Saul and Chelsia: Over the Moon and Back: It's a Girl!

She literally took my breath away. Seeing my first child come into the world brought a surge of emotion that left me almost speechless. The only thing I could say when I saw her coming was “wow.” I must have said it 10 times while gasping for air because Chelsia still makes fun of my reaction a little over a week later. The feeling was so strong that I didn't know what hit me. We had been waiting for this exact moment for almost 10 months and it was finally here. I didn't know what to expect, but the second I saw her my eyes started welling up and I was flooded with emotion.

How would I feel about this little creature that lived in my wife’s belly when I finally met her? Would she be as ugly as all of my daddy books promised she would be? The answer to those questions came fast and were as clear as day. I was instantaneously and unequivocally in love with that little girl, and she was the most beautiful baby that I had ever seen. Maybe that is just the Dad in me talking, but I have never seen a baby I thought was prettier than my daughter.

I have heard and read that some people don’t feel like they know their child when they first see them and it takes a while to get to know them and fall in love with them. That wasn't the case here. I instantly felt a connection with my daughter. I cared for her the moment I saw her.

Enough blabbering about how perfect my daughter is (I’m told that’s a little narcissistic). Here are some of the cold hard facts:

Teagan Jewel Castaneda was born at 6:24 PM on Monday, April 27^th.
Teagan was 7 pounds and 12 ounces. She was only 18 ½ inches long. That is classified as short and stocky. The last thing you would expect from our baby, right?
Chelsia went into labor on Sunday night, and we went to the hospital at around 10:00 PM. We weren't officially admitted until around 1:30 AM. We walked circles around the labor and delivery floor for 2 and a half hours to help jump-start the contractions during that time. What a night!
Chelsia went into labor one day after Teagan’s original due date, and one day before her induction date. My baby is going to be punctual just like her Daddy!
I cut the cord. It wasn't nearly as hard as everyone said it would be. It kind of felt like cutting through a piece of raw chicken.
The Little Company of Mary Labor and Delivery Nurses are awesome.

A quick shout out to Keri, the nurse we had leading up to and during the delivery of our baby girl. She was so helpful with getting things going, pushing Chelsia when she needed to fight through the pain, and coaching me on how to coach my wife’s breathing (didn't really need Lamaze classes with her there). She really felt like our advocate in the birthing process, and even offered to stand up to our doctor when she didn't see eye to eye with us.

Not everything you learn in Lamaze class is true. They didn't cover a lot of things that we encountered in our birthing experience, and were point blank wrong about a few things (tsk tsk Kate).
Chelsia was/is amazing. She handled everything like a trooper. I have even more respect for my wife now after watching her go through the whole birthing process. I couldn't be more proud of her.

I need to share a quick story to sum up how amazing my wife is. In the middle of the night after we were finally admitted, the nurse came in with an ultimatum. Either Chelsia had to take drugs to kick start her labor or we would have to be discharged. The monitors were showing that her contractions had stopped and Chelsia didn't appear to be in any pain. We asked the nurse for a moment alone to discuss our options since we didn't want to start using invasive tactics this early, but also didn't want to go home after finally being admitted only to have to drive back in a couple of hours. They even told us that it “wasn't a hotel” and we couldn't just hang out if Chelsia wasn't progressing. After much deliberation, the nurse checked the machine and realized that it wasn't even connected correctly! Chelsia had been having regular contractions, and contractions that were very close together, the whole time! She is just so tough that they didn't really faze her so they didn't know the machines weren't working. My wife is tough as nails. Enough said. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

The labor and delivery room at Little Company of Mary felt like a room at the Ritz Carlton.
The recovery room felt like a room at a Motel 6.
As a Dad, it’s almost impossible to sleep in the hospital.

Another tangent. The nurses come into the room every 30 minutes to check the baby. You are responsible for comforting the baby, changing diapers, etc. since Mom is still recovering. The pull out couch was marginally more comfortable than the floor, and it squeaked so bad that every time I got up to calm the baby down, it would wake her back up when I got back into bed.

Who knew hospital food would be so good? We had breakfast burritos for breakfast lunch and dinner, and they were delicious!
We were discharged from the hospital a little over 24 hours after the birth. I don’t know why anyone would stay longer if they didn't have to.

Now we are home and getting used to life with a newborn. We don’t get nearly enough sleep, and she pretty much runs our lives now, but it is so worth it. Every time I look at her little nose, chubby cheeks, tiny fingers, or big feet I’m reminded. Every time I track her quick, shallow breathing as she sleeps I’m reminded. Every time she scrunches her nose and raises her perfectly shaped eyebrows, my absolute favorite face by the way, I’m reminded. I don’t need any more reminders. Who cares about the constant dirty diapers, the sleep deprivation, or the crying? It is all so freaking worth it.

-S