Baby Lopez Arrival

 I’m coming home…tell the world I’m coming home! After a long wait, the doc came in and told us the good news! Remi’s PDA fully closed, as designed, and there is no coarctation, narrowing, or stenosis if the aortic arch! She’s in the clear and we’re getting ready to drive home!  We thank everyone for all of their support and prayers! 

 Yesterday afternoon Remi graduated out of the NICU and was delivered to us in our room. We had LOTS of bonding time. She slept really well other than the interruptions through the night with nurses and vitals checks.  We’re hoping today is discharge day. Remi was taken for her evaluation so we’re hoping for the best! 🤞🏽🙏🏽

 Remi wishes everyone a Happy Easter. We got some much needed rest last night and we are spending the day with Remi. We arrived this morning during doctor rounds and they confirmed that she will likely be transferred to us in the regular nursery later today as long as she is holding her glucose levels. Amanda and the nurse gave Remi her first bath and Remi seemed to like the water :).  The docs also confirmed they still plan to do the full heart evaluation tomorrow and if all checks out, we can take her home tomorrow night! 

 We stayed with Remi for hours in NICU and she was already off the cpap and breathing normally. They were just finishing the echo cardiagram and so far they think the aorta arch is looking good! They can’t fully confirm until the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) closes in a day or two. So there’s a possibility she might move to the regular nursery and be with us tomorrow. On Monday, she’ll get a full exam and monitoring to confirm 100% if the coarctation of the aorta is present or not. If the preliminary tests continue to show we’re in the clear, we may be able to take her home on Monday night! 

 After 50 hours of labor, Amanda delivered Remi Nova Lopez like a boss at 1:58pm under a full moon. She weighed in at 7lbs 7oz and was 20 inches tall.  We only had a few minutes of skin to skin because Remi had a lot of fluid in her lungs and needed a CPAP. We’re waiting to go see her in the NICU. And later she’ll have her EKG to evaluate the possible co-arctation. 

 Baby is here!!! Will update later

 Amanda was working through a surge on the couch and her water broke! She’s sooooo happy. She worked so hard for this point. Baby girl is coming soon!

 Amanda was so far along at the hotel that she felt like I was going to have to deliver baby Lopez there. We thought delivery would be kind of quick when we arrived but a barrage of different doctors and conversations about post delivery procedures for baby quickly stalled Amanda’s progress. And she was absolutely exhausted so she has been working through surges all night while sleeping in between them. She’s getting a second wind and still working through it! 

After eating dinner in the hotel room, surges quickly progressed from 10 min apart to 6 min apart to 3 min apart over about 2 hours. Then it felt like one long surge with no breaks. She mustered the energy to get herself downstairs and over to the hospital. Pedro was our Uber driver :) She was immediately admitted and we’re currently in the delivery ward. She’s currently trying to get some much needed rest. 

 Carol, our doula, stayed with us for 3 hours today and worked magic on Amanda. We went for a walk to pickup food and the surges have really picked up. They’ve been coming every 5-6 min for the last hour and a half, which is significant change since earlier today. All good signs for progress!

 Our amazing Doula , Carol Marie Fiorito, arrived at the hotel to give Amanda some massage, use TENS, and help with some movements 🙏🏽. Surges are still coming but working to get them back as they were last night. The evaluation this morning seemed to stall things a bit. But they’re slowly coming back and she feels baby shifting lower. 

 After grabbing breakfast, Amanda and I slept for a few hours (Amanda on and off because of the surges). We’ll be at the hotel until she’s practically ready to give birth. Currently working through surges, massaging areas of pain and soreness, and doing some movement. 

 Amanda was evaluated in maternity triage and surprisingly the docs found her to be about the same 3cm dilated. So even though surges have intensified and become more frequent, she’s not far enough along to be admitted. So we’re heading to a hotel that’s a 5 minute walk from the hospital to keep Amanda comfortable. This energetic baby has always been on the move in the womb, but she’s displaying a slow roll for her grand entrance.  Lugging our stuff through the streets…

 We were up most of the night watching a few episodes of Bridgerton while Amanda worked through ever increasing surges like a boss. Surges are now 7 min apart and intensifying so we’re heading to the hospital now! Getting closer…👶🏽

 We looped you all in this morning thinking that this labor process would be quicker than how it’s currently playing out. But that’s the beautiful thing about labor…you never know how quick or how slow the process will be. With this being Amanda’s second pregnancy and considering the distance we were from the hospital, we decided to head out this morning.  We both cherish the childbirth process and when you embrace the natural rhythm and flow of it, you unsubscribe from the world of instant gratification. At times this can be frustrating because we’re all eager to celebrate this beautiful life that’s about to enter this world…and we want to celebrate it now! But with a little patience, we immerse ourselves in the beauty of the experience.  We just woke up from a long nap and Amanda’s surges are becoming stronger and more consistent. We’re heading out now to walk a bit and get some fresh air.  Progress continues. Thanks for taking the journey with us. 

 After our walk, we made a pit stop in Westchester at the OB’s office to check how far along Amanda is and found she’s 3cm dilated. Still a ways to go, but she’s progressing nicely and things can change quickly. We’re currently in NYC at (Alexandra’s apt 🙂🙏🏽) getting some much needed rest and relaxation before we head to the hospital for the home stretch. Might be several hours before the next update :)

 We envisioned the drive to the hospital with Amanda getting comfortable in the back seat and working through surges and listening to hypnobirthing mantras and a curated playlist. But instead, Amanda was working through surges in the front seat and had a desire to listen to Biggie. Baby started dancing and loved Notorious! With this beautiful weather we decided to stop at Riverdale Park to walk for a bit in nature. 

For those who need constant updates (Alexandra 🙄), we are still in New Paltz about to head out. But before we get on the highway, we’re stopping to get a BEC on an everything bagel at New Paltz Bagels. It’s tough to leave Z behind, but we know she’s in good hands with Bwa. She’s ready to be a big sister! 

Amanda has been having sporadic surges (contractions) the last few days and has felt baby really shift down. But this morning, she started with signs of early labor. So we’re heading over to NY Presbyterian Children’s hospital shortly. Stay tuned. :)