Welcome to the World!

Hello All!

Please join us in welcoming the new addition to our family…Miss Ruby Jocelyn Silva.

Ruby was born on Monday, July 24, 2006 at 1:22 pm at UCSD Medical Center in San Diego, CA. She was delivered by cesarean-section with Rene in the room holding my hand and taking those first glimpses of her with me. We couldn’t believe our eyes when the scale measured out at 10 lbs 4 oz. and just a hair shy of 21½ inches long. It’s no wonder that I couldn’t get her to turn around out of her breech position. The doctor said that it was justified that we scheduled the surgery as a vaginal breech delivery would have been next to impossible with her size and position. Being awake during the surgery was very scary but the outcome was amazing.

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday afternoon when we got to take our little Ruby home. I had heard of people being scared to take their babies home for the first time but I couldn’t wait! We showed her the room we had created for her (she thinks mommy is a fabulous designer) and gave her a tour of her new home.

The first night was a little hard on Rene as he tried to woo her to sleep while mommy got some zzzzz. But then I took over and found a little peace feeding her in the middle of the night in our living room.

Long Overdue Update

So, a lot has happened since my last post...

For Mother's Day weekend I went up to the Bay Area for a Baby Shower that my Aunt & Cousin threw for me. It was really special. All of the women in my family were there and it was a lot of fun to see everyone. Here are a couple of pics from that party...

Oh, I wish I was only this size still...

Aunt Joan, Cousin Lindsay, Mom Jocelyn (G-Ma), Me, & Sister/Tia Holly

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Then a few weeks later - back in San Diego - we had a party at our house with all of our friends. We BBQ'd some tasty food (a la Top Chef inspiration) and enjoyed the soon to be summer sunshine. Here are a couple of pics of us opening some presents (oooh, we got some good stuff)...

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That brings us to June...

We had a follow up ultrasound about 4-1/2 weeks ago in which we found out little Ruby is breech. That means that she is head up and cannot be delivered vaginally. There are several methods (both natural and medical) that we could try to get her to turn around.

About 3 weeks ago I started going to an accupuncture clinic (Pacific College of Oriental Medicine) to see if that would help. The procedure is called Moxibustion and involves burning a meridian point on the outside of my pinky toes 7 times in a row with an herb called Mugwort. This method is used to stimulate fetal movement in an attempt to get her to turn. From what I hear it has been very successful; however, after almost 12 daily treatments she has yet to turn around. All was not lost though. During my treatments at the clinic my case was primarily seen by two very special people - Lihn & Toan. I really felt like they cared about what they were doing and my well being. They will always hold a special place in my pregnancy memories.

Some other natural methods inlcude (I've tried them all):

• Swimming
• Handstands in the water
• Yoga positions
• Pelvic Tilts
• Flashlight (downstairs)
• Music or voice (downstairs) - okay, I haven't actually tried this one.
• Cold press/Ice Pack on her head - she moves out of the way when I do this one.

So, now my only other option available is an External Cephalic Version in which a doctor physically tried to move her from the outside - ouch! I scheduled my procedure for yesterday but there turned out to be too many emergency c-sections going on and no doctor's available. They rescheduled me for tomorrow but no telling if I'll get turned away again. I'm starting to believe that a vaginal delivery is not in the cards for me.

So that is where I sit today. I will most likely being having a scheduled c-section - not at all the natural, birth center experience I was planning for. Don't get me wrong, there are plusses to be had with a c-section and no matter how she's born I still get my daughter. I am just disappointed that I don't get to have the experience I wanted for myself and her coming into this world. But perhaps this is just one of the many lessons I'm learning on parenthood. I will not always be able to provide the security I want for my daughter. No matter how hard I may try, I won't be able to protect her from everything. Also, my accupuncturist, Toan, says that I really need to trust the baby. She knows what she wants for this birth, she knows what is best.

I have an appointment with my midwife today and then hopefully the version procedure tomorrow . I'll let you all know what happened and what we find out. As of today, I have 11 days until my due date.