Isabela Kasia Kologinczak is finally here!!!

O.k. so how bad am I? I have been so bad at keeping up with this blogspot. Last post I did I was talking about the name change that Jaccob and I decided on and now our little Isabela is finally here! So much for all the updates on the pregnancy...sorry! Suffice to say that the last couple of weeks were definitely the longest and most nerve wrecking weeks of the whole nine months! I had always thought that she was going to come early (wishful thinking on my part!), but she actually didn't arrive until a week past her due date. Talk about being stubborn! Haha :)

So to catch everyone up here is my baby story on how our daughter came into this world...

Isabela Kasia Kologinczak was born on Saturday, March 8th at 10:32 a.m., weighing 9 lbs. 9 oz. and measuring 21 in.



So a little over a week ago I went to the hospital with my mom for my 41 week appointment, where I was going to go through a non-stress test. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s basically where they sit me down and hook me up to a fetal monitor and a monitor that measures my contractions. As I was sitting there I noticed that her heartbeat would dip kind of low, under the normal 120-160 beats per minute and of course the nurses took notice as well. A doctor came in and scheduled my induction for Tuesday, March 11th, even though I really wanted something for that weekend, but of course I had to agree with the doctor. They proceeded to do an ultrasound to check how much amniotic fluid she had left in there and they told me that she had plenty. A little while later the doctor came back in and checked my cervix and told me that I was only 1 cm. dilated. He told me that I was having a lot of contractions and that he noticed that she was under a little bit of distress...he then told me that he wouldn’t feel comfortable sending me home over the weekend in case something happened to her, so then he said, "Looks like you’re staying here and having this baby!" I was in complete shock, and all of a sudden nerves set in like crazy!!!

Around 3:00 p.m. I was admitted to the hospital and taken to my room. I didn't even have my hospital bags with me because I thought I was just going in for a routine check up! My mom called my dad and my sister and told them to come to the hospital (my dad came fully prepared with my bags, dvd's and a video camera- a task that i like to think jaccob would've taken care of, had he been there!). The doctor went ahead and inserted this balloon type thing into my cervix to help dilate me to 4 cm., and also started me on pitocin, a drug to get my contractions going and hopefully help my labor progress. We all sat there in my room passing the time by talking and watching movies, all while I feasted on my yummy -liquids only- dinner! Around 8:00 p.m. the balloon came out and my contractions continued on, but they were nothing I couldn’t handle. Around an hour later the doctor came in and checked my cervix again and told me I was 7 cm. dilated!!!

We were all surprised I had progressed so fast in such a small amount of time! Since the moment I found out I was pregnant, and to be honest even before then, I had always said I was going to get an epidural, because I didn't want to have to feel a thing. I asked right then and there if I could get my epidural before it was too late, and before I knew it the anesthesiologist was in and ready to administer it! I've always been scared of needles, and the thought of that big needle going into my spine was kind of freaking me out. My sister stayed in the room with me while he started on the epidural, but in all actuality I don't really remember feeling much of anything, except for a sting and that was it! Talk about needing to give myself a little credit, huh? After a minute or two I felt like I had hit the jackpot! Thank you numbness and welcome bliss! The doctor broke my water around 11:00 p.m. and as the night went on we noticed that my contractions weren’t really as strong and as often as they would want. At about 1 a.m. my dad and sister had to call it a night since they both had to work the next day, so now it was just my mom and me. Not that I don't love my dad and sister or anything, but having my mom there was all I needed!

At some point I started to notice that something was not right with my epidural...my left side was completely numb, but my right side was another story. My leg was numb, but that was about it. The nurse came in and helped my mom turn me onto my right side, so that the drugs could make its way to that side of my body. I essentially needed to balance the drugs out to both sides of my body, but throughout the rest of my labor I never could get it to equal out. They upped the pitocin more and more throughout the night, but still nothing was really happening. The doctor kept coming in and checking my cervix, but I still wasn’t progressing as I should be.

I spent the whole night like that and by early morning it felt like my epidural was wearing off. They had to come in and increase my dosage, but it didn’t really work, because I was experiencing some intense pain in my lower belly. Around 7:00 a.m. the nurse came in and told me they could only up my pitocin two more times. I started to worry, not knowing what was in store for me. By this point I was crying and crying and I felt like I couldn't handle the pain anymore. After what seemed like forever, technically an hour, the doctor came in and told me that I had stopped progressing at 7 cm. dilated, 90% effaced and -1 station. They told me that they considered my induction failed, and that the next step would be to do a c-section. By this point I was in so much pain that all I wanted was for her to be born, so of course I consented. Around 9:30 a.m. they were ready to take me to the operating room. Initially my mom was the one who was going to go with me, but my sister came in (she had actually called into work and asked for the day off) right before they wheeled me out and volunteered to take her place. My poor mom had stayed up with me the whole night, and she was completely exhausted, so she felt it would be better if my sister went with me. I tried to remain calm as they prepped me for surgery, but I was a complete mess! Being strapped down to the table, with my arms out to my sides, and a mask over my mouth and nose, I started to hyperventilate and I felt like I couldn't breath. The nurse adjusted the mask off to the side a little and I instantly felt better. Next thing I knew my sister was at my side, trying to distract me by recounting some of her favorite memories of the two of us. I tried to concentrate on anything but the c-section, but the pain and all the tugging I felt was not making it easy. She tried to ask the staff is there was something they could give me, but they said they wouldn't be able to do anything until after Isabela was out. I endured it the best I could and seriously, if it wasn’t for my sister I don’t know what I would have done. After what seemed like forever I heard Isabela crying and my sister crying too, saying how beautiful she was. Since my sister was there taking Jaccob's place, she was the lucky one to cut the cord! I was actually surprised to find out that she had been the one to do it (I didn't find this information out until Isabela was already a year and a half!), I never would have realized! I was so out of it by that point that I barely remember looking at her when they brought her over to me. Within seconds I was gone.

My mom was the first to feed her since I was recovering from the surgery.

The next thing I remember I was waking up in the recovery ward still groggy from the drugs. I also had chills and couldn't stop shaking, a side effect of the epidural and the c-section I assume. Not long after they rolled me into my new room and told me that Isabela was getting her bath and that they would bring her to me when she was done. I was so anxious and ready to see her, I could barely contain myself. My dad was with me in the room telling me how beautiful she was and how BIG she was and before I knew it, which actually seemed like a lifetime, they wheeled her in in her bassinet.

The feeling I felt at that moment is indescribable. Tears started swelling in my eyes as I looked over at her and I couldn’t believe that I was looking at her clearly for the first time. After carrying her inside of me for more than nine months she was finally here!!! I started crying and crying and all I could think about was how blessed I felt to have her in my life. I also thought of Jaccob, thinking how much I missed him and how much I wish he could be there with me to see our daughter for the first time. The moment my mom handed her over to me was magical! Looking down at her I couldn’t believe how beautiful and perfect she was!!! It's amazing how much love I felt for her the minute I saw her! This tiny, precious little angel had just come into my life and I knew that my life would never be the same.

For the next 72 hours I was pretty much out of it, sleeping most of the day and trying to recover from the surgery. I had developed a fever after the surgery so they monitored me very closely and they made me blow air into this plastic thingy, trying to clear my lungs out or something so that I didn't develop an pneumonia. I felt like I was going to die! It hurt a whole lot. The first time the nurse tried to get me on my feet I almost fainted! Not only did it hurt like crazy to even move from one side to another, trying to use my muscles to get me into sitting position was killing me! When I was finally able to stand up I felt like my stomach and all my organs had fallen out of my body! Not the nicest feeling in the world! I remained on my liquid diet until the last morning I was in the hospital, they gave me actual food, although I couldn't eat more than a couple of bites. My family was there with me the whole time and I am so grateful to them for all they did. They basically took on my role, and fed Isabela and changed her diapers since I was so out of it. I don't know what I would've done without them!!!


I was FINALLY able to go home on Tuesday, March 11th, coincidentally the day I had originally been scheduled to be induced! It feels wonderful to be in the comfort of our own home and being around all the comforts that go with it. Getting adjusted to being a mommy definitely has its challenges, but the rewards are far far greater!!! I’m just really glad that I have my parents here to help me. All I need now is Jaccob. Once he’s here everything will be as it should...we will be one, complete happy family :) Until then I’m enjoying being a mommy and seeing my baby girl grow day by day <3