Los Anthony: Mika Jolene Anthony

Wow, I don’t even know where to start. I had to go back to my last entry to see where I left off. Our baby Mika Jolene was born on Tuesday April 15^th at 7:35 am. Mika didn’t have a name until we met her. We like to use names that can be pronounced the same way in English and Spanish. It took us two minutes to decide what name to give our first child. The day we went to find out the sex we went to a restaurant after and decided right there that her name was going to be Lisa. We had a hard time trying to agree on a name for our second baby. I read thousands of names and their meanings but every time I would find a name I liked Mike would not agree with it. He said that we both should love the name, and I agree. We were so frustrated with each other that we just stopped talking about names for a while. I had decided that I wanted to name our baby after her dad, but the feminine versions of Michael I could find were Michaela, Michelle, and Micah and I didn’t want to use either. Then I found a different list and one of the names was Mika (pronounced MEE-KA) and I loved it. Then I decided that I wanted a biblical name for her middle name since Lisa’s middle name is a variant of Mary. I chose Jolene, which is a feminine variant of Joseph. When I told Mike he told me he didn’t like it so I told him that it was okay but that he needed to come up with some suggestions, he never did.

My due date was April 29^thand I wanted if it was possible to schedule a day to be induced so that Sherrie could buy her airplane ticket and be here to take care of our baby Lisa. None of my three doctors wanted to induce because they said it increases your chances of having a C-section and other complications. What they did tell me was to tell whoever was coming to help to come when I hit 38 weeks, or by my actual due date. Sherrie was scheduled to come on the 28^th so we were really praying that our baby would come then.

The last two months of this pregnancy were just awful. Extreme morning sickness, gestational diabetes, pre-term labor, and overall giganticness make me very miserable. Looking back I realized that I had probably been in labor for a complete day, but I was so miserable anyway that it just felt like a particular terrible day. Monday the 14^th was the most miserable day to date; by the time I went to bed I was so tired of being by myself all day that I fell asleep right away. I started feeling contractions at 3 in the morning but since they felt like regular Braxton kicks I kept trying to sleep it off. At 3:15 I finally realized that they were getting stronger but for some reason I kept trying to sleep. At 4:00 am I decided to get up and as soon as I stepped out of bed my water broke. I was in panic because of course I was not ready. I was so sure that I was going to make it to my due date that I didn’t have anything ready, not a hospital bag, or a bag for Lisa in case she needed to go somewhere for a couple of days. I am so grateful that the Sunday before a couple asked us if we had somebody to watch Lisa if I went into labor with nobody here to help and we told them that we didn’t. This nice couple offered to take her if needed. I was especially worried about our dogs. Ella is a very anxious dog and she doesn’t like change, and Bear, well Bear is old. I wish I had had more time, but contractions were getting pretty bad, I could no longer speak during a contraction and we really needed to get to the hospital. My poor Baby Lisa, we had to wake her up at 4 in the morning and it was raining. I am sure she didn’t understand what was going on, or why mom was screaming in the car. I got to the hospital wearing a pajama dress and my ID in my hand, that’s it. Mike had Lisa and the diaper bag with extra diapers and an extra outfit for Lisa, that’s it. Mike called this nice couple from the ward and they picked Lisa up from the hospital at around 5 am. Poor baby Lisa was getting so scared watching me in so much pain. I tried my very best no to cream in front of her but she knew something was wrong with me. The good thing is that Mike called his parents to let them know I had gone into labor and they were able to change the airplane ticket. Sherrie arrived in Atlanta the same day a few hours after the baby was born. I am so very grateful that I was able to have her with me. It is so good to have her close when I am filling like quitting breastfeeding for good. I sure needed her. Also, Lisa loved spending time with Grandma, she provides Nutella sandwiches liberally.

I had always known that I wanted an epidural. When I had Lisa I had an epidural right away and although I was still in a lot of pain and I needed an extra dose of the medication I could never imagine what real labor pain was like. The best way I can explain it is that I felt my bones and my skin were being ripped open, every couple of minutes. Apparently they need to test your blood before giving you an epidural and for some reason they were not able to get my results back soon enough. I screamed, cried, prayed, and begged for an epidural but all they could tell me was that they were sorry but they needed my lab results first. That poor nurse; every time I saw her I begged her for an epidural, and every time she came to my room I hoped that she would tell me the anesthesiologist was here to give me the darn thing. It didn’t happen. The last time she came she did with a bunch of people and when I asked her once again for an epidural she told me there was no time for an epidural, she said I was ready to push. I had been praying and asking Heavenly Father to please help me get through it but even with all the praying I have done I still felt like I would never make it, I felt that I wasn’t strong enough and I was also extremely tired. Call me a wimp but I really don’t get how some women can get through that kind of pain just making funny noises and meditation. I was ready to pull every single hair out of somebody’s hair. My doctor wasn’t there and they had a hard time trying to keep me calm, I was out of myself. A doctor I don’t know walked in the room and asked if she could check me, then she said I wasn’t actually completely dilated, I was only an 8 or 9. Everyone stopped getting ready and within 10 min the anesthesiologist came. One of my doctors then enter the room and told me that if I didn’t stop moving around the doctor would not try to give me an epidural because he could miss and hurt my spine. I will never forget the calming voice of this doctor; I said a little prayer and asked Heavenly Father to please help me stay still. He did, I had a contraction while the doctor had a huge needle in my spine and I didn’t flinch. The funny thing is that Mika was born like half an hour after I got the epidural, and although I did feel some relieve I still felt pretty much everything. I don’t think they gave me a full dose, if that is even possible. When I felt the urge to push my doctor was putting on his gloves and stuff and he told the nurse to start me (or something like that). I pushed once and the nurse told me to stop because the baby was right there, another contraction came and I had to push and the doctor yelled that he was putting on his gloves and that I needed to stop, so I tried my best and stopped, then the doctor told me it was okay to push again, I pushed one more time and baby Mika was here. THREE PUSHES PEOPLE!

I can’t believe it all took 3 ½ hours since my water broke. Even today it seems to me like it was an entire day, and although some people, including me, think that I could have done it without an epidural I am so grateful that I at least had some relieve, even if it was only for a half an hour.

Even today I feel like crying when I remember what I felt when I looked into her little eyes for the first time. I wouldn’t change that moment for the world. You know when people say that every baby is different? The really are. Mika was so different since the moment she was born. Lisa was kind of sleepy, and she had breathing problems and had to be taken to an observation room for most of the day. Mika was born and ready to nurse, after they took her measurements and stuff they gave her to me and she started nursing. It all happened exactly like what they tell you in your breastfeeding class. I was transferred to my room and Mika stayed with me the whole time.

Because Lisa hurt me so bad and eventually went away I was expecting the same from Mika. I was expecting to hurt so bad that I didn’t realize how bad Mika’s latch was so eventually she hurt me so bad I bled and had to stop nursing and only pump instead. When I healed enough to stand her nursing again she wouldn’t latch at all and I thought it was because I had been giving her my milk from a bottle. I struggled to make her latch and continued to feed her with a bottle but was so frustrated because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of pumping and then feeding it to her. I didn’t know what was going on. Did I mention that she had pretty bad jaundice? Yeah. We had to put her on that weird looking bed with lights underneath, and by the way you can’t swaddle them. Not fun. By her two week appointment she was off the bed. However, we still had breastfeeding problems. I refused to give up nursing her at my breast although if necessary I would have exclusively pumped as long as I could feed her my milk. Thankfully the doctor found that she was tongue tie and send us off to the ENT to have her tongue clipped. That took care of the problem immediately. They take your baby to a different room and when they bring her back they hand her to you and tell you to star nursing right there. It works! Mika has been a nursing champ ever since.

Obviously this is not the most modest pictures, but the day before Mika was born my mom told me I should have at least one good pregnancy picture and I sent her this one as a joke. Now this is the ONLY picture I have of my belly.

I cried every time they took blood from her precious little feet. I hate Jaundice

I learned that you are not supposed to pump ALL your milk when you are engorged because it can make you produce too much milk. Poor Mika couldn't keep up