Kapri has made her debut!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On May 20, 2009 at 9:13 p.m., at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, James & I welcomed Kapri Jolie Mejia into the world. She weighed in at 7lbs 14oz, and was 21 inches long...wow! We definitely expected her to be in the mid-8lb range...so her weighing less was a little surprise!

I was scheduled to be induced that morning...bags were packed, car was filled...and I was a ball of nerves. I wanted to film while James drove, just to capture our feeling on soon becoming parents...I also wanted one last 'baby belly' picture...unfortunately I forgot to do both of those things...I blame it on pregnancy brain

We got to the hospital a little after 7am, checked into the cozy L&D room that would soon be filled with one of my favorite memories of all, and changed into that lovely little hospital gown. Relax. Breath.

Then around 8 a.m. that's when they started the pitocin to help get my contractions going. I was so nervous & anxious, and didn't know what to expect...naturally. So a few hours later, I started feeling those contractionsand they progressivly got more & more intense. Every hour or so, our wonderful nurse came to check on me to see if I wanted the epidural or not...the anesthesiologist had numerous c-sections to attend, so she wanted to make sure I had a nice window of oppurtunity to get the epi. Finally around noon, the contractions were starting to take my breath away...I found myself having to stop what I was doing, or stop in mid-conversation to close my eyes & breath through the pain. It pretty much felt like the WORST "time of the month" cramps!!


Then at 12:45 p.m., I gave in & told the nurse to get the epi goin!! I had to wait about 45 min. for the doc to come in, prep me & administer the epidural...ouch! He *conveniently* gave me that shot right along with the worst contraction yet!! That's when I actually let the tears flow...thank goodness James was right there with me every step of the way. Now I don't know if this was just a coincidence or what...but right at that moment, our song (which we had our 1st dance to at our wedding) started playing in the background.... "By Your Side" by Sade. James looked at the nurse & I and said "this is the perfect song...I was by your side then, and I'm by your side now"... needless to say, I lost it! haha

Thankfully, the hours in the hospital literally only felt like minutes to us, it was so weird! I think it helped having lots of visitors to make the time pass. We also brought 2 movies...Finding Nemo (my fav) and Ace Ventura. We were told that it was best to bring funny, lighthearted movies...no drama - just something to keep your mind off the pain that was to come!

Finally....we hit the 12-hour mark and around 7:30 p.m., our nurse told us I was at 10 cm - time to do some practice pushing...

O.M.G. - I can't do this...I'm scared!! I threw up twice - which is normal, haha!

Unfortunately, my contractions slowed down quite a bit...which in turn, delayed the labor and my chances to push (with each one, you have to hold your breath & do 3 large pushes)...so they had to increase my pitocin. Then I mysteriously developed a 102 degree fever - I was so hot & swollen, not fun. My legs & feet especially felt like they were on fire. So the nurse had to put ice packs behind my neck, in my armpits and on my feet. Luckily the fever wasn't passed on to little Kapri.


My doctor told me to look down, a head...hair...a PERSON is coming out of me! Finally, at 9:13 p.m....she arrived perfectly & beautifully...it really was love at first sight - like they always say. Along with James & I, my mom and sisters were in the room during the process, so it was quite the sob-fest in there with all of us combined, haha!! Once she was cleaned off & I was 'cleaned up'...we had the rest of our family & visitors come meet the popular baby Kapri...it was a full house in there! Then about an hour or so later, she had her first meal from mama...yum yum! I'll never forget the sounds she made as she anxiously tried to latch on. That night, I don't think I slept one minute...I still felt like I was in a never-ending dream...and I just could NOT take my eyes of this wonderous little angel.

Thank goodness for James with all his love & support...I don't know how I would've gotten through this day (or this pregnancy for that matter) without him there...by my side :-)

This really was the single most amazing experience of my life. Or like my dad would say "the #1 life changing moment"...so true.