Welcoming Arilyn Jade Flores

This was one of my last pregnant photos taken just a few hours before we left to the hospital...

Ok...let's see where to begin...for the past several weeks I have been having consistent contractions that last for a few hours then die down. At my dr appt the Friday previous to her birth, the dr said baby was not fully engaged so we still had some time. Well Sunday contractions began keeping me up at night, I would time them--2 minutes apart but they'd eventually come to a halt. I really wanted to wait for her to be born after Tuesday, since it was Kyler's field trip that I was joining and the kids picture day (I wanted to be there to fix their hair, etc). By Wednesday morning I thought it was the day. So I began really keeping an eye on them. I got up, kids ready and off to school, really deep cleaned the house, prepared laundry for my absence, washed 3 dogs and their bedding, etc. Then I waited for the kids to come home from school. By the time Kyler was home at 2:35, I was in a lot of pain--contractions every 2 minutes strong enough to make me stop walking. So we left to the hospital. When I arrived I was 5 cm dilated. Dr said she was admitting me, so I called my dad to come watch the kids (thanks dad--without you, we'd be lost, you saved us!). After a few hours and nearly no change, though I was still contracting every 2 minutes, the Dr decided to put my on pitocin. I explained that I've needed pitocin every time being as my body can't progress labor. An hour later, I was a 7-8, however I remained there for 11 hours! Finally the nurses kicked up the pitocin and the dr broke my water, which she said I had an abundance of. After my water was broken, Arilyn's heart rate began to drop dangerously low. All of this time I was without pain meds, the nurses advised me to get the epidural before it was too late, so I did. In doing so, my blood pressure began to dip dangerously low. So every minute or 2, we'd have alarms going off, scaring us and nurses and drs running in checking on everything. Finally by 5:45 am Oct 7, the dr said it's time to push. I felt my contractions at this point. With every contraction, Ari's heart rate would drop and I'd need to really breathe in the oxygen. It was a horribly scary situation to hear your baby's hear rate drop and nearly stop. This was motivation for me, I pushed harder than ever, still I pushed for 3 hours. Apparently she was stuck in my pelvis. Eventually the dr got very serious and said we need to get her out. We can try the vacuum for a few minutes and if that does not work, we go to an emergency c section. The vacuum helped a little but I pushed with all I had in me, plus more. A few minutes later, she warned me we had one more contraction to get her out or we're going to c section. I pushed so hard through the pain and at 8:49 am, sweet little Arilyn was born weighing 7 lbs 3 oz and was 21" long. She had her cord around her neck, her head sideways and her hand across her chest, which is part of the reason why I struggled getting her out. She was so exhausted and stressed, she barely cried. It was the most terrifying experience of my life and the most beautiful moment when she entered our world.

My dr told me how wonderfully I had done and how she'd never seen a baby make her appearance quite like that. Really made me feel good as I did give it my all.

Before my dad arrived to pick up the kids, our last photo together before Arilyn's arrival.

Our sign.

Jared and I passing the time alone. It was such a great bonding experience we shared, just the 2 of us.

My last pregnant photo (standing), hard to see my belly with all of the monitors.

ha ha, Jared was being goofy and posing with random objects to keep my mind off the pain.

Shortly before her arrival.

When things really got scary--alarms are sounding, nurses and drs are rushing in.

My beautiful princess. Notice her poor head from the vacuum?

I know I look horrible, as though I had just fought a war--which is basically what I had done, but this photo is my first one holding her, so it's precious to me.

Daddy holding her for the first time.

Meeting their sister for the first time soon after her birth. I noticed how much Lexi and I look alike in this picture.

Instant love!

Kyler is the BEST big brother! All he wants to do is hold her and tell her how pretty she is and kiss her, it's the sweetest thing.

My wonderful dad and I. Thank you SO much! We couldn't have done it without you.

My loves.

Such a sweet moment.

I still can't believe I have 3 kids.

My little beauty.

He's such a proud grandpa. He kept telling me how wonderful Kyler and Lexi are, how beautiful Arilyn is and how proud he is of Jared and I as parents.

So sweet!One of my favorite photos.

Sweet angel!

Our first day home.

She is jaundiced (slightly) being as Jared and my blood types do not do well with each other. Every one of our kids have had jaundice so far. Please pray she does not require the bilirubin lamps as Kyler and Lexi did.

I love her so much.

Pretty girl.

Me giving her her first sponge bath at home. Look at that skinny body!

Pure love.

My princesses.

Had to throw this photo in, our homegrown watermelon.

Life doesn't get better than this!

Arilyn Jade this morning, 4 days old.

Wow what an adventure it's been. Seems like yesterday I was shocked in finding out she was on her way and now here she is. What can I say? I loved her from the first moment I saw the little bouncing dancing movement during the ultrasound. My heart melted the first time I felt her flutter of life within me. No pregnancy is easy, but I really kept my mind positive and saw past the sickness, nerve pain, headaches, body aches and even labor pains and really enjoyed it all. It was truly an honor to carry her within me for 9 months. I feel so blessed and lucky to be her mom (and Kyler and Lexi's, of course). And now I guess, the next part of our lives begin...