Ezra Cameron Alofa Stevenson

Since my last post, things escalated pretty quickly and I ended up having our little boy 10 days early. I have quite the story about his birth so sit back and read away! Long Post! Enjoy!

Oct 15th

Since Ezra has a Congenital Heart Defect which we detected at 20, weeks my high risk Dr. had me do Antipartum testing also known and Non Stress Tests twice a week to ensure he wasn't developing an arrhythmia or there wasn't excess fluid building up within his body or in the amniotic sac. Well this time I went in and I was pretty exhausted but I didn't think anything of it, I just figured "i'm 38 weeks pregnant, I'm bound to be exhausted." Well during NST they check your vitals to ensure all is well, when the nurse checked my blood pressure it was at 137/92 which is pretty high. Now I usually have high blood pressure after I walk up to NST because I just walked a bit so we decided to check again after we did the testing (20 minutes of heartbeat monitoring and 1 fetal ultrasound to ensure baby is moving). My blood pressure after was high and it ended up going up to 144/105 so the nurse decided to send me to triage for further evaluation. In triage they monitored my BP every 10 minutes as I lay there and it was still basically the same. UH OH. The triage Dr. called Dr. Henry which is my high risk dr. and they decided that I should be induced to avoid eclampsia because I was basically at a level of pre-eclampsia. Let the fun begin! I was SO excited that I was going to have Ezra! I could not wait! They moved me into Labor and Deliver and started me on cervadil medicine to thin out my cervix.While we waited we enjoyed the last few hours before we became mom and dad! My mother in law who was supposed to be back in Australia by this point but hadn't been able to make it on the plane because she was on a stand by ticket was still here after 2 extra weeks! I was really excited that she was going to be able to meet her first grandson so she was definitely going to be in the room while I delivered. Cervadil started at 2 and by 8 pm i was 50% effaced(thinned out) and 1 cm dilated(open). My nurse said that I would probably have the baby by 4 am since I was already dilating so YAY! We got our beds ready and slept to rest in hopes to wake up in pain and with a baby on the way for reals. lol. Might I add I was already super excited although I was having minor contractions and cheering them on so my family kept telling me I wasn't in "real labor" yet because I wasn't in real pain. lol. they were right! 4 am came and went with no baby so they checked my progress and unfortunately there was none so they gave me cervadil. Here are some photos of that day before we get into the fun stuff!

Oct. 16th

12 pm came and I had been getting more intense contractions but I had not really progressed although I was at 70% effaced and still only 1cm dilated. I was given one last cervadil pill at that time and things escalated pretty quickly from there. The pain got extremely intense and by 5 pm my water broke on its own! I decided to get pain medication because the pain was too excruciating so I got morphene which was just so weird! That only worked for a couple of hours while I showered and got "ready" and took  a short nap. The pain got so bad that mona literally just held my had and we counted until the contractions left the womb. lol. I got the epidural because I was in SO much pain and by 8 pm I was 8 cm dilated and getting closer to the third stage of labor! WOOHOO!! 

Oct. 17th

So 12pm came and my epidural WORE OFF! I was in So much pain and I was at 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced so here comes my baby, OH WAIT! one big problem, EZRA was "sunny side up" which means he is basically trying to do a back flip out of the birth canal and that makes the pushing stage extremely difficult and painful (GREAT) SO I pushed, and pushed and pushed FOR TWO HOURS and no baby. At this point I was so exhausted and in so much pain I asked for other options to save my self from more pain and I was scared about how Ezra was, 2 hours in the birth canal can't be too good. And it sure wasn't, my blood pressure shot up and Ezra's oxygen level started to drop so I asked to get a C-section and my dr agreed. Originally they wanted to see if I could get him out in another hour but then that happened so they took me to the OR. It was 2 am and i was so tired and groggy and my epidural sucked and I couldn't wait to meet my little guy. 3:18 am was when we heard his cry. It was absolutely beautiful. Mona and Ezra then went to have his first bath after I met him. He weighed 6 lbs 6 ounces and was 18 inches long. I was 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant and our little blessing couldn't be any more perfect. 

Coming home

After a couple of nights in the hospital we learned that our little boy for sure had the AV Canal Defect so he will be needing surgery to repair his little broken heart in a few months. He doesn't really "cry" he screams lol and boy does he have a temper! I absolutely love everything about him. he loves to smile and reassures me he is strong every day. He has had an EKG, a Echocardiogram and an X-ray, he had jaundice for a week and has a little bit of fluid in his lungs due to a leaky valve in his heart. All of this and that boy keeps smiling, he smiles more than I do. Thats why he's strong, because although he has all these things he is still a happy boy that lets his mommy sleep at night, maybe we wake up twice a night but he doesn't throw fits unless he's hungry, cold or pooped. lol I love him. SO much. Thank you to every one who came and visited us. We haven't left the house much with Ezra due to it being the cold/flu season and RSV season so after his servidil shot tomorrow we will be able to take him out and feel protected from all the bugs out there. we love you all! 

38 weeks! It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!!

Wowsers, how terrible am I at blogging ? I told myself at the beginning of my pregnancy that I would try and blog at least every month just to keep a record of my pregnancy and to just have those memories everyone loves to have. Welp, not gonna happen! LOL. Anywho, since the last time you heard from me, a lot has happened. Well, obviously we are having a little boy, Ezra ________ Alofa Stevenson will be his name. The blank is left open because it is between Cameron and James. My husband hasn't decided what it will be so for now he is Ezra blank Alofa Stevenson. Alofa means love in Samoan and is also my late father in law's name. Well after week 20 we found out that my little nugget has a heart defect, similar to what I had when I was born but a little more severe and it might require surgery. His heart condition is called AV Canal Septal defect and basically it means he has a significant hole in both the Atria and Ventricle walls in his heart. From what we have seen lately it looks like it might only be ASD which is a hole in the Atria only but we won't be able to fully see what is going on until little Ezra is out of his womb. Besides that he is looking like a little champ. He looks like his daddy from what 4D ultrasounds have shown so we are excited! I literally am only 12 days out of my due date and a lot of things have changed since our last update. I no longer have serious food aversions or nausea. Im hungry every 2 hours and chocolate is my best friend. LOL. I love fresh foods and salads and veggies, fruits and just anything wholesome. Ezra is already head down, he's been head down since week 30 so good on him for not moving breech. I had a little stint in the hospital on week 32 because I had a positive Fetal Fibronectin Test which means I  could've delivered within 2 weeks of testing positive. I found out I had an infection and that's what caused preterm labor contractions and made that test positive. I was given Magnesium, which burned like a MOTHER, made me so so hot and nauseous i hope it never happens again. I was given penicillin for babies lungs to mature just in case and just monitored babies heart. Because of our little heart condition I do NST testing twice a week since week 30 to ensure that Ezra isn't developing an Arrhythmia or any excess fluid is going into his body or into the amniotic sac. So far his check ups have been great and he's a happy little guy so we are happy. I cannot wait to hold my little man, I literally have no words to describe how great pregnancy is and feeling his rolls, kicks and jabs has been the most amazing experience of my life. I am so sad that I only get 2 more weeks with him in my belly, we are 2 as 1 and this is the last few weeks that we will get to be together as one. His heart was built by mine, full of love. My husband is so ecstatic, he's been great helping me out and being patient while i go through all of the pregnancy side effects. I can't wait to see him raise our little boy into a fine young man. He's gonna do great. Anywho, I cannot wait to meet my Ezra. Until then, enjoy some photos!

xoxo

Mayra

20 weeks,AKA half way until we meet!

Hello! HOLA!

So the past 20 weeks have been a roller coaster! My body is so weird and i'm finally beginning to understand what i need to do to keep my body happy during pregnancy. Might I add that I myself mentally, am totally freaking pumped and excited to be a mommy, I fully understand that everything, and i mean everything that is going on is because i'm carrying a baby therefore causing all these crazy side effects to me. It began at 6 weeks with nausea, that same week my food aversions kicked in and shortly after the smells started to get me really really sick. I couldn't stand the thought of chicken caesar salads,anything greasy, the smell of greasy food, the thought of greasy food, seeing a mcdonalds commercial on TV, even a hamburger would trigger nausea. After week 12 is when my nausea got pretty intense and each time food came up, i peed my pants. lol. it still happens. oh well! hahah. I remember it being like the 3rd week after finding out I was expecting and i threw up and while it was happening I was just thinking, and oddly smiling, how grateful I was to be pregnant. I told my little squishy that I would endure anything, just to have them there. I was already so in love! The next fun pregnancy side effect or what ever you call them was pain-full. a calf cramp in the middle of the night. OH MY G. Im pretty sure it was a 7 on the scale of pain. The entire next day wasn't any better so I made sure to drink plenty of H2O to make sure it didn't happen again, it has not. NEXT symptom is my least favorite and actually came before the calf cramp, acid reflux… I've had to say farewell to chocolate and bananas during this pregnancy because either one of those 2 will give me THE WORST acid reflux. So i chose to avoid it like the plague. lol. Next symptom was as painful as the cramp and it just happened this past friday, a pinched nerve on some part of my rib cage… yowzaaa.. not my favorite symptom at all and apparently this is only the beginning of those little pains. YIKES. i'm definitely not looking forward to those! It was hard to breathe! WELL it is safe to say that I am experiencing a full force pregnancy and I LOVE IT. I wouldn't change a single thing. Another fun thing was finding out our little nuggets gender.. according to all of the old wives…

chinese gender calendar:Girl
Ramzi Theory: Girl
Skull Theory: Girl
Sleep on my left side:Girl

Ultrasound revealed: BOY!!!!

hahaha… A LITTLE MAN! And totally opposite of any old wives tales! I'm so excited to start my little family with a boy! He's going to be the protector for sure! All of my cousins are having girls this year so its nice to be the odd one out! I'm definitely going to teach our little man to protect his cousins, even if they're a few months older!

Pregnancy has been rough, well kind of, the side affects of being pregnant have not been fun. Specially the nausea, at 20 weeks it is still here, not daily but my aversions still kick in and punch me in the tummy from time to time.I LOVE feeling him kick, I love feeling him move and flutter around in my tummy! I love knowing that we are going to be blessed with this little soul in only 4 months! I can't wait to kiss his chubby cheeks and tell him how much he means to me! I can't wait to raise him to be a worthy priesthood holder! I can't wait to show him this world!


I'm so in love with my son…

now the task of finding a name!

adios,

Mayra

Our Little Blessing

If you've read the post before this one, it will give you a glimpse of what my life felt like in 2013. it was full of disappointing pregnancy tests, bitter smiles when someone else announced they were expecting and a little feeling of hopelessness. I was a hot mess. I couldn't help but worry about when "our time" would come and as quickly as i was to express my fears, everyone would quickly reply with "it will happen when its your time." "Our time" couldn't come quick enough. I had always had an irrational fear about being unable to conceive or not have babies, it was a fear that I've had since I was a teenager. I always knew I wanted to be a mom and have a big family, full of laughter and the gospel, it was definitely a dream. Now in November of 2013 It had been like 8 months of trying to get pregnant and most of my cousins were having or were expecting their first babies which made me so happy to hear! I couldn't wait to hold their little angels and spoil them with shower gifts and have little parties when they turned 1! I was so excited for them, but i felt so sad for me, why couldn't I get pregnant? why was this so difficult for us? I was always stressing about it, always talking about it, always fearing that I wouldn't have my chance at motherhood.
   

I know a few women, loving women, amazing women who have struggled with fertility, and while reaching out to one of them I realized it would be okay if we needed to see someone, it wasn't always bad news. Mona and I had talked about babies, and he know how much I cried and begged heavenly father for our own little blessing, being such a supportive and loving husband he would hold me, and place the blame on himself sometimes, then I would reassure him it was probably me. I needed to see someone about it. We decided late december that we were going to just relax and let loose, his sisters birthday in Australia was in January 2014 and we wanted to go. Our plan was to use our tax money to get passports and all that fun stuff to go to Australia in January the next year. Mona had just got a full-time job, he was working a low hour part time job at lens crafters, but finally he had a great opportunity to work full time. I started taking care of myself, working out daily and eating right. Finally my lady time had caught up with me and I was regularly getting my little friend every month! I wasn't too stressed about babies, and when people asked I was comfortable saying "maybe next year!" I was excited about the possibility of Australia, the possibility of traveling and just enjoying married life and not really stressing out about babies, money, cars or any of the usual stressors of life


Our 2 year anniversary came and went and at the end of the february I was working out LIKE MAD, lifting 30 lbs weights and throwing medicine balls up walls and running A LOT. It was around the lady time time and I noticed a little spot here and there, typical i thought hmmm, okay lady friend will be here tomorrow. The little spots continued for a week, concerned I asked a co-worker for advice and if she had ever experienced anything like that. She had, when she first got pregnant. I gulped, and said no way? I doubt thats what is happening. It was Monday Feb 24th. and every day after It was the same little drip drop, no lady time. It was really freaking me out but my friend kept begging me to take a test. She knew how much I wanted a baby deep inside so she was super excited for me since it was my "first sign" of a possible pregnancy. I was freaking out, I had already mentally prepared my self for not worrying about babies for this next year. Was this really happening? Am I really pregnant? I went home and told my husband the possibility of Friday night. I had also looked online for possible reasons for "spotting" for a week and all things pointed and implantation which is when the egg implants in the uterus. I had a pregnancy test at home from a few months back so i did some research and the blogs all said it was best to check in the morning during your first bathroom break. It was March 1st, around 5 am and I couldn't fully sleep because I knew I was going to take the test that next morning and I was really anxious to know, I just didn't want to get my hopes up. Then, I had to pee lol. perfect time right? haha! I went ahead and took out the test and tinkled on it. hahah. I set it down and looked away, I didn't even want to look at it because deep inside I so badly wanted to see that big positive. I finished up and then took a deep breath and said a little prayer, for my heart, I couldn't really take seeing another negative test because I knew it would destroy me deep inside, that whole week was full of the unknown in such a positive way because, WHAT IF i WAS pregnant?! how awesome would that be after so long! I looked at the test and in big bold letters it read: PREGNANT.



i'm pregnant. I'M PREGNANT!?!?!?! omg, OH MY GOODNESS… I'M GONNA HAVE A BABY, THERES A BABY INSIDE OF ME? OH M Y GOOOODNESS…

I couldn't be more excited.

i'm writing this now, because it was something I felt like sharing a while ago but now that I feel comfortable with knowing things are going well in my pregnancy, the fear of miscarrying (which was a  possibility at 7 weeks since i was spotting for 3 weeks straight)is gone. I wanted to let all you future mommy's, all those girls who are trying to conceive and are having a hard time, I feel your pain. I'm not sure how we got luck and after 2 years we've been blessed with this opportunity. I do know that Heavenly Father  works in HIS time, it is never our time. I thought for the longest time that I wasn't able to have babies, even though I never went to the doctor, I was never told that i wasn't able to, it was just a fear of mine since it took 2 years. 2 years to conceive. Keep trying, don't be too hard on yourselves and take a break, it honestly happened when we just didn't think about it. I understand that everyone is different and because our break from baby stressing got us pregnant doesn't mean it will happen to you but just know that it is okay to just relax and HAVE FUN! I lived in stress for 2 years, it was probably the hardest time of my life. Now i'm anxious about being a mommy, a good one.

Anywho, thank you for getting to this point of my blog. It's probably my longest post so thanks for sticking it out! May God Bless you all, in anything you want in life pray. Pray for guidance and Pray for strength, he will definitely bless you if you keep him as your #1 contact daily!

The Blues....

My heart races too often, I know its because I can't help but feel certain ways about certain situatious, wether it be good or bad, Its a feeling, and those make my heart rush. Lately I've wanted one thing so badly, a beautiful being. As I stand here, feeling like the only one "left out" of this "club" of lucky people with blessings starting in wombs, I stand here with a heart racing,wishing i were part of those lucky ladies too. It has been 2 years, and not that we've been trying that entire time, just that we've wanted our own little blessing for the majority of that time. It is hard for me to think about, I can't help but feel a bit jealous when someone announces they are expecting, and here I am hoping it were me too. I know our time will come, and I just have to be patient, but I cant help but feel sad. I can't help but feel my heart race a little faster than it usually does. I really hope I can be a mom some day, its no race, I know i'll be so blessed when it happens, i just wish it were sooner than later in life. 

-Mayra

hola!!!!

Hola Amigos y Amigas!!!

It has been quite some time since i've logged on and actually took some time to write things out. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I don't really get the privelege of using the laptop, my husband has totally claimed it! haha. But really! So here i am sneaking it out of his lap while he sits on his bum on his phone watching football videos. LOL. Anywho, a lot has happened since the beginning of summer! We of course had some fun times in June, July came by and we decided to take some beach trips, go fishing off of HB pier where we met a really cool homeless man who kind of shared his life story with us. I can't help but feel like I have to give people a moment of my time to hear some part of their life story when I encounter people like that, it really makes me feel like I am giving the world a chance, even if it is by listening to a story told by a drunken man. That night was quite interesting but i had a really good time with my husband! He's really been pushing this fishing thing on me because in Australia, its a way of life! I mean their beaches are perfect and ideal for fish,it is fresh since in a warmer climate so since we live in the land of oil rigs and smog town, fishing for semi mercury tainted fish is just not an ideal way to spend the day! haha but I tried. We explored San Pedro, we went to the fish markets down there where we had a really good lunch, we had fresh crabs and shrimps then ended the afternoon with a short hike on the beach and rainbow sherbert from thrifty's! I loved it! This month we've met up with friends and had nice dinners made for us, I'm starting to feel social again, so much we planned a weekend trip to a SAN FRANCISCO 49ers game in december with our really good friends Jerome and Amanda. We are beyond thrilled to see the niners play at candlestick. I don't think my husband could ever have a reason for being mad at me for the rest of this year! lol. but then again i do feel like this trip will be so much fun for me aswell! We LOVED san francisco so i'm excited to go back!!! Anywho, I just wanted to put it in writing,for memories sake! Pictures will be up later so until then, use your creative memory!


Buenas Noches!!

Mayrita!