We are home! I wanted to post and thank you all for being so wonderful and loving. The three of us are so in love and happy. All healthy and ready to get our lives together started.

I plan on doing a set of blogs about our delivery of Claire but I know lots of you have been emailing and want some deets haha so here is a quick run down of our little loves entrance into the world.

*I labored at home for three days, steady surges and lots of breathing exercises. 
*Admitted into birth center at 4am on Saturday the 10th and labored there in the tub for 11 hours, the hypnobirth breathing really paid off. I lost control only a few times but was able to regain my composure.
*Reached ten centimeters in the tub and began to push, after about an hour midwives assessed that there was a problem and we headed to Long Beach Memorial.
*Labored for about an hour before I had to get an epidural because her head was pinching my spine and I could not stand, squat, sit or lay down which made things difficult.
*Labored about another hour when they realized that Claire had been stuck in birth canal for too long and due to this her head had swollen which was why after three hours at 10 centimeters she was not able to come out.
*C section and the birth of our baby girl!!
*Stayed in hospital until Tuesday the 13th at 4pm.

Of course there is so much to say but the answer to the most frequently asked question is, "are you upset about your change of plans"
Short answer is - nope.

I had a few goals on how I wanted to bring Claire into this world. I wanted to use hypnobirth methods, a midwife, no drugs, labor in a tub and be as involved as I could in the choices that needed to be made. I pretty much did every single thing I wanted to do in my labor plan. I reached full dilation with no drugs and used breathing and water to make labor a memorable experience. I had a midwife with me at every step of the way. I pushed for a few hours before I needed an epidural and even after that with the need of a c section, Ryan and I were completely involved in making the decisions. Yes, plans changed and I am not in love with this incision but it will heal and I am very very in love.

Thank you for your support - Team Z loves you!


Family photo instagram photo dump.

Huge thank you to my family, my mother and father have had their rv in Long Beach since August 3rd and have been by our sides every single day, even with my dad commuting to Oxnard for work. They are so  giving and we could never have gotten through this without them.
Ryans family has also been with us so much since the, almost daily they have helped us with Claire, food and just about anything we need.
We are so lucky and I cannot say thank you enough.

... I have hit a wall. 41 weeks I guess is my point when I cry, get a little scared and start to wonder if all of this prep was for nothing. Right now I am feeling a little bit down in the dumps ...

I am just going to tell you about how this week has been going because the surges come and go and I want to remember the days before my labor.

Sunday was awesome, my sister Stephanie arrived! The 5 of us headed to Roscoe's and I pretty much drank the hot sauce haha spicy food has done nothing induction wise but I still think it is the tastiest way to eat so I am keep it up. Having my parents staying at the RV park has been really nice, my mom made us a gigantic batch of my favorite spaghetti I was able to freeze some sauce and we also all had a bowl. I think that might be one of my favorite dishes but my mom has a ton that I love and cannot seem to replicate. Ryan had been home since mid day Thursday and that was wonderful, I love having him here more often and I am looking forward to his time off work when Claire joins us.

Monday also was really nice, my dad and Ryan went off to work for the day and that left my mom, sister, Claire and me to our own devices. We had boba, relaxed in the sun at the RV park, napped, had more spaghetti and just enjoyed having a whole day together with nothing to do. This is also the day I finally decided to give castor oil a shot, everything I read online said to drink two tablespoons with oj and I was nervous so in the morning I gave 1 teaspoon a shot. Nothing happened. That evening I decided to give 1 tablespoon a shot and a few hours passed and still nothing really. Once I climbed into bed at midnight I woke up every hour as usual to use the restroom but I also was having some surges, they felt stronger and more consistent than usual so once 4am hit I knew I was not going back to sleep and decided to start trying to track these just to see what was happening. They lasted about a minute each time and from 4am to 8am they came every 4 - 8mins. 

Tuesday morning I was up at 4am and these surges did not feel strong enough and/or consistent enough to reach out to the midwife, plus I had my appt for my 41 week check up at 9am. But, I got a call at 7am letting me know that a woman was in labor and they would need to postpone my appointment until 3pm. I hung up in tears and this was really one of the first times that I felt letdown. Instead of moping all day my mom took my sister and me out for manis/pedis and a pho lunch date. It is really nice having them here especially since Ryan is still at work and we haven't had this much time together in a long time - missing Melissa though but she will be home in a few weeks. My midwife appt was a much longer one than I had expected, they did a stress test to make sure that Claire is doing well which they strap me in and watch her heartbeat and my uterine movements for 20 minutes, Claire was sleeping so I ate a banana and drank ice water and that got her going. She looked great and was responding well. I also had my amniotic fluid monitored and all is good there. Now the fun stuff: dilation check and a membrane sweep. I am 1 cm dilated and still 70% effaced, because of this she was able to do a membrane sweep, what that is: during an internal examination, she will sweep a finger around your cervix (neck of your womb). This action should separate the membranes of the amniotic sac surrounding your baby from your cervix. This separation releases hormones (prostaglandins) which may kick-start your labor within 48 hours. This is not the most comfortable thing I have ever been through but whatever I am ready to get this going and there are not many natural induction techniques left for me to try. They say that if labor is on the horizon that the sweep can get it going within 48 hours. Fingers crossed. I guess Tuesday was a big day - I also tried the castor oil. My midwife laughed at me about the teaspoon and tablespoon I tried. She suggested I shoot 4 tablespoons and chase it with a little bit of root beer, I went home a little bit nervous but at 7pm I chugged it all. Nothing occurred until midnight. 

Wednesday, everyone else was asleep and I made a little bed in the hallway next to the bathroom so I wouldn't have to either get off the couch or struggle to get off my high bed. I was able to handle the waves for awhile - they were a totally new sensation though, nothing like the prelabor surges so I knew that they were the real thing. I know that they could be mostly from the oil but I started timing them anyway and waited about an hour to wake up Ryan. From 1am - 8am Ryan sat with me, walked with me, made me a chicken sandwich and even my sister happened to wake up and help me out. They were steady, lasting about 45 seconds to 1 minute and they were about 3 to 6 mins apart. We ended up talking to my midwife at 3am and she said to give her a call back once I could not walk through them or talk at all. That didn't happen so here we are. I have had surges all day, I've gone on a few walks and I am wishing for active labor to start. This post was very long winded but thought I would get it all out while I remember. Hoping to meet Claire soon :)



Instagram Photo Dump

Hi sweetie, how are you? 41 weeks huh? You must be feeling really comfortable and calm. I have always promised I would never 'evict you' haha or get angry with you for taking your time and I am keeping my promise but I do want to meet you. I really would like you and me to do this together instead of having any sort of medical induction. I believe in you and us, we all cannot wait to meet you. My body is gearing up  to bring you into this world and as uncomfortable as it can be sometimes I know it will all be worth it. Right now we are surrounded by family and I know that they are hoping you arrive tonight or tomorrow since my sister is heading out of town on Friday. 
I think I need to go get some rest to be ready for you, love you get some rest so that we can get this going. 
Love you baby
Mommy

40 weeks and 5 days pregnant. 

These past few days have been pretty crazy, our first due date passed [the one the midwife gave us] and then our second due date passed [the one our first doctor gave us] and now here we are at almost 41 weeks. Thankfully Claire and I are still feeling pretty good. Only new aches and pains are not surprising ones: I feel heavy, a little uncomfortable and tired. I was able to attend my girlfriends wedding AND dance the night away. Yes I paid for it the next day and was not able to leave the couch but at least I was able to have a blast and make some memories with all of my friends and celebrate the new Mr. & Mrs. Brenes.

My parents are also in town now and we are waiting for Stephanie to arrive, looking forward to a whole week with them and hopefully with a newborn baby too but we'll see it is very obvious that she has her own agenda. Ryan has always thought our estimated due date was too early and he is holding on to Aug. 5th as when she will join us. Today we are off to Roscoe's to introduce my parents to chicken & waffles and I plan on drinking lots of hot sauce haha.

Just saying hello, not too much to report. Thank you for all your kind texts and calls, it is nice to be thought of.

Nikol

Cheers!!! THE BIG DAY IS FINALLY HERE

Erica & Ryan are tying the knot today and I could not be more excited for them! They have been together for so long and we all knew this day was coming, 13ish months ago when Ryan proposed to her at her Cupcake Wars party I started to get ready for an epic celebration.

So excited to be a part of their special day, I recorded myself giving my bridesmaid speech just in case I was not able to make it to the rehearsal but thankfully I was able to join in on the fun! What a wonderful celebration, thank you to Tina for having us all and introducing us to wings n things but since we made it and all thought I would still go ahead and share:

Look how lovely their engagement pictures are! Cannot wait to see the beautiful job that Melissa McClure does! Excited to head over to prep with the beautiful bride and then see her exchange loving vows with the lover of her life and soon to be husband, Ryan Brenes at the Newland House.

Team Z wishes you all the happiness in the world, being married is so much fun and we know you two and we know that you will make the most of every single day together. I hope that you have the most perfect day and that your celebration continues for years.
Love you both!
Nikol & Ryan

My parents went to Vegas and eloped 33 years ago today! 

They are an example of a great marriage and I always knew I wanted to find a man like my father and I wanted to love someone and have a life like my parents do. 
They are a true love story, they met while my mom was on a date at an ice rink with a man who did not speak spanish very well so he called my dad and asked him to come translate. My dad then asked my mom out instead and the rest is history! They only dated for a short time, a few months, and then they ran off to Vegas and made it official. 

Hope that they have the best day celebrating and that they enjoy their trip to Thailand in October!

love you
Nikol
















Can't wait for Ryan & I to hit a few big milestones of our own