Two years ago today, December 19, at 7.06AM I received the best Christmas present ever, one that I had been waiting more than 5 years for – the birth of my baby!
Here we are two years later. How time flies! I still can’t believe Buggy is two! I still miss those baby years but so looking forward to all things to come and create so many more memories.
To my amazing, happy, silly beautiful little girl. You are my biggest blessing and the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am honored to be your Mother. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for you. He knew I had always wanted a little girl and after struggling for so long to have a baby my prayers were finally answered. Te quiero mucho mi Angelita. (I love you so much my little Angel).
I had the worst pregnancy. I was nauseas and throwing up until 25 weeks. I had absolutely no desire to eat whatsoever but I had to eat every 3 hours so I wouldn’t get sick, the lousy catch 22. I had to eat full hot meals. Everyone used to tell me to eat crackers or protein bars or a snack here but not me, I needed real food but food was my enemy. The only time I didn’t feel sick was when I was asleep.
For nine months I ate eggs and pancakes for breakfast and I remember sitting at my kitchen island trying to swallow my food and in tears because I didn’t want to eat. I would beg my doctor to give me an IV so that I wouldn’t have to put food in my mouth. The worst part was having to throw up at work. People could hear me throwing up if they walked by the bathroom. If someone was in the bathroom and I was puking my brains out they knew who was in there. After work I would grab any kind of fast food and call my husband on the way home and tell him to start dinner and have to eat again – God it was horrible! But as long as I was eating I guess Buggy was good – that’s all that mattered – the little bugger!
I was HUGE, I weighed 200lbs at the end of my pregnancy and I was swollen like you wouldn’t believe. My legs and feet were the size of tree trunks. I could barely walk and when I did I dragged my feet as if they had weights on them. Towards the end I got pre-eclampsia and after weeks of begging to get this baby out, my doctor finally agreed to induce me on my due date – if I didn’t go into labor. Can I tell you that I had the best best doctor in the world – and he was a hotty too! I don’t get how you spend nine months of your pregnancy seeing your doctor and then when you give birth they may not be the one delivering your baby. Well that wasn’t gonna happen with me. I kept telling Dr. Quaas that I he had to be there to deliver Buggy or we would have to induce. I didn’t want a stranger delivering my baby girl. I told him I would work around his vacation seeing as it was almost Christmas and all, but he better be there. I planted this seed in his head months and months earlier so he had fair warning.
December 18 was my due date and that morning we were going into the hospital to be induced. At 5.45A I started to feel the drop and I knew I was going into labor but I went back to bed for a couple more hours. Hey on TV they tell you not to come in unless the contractions are minutes apart so I figured I had plenty of time and my appointment wasn’t until 11 anyway. When I got up again I told hubby what was happening and he went into panic mode. “Did you call the doctor? We should go to the hospital he kept insisting”. Nah we got plenty of time I say. I need to make sure that my furbabies are taken care of first. Did I mention that it was about 45 min -1 hour ride to get to Boston to Mass General Hospital, depending on traffic. S’all good though. And then on the way there the contractions started really coming and dang they really hurt. I have a very low threshold to pain but I was holding my own, being a trooper. I think baby daddy was afraid my water would break and I’d spew that stuff all over the place.
Once at the hospital I check in and after a quick exam they send me up to L&D. I was 1 centimeter dilated. That was the beginning of a long night. I had to wait quite a while to get my epidural because I was on a Heparin, a blood thinner and they had to wait for the blood test to come back so they gave me a local in the meantime. Given the chance to do over I would definitely have skipped the local. I was so out of it and totally woozy that I was not able to hold Buggy when she was born. I have to admit that when I finally got the epidural I was so happy and really happy when they gave me the self inject button but I was a bit disappointed that I could still feel stuff. Everyone used to say get the Epi cuz you won’t feel a thing. Umm, yea I did. Towards the end I kept arguing with them that I could still feel the pain and sometime in the middle of the night they brought someone up and adjusted the damn thing. It was good but come to find out what you are really feeling is pressure from the baby moving down the canal. Hmmm, still painful. It took FOREVER to get fully dilated even with the Pitocin. Because of the T.I.A-mini stroke I had a few years prior, I had an amazing team on standby during my delivery. At one time we had a little scare when my blood pressure dropped and about 8 people ran into the room to check on me.
Dr. Hottie came in a few times to check on me because he was doing a delivery a few doors down but mentioned that he was off around 6AM. I think he took advantage cuz I was somewhat out of it with the local and couldn’t argue with him. Finally around 6:15AM one of the doctors come in to check on me and said I was finally dilated and they are going to break my water. I had heard about those knitting needles and was freaking out but then I remembered me not gonna feel anything because my buddy Epidural was there for me. Thank goodness I had started watching 16 And Pregnant because I was totally prepared for all this – Thank you MTV! (dripping sarcasm).
When it was time to push Dr. Hottie – umm I mean Dr. Quaas came in and I was so excited to see him. He told me that he just finished with his previous delivery and wanted to stay and deliver Buggy. See I told you he was amazing! I was so happy and hellooooo Dr. Hottie - ok I was too groggy, yea that wouldn’t have worked! Ummm, don’t worry baby daddy, I was under heavy medication, I did not know what I was thinking! Ok, so anyway, I push about 3 times and 35 minutes later out pops my little Angel. Unfortunately, baby daddy couldn’t cut the cord. They had to take Buggy away immediately because she had pooped while she was still inside me. It’s called Meconium. It is a greenish-black color and very sticky, tarry in its texture. If a baby passes it after birth there is no danger to it and it just naturally leaves the baby's body in the first few days after birth but it can pose real danger when it is passed in utero.
There were so many people in the room. All my teams were were amazing - IVF, Hematology and Pediatricians. I cannot say enough about the care that we received at Mass General. Dr. Quaas is now training in Reproductive Endocrinology & IVF in California.
Here are some pics from her party. She had an amazing time! The kids all loved it. Happy Birthday Buggy Boo. Thank you for making me laugh, thank you for the happy tears and thank you for making me the happiest, silliest Mami. I love You So Much! Daddy and I are so happy you had a wonderful day.
I have so many wonderful childhood Christmas memories. For me, Navidad (Christmas) is the best of all the Puerto Rican cultures. It is an amazing celebration. You have Christmas Eve (Nochebuena), Christmas Day (Navidad) and New Years Eve (Despedida de Ano). We also celebrate Little New Years (El Dia De Los Reyes). This is especially big for kids. We always keep our tree up until Little New Years.That is generally too long for my husband but I love it and I hope Buggy will come to enjoy it as well. My mother was one of eight which means I have a lot of cousins. It was great because we all grew up together. We had so much fun. You always had someone to play with and it was even better during the holidays.
Growing up my family always had a fake tree. After Thanksgiving we go down to the basement and bring up that box and put the tree together. You finagle with the branches to get them just right, add the ornaments, the garland - the horrendous looking garland, and of course you can't forget about the tinsel. 
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