Wow, a toy baby!

Funny how everyone's been referring to Layla as the new toy, but it's kind of true in some cute way. The Mad Vargases passed her around and her eyes shift from person to person, wondering who the hell's carrying her now and where her Mommy and Pappy are. I always have to stay close at first, though, so she can still smell me nearby.


It was nice to have my side of the family over for merienda last Sunday. I told them that we were closed to visitors for two weeks so that we could establish the baby's schedule, when she's awake, when she's asleep, so that we'll know when it's the best time for visitors to come see her. I'm really strict about her sleeping habits because hello, I'm the one who wakes up in the middle of the night to feed her. We're lucky that she only wakes up once or twice at night, so I'd like her body clock to stay that way.

It's also cool that she sleeps most of the night. Her new pedia Dra. Paulino says that we're lucky to have such a good girl sleeping in our room. :)

I only allowed my family to play with her until 4pm. She was asleep on her Ninang Carla by 3:30 anyway, so they had enough time with her before I put her in the crib for a more comfortable nap. Yeah, all my rules piss them off, but they were happy to spend the hour with her anyway. They also watched me breasfeed, which I must say is really weird. I had an apron on, something my Tita Nieves made for me so I can breastfeed in front of people, but when Aba keeps lifting it because she's so intrigued, it kind of defeats the purpose. :p

We were all talking about how long Layla had become over the weeks...I can't believe she's almost a month old. So I've been stuck at home taking care of her for almost a month? Wild. Jay jokes all the time that I don't miss him anymore because I'm busy with Layla, my toy, my pet...my baby. Whee! Sometimes he asks if I still feed our fighting fish, Pyro. Don't worry, Love, the Pyro isn't a neglected fishy.

We're buying Layla a stroller soon so that we can take her around and she'll have a place to sleep or just rest when we're somewhere else. It's about time she visited the Vargas house, too. The question is...will my family be able to keep up with her? Say if I leave her there for a few hours? Crying? Wee-poo-ing? Demanding attention for, I dunno, 5 hours straight? Hmmm, we'll see. But I'm sure they won't mind. Hehe. She is, after all, their new toy. :)

Ortega Tag Team!

I know it's only been a little over two weeks, but it's amazing how Jay and I have been taking good care of Layla without much help. I got the baby blues for a while, worrying about how I was going to balance the baby and work...then I realized that I had already been balancing the two anyway. Stupid me. :)

We've also been able to balance our duties as parents. I feed the baby, Jay entertains her. Hehe. Hey, at least he's helping her develop her motor skills while I rest, right?

Rub-a-dub-dub, baby in the tub!

Layla had her first bath in her bath tub from Aba (My mom Abuelita Mad) last Sunday and it was a disaster because I read somewhere that she should have a bath before feeding. Forget it...these pictures are from the next day when I fed her first and she enjoyed the bath much more.

I also wanted to make bathing easier for her because she always cried when they bathed her in the nursery. The nurses have to bathe several babies, so bathing time isn't exactly fun over there. That's why I'm always talking to her and keeping her calm, and I massage her before I dress her up. Now she's a more quiet baby during bath time. She just makes this really funny face when she feels cold. Haha!

The hassle about bathing her (Actualy she just gets a sponge bath. Her hair's the only part I really wet.) is the stump of her umbilical cord. It hasn't fallen off yet and I'm becoming impatient. It can't get wet, so I place a towel on it just to be safe, and I have to clean it everyday with alcohol so that it'll dry up and fall off. I also discovered that I wasn't even cleaning it enough. You have to really dig in and wipe it good, and I was afraid to do that because I thought it might hurt her. Apparently she doesn't care, so I've been diligent with the cleaning and it looks like it's going to fall off in no time...then I can dunk her in the balde! Just kidding. :)

Got me on my knees, Layla...

Layla was born on October 29, 2005 at 3:23pm in St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City. She has a full head of hair just like her Mommy and the beautiful eyelashes, fingers and toes from her Poppy. We have yet to see whose nose she has because it's getting pointier by the day, her eyes could mine or the same as her older brother and sister, and we recently discovered that she has dimples just like her Auntie Jan.

Labor and delivery weren't easy, though. Jay was singing "Layla" by Eric Clapton and it seemed to fit the situation perfectly since we had worries like about infections and the need for a Caesarian Section.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Perfect for the father watching me in labor for a full 17 hours and waiting for me to wake up afterwards. What a sweetie.

At around 10 the night before, my water broke and Jay's cousin Jaime rushed me to St. Luke's. I was staying at his gradparents' house near the hospital and he had gone home to the south that afternoon to attend to some things for work. It only took him 25 minutes to zoom from Paranaque to St. Luke's (Crazy!) and we stayed together in the High Risk area of the delivery ward. Not that my pregnancy was high risk at the time, but that was the only place where Jay could be with me through labor. We also had a TV there, so we watched Celebrity Poker, our latest obsession, while waiting for something to happen. I could've been sent home to wait, but because my water was broken, I had to stay in the hospital.

I had never had dismenorrhea, so I didn't know what contratctions were supposed to feel like. But lo and behold, after 5 hours, oh, I knew I was having contractions and they hurt bad. I kept squeezing Jay's hand while he assured me that I was doing ok, and I always made sure to smile at him afterwards because his face was so awang-awa with me.

My cervix was 1cm. when I came in and it stayed that way until morning. (It's supposed to be 10cm.) At the 6th hour, they had to give me an IV and inject some antibiotics for the baby because my water's was broken for so long and she could get some kind of infection inside. They also asked if I wanted pain killers and I said no. I focused really hard on my breathing and again made sure that I smiled after every contraction.

After maybe 10 or 12 hours, my cervix finally opened up some more but only 2-3cm. What the?! The contratctions were getting stronger and I was bleeding and I was just thinking...is it going to take another 12 hours just to get past 8cm?! I looked at Jay and told him that I couldn't take the contractions if it was going to take that long. So we opted for the pain reliever, but one that would keep me awake. The nurses prepared the meds and injected thick and painful demorrhol into my IV and my upper arm. I was waiting for the relief to take effect, but 2 contractions later I slipped into a nightmare...yes, literally, a nightmare.

I don't remember anything after the demorrhol. For a smoker and a drinker, I'm pretty weak when it comes to drugs, probably because I don't take too many meds even when I'm sick. I resort to more natural means like fruits, liquids, some good ol' vitamin C. According to Jay, I just completely changed after the meds and I became agressive with the nurses and the residents, shoo-ing them away and shouting and grunting. Only Jay was able to calm me down...I was on voice command! All the nurses were telling me afterwards how lucky I was to have such a patient man coaching me through labor.

All in all, it was a really freaky experience. I was saying things like "ayoko na" and Jay would joke, "Hoy, pwede ba yon?!" Because I was so "drugged" and sabog, I couldn't push properly and I couldn't understand anything. I can't remember anything! But I do remember flashes of actually "waking up" and remembering, "Oh my God, I've to give birth!" Then I'd be focused and I'd push properly and I'd tell myself, "Stay awake. Stay awake." I pushed some more and I could feel the pain and everyone was cheering, "That's it! That's it! She's ready for delivery!" I remember being wheeled into the delivery room and hearing Jay's voice disappear because they didn't let him in, and I was strapped into the delivery chair and I freaked out like hell. And then black.

I woke up to a nurse's voice saying, "Hello, Ma'am. Congratulations." I immediately checked my tummy for a CS incision. There was none...I had a normal delivery. Then I remembered not remembering anything...just flashes of the delivery and the intense feeling of having survived a nightmare. I must've been such a brat. I was apologizing to all the nurses and the residents who attended to me and my baby. I felt so bad. I wasn't fighting the pain of birth...I was fighting the drugs.

The first person I looked for was Jay. I was wheeled into my private room where my family and Jay's mom Tita Jane were waiting, but Jay was downstairs getting more things from the car. It was only when he entered the room that my delivery experience felt complete.

Jay told me how rowdy I was and I was so ashamed. I don't want Layla to think that I didn't want to have her, but everything turned out good. The baby and I were in good health and that was all that mattered. We were joking, "So much for lamaze," but as it turned out, Jay was the one who really benefited from the classes. He was a great coach.

I was too beaten up to move so I couldn't see Layla that night. Jay had already carried her after she was born, so he just made sure that I took my meds and ate well, and we were both amused by my empty tummy. Even now, it still feels like flab and jelly and it's really funny to squish around. haha!

The next morning Jay wheeled me to the nursery for the first time and we both saw Layla inside with a choir of crying babies. Apparently a lot of Caesarian operations were scheduled that weekend to avoid November 1 birthdays.

Poor Jay couldn't go in to carry her, though. We kissed eachother goodbye and I went inside the nursery, put on a robe and waited nervously for my baby in the breastfeeding room. A nurse named Manang Beth came in and said, "Baby Vargas," and I raised my hand like a little girl ready to receive a new baby doll, except it was a real baby. I was all smiles.

After talking to her and rejoicing in the fact that she recognized my voice, we began breastfeeding; and to my surprise, I became the breastfeeding guru in the nursery. Layla and settled in easily on the first try and the other mothers were asking if she was my second or third baby. I told them that she was my first and that I went to Rome's classes (naks) and the last lessons we had were breastfeeding and caring for the baby. Some of their babies were pretty fussy and crying. I told them that the biggest lesson I learned was that it's also your baby's first time to breastfeed, or to do anything for that matter, so you should be patient with each other. :)

We took Layla home on November 1 and it's weird now that she's at home with us and sleeping in our bedroom. My body clock is so in synch with hers that it's as if she was always there, waking us up twice at night and starting my day really early in the morning. We had a bit of a scare leaving the hospital, though, because she was turning yellow. So we're mixing formula milk and breastmilk right now and what's nice about feeding her formula milk is that Jay gets to feed her, too. It's nice to see him with the baby, especially when they both fall asleep and the baby's lying on his chest.

I also can't get over the fact that she's already a week old...or should I say ONLY a week old. She's grown so much already...gained about 4 pounds and stretched 3 more inches. She also has the funniest little ticks, like making sounds in her sleep and picking her tiny nose with her tiny fingers. Having her in the world is awesome...so awesome that even her crying is music to my ears. :)

Our little star is born!

First of all, we're not planning on getting a yaya anytime soon, so I'm gonna be a hands-on stay-home mamalia for a long while. This means that I'm very busy and very tired and that I'll be posting more about the delivery some time next week. I need my rest, you know?!

Anyway, here are some photos for now. Ciao!