Welcome to the world, Camilla.

Camilla Soriano Blake -- born June 8th, 1:34 A.M., weighing 6 lbs and 9 oz and 19 inches.

Most beautiful baby in the world!

It's funny how life is, we didn't even know I was pregnant until about 4 months in. I was feeling a little funny, but nothing out of the extraordinary. The day we went to the doctors and they put that doppler on my stomach, and we heard her heartbeat for the first time, well that was the first day of the rest of our lives.

Flash forward about 5 months later, (it was a relatively easy pregnancy, the only downside was getting PUPPS towards the near end), and on June 6th I woke up to a mild cramp. I thought: huh, that's weird. Several hours later, I had another one. Then another. As I was organizing some stuff at my desk, in the back of my mind I was wondering "Is this labor? Nahhh, it couldn't be."

But it WAS labor! Well, early labor. I was terrified, anxious, excited, and about a million other things. We went to the hospital twice as the cramps that were actually contractions got stronger and closer, but they kept denying me admission because I was not dilated enough just yet. Sigh, it was very frustrating. The second time we came home, I just burst into tears as I was already exhausted, in pain, and feeling hopeless - plus I was definitely paranoid that I'd be having the baby at home since the contractions were not only painful, but long lasting, and only a couple minutes apart.

I laid in bed for what seemed like an eternity with Desoto, our Doberman, laying next to my side. I could tell he was confused why I was crying, but I was comforted by the fact that he decided to stay with me anyway... even if I was cursing up a storm, wailing, and sobbing between contractions.

Finally, around 4pm on June 7th, I had had enough. We raced to the hospital again because I could barely walk, and Josh dropped me off at the front entrance to the hospital while he went looking for a parking spot. I could barely make it to the first pillar when I hunched over, clutched my stomach, and tried to breathe. What happened next was quite amazing - a lovely woman ran over to me, asked if I was alright, asked if I was in labor, (to which I replied: I think so?!?!) and then immediately ran to get me a wheelchair. She came back, sat with me on the bench, and comforted me while Josh ran like heck across the parking lot to us. She continued to comfort and console me, which in a town like this, is rare in a stranger -- and funnily enough, her kindness actually made me cry more. 

The wheelchair came, she wished us luck and told us, "You're having a girl? This is the easy part, wait some years down the road, and you'll see how hard it can really get!"

When I finally got into a room to be checked out -- it was good news. I was now 5-6 cm dilated and was being admitted.

FINALLY!!! Josh and I were ridiculously happy at this point... it had been a long long night and day of contractions. I was exhausted from barely having any sleep, but was anxious for what was to come. And geeze, were the contractions the next couple hours even more painful. I have utmost respect for women who give birth without any pain meds -- I just cannot imagine!
I was lucky enough to be able to get an epidural and once that hit, the contractions were literally nonexistent. That isn't to say the whole next part was a cake-walk because there were some other hurdles, (Camilla's heart rate dropped WAY down a few times and scared the CRAP out of us) Josh was on the ball though, and watched the monitors like a hawk. I felt bad because one time it happened I had fallen asleep and woke up to a rush of nurses and an oxygen mask being placed on my face, but all is well and good -- thank God.

The delivery part itself was pretty easy and pain free. I didn't feel a thing, other than some pressure. The nurse commented how my body must have been made to do this, because once she had me push, Camilla pretty much came without any fuss. They did have to break my water because apparently even though I was 10 cm dilated, my water still did not want to break. Ha! So once they broke it, it just snowballed from there. When the nurse had me push through the first few contractions, she actually told me to, "Stop! Wait! Don't push anymore, I have to get the doctor, she's ready to come out!"

Oh did I mention the labor and delivery room was EXCELLENT? It wasn't a room, it was more like a suite. It was huge, with a small flat screen, big windows, and it was very relaxing. The t.v. was on through the whole delivery, and I gave birth while also laughing to the Joey and Ross nap episode of Friends. It was a very positive experience in that labor and delivery room - the nurses were AWESOME, the doctor that delivered was my doctor throughout of the pregnancy, and all the while I was able to text my sister/family/Josh's mom AND watch good ol' Friends reruns.

Anyway! About 10 minutes full of hard pushing later, Camilla popped right out! It sort of felt like uncorking a wine bottle.. I could swear the noise was similar to that as well, hahaha! Once she did, I felt like I'd deflated. It was pretty awesome and amazing, and something I will NEVER forget. One thing no one mentions about childbirth is when the doctors press your belly for what seems like FOREVER to get all the extra crap out of there... so I literally DID deflate. Finally, when they were done playing bongo drums on my belly, they placed little Camilla on me and I could not believe she was really there. She cried maybe once or twice for a few seconds, but was otherwise very quiet. She was alert, her wide eyes blinked and looked around. I couldn't believe this was our little girl, the little baby girl that had been living inside my tummy for the past 9 months. The most perfect little surprise - the best thing that's ever happened to us. She has the most gorgeous eyes! They aren't dark brown like mine (at least not yet), when she first came out they were a clear green, but now that she's home they seem to have turned into a green-grey color.

Little Camilla! Words can't describe how much we already love her. My mom has already joked how spoiled she will be with parents like us... which is probably true. :) Heck, we spoil our Doberman, he's got about a hundred toys and tons of doggie treats, and he even had a birthday party for his 1 year milestone.

Flash forward through an uncomfortable 2 day stay at the hospital where I got very little sleep (did they really have to barge in every hour to poke and prod the both of us?!), giant diaper pads, lots of pain medication, and bed sores galore from that uncomfy hospital bed, but it was all worth it, and I would re-live it ALL over again if I could.

Now we are home, settled in for the most part, and Camilla is doing well. She had her two day checkup appointment the other day (and that was an adventure in itself) but she has checked out healthy and passed her hearing test. Yay!! She is eating well, pooping a lot, and sleeping most of the day/night, and crying very little... so far. We really couldn't have asked for a better baby. :)