Salote Maimoa Levatau was born Thursday, September 10th at 1:50 a.m.! Here's how it all went down....
I had a doctor appointment wednesday morning at 10, and my blood pressure was 172/102...REAL high, and it concerned my doctor so she told me to go to Triage at the hospital and get my blood tested for pre-eclampsia, and then she checked me and I was 3 cm dilated..so she said she just wanted me to get induced since I was already at a 3 and since my BP was so high. She told me she'd call the hospital and let them know I was on my way and to just admit me when I got there! I was pretty excited about it all, and freaking out all at the same time! On my way out to the parking lot i called Sam's work and told them to pass a message along to him that his wife was going to the hospital to have a baby! He was able to leave work right away and got home just a few mins after me. We got our bag of things to take with us, Sam gave me a blessing, and we were off to the hospital! We got there around noon, and had to wait awhile while they did all my admitting paperwork stuff, and finally were able to go to L&D. We met my nurse, and she showed us to the room we'd be in, and we had to stand at wait in the hall for about 10 mins while some maintenance man fixed a light in there.....we finally got to go in and we were getting settled, and the nurse realized the machine to monitor the baby's heartbeat wasnt working.. SO! We got moved to another room. The machine in that room worked, woo! Buuuut, she couldn't get some program to open on the computer that she needed....so we just sat around and waited for about an hour while her and another nurse tried to figure things out. I wasn't annoyed by it all, cause it wasn't her fault, but I was SO impatient!!!!! I just wanted to get things going. And I was starving, so Sam ran to get us some food before they started me on Pitocin and couldn't eat anymore. They got the program up and running right as he got back, so I scarfed my food down and at 3 o' clock they started me on some Pitocin to help me start contracting more! At 4 o' clock my doc came and broke my water. About 10 mins after that my contractions REALLY started to pick up and were pretty intense, so I got my LOVELY epidural at 5!
Sam had been awake since 2:40 that morning cause of work and was exhausted, so we both took a little nap and then waited and waited...
At around 11 pm my epidural started to wear off and I could feel my contractions, so I got some medicine to help me go numb again...it worked for about 45 mins and made me super sick, so I threw up and could feel my contractions again!! Sooo, I got some more of that same medicine...and the same thing happened!! But at that point I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. The nurse was running around getting things ready, and at 1:20 am I started to push! I was MISERABLE and so uncomfortable, and after pushing for about 10 mins I was able to get some more of that numbing medicine, so I was able to relax a little between contractions....I actually fell asleep a few times! Sam had to wake me up to push, haha. Anyway, I pushed for 30 mins and she was here!!!! I had my eyes closed pretty much the whole time and so the doc yelled at me "open your eyes, open your eyes!".. so I did, and there she was! He layed her on my chest and oh man, it was so amazing of a moment. I'll never forget it!! I cried, a good cry, and was so relieved/happy she was okay and healthy!! She weighed 7 lbs 8.5 oz and was 19 inches long!!
The nurse got her all wrapped up and cozy and handed her off to Sam, and he hogged her for a loong time...and I just sat and watched him watch her. :) He didn't really say much at all..he just stared at her. It was really cute.
ANYWAY...this is turning into a novel, sorry.. But we stayed in the delivery room til about 6 a.m. and then got moved upstairs to a post-partum room. Sam went home at that point to sleep and shower, and me and Maiya were able to rest a little then too. We had a few visitors that day, but I was still able to rest a lot, which was GREAT cuz that night was ROUGH!! I was tryin to brest feed her, and she never seemed satisfied, so she fussed unless her binki was in her mouth, so I basically had to hold it in all the time for her cause she couldn't keep it in on her own. So I slept MAAAYBE 30 mins that night. Friday morning at 11 my mom and sister Andrea flew in to see us. I was soo excited! Andrea stayed til sunday and my mom stayed til the following sunday... They were both such HUGE helps to us. They helped so much with Maiya and made us food, went shopping and cleaned. We REEEEALLLY appreciated them being here. It was hard for me to have them go, I was nervous to have it be just me and Sam! But Sam's so great and talked me into believing in myself :)
And so far things have been juuuust fine!! She is such a sweet baby girl. She RARELY cries...only when I wipe her bum with a really cold wipe, or when she's totally naked! She's so modest :) But when she wakes up hungry she just kinda grunts and squirms. And she's soooo sweet, she can lay on the couch, in her swing, or on the floor next to Sam and be totally content. Oh, she's such a sweet baby!! We love her so so so much and are so thankful she's here with us!
Oh, a little info about her name... In the tongan culture, the oldest sister names all of her brothers kids. So Sam's oldest sister Salo, named her. I wasn't okay with it AT ALL at first when I heard about that part of the culture.. but after letting it settle for a few weeks, I was just fine with it. Soooo, she named her after herself.... Salote Maiomoa. Salote (saw-low-tay) in english is Charlotte, and Miamoa(my-mo-uh) has something to do with royalty in Tonga. She'll go by her middle name, Maimoa.. and her little nickname is Maiya(my-uh). Sam's family will only call her Maimoa though just to fully follow culture. There's no 'y' in the tongan language, and the word Maiya in tongan means rope or something, so it doesn't make sense to them to call her that...so they just wont! Which is just fine, cause in the american language...there IS a 'y' and it doesn't mean rope! haha, so anyway..thats the story behind her name!
We took her to her 2 week check up yesterday and she gained back all her birth weight, and some! So as of yesterday, she weighs 7 lbs 14 oz! She's such a sweet, good girl!!
Here are some cute pictures of her!!
ooh my lovely double chin.....sorry about that. but i love this pic cause she was so fresh and new at that point! :)
I had a doctor appointment wednesday morning at 10, and my blood pressure was 172/102...REAL high, and it concerned my doctor so she told me to go to Triage at the hospital and get my blood tested for pre-eclampsia, and then she checked me and I was 3 cm dilated..so she said she just wanted me to get induced since I was already at a 3 and since my BP was so high. She told me she'd call the hospital and let them know I was on my way and to just admit me when I got there! I was pretty excited about it all, and freaking out all at the same time! On my way out to the parking lot i called Sam's work and told them to pass a message along to him that his wife was going to the hospital to have a baby! He was able to leave work right away and got home just a few mins after me. We got our bag of things to take with us, Sam gave me a blessing, and we were off to the hospital! We got there around noon, and had to wait awhile while they did all my admitting paperwork stuff, and finally were able to go to L&D. We met my nurse, and she showed us to the room we'd be in, and we had to stand at wait in the hall for about 10 mins while some maintenance man fixed a light in there.....we finally got to go in and we were getting settled, and the nurse realized the machine to monitor the baby's heartbeat wasnt working.. SO! We got moved to another room. The machine in that room worked, woo! Buuuut, she couldn't get some program to open on the computer that she needed....so we just sat around and waited for about an hour while her and another nurse tried to figure things out. I wasn't annoyed by it all, cause it wasn't her fault, but I was SO impatient!!!!! I just wanted to get things going. And I was starving, so Sam ran to get us some food before they started me on Pitocin and couldn't eat anymore. They got the program up and running right as he got back, so I scarfed my food down and at 3 o' clock they started me on some Pitocin to help me start contracting more! At 4 o' clock my doc came and broke my water. About 10 mins after that my contractions REALLY started to pick up and were pretty intense, so I got my LOVELY epidural at 5!
Sam had been awake since 2:40 that morning cause of work and was exhausted, so we both took a little nap and then waited and waited...
At around 11 pm my epidural started to wear off and I could feel my contractions, so I got some medicine to help me go numb again...it worked for about 45 mins and made me super sick, so I threw up and could feel my contractions again!! Sooo, I got some more of that same medicine...and the same thing happened!! But at that point I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. The nurse was running around getting things ready, and at 1:20 am I started to push! I was MISERABLE and so uncomfortable, and after pushing for about 10 mins I was able to get some more of that numbing medicine, so I was able to relax a little between contractions....I actually fell asleep a few times! Sam had to wake me up to push, haha. Anyway, I pushed for 30 mins and she was here!!!! I had my eyes closed pretty much the whole time and so the doc yelled at me "open your eyes, open your eyes!".. so I did, and there she was! He layed her on my chest and oh man, it was so amazing of a moment. I'll never forget it!! I cried, a good cry, and was so relieved/happy she was okay and healthy!! She weighed 7 lbs 8.5 oz and was 19 inches long!!
The nurse got her all wrapped up and cozy and handed her off to Sam, and he hogged her for a loong time...and I just sat and watched him watch her. :) He didn't really say much at all..he just stared at her. It was really cute.
ANYWAY...this is turning into a novel, sorry.. But we stayed in the delivery room til about 6 a.m. and then got moved upstairs to a post-partum room. Sam went home at that point to sleep and shower, and me and Maiya were able to rest a little then too. We had a few visitors that day, but I was still able to rest a lot, which was GREAT cuz that night was ROUGH!! I was tryin to brest feed her, and she never seemed satisfied, so she fussed unless her binki was in her mouth, so I basically had to hold it in all the time for her cause she couldn't keep it in on her own. So I slept MAAAYBE 30 mins that night. Friday morning at 11 my mom and sister Andrea flew in to see us. I was soo excited! Andrea stayed til sunday and my mom stayed til the following sunday... They were both such HUGE helps to us. They helped so much with Maiya and made us food, went shopping and cleaned. We REEEEALLLY appreciated them being here. It was hard for me to have them go, I was nervous to have it be just me and Sam! But Sam's so great and talked me into believing in myself :)
And so far things have been juuuust fine!! She is such a sweet baby girl. She RARELY cries...only when I wipe her bum with a really cold wipe, or when she's totally naked! She's so modest :) But when she wakes up hungry she just kinda grunts and squirms. And she's soooo sweet, she can lay on the couch, in her swing, or on the floor next to Sam and be totally content. Oh, she's such a sweet baby!! We love her so so so much and are so thankful she's here with us!
Oh, a little info about her name... In the tongan culture, the oldest sister names all of her brothers kids. So Sam's oldest sister Salo, named her. I wasn't okay with it AT ALL at first when I heard about that part of the culture.. but after letting it settle for a few weeks, I was just fine with it. Soooo, she named her after herself.... Salote Maiomoa. Salote (saw-low-tay) in english is Charlotte, and Miamoa(my-mo-uh) has something to do with royalty in Tonga. She'll go by her middle name, Maimoa.. and her little nickname is Maiya(my-uh). Sam's family will only call her Maimoa though just to fully follow culture. There's no 'y' in the tongan language, and the word Maiya in tongan means rope or something, so it doesn't make sense to them to call her that...so they just wont! Which is just fine, cause in the american language...there IS a 'y' and it doesn't mean rope! haha, so anyway..thats the story behind her name!
We took her to her 2 week check up yesterday and she gained back all her birth weight, and some! So as of yesterday, she weighs 7 lbs 14 oz! She's such a sweet, good girl!!
Here are some cute pictures of her!!
ooh my lovely double chin.....sorry about that. but i love this pic cause she was so fresh and new at that point! :) 
this melts my heart...
5 comments:
Congratulations Amy! I am so happy for you! Just remember when you are up at all hours of the night that you are not alone...there are millions of other mothers up at that exact same time! Best wishes! Can't wait to see more pics of her!
Yay! Congrats Amy! She sounds like a lot of fun! That made me laugh when you kept falling asleep & Sam telling to wake up and push! That's awesome! Best wishes to you and the new little family! :)
I have been checking your blog every day waiting for more details!!! Congratulations! That must have been terrible going from no pain at all to feeling contractions. Sounds like a hard labor - but you are the woman!!! She is seriously so beautiful. Good Work! Being a mom is the greatest thing in the world!! I need your address so I can send ya something I made her! Again, congrats!! I am so happy for you.
Congratulations Amy and Sam! She is precious! Thanks for sharing your short novel! Enjoy her and your new little family and your journey together! Take care!
Gah I've been waiting for this story forEVER!! I didn't think you'd appreciate sending it via text, so I didn't ask:). That is so sweet though, I knew she would be cute, but she's even cuter than I thought!! It sounds like your a rockin mom already. Way to go!!
P.S. that cracked me up about her being 'modest' and crying when she's naked, what a cutie! Addie looooves to be naked, she can be screamin until you take her clothes and diaper off then she's all smiles and rolls all around the floor!
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