Ally's First Month

The first month with a newborn is so hard to describe. For me, it's been almost 6 years since I've had a baby, and man how much you forget but how quickly it all comes back to you. The first few weeks are what I like to call the newborn survival phase. I feel crazy, sleeping is crazy, crying is crazy, and the family schedule is crazy. And if you know me at all, crazy is not my thing.

The postpartum hormones are indescribable. I even woke up in the middle of the night once convinced I was choking on an ear plug (even though they both were still in my ears...and yes I was wearing earplugs as my newborn was screaming in my face). And no one seems to tell you this, but nursing is hard. You have to really stay committed to it to see it through. For us, baby items are extremely expensive so I'm doing what I can to help out with the expenses...so I'm nursing and using cloth diapers. I'll let you know in a few months how all that is going.

But then there are the indescribable sweet moments like this one:


Ally at 3am. I love just sitting there and looking at her

And she has changed so much every week!

Ally: 1 week old

Ally: 2 weeks old

Ally: 3 weeks old

Ally: 4 weeks old
Thanksgiving Day

She is such a joy and a precious addition to our family. No she was not a surprise for us...she was planned and of course the Lord has the days of her life all planned out for her. That's such a neat thought as we look at our little Costa Rican baby. Things start falling into place a little bit after a month so that's nice. We still weren't on a good schedule yet, but that usually happens about the second month for us. Here's a snapshot of that first month:

She loves sleeping in the Boppy. She doesn't like to sleep flat because she keeps spitting up all the time. And she loves to snuggle down in a blanket. Our house gets really cold at night since we don't have heat, so she likes her blankets.

This was her working with Daddy on the balcony

And then there's the dynamic of Jack and Ally. He loves to hold her whenever he can. I try to wait until she is in a good mood so he can just hold her and they watch tv together. He is begging to walk around while holding her, but that's not happening. 

They definitely love each other

His favorite thing is to give her a pacifier (chupeta in Spanish) and brush her hair. She falls asleep right away. And I love that when she gets fussy he calls me and says "Mom, Ally wants to be feed".

And wow...the dynamic of Emma and Ally. Hard to describe. Emma is amazing with her and is a complete natural. She will probably have 10 kids herself. She loves to carry her, kiss her, put her down for naps, change her diaper and dress her. She says it's like her very own Bitty Baby doll. Ally LOVES her.

My three sweet kids at Thanksgiving

Kids giving her a bath before church

This was her first bath done by daddy and photographed by Emma. Ally hated it at the moment, but she loves her baths now.

Daddy and Ally. Such a sweet bond. He is always taking her from me and cuddling with her.


I see him walking around the house with her curled under his chin constantly. And he hates to hear her cry. He is always scooping her up every time we hear a peep coming from her room. So spoiled.

It's amazing how much more laid-back we are this time around. I think we know just how fast this time passes and we want to enjoy every minute of it.

So fun having the three of them. I never thought I would have 3 kids, but it's really great.

And this is me most of the time. She loves this sling or the Moby wrap. Our stroller is difficult to fit in our car and it's hard to use on the terrible sidewalks. So I carry her most of the time.

People stop us everywhere and want to see her because she's so tiny. That's the word we hear the most. So we call her our "Tiny T". Some of the comments I get the most are "she's so white", "look at her blond hair", "you need to get her out of the sun", "be careful it's supposed to rain", "you know it's really windy today", "it's really cold outside right?", and "where's her hat". I even had a sunhat on her one day and a lady told me that was not okay because it didn't cover her ears (because it was windy). I am also surprised how many strangers ask me if I'm nursing her. I'm not really sure why they care. It is sweet though when old ladies stop me on the street and remind me of what a blessing she is.

She is indeed. 

 

Birth of Ally Tatum

On Thursday, October 25th, I had my doctor's appointment for my 39 week checkup. That morning was so calm and relaxed. I slept well the night before, my house was picked up and clean, and a friend offered to take my kids for the whole day. I remember sitting in the rocking chair in the den waiting on Will for us to leave for the doctor and thinking, "Lord, please, this would be a really nice day to have a baby". I realize not everything needs to be organized and scheduled, but the reality of having a baby in a foreign country was starting to weigh on me a little and if I could have some predictability, that would be nice.

My appointment was at 11:00 and we never have to wait long with Dr. Salazar. I had felt really well the week before this appointment (unlike the week before that) so I was in a good and comfortable place at this time. They took my blood pressure and it was a little high. My doctor is very serious and he immediately said that he would like to deliver this baby as soon as possible. Will said, "how about now?"...and he agreed! I was 3 centimeters and had been having contractions off and on for several weeks, so I was ready. He took a quick ultrasound of the baby and said she was completely ready...so let's go.

From there, we exchanged huge grins and walked over to the hospital. I had Will take a quick picture of me at 39 weeks right before delivery. This was taken in the hallway on our walk over.


From the pictures, childbirth probably looks very similar in Costa Rica to what it is in the States. In a lot of ways, it was...in a lot of ways, it wasn't. First of all, the doctors and the hospital took care of calling our insurance company and lining up everything with them...payments and all. Remember, this is a private hospital so not everyone can afford to go to Clinica Biblica. It really is a great place.

They asked if I wanted to deliver right there in my room or get wheeled into the surgery room. I told them I was just fine staying in my room. So when the time came, they transformed my entire room into a delivery room. It was pretty cool.

This is me all checked in to my room and ready to go. Since my contractions still weren't very consistent, they decided to hook me up to a little bit of pitocin to make everything jump start. I was okay with that, but it didn't seem to do very much. I had several nurses and nursing students checking on me and messing with me all the time. There were just always lots of people in and out of my room asking me all kinds of different questions in Spanish.

My doctor came in 2 hours later and I was still just sitting there watching tv. He said we needed to break my water and get this thing going. After that, the contractions started up big time. Having contractions with lots of strangers around speaking Spanish wasn't very peaceful for me. Will had to sit in a corner most of the time which I didn't like either. Like I said...some things were just different and not what I expected.

I had no idea how many centimeters dilated I was and I just didn't know how much longer I had to go. And more and more people were filtering in and out of my room, and now the nursing students were wanting to feel my strong contractions on my stomach. Most people at this hospital deliver by c-section, so that doesn't leave a whole lot of normal childbirths for the students to watch...so I was exhibit A that day.

In the childbirth package, a "walking epidural" is included in the price. I had been told this numbed things a little bit, but you are still able to feel everything and be an active part of the experience. I asked for one, but they said they wouldn't give it until I was 5 centimeters and I was around 4. Will told them that once I hit 5 centimeters everything happens really quickly, but they didn't really listen.

In comes the anesthesiologist. He had been on call and just came in off his motorcycle. Will wasn't allowed to be around for him to give it to me, and I was in tons of pain at this point. If I had known how far along I was, I wouldn't have taken it. This guy had to stick me and redo the epidural 3 times and I'm not sure it ever took right. It hurt so bad and really freaked me out! I started crying and just couldn't stop. Nerve pain is a really weird thing and pretty scary. I had 2 epidurals in my previous childbirths, and they weren't anything like this! Maybe he doesn't give very many...I don't know. When he finally had it in place, I leaned back and told him I could still feel everything. He said it would take about 15 minutes for it all to kick in. They immediately checked me and I was 10 centimeters. So much for the "walking epidural". I think I went from 5-10 centimeters in 20 minutes. 

The doctor dashed in and was ready. In the back of this picture is the crazy anesthesiologist, in the middle is my doctor, and on the right is the pediatrician. Along with them was my nurse and her 2 students, Ally's nurse and 2 students, Dr. Salazar's nurse (who grabbed my camera), and Dr. Molina's nurse. I bet there were 10 people in the room when I delivered Ally and they were all cheering me on. Definitely not the experience I pictured, but it was kind of fun having everyone there so excited. 

Just like with my other 2 babies, I pushed through 3 contractions and she was here. After the second contraction, everyone in the room was saying "Ella es rubia, ella es rubia"! (She's blonde, she's blonde!). They loved seeing the little white baby with blonde hair and blue eyes...not typical for them. I think the whole childbirth took about 3 hours from beginning to end. She was born around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Here's us meeting our little Ally girl. That's her pediatrician, Dr. Molina, holding her up. She was precious.

7.5 pounds and 19 inches long...my smallest baby

 

 

She loves having her hands in her face. She looked like this in every ultrasound picture.

  

 

  

 

 

Emma and Jack were totally in love from the beginning

First picture as a family of 5

Thank you to Cynthia Gault who took care my kids all day. She has been such a help to us.

She was so alert for a long time and completely chill

When she has her mouth hanging open, you know she's really asleep. Emma used to sleep like this all the time.

Hospital clothes

Daddy always changes the first diaper

We were worn out after a big day

We were cleared to go home the next day. The hospital sends around a lady to do your hair and makeup before leaving. They don't want you looking rough when you leave! It was wonderful.

Check out my fancy straight hair and awesome makeup! 

Ally going home in the same dress that I went home from the hospital in and Emma also.

First picture at home in her bed.

The hospital also did some pictures after they gave her bath and cleaned her up. I love these sweet pictures of our little Ally. The lady took Will with her so those are his hands in some of the pictures.

All in all in was a good experience having a baby in Costa Rica. And much much cheaper. I was glad this wasn't my first baby because there were unknowns and the language barrier can be tough. There's nothing like a nurse waking you up in the middle of the night asking you stuff in Spanish!

We are so blessed by the addition of Ally Tatum to our family. Thank you Lord for a healthy delivery and a healthy baby. God is good.