Emelia's Flickr Photo Page

You can access is by clicking the link to the right under Emelia DeLo Photos. The photos will update as well as we upload them.

Post of All Posts: We are Parents

By the way, we started a flickr dedicated to just Emmy photos, because if I upload them all on facebook, I'll end up having no friends haha.

EmeliaDeLo's photostream on Flickr.

Wednesday the 6^th was a pretty normal day for me. Nothing out of the ordinary, not even any Braxton hicks contractions that I can remember. Fast-forward several hours to Thursday morning at 3:45 am.

“Holy Shit my water just broke!”

Pretty much the strangest feeling mentally I ever had. It was a combination of “I’m in trouble”, excitement, fear, “What do I do now?” and pure adrenaline. Mark jumped up and turned on the light, which confirmed my outburst. I was relieved it wasn’t blood because until I saw it I wasn’t sure. It was a terrifying few seconds.

            I immediately called the doctors office, which was an answering service during closed hours.

            “We will page the doctor, if you don’t hear back in 15 to 20 minutes give us another call”

            They were lacking in every sense of urgency that accompanies the opening ceremonies of childbirth. So we thought we had a little time to spare, after all don’t most babies take hours upon hours to arrive? Mark hopped in the shower for a quick rinse and refresher to get awake for a 35-minute drive to Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest Hospital. Meanwhile, I gathered the last few items for our hospital bags and tried to remain calm ha-ha. I felt completely normal minus the leaking ha-ha.

            Contractions started about 15 minutes into the drive and were comparable to mild cramping I have felt every month except for the previous nine. The drive was uneventful, no obstacles to get around, excessive speeding, or police escorts like you see on the cinemas.

            Once we arrived, we pulled up in typical VIP DeLo style in the valet lane. Who am I kidding, Valet was closed for the night and Mark doesn’t pay anyone to do anything he can do himself. Instead we just left the car parked right in front of the entrance and I waddled in with Mark in tow.

            After what seemed like 8 years sitting in a maternity ward triage room a doctor finally came in to check me. Again, no sense of urgency that I was a month early and the nurse even seemed to doubt my conviction that I had indeed experienced my water breaking.

            “Three centimeters and thinning, let’s get an ultrasound machine in here.”

            By this time contractions were definitely evident, I actually had to breathe through some pain. As soon as the probe was placed on my belly the doctor turned to me and said, “Uh Oh.” Not exactly the kind of words you want to hear when you are already two hours into the biggest moment and surprise of your life.

            “This baby is breech, you know what that means right? C-section.”

Add major surgery to the list of things I didn’t think I would be doing on April 7^th. I was scared and disappointed. This was not going at all like my “birth plan” had said it would go. Luckily, Mark and I had been watching nothing but birthing documentary style tv shows for months before. We were pretty stocked on all the info we would need for every possible situation when it came to childbirth. Whether we liked it or not was not part of the game.

            Contractions at this point were getting worse; it was about 7 a.m. when they started wheeling me back to surgery. At this point the pain was intense, and had it been a regular birth I would have been considering an epidural. Things seemed to be progressing much faster then I thought they should. I think because of her positioning it made my contractions come on like crazy once most of the fluid had come out.

            Getting ready for surgery was like being on a TV show. My doctor was quite dreamy looking, everything was bright white, and Katy Perry was playing in the background. Seeing Mark in scrubs was also pretty theatrical. All of it was surreal. I was pinned down like I was about to be put on the cross, arms out stuck full of needles and tubes. I was shaking like crazy not so much from nerves or the sheer coldness of the room but from the drugs.

            Once I was all settled, as if being settled is an option when someone is going to slice through five layers of your belly and pull a person out, Mark came in and sat next to me. He held my hand and was saying soothing things to me, which I can’t remember. I just remember seeing him, shaking and praying that I wouldn’t feel any of the cutting.

            I was also listening intently on what the doctor was saying, trying to detect any fear in his voice or unease. I didn’t, he was calm and collective and even giving pointers to someone who was learning or observing the procedure. I can remember feeling lots of pulling and wiggling, no pain or pressure really. Just like if the bottom half of my body was turned into Jell-O and someone put their hands in it. It felt like the cut was right under my ribs from all the shuffling of my organs, but it is a tiny incision a couple inches long right at the bikini line which was comforting to know once I found out.

            Not too long after they documented the first incision time, I hear the doctor talk to mark.

            “Hey come over here.”

            Mark got up off the stool to see behind the big blue curtain and his face went from nervous to shocked and scared to seeing the most amazing thing someone can ever see. Their child being born, I will be eternally jealous of him for this.

            They twisted and squirmed Emelia out of me butt first, folded in half. Mark said that she was covered in vernex and was limp until they got her to the table to stimulate her and get her to cry. They first time I heard her cry was so relieving, it seemed like hours had gone by from the time Mark said they pulled her out and he went to her side until I heard her little squeal. Instant tear factory.

Mark followed Emelia wherever she went, which was the cleaning up area, then over to see me for like a millisecond, then out to the waiting room to show family and friends and then up to NICU to make sure everything was going as it should be for a month early bambino.

Meanwhile, I am still shaking uncontrollably on the operating table getting sewn back up. The nurses and doctors were all super nice and talked to me to calm me down while Mark was looking after Emelia. I was then transported to recovery where family and friends came in threes to congratulate us and see how I was doing. I wish I could have seen me, because in pictures I looked like a hot “just out of surgery” mess.

After 6 hours in the NICU, Emelia was able to join us in our room, which was amazing. I did get to spend a couple minutes with her on my trip from recovery to my room, but nothing compares to the moment they hand her over and say “She’s yours”.

We opted to keep her in our room rather then have her go to the nursery during the night. It was difficult but we managed and Mark did a fantastic job since I wasn’t the most mobile yet.

They got me out of bed a few hours earlier then they said they would initially because I was doing well with the beginning of the recovery so that was nice. I was able to get up and change some diapers and shower, kind of feel human again.

The next couple days were full of visitors, lack of sleep and hospital food, which wasn’t so bad after all.  Lot of people brought flowers and gifts, which we can’t say thank you enough for.

Rolling out the hospital door and putting our daughter in the car for the first time and heading home was so surreal too. I was so emotional, but I held it together because crying amongst laughing, sneezing, coughing and any general responsive action hurt like hell haha.

Her first days and nights at home have been wonderful. BUSY but wonderful. The delirious nights have been hard but each one gets a little better. I also manage to get some laughs out of Mark in the middle of the night.

Last night, I asked him to get Emelia and rock her and he started diving through the covers looking for her. Apparently, he must have found her because he then started rocking an air baby until I finally got him out of his funk and woke him up a bit more.

Emelia spends most of the day sleeping, eating and pooping, especially today with the pooping. She loves her furry sisters Snaps and Dora and they in turn try to lick her face and sniff her whenever they can.

Mark and I are extremely thankful and feel so blessed to have such a perfect little baby and are so excited for her to show us what life is all about. I won’t go on and on because there are no words that can describe all the feelings that come along with becoming a parent. We love her more then anything and are looking forward to watching her grow, but not too fast.

Baby Surveillance

April 4 Week 36

Just some movements here and there I caught on video. The video doesn't really do the depth justice but you can get the idea. Look close, and don't get confused by my breathing haha.

Counting down this last month!

April 1 Week 35

We had an appointment to check on your status yesterday. I say we because Mark attended this one just for the heck of it. Everything is measuring on track and looking good. Your head is down and your butt is up. I can tell because I can feel it. The doctor could tell also, because she literally took her hands and pushed them so far into my lower abdomen that she grabbed the sides of your head. That didn't feel so swell for me. This last month is going to be a hard one, I'm super uncomfy all the time. I attached an image so everyone can see how much real estate you take up inside. Very anxious to meet you!

Don't forget about the awesome rib pain, back pain, leg cramps and all the awesome gross stuff too! hahaha

Was it a Baby Shower or Baby Down Pour?

March 26 Week 34

I am still recuperating from the downpour of Baby Shower gifts that Mark and I received for the little peanut this past weekend, and in addition my coworkers threw me a shower today! It was a fun weekend full of family and friends and baby stuff!

The shower was at Stroudsmoor Country Inn and there was lots of good eats for everyone to indulge in. We were very happy to see everyone who made it, its a shame though I didn't get to spend a lot of time with everyone which always makes me feel bad at these kinds of things. The mountain of gifts was so over the top, but very appreciated. Everyone got us, well YOU, beautiful things. We are definitely stocked on just about everything now! I hope you like owls, because that is the motif of your belongings now. Everything was cuter and more adorable then the thing before it. We are overwhelmed in a good way, it looks like a baby tornado took off through our house.

We have managed to put together a couple things and get most of the items organized but I think we will just have to see how it goes and I'm sure I will be rearranging everything once we get into the swing of things. Mark and I are getting super excited to meet you already, I kind of have a feeling you might feel the same. I have a gut feeling, no pun intended, that you may not wait until your debut date. Just don't come too early, I still have stuff to do!

Busy Weekend

March 21 Week 34

Saturday I spent the morning doing a newborn shoot with an adorable 10 day old named Gianna. It has been so much fun the last few weeks doing the newborn shoots, every little bit of added time with the new ones has been good in helping prepare myself (at least as far as posing my new baby for photos haaha).

Sat. afternoon was spent getting even more baby time at a family party. LOTS of kids, LOTS of babies and LOTS of pregnant Delorenzo ladies haha. Below is a pic of Mark relaxing with cousin Livia. He seems to be getting mroe comfy holding the babies so that is good!

Sunday we had our maternity/pre-baby photo session with Shane which I think went awesome. I can't wait to see the pics. We went for something less hand hearts on the belly and silk wrapped bellies. I think the photos will definitely show more of what Mark and I are about.

I finally put together a check list for everyone's bags to bring, mine, dads and baby's bag for delivery time. Now to pack them! I'm itching to get all the rest of the baby supplies in the house and put away, and then talk Mark into cleaning like a mad man. Its getting hard to spend a lot of time on my feet without my back hurting now or feeling like the baby is trying to claw its way out of me. The tiredness that I had int he first trimester is starting to haunt me again along with a slew of Braxton Hicks. Nothing like having a heavy, rock-hard, beach ball hanging off your body to add to your comfort level! Mostly, Mark and I are just getting more and more excited to move onto the next phase.

Jenny DeLo ( a month behind me), Diana DeLo (2.5
month old fab Momma of Livia, and me at 34 weeks)

Mark practicing with cousin Livia

Running out of room at my desk!

Another Check Up

March 18 Week 33

Had a checkup yesterday, everything looks on track and good to go. Your position yesterday was head down, butt up. I call it head down using me as a punching bag, butt up in my ribs making it hard to eat. Other then feeling a little sore and having to pee every five seconds, things seem to be going pretty good. Looking forward to meeting you and take it easy on my on your way out please :)

American Idiot

March 8 Week 32

This past weekend Mark and I went to NYC to see American Idiot on Broadway. Marky Mark got us great seats of course and the kicker was, Davey Havok, only our favorite lead singer from our favorite band AFI, was filling in for the St. Jimmy role.

We ended up getting to the city early which was kinda of bad since it was pouring all day. The show was great though, I'm pretty sure the baby was probably like what the hell is going on out there. Plus I don't think pregnant women are supposed to be exposed to strobe lights, but I didn't have a seizure and it was all good. Didn't know quite what to expect from the show. I'm familiar with the music but not to the point where I could tell you exactly what the story the album was trying to tell. I will say that it must have been awkward for some parents who brought their Green Day fan kiddos to the show. There were some very adult scenes. They were probably very awkward for those families in the theater. Davey was my favorite part of course, and I was really surprised to see Justin Guarini transform into the character. Last time I saw him he was a blonde fro sporting American Idol singer.

After the show we hit up Bobby Flay's NYC joint, Bar Americain. Food tasted amazing, but i was disappointed in the lack of food you got. Then again, once I remembered we were in New York City I realized that's how it is.

There was lots of trekking in the rain around the city to catch a cab all day, and after dinner was no exception. Rain seems to make this a bit of a challenge. Upon arriving back at Penn Station to get our return train to Seacacus Junction in NJ, we were packed like sardines waiting for the track number to be announced. Of course, when it was, it was like being in India trying to catch a train. People running like cattle through a chute back to the stalls. This was particularly intimidating for a pregnant woman wearing heels. I made it though haha, but why stop there with frightening scenarios. When we got to NJ, right before getting to the exit gates from the tracks the entire station went pitch black and alarms started to sound. Again, not too awesome to be pregnant in this situation. When the emergency lights came on and the electric gates opened for a hot second, Mark and I ran through and bolted out of there. I think it was just a power outage, but I was more afraid of getting knocked over by metropolitan idiots. The day was definitely an adventure!

Baby Expert

So I know I am the furthest thing from a baby expert, but I've been reading this book for the past few days which has taken my mood from "excited but terrified of a screaming/crying baby" to the point where my hands would basically shake even thinking about a crying baby to "excited and confident." I am really big into thinking positively, and then having good things happen in return. In this book it describes a technique for holding babies that I remember my mom telling me about, because Eyvind had taught my parents about it, by laying the baby on its stomach on your forearm to help induce a calming reflex, you can couple it with swaddling, then vigorous rocking, white noise, etc. There is a lot more to this book, all about triggering a babies calming reflex, and basically giving them a feeling of a "4th trimester."

I am just pumped on my pre-baby confidence boost right now :)

-Mark

Just Moving Along....

March 3 Week 31

I had a routine checkup today, nothing to report. Everything is measuring and looking good! I start going every two weeks now, things will start getting more exciting soon!

These are some pics from the other day when you must have wanted a lot of calcium, probably because your bones are starting to get dense now. Jenny and I toasted our pints of milk while the rest of the family drank delicious beers, fine wines and cocktails at Grandpa's birthday party.  Jenny is just about a month behind me, but from the look of this picture she looks like she is 3 months behind me. I honestly do not know where anymore room for you is going to come from. Maybe you'll make a sooner then later appearance ;)

Also I am now very familiar with Braxton Hicks, you have been making my stomach curl up into the tightest, hardest ball. I feel like I could throw myself down a bowling alley, its not that comfortable either so I would appreciate it if you and my uterus would stop ganging up on me. Oh and on that note, stop kicking me in my lady parts.