at the hospital (that was about 2:30ish). With a quick examination it was determined that Susan was only dilated about 1cm. The doctor sent us home. We were disappointed, but began to prepare for what would become a rather long night.
Susan’s doula (also named Susan) rejoined us at our apartment around 5:30 pm, and we all decided to take a walk around the block. The contractions continued to grow stronger and increase in frequency, so at 7:30 we headed to the doctor’s office this time. His examination revealed that Susan was now dilated 5cm, and it was time to go to the hospital, where things progressed nicely until Susan hit the 8cm mark, where things stalled out for over 3 hours. No more dilation and the contractions were beginning to fall off.
The doctors, knowing our desire to have a natural birth – a rare thing here, became concerned because of the strain on little Emma indicated by spikes and drops in her heart rate. We did not want to go the Cesarean route, so we opted for medication to quicken the frequency and intensity of the contractions. Still nothing. Our now weary doctor and staff gave Emma another 10 minutes to get moving. She did, and with that we moved into the delivery room for the final push (Ok, pushes).
After Emma was born, she spent only enough time in the nursery to get thoroughly checked out by our pediatrician and a bath…she has been with us ever since!! She is absolutely beautiful in our incredibly biased eyes, and we can’t believe she’s actually here!
Susan handled the delivery amazingly, and is recovering well. Emma has been receiving visitors constantly, and we are finding time to rest whenever she allows.
Thank you all once again for all of your love, your prayers, and your unending letters of support and encouragement. We cannot wait for you all to meet our beautiful Mexican daughter Emma!
After running several errands, we arrived at home and thought it might be a good idea to start timing the contractions. A call to Susan’s doula (birthing coach), her arrival, and a re-checking of my math, and we were loading up the truck to meet the doctor at the hospital (that was about 2:30ish). With a quick examination it was determined that Susan was only dilated about 1cm. The doctor sent us home. We were disappointed, but began to prepare for what would become a rather long night.
Susan’s doula (also named Susan) rejoined us at our apartment around 5:30 pm, and we all decided to take a walk around the block. The contractions continued to grow stronger and increase in frequency, so at 7:30 we headed to the doctor’s office this time. His examination revealed that Susan was now dilated 5cm, and it was time to go to the hospital, where things progressed nicely until Susan hit the 8cm mark, where things stalled out for over 3 hours. No more dilation and the contractions were beginning to fall off.
The doctors, knowing our desire to have a natural birth – a rare thing here, became concerned because of the strain on little Emma indicated by spikes and drops in her heart rate. We did not want to go the Cesarean route, so we opted for medication to quicken the frequency and intensity of the contractions. Still nothing. Our now weary doctor and staff gave Emma another 10 minutes to get moving. She did, and with that we moved into the delivery room for the final push (Ok, pushes).
After Emma was born, she spent only enough time in the nursery to get thoroughly checked out by our pediatrician and a bath…she has been with us ever since!! She is absolutely beautiful in our incredibly biased eyes, and we can’t believe she’s actually here!
Susan handled the delivery amazingly, and is recovering well. Emma has been receiving visitors constantly, and we are finding time to rest whenever she allows.
Thank you all once again for all of your love, your prayers, and your unending letters of support and encouragement. We cannot wait for you all to meet our beautiful Mexican daughter Emma!
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