Gabriela Zoe;s Birth Story

My Sweet dear girl, I want to share with you your birth story and the little miracles God allowed us to experience including you :o)
The labor part started on Saturday night when I lost the mucus plug, so Sunday morning we headed straight to the hospital with yiayia, papou and Vasilia Luz. There they checked me and saw that I was maybe 1 centimeter dilated, they heard your heartbeat and since everything looked good they sent me home...I had not felt any contractions yet.
After that we went to church...for the end of the service and to see your daddy who was working. After that we headed out to Fontana at your grandparent's home where your second baby shower took place. There were some relative that were betting we were not going to make it to the shower but there we were! It was a very fun shower that your auntie Jodi planned and daddy had other guys there...it was a combined baby shower...I really liked it! I also like the part that all four of your grandparents were there. People tried to guess your name through a game and actually your aunt Kristin is the only one who guessed your whole name right 'Gabriela Zoe'!!! How awesome..we awarded however the name GiZeLe because it was spelling out your initials and that was uncle Bill and MaryAnne wrote down.
Monday morning we decided to go shopping so our first stop was Ross, your greek family's favorite american store ;o) My contractions started there at 11 a.m.! It must have been really funny for people to see me pacing back and forth breathing. but I was in labor and happy. After that papou and giagia were thinking that we should go home...but I said if she is coming today I have to go to Babies r Us and get a few things I know I'll need....I don't remember at all what those things were! then it was lunch time and went to eat at an italian restaurant in Simi Valley. I had eggplant parmigiana...I had heard that eggplant can cause labor so since I was already in labor I thought I might help the situation.
After lunch we headed home, I continued to labor and laid in bed and moved around and took a bath. Which actually slowed down the contractions. However it had been more that an hour that my contractions were 5-7 minutes lasting for about a minute so your daddy was convinced it was time for the hospital. I tried to drag it out as much as possible but in the end everything was packed in the car and we were ready to go. Your papou, giagia and thia followed us to the hospital. Once at the hospital in the triage they checked to see that you were ok and that was clear and they checked me and if I remember well I was 3 cm. They told me to go home...but noone felt comfortable driving home knowing there was a chance we were going to be back within a few hours so we decided to look for a motel. Then I realized I just couldn't do it and thought that the hospital would be better than the motel. At that time I had started to lose my rhythm and my panic caused the pain to be amplified. So back to the hospital we went and I got admitted.
Standing was so much easier to deal with the pain but they had me laying down for a lot of the time so at those times it was hard. Once I was able to stand I would celebrate! After 16 hours had passed with no real progress they wanted to give me pitocin that would increase the contractions and their intensity. Because I had not slept all night and I wanted to be awake when I met you I decided to get an epidural since we did not know how much longer our journey was going to be. The doctor came and broke my water first and when that did not do anything they gave me the pitocin. It was 10 more hours after increasing the pitocin several times that I was finally dilated to 10 cm and was able to push. Your daddy was right there along side me telling me to push...telling you to push...and push you did :o) You kicked me so hard one time that I vomited :o) At the time I was blaming the nurse to Stephen that she was pushing me too hard! I was nice though I only said to your daddy that I did not want that nurse to touch me again! I do not know how the time went by, usually in hospital at this period of time they do not let women push more than 2 hours but our doctor would let me push for three hours...however because after 2 1/2 hours there was no progress they told us that it was best to go in for a c-section. So they prepared me and your daddy for the surgery. I must have fallen asleep because I do not remember getting to the surgery room but once I was there I waited and waited until I finally heard your cry! And the doctor said that you were a girl!!! That was so exciting for me!!! I wanted to have a girl so bad :o) After they cleaned you up daddy brought you close so i could see you and then he took you outside to announce your name to the family "Gabriela Zoe" which means God is my Strength and Life...so true!
God was your strength and your life as well as mine and under any other circumstances you and I may not have survived this ordeal. I had a 105 fever and the cord was wrapped around your neck 3 times. But here we are both of us healthy and strong with a chance to live the lives that God has so graciously given us. You are a little miracle and we cannot wait to see you discover all the gifts God has given you and how you are going to be used for His glory. You are also a precious gift...God was thinking of daddy and mommy when he made you. We love you very much and a verse that stuck with us during this season is that "Those who sow in tears will reap in joy" You have brought so much joy in our lives we did not even know it was possible! This is you and your story of how you came from mommy's tummy into this world.

More Music

from the time she was little I would sit on the piano and let her press the keys and have fun. It had been though a short time that I neglected to do it. The other day Gabriela Zoe walked up to the piano by herself and started playing away. It is a great time spent while mommy is putting dishes away or cooking. In fact I have a hard time taking nice pictures of her because they come out blurry...she is a girl on the move...however when she is at the piano she turns and gives me great smiles!!!

Tsa a.k.a. Peekaboo!

'tsa' is the greek version of peekaboo. We've been playing from the time she was very young and it always has produced plenty of chuckles and hillarious laughs. When she was younger occasionally she would put a blankie or whatever clothing she found close by and put it over her eyes and then pull it down fast and smile :o) Lately she has been saying 'tsa', even thought it is not always timed right..ex. she says 'tsa' when she puts her hands over her eyes and then takes them out fast with a huge smile. SSSooooo cute!! She even likes to play the game with her reflection from the piano and our mirror in our bedroom. She supports on the humidifier and leans away from the mirror and then leans towards it 'tsa'! Ahhhh she makes me laugh!

Ugly Truths

This blog may take a while to write even though I am going on two points. Both of the things I am going to talk about were provoked by two different blogs that I read in the past couple of days.
The first one is related to hardship...I have not gone through a tremendous amount of hardship in my life and for that I praise God. The closest I ever came to hardship was the dealing with of difficult feelings I've had following the delivery of my precious daughter. I wrote in a previous entry of my hopes and dreams of that day. Quite frankly only the most important thing came out the way I had dreamed and hoped for a healthy baby girl. Now it even feels silly to write that I had difficult feelings after experiencing such a miracle and the sovereignty of our Lord. But yes, I had them and I still cry when I talk, or write about it. In a recent conversation with someone who had gone through a similar experience she struggled with similar feelings for almost two years, and I believe the end of it coincided with the birth of a second child. The writer of the blog I read was going through a difficult circumstance and ended up saying that probably God is just smiling because he can see the end. While I understand the hope in that statement it hit me hard. There is not one ounce of me that thinks there is anything funny about the dealing of the feelings I've had. It has been hard work of letting go in order to allow for God's joy to come. While I believe that God has a sense of humor, I just know that even though he knows the end is good, He cried/cries with me when I cry, and knows my pain intimately. He does not look at me in my pain and smile, He is the embodiment of the verse that encourages us believers to weep with those who weep and laugh with those who laugh. His responses are not out of order or programmed but rather sensitive to the needs of His children. I thank him for that and I have a hope that one day I will look back and only remember good things.
That brings me to another blog entry that was so beautiful in describing the birth of her child. It was painfully familiar to what I had imagined the labor and delievery to be. I wished I could write about my birth story...but I can't. If I wrote it now I am not sure I would want my daughter to read it. But I will start writting with the same hope...one day I will be able to say the story remembering only the good things...and there were many!!!!
If you are hurting there is hope, take it from me every day can be a better day when we cling on Jesus!

Healing 15

Healing 15....you must be wondering the same thing I was when my mom first talked to me about that. What? Well she read some articles about children's psychology I believe and what it basically says is that when a child or baby get scared, gets hurt,,,whatever...to hold them for 15 minutes, or as close to that as possible. That amount of time, apparently seems to allow for the baby to calm down and feel safe again. Since she told me I started doing it...not for every little bump...but say she has been trying to get my attention and then she falls...they cry is pretty desperate so I just set everything aside and hold her...usually reading a book in my lap or singing works for my baby :o) I have seen a difference in the way that she calms down so it is good advice...worth trying! :o)

To fear or not to fear

Last night Gabriela Zoe woke up around 10:20 or so crying...I am used to her waking up, crying a little and going back to sleep so I did not move immediately. Actually, i went up to my husband to discuss our 'battle plan' and get the ok to give her another dose of the inhaler. Hearing the the crying was not getting any softer I headed to her room to see...the light on! At that moment I flashed back a few hours earlier when we had Gabriela Zoe downstairs in her carseat taking a nap and I went in her room to talk to Stephen on the phone so I don't disturb her. After Stephen and I hang up I closed my eyes momentarily and the it happened...the light turned on! (Stephen caringly installed a remote control for one of the lights in her bedroom, in our past experience this remote picks up other signals also which causes the light to turn off or on randomly) It startled me, and I sat there staring at it and then had the thought that we needed to remove the remote so it does not do that to Gabriela Zoe. A few minutes later I woke up Gabriela Zoe, dinner, bath, medicin (an added thing in our routine) and I forgot about the light...until then! i run to her bedroom because I knew she had been startled awake and that caused fear! I held her, prayed, spoke and sung to her. Following my mom's advice I held her for 15 minutes, and she had started to dose off again and placed her in bed. All was good :o)
That started me thinking on fear though...a young baby that does not really know about the evil in the world is afraid!! How easily we are to fear anything...I did not know this but I had the fear of men (not the gender more the biblical meaning of mankind). I was afraid what people would think of me, I grew up that way. Even though my mom and dad did their best to protect my sister and I from ill given comments about us still I felt the pressure that what I did was being watched and judged. That kind of pressure can turn into two different directions...fear or defiance. There were times that I acted in defiance...I'll do what I believe is rights and if the don't like it well...too bad. However, most of the time I just hid into my own coccun and did not let people come in. I have since learned that while it is important to have peace with the decisions I make upon seeking the Lord I have to keep in mind what Paul said: to the Jews I am a Jew...to the Gentiles a Gentile. Woe to the one who makes his brother stumble. At the same time there is not reason to hide and keep everyone at a distance. If they are true friends they will understand or seek conversation on the matter, if they want to judge they will judge anything even things I did not do.
The severity of that fear hit me a little bit over two years ago, when I decided to change voice teachers. My husband knows the many many times of crying I did because I did not feel like my voice teacher was tackling things I knew needed to change. His advice: why don't you change teachers? So simple in his head...why did I not change teachers? I found out when I made the choice to try a different one for a little while. I was terrified when I went to tell that teacher...after i walked out of the office I was shaking! A few days afterward I started feeling a sense of freedom...I may not have experienced from the time I was a little child! The lesson from that experience has tricked down to other relationships...it is hard when you know that some relationships may not be the same, that previous voice teacher would no longer acknowlede a smile and hello, but the ones that stand the test are trully worth it! But most importatly a life without the fear of men, that I strive for, is a great life :o)

Nasal Aspirator

In a previous post I was asking for ANY advice on how to aspirate my daughter's nose better. Good news! Our cousin wrote on her blog that she found the perfect nasal aspirator...so I thought lets try it. So 3a.m. Monday morning after Gabriela Zoe's midnight waking I got online and ordered it. While the music, now only serves as a warning of doom for my daughter and she starts screaming...and while it is still mostly a two person job, Stephen holds I aspirate...I still have to use one hand to hold her head still (you can imagine how difficult it is when I am by myself), it is the most snot we've gotten out of that little nose in the last 10 months combined. It works great...so if you have a difficult one like mine or are expecting a baby this is the way to go! The link is below for you convinience

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2585646