Alec Javier's Birth Story

I guess you can say that since the beginning, Alec has always wanted to keep Javi and I on our toes. If you don't know already, Alec came as a VERY big surprise for us. We had always planned on having only two children and although we played around with the idea of a possible third, long ago Javi and I had decided we wanted to keep our little family as a party of four. Jokes on us!

So a little backstory, on my deliveries with Annemarie and Avery. I had both girls at around 37 weeks. With Annemarie, I started getting contractions at 4am, got to the hospital at around 7am being 4 cm dilated and by 4pm I delivered my first born. With Avery, I was induced at a little over 37 weeks. I went into the hospital at 8am, got my first dose of medicine at 9am and by 1:30pm she had made her debut. Why am I saying this? I'm known for having pretty "quick" deliveries. May it be genetics (my mom and grandmother were the same) or just the way my body works.

For weeks now, my doctor who also delivered Annemarie, has been telling me that when I start getting contractions I can't mess around. You see, when I had Annemarie and started having contractions, I decided to wash my hair, shave my legs, blow dry my hair and THEN tell Javi I thought it was time to get ready to go to the hospital.

Now that I think you have enough back story ... here's Alec's birth story.

The day before we visited some friends for a pool day and enjoyed a fun filled day, Javi had a few drinks (which he never does) and we got home pretty late, around 11:30pm. By the time everyone took showers and fell asleep, it was around 1am. I woke up around 2/2:30am feeling "cramps" and within 20 minutes they got progressively stronger - I knew it was game time. There was something different this time around. The contractions were coming at about 10 minutes apart automatically and either, I was out of practice, or they were really kicking my booty. I quickly went to take a shower and passed the iron quickly through my hair, texted my parents to hurry to come stay with the girls. I woke up "sleeping beauty", a.k.a Javi, and as soon as my parents arrived we left to the hospital. At one point of the drive I got a little emotional and told Javi, "wow this shit really hurts, I don't remember it being this bad with the girls." But like everything else, I thought, oh it's because I'm having a boy and things are different.

When I arrived at the hospital at 4am, apparently my face said it all, because the security guard pulled out a wheel chair and prompted me to sit. As Javi rolled me to the maternity ward we laughed and made silly jokes, but when the contractions came, I quickly became very quiet and focused on my breathing. We arrived at the ward and I gave all my information. Javi mentioned to the nurses, just like my doctor had instructed, that I was quick with my deliveries. We think they thought we were being dramatic, but once they took my vitals and they checked to see how far along I was, they moved and they moved FAST. I arrived at the hospital 7cm/8cm dilated - no jokes.

They quickly took my blood, put my IV in and asked me some questions like - would you like an epidural. Answer - YES! They proceeded to tell me that my bloodwork needed to be cleared before they could administer the epidural and that would take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. Right away I knew that the changes were, I would be delivering Alec feeling every single thing. At that moment my thoughts were 1) Holy SHIT 2) Stay Calm 3) You got this! 4) FUUUUUCK!

They called the doctor that was on call in the practice because mine, whom I love, was on his way to his sons tournament. At around 5am with tears in my eyes I told Javi I felt exactly how I felt right before I had the girls, that awkward pressure, the one that's all up down there. You don't know if you need to push out a baby or a massive poop (lol). All of a sudden I felt a surge of enormous pain and I simultaneously gave one scream and hugged the bed railing as if it were my lifeline to a painless delivery. Javi's eyes looked a mix of absolute helplessness and what is happening to my wife. My water had broken and it was GAME TIME. Javi rushed to get the nurses which were already running into the room after my apparent "very loud scream" (which I thought only happened in movies).

This is what happened next:

Nurses: What happened?

Me: HE IS COMING OUT RIGHT NOW!!!

Nurses: OMG he is crowning, don't push yet the doctor is almost here.

Me: HA! I'm pushing right now!!!

Insert doctor walking in the room, rushing to pretty much catch the baby in mid air (okay not really) but within seconds, Alec Javier had made his entrance and everyone was ... in shock.

He was born at 5:21am, apparently I had a precipitous labor, also called rapid labor, which is defined as giving birth after less than 3 hours of regular contractions. I also delivered with no epidural, something I NEVER thought I would do. Once again proving that 1) our bodies are so freaking amazing 2) you may have a plan but always know that you may have to throw that out the window and THAT IS OKAY

I was grateful Alec Javier was here, was healthy and that our family was now officially a party of five. The nurses repeatedly told me how amazing I was and how calm I had been for someone who hadn't planned that type of delivery. I thanked THEM for being so attentive and sweet the whole time because that made a world of difference.

My advise or suggestion for expecting moms? Take it one day, one moment, one second at a time because pregnancy truly is a roller coaster. It's one of the most beautiful but complex adventures. Just remind yourself that in the end you will have the greatest blessing. An unconditional bond and love with a little human that is unimaginable.

Meet Alec Javier Rodriguez, born July 25, weighing 7pounds 8ounces and 20 inches.