What's in a Name?

I wasn't even pregnant with her when I started thinking of names for a baby girl because I was having a major baby fever. It wasn't like we were planning or anything but I have been daydreaming endless of having a daughter. I kept telling the mister back then that if we are going to have a baby girl I'll name her "Rucy" which I first heard from a game Roand was playing when he was around 2 years old and nickname her "Rucky." I coined "Rucky" from my pseudo-name Rac (my initials backwards) and from the mister's first name - Lucky... ergo "Rucky." I liked it so much I changed my Instagram user name to Rucky1012. This was several months before I got pregnant. Now when we found out we were in fact having another baby, I started thinking of baby girl names that would go with the nickname "Rucky." (Yes, I was only thinking of baby girl names like I was positive I was gonna have a girl). So there's Rucy. I really liked it and it sounded like "Lucy" and I like the name Lucy. It's "Lucky" without the "K" so... And I liked it more when I heard the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. But I know my mother wouldn't approve and I was right. In her opinion, it's short for... well, the fallen angel's name so Rucy and Lucy are definitely out of the question. I stumbled upon the name "Rocio" too while looking for more baby girl names but I get tongue tied every time I say it. And so I couldn't think of a single name that would go with "Rucky" unless I go for "Raquel" but I already know a lot of Raquels so I tried of thinking of other names. There's Anatalia, Amelia, Isabella, and then there's Danisque or Daniella and nickname her "Dani" after Daenerys of Game of Thrones. (Yes that's how much I love the mother of dragons..!). The mister however has his heart set for "Marley" after - you guessed it, Bob Marley and although I like Bob Marley (who doesn't really?) I don't think I'll name my kid after him. Plus it reminds me of the dog from Marley and Me, so no mister, let me handle this lol! And then I thought of naming her "Abigail" after my name which means "Father's joy" and add another first name that starts with "C" like I have. I thought of Catarina or Caterina, Camilla, Cara, Claire and Caitlyn but none of it rings right. Then we saw the movie Noah and one of the characters was named "Ila" played by Emma Watson, one of my favorite actresses. The mister and I both like how it sounded and agreed it's a cute nickname. So I started to look for names that have "Ila" and that's when I found the name "Kalila" which is an Arabic name meaning "dearly loved." I changed the "K" to "C" and thus the name Calila Abigail. And she is indeed dearly loved and definitely her father's joy. :)

My Baby Love

I've always wanted to do newborn photography and I plan to take classes someday. So when I found out I was pregnant, I got pretty excited and couldn't wait to take photos of my precious little one. I pinned tons of newborn photos on Pinterest and watched a dozen tutorials on newborn photography and newborn posing and looked for props. When she finally came though, we were all tired and blissfully exhausted (if that even makes sense to you), and we just wanted to enjoy her that I kept putting off the photo sessions I've been planning to do. Also it took a while for all of us to settle in with a new routine of taking care of two. And before we know it, she was already 2 weeks old. I wish I had taken photos earlier, when she was a little wrinkly and her eyes still puffy and looked all newborn-y.  I wanted to preserve her freshness and although she's a big baby (almost 8lbs) to begin with, I feel like she looked a lot tinier as a newborn than when I took these photos. What a difference 2 weeks could make on a baby. And  I already miss her newborn looks. Is it even possible to have baby fever when you just had a baby?

And Then There Were Four!

Wait... I have how many again? I can't believe I have two babies now! Well not really two 'babies' as my first born, Roand, is now 5yo. But! He's still my baby (don't tell him because he only lets me call him 'baby'  if it's just as two). But yeah, I am now a mother of two...! Yipes I feel old!

I have been forever wanting to blog about my baby girl's birth story... After all, what's a mommy blog without a birth story. Plus, I have tons I want to blog about but my being a little OC tells me I should, of course, start off with my little one's birth story. 

But first some back story... As I was getting close to my due date, which was December 12th, my husband and I were both getting very excited and a little anxious too. My braxton hicks contractions were getting intense too so I thought the baby would be coming earlier than expected. Boy was I wrong! Two weeks before my due date, I went into labor, or so I thought. I woke up the husband and told him we better get ready to go to the hospital. He suddenly got up, and looked at me wide-eyed and had this look - I wasn't sure whether it was of excitement or panic, or maybe both. It was cute watching him process the information lol! After a full hour of contractions, I called the hospital and told them I was having strong contractions. They asked me a few questions, if my water broke, which didn't, if I had a bloody show -none, and the intervals and duration of each contraction, etc. I was instructed to stay at home and continue monitoring my contractions. And later on, the contractions stopped. Pfft! It was funny how we were both dressed up and packed and ready to go. Husband said, at least we had a bit of a dry run of how things are going to be. I was in the Philippines when I gave birth to Roand, and he was here in CA, so all of these feels new to him.

December 12 came and I still haven't given birth so I still went to my routine pre-natal checkup. The nurse jokingly said "What are you still doing here?" when she saw me and we both just started laughing and saying how baby girl is really taking her time. During checkup, I was told my cervix was open (1.5cm) and the baby is in position but still far up and doesn't look like she's about to come anytime soon. So we opted to schedule for an induced labor on the 20th.

December 15, Monday, I woke up at around 6:30 in the morning because I needed to pee and that's when I noticed I had a bloody show. I thought, okay maybe she's coming soon but I didn't want to get too excited so I went on ahead with my day. After dropping Roand off at school, I decided to work on blogging and posting more maternity photos which had the title "Daydreaming of You Little One." Around 11, my friend Mo came by and brought me a frappuccino (Thanks Mo if you're reading this!). While sipping the drink, I felt one strong contraction and Mo joked that the frap might put me in labor. She was probably right because later that night, an intense and painful contraction woke me up at around 10:30PM. I started timing the contractions which came every 7-9mins but they were really painful so I woke up the husband. I decided to take a hot shower to help me calm down and soothe the pain a little. Then I continued timing the contractions. Then it came every 5 mins, and since I couldn't handle the pain, I decided not to wait and time the contractions for a full hour and called the hospital. When they asked me how long have I been having the regular contractions, I told them it has only been 20 minutes but I couldn't bear with the pain anymore which is why I called. Then they instructed me to come to the hospital. We arrived there by 12:30AM. I was brought to the observation room where I was told my cervix is dilated at 5cm so that means I will be admitted (and not sent home whew). Then they moved me to the labor and delivery room. I remember feeling so cold I was shivering so the nurse brought me this warm blanket and it was so comforting! If I wasn't in so much pain, I would've snuggled right to sleep. The pain was getting more and more intense so I kept asking when can I have the epidural. I didn't have the epidural when I had Roand and I most definitely do not want to go through all that pain anymore. At 3:15 AM, I finally got the epidural and it felt like a miracle that in my mind I was thanking the gods of epidural. And I couldn't stop thanking the anesthesiologist. I swear I must have said 'thank you' 92 times. I absolutely felt no pain anymore. It was a total relief! Both I and the husband could finally relax. I even managed to squeeze in some shut-eye. At 4AM, I was at 7cm and they decided to artificially rupture my membranes. Then I was constantly being monitored because the baby's heartbeat was having dips and so they had to put me on oxygen support. I was also told that if there are no progress, they might do a vacuum extraction or worst case scenario, a Cesarean section. I remember   I was fervently praying everything goes normally and that I don't have to undergo CS. Several doctors even came to check on me. I'm not sure what time it was but one of the doctors said I was at 9cm and that things are looking better. We just need to wait for the baby to be in position. As morning came, I started having chills. I was shivering so bad and since I was coming down with a fever, I can't have those warm blankets anymore. (Can you tell how much I loved those warm blankets? Haha!)

It was probably around 9 in the morning when I was fully dilated and effaced. Baby girl was finally ready..! I started to push at 9:40AM with four people simultaneously coaching me all the way. I had two doctors, both sounded very approachable and a nurse that I totally adore because she sounded like an Aunt that's like a second mom to you. And the baby's pediatrician was there too, coaching me like a gym instructor would but at the same time giving me leg massage. And I have the mister by my side stroking my head from time to time. Talk about support system! When the baby's head was finally crowning, they asked me if I wanted to touch the baby's head and I said yes. When I touched her head, at first it was the most surreal feeling, I mean that was a head popping out of my -you know. I have assisted in deliveries before but this was different. Then I felt this surge of emotions and I just wanted to see her and hold her some more and that definitely motivated me to push.At 10:13AM, baby girl was finally out..! When they placed her on my chest, and we were skin to skin, I can't help but feel so emotional and for a moment, it was just as two and everything else just faded in the background. It was the most magical moment. I took a peek at the mister and I knew, he was in the moment too. How I wished Roand was there that time with us too to complete our now family of four...