One Year Ago

One year ago today was my last day before officially becoming a mommy. I remember it being a relaxing yet exhausting (and eventually painful!) day all in one. I know I have been slacking off on posting my journals from this time last year, but in all honesty I needed a little break from my blog. So instead of copying what I wrote last year, I'll write about what I remember =)

I remember that on November 30, 2007 (a year ago yesterday) I went in for my final round of fetal monitoring. It was a very rainy day and there were several pregnant mommies either waiting for a room to deliver their baby in, or like me, have fetal monitoring done. I was the lucky one of those mommies, though, because all those other mommies were there for abnormal and premature contractions; I on the other hand was rather overdue and ordered to have fetal monitoring done! The nurses wanted to keep me and have me induced that afternoon. I remember feeling so alone and SO scared after hearing that, even though I was secretly crossing my fingers that it would happen. They had Louis fax over my medical records (they were in his car) and called my dad and asked him to load my bags and my birth ball in his car to bring on over. As much as I was hoping to be admitted to the hospital, I didn't want to get my hopes up and didn't come prepared at ALL. However, after the nurses conferred with my doctor, he ordered me to go home and get some rest; I was in the VERY early stages of labor but still not dilated (1 1/2 cm), effaced (50%) or "dropped" (-2 station) enough for him to feel comfortable doing an induction on me. He told me to come back in three days as planned, on Monday, December THIRD, for our originally scheduled induction.

So home I went, and was able to go see my old orchestra and choir perform their annual Christmas performance that night! My mom and dad knew what was going on with my labor though and watched me like a hawk the whole night, especially since I had a (few) painful contractions during the concert, but nothing worth going to the hospital over. My grandma mentioned to me while we were eating dessert after the concert that she hoped I had the baby soon, though, because she was sick and tired of my bad mood! HA! I guess I wasn't that pleasant to be around towards the end of my pregnancy. Hey, by the time Jeremiah was actually born, I was 10 days over due, huge, achy and just plain SICK of being pregnant!

The next day (today) was a Saturday. I spent a leisurely morning and afternoon at home. The contractions were still irregular but frequent, and not painful, but I could tell they were becoming stronger. I had two WONDERFUL phone conversations with some very old and dear friends of mine, Ashmi (elementary school best friend!) and Emily (high school best friend!) I hadn't spoken with either one of them in quite some time, and it definitely added a special touch to that day. I also went and got myself a pedicure, which was no easy task considering I could barely move. However, I was insistent that my toes be nice and sparkly when delivering my son or daughter. It turned out to be the pedicure from hell; the person that did my nails rushed me out of there without checking to make sure my nails were totally dry, and half of them were ruined by the time I got home. And I SO didn't have the energy (or desire) to drive back and have them redone. Oh well! As it turns out, my poor feet were frozen during my whole labor and delivery and I wore socks the entire time.

Anyway, I do remember blogging around 8:30 p.m. that night, pondering the possibility that Baby Castillo MIGHT come on his or her own the next day, the last chance before Induction Day. Little did I know that I would go into labor roughly 20 minutes afterwards! Louis came home shortly after (he was running a surprise errand for the baby!) and we went upstairs to watch "Christmas Vacation." That's when things started getting REALLY uncomfortable for me. My contractions were coming closer together and they HURT. However, I was bound and determined not to be one of those mommies who got sent home for going to the hospital prematurely. I pulled out my "What to Expect..." book, read about my symptoms, and decided to follow its advice and try my best to go to sleep. Sure enough, by roughly 3:00 in the morning on December 2, I couldn't sleep any more! Tune in for my labor and delivery story tomorrow evening, when we get back from Disneyland! We are taking Jeremiah there for the first time to celebrate his first birthday in style. Even though I was just there two weeks ago, I'm so excited to go again! Especially seeing everything through the eyes of my wonderful son. No Splash Mountain for me this time, but that's okay. Spending the day with my lil man is going to be even better.

Jeremiah's birthday party on Saturday turned out to be a lot of fun. No matter how much I plan and prepare for something in advance though, there are always SO many last minute details to take care of the day of the event. That part drives me crazy. The attendance wasn't nearly what I expected, but we were surrounded by those that love and care for not only Jeremiah but Louis and I as well. It turns out that my cousin and his family from Phoenix WERE planning on coming to Jeremiah's party after all. My crazy uncle had no idea about this, haha. Although on their way here from Palm Springs, their car broke down and they weren't able to make it. I got some pretty cute shots of Jeremiah and the rest of his party, but I'll post them later. I think I left my camera in his bedroom, and I don't want to risk waking my sleeping boy! As for me, I'm going to continue clearing our house up from Thanksgiving, and get it all ready for CHRISTMAS!!