Greetings from Mateo Rodriguez-Milosevic November 16, 2006
To all our friends and family–
After deciding that mommy did not need the two week “rest period” she had so anxiously longed for prior to his official due date of 11/21, little Mateo Tomas made his debut last Thursday night, November 9, at 10:15 pm (6lbs. 12oz. 20 inches). Some of you may know how I had quite seriously expressed my desires for the anesthesiologist to meet me in the parking lot to set up my epidural STAT…well…life has a funny way of working out sometimes!
I spent the day of his birth shopping at Target through mild contractions and snoozing during the afternoon with only intermittent ones. Then I started feeling them much more strongly in the early evening on Thursday, but still, I underestimated their force. Suffice it to say, I had so psyched myself up for a pain to end all pains, that I didn’t realize how close to the final stages of birth I got until I started feeling the urge to push at home as daniel frantically packed a hospital bag, waited for the laundry to dry–at my insistence–so that I could have my robe to wander around the halls of UCLA, and packed up the snacks I had been strongly advised to bring to help pass the time and hunger during a lengthy labor. Thankfully, our super friend Hermes Garban came to the rescue and drove us to the hospital, because I don’t know what I would have done if Daniel couldn’t have been in the back seat comforting me and helping me take “calming breaths” on the ride over.
The blase folks at the hospital didn’t seem to believe that my labor had really progressed, since I was still able to talk through the contractions and said that I felt pain all the time. When they finally got around to examining me, daniel tells me (I was a zombie by this time) one of the doctors turned to the other and said “She’s complete, complete, plus one” Meaning completely dilated, completely effaced, and ready to push! When I politely requested something for the pain, they told me the epidural wouldn’t kick in until after I had delivered, so I had no choice but to go at it “au naturel”. To sum things up, just 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital, baby Mateo had arrived! And not a moment too soon, as we learned that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice, and, to our horror, that the cord itself had somehow gotten tied into a knot, cutting off all support, I imagine. Yes, the timing of mother nature cannot be taken for granted.
As to be expected, his abrupt arrival caused more damage than the norm and I needed surgery afterward to repair it. But in the end, it’s all worth it. He’s thriving, extremely well behaved, not a cone-head at all, and really quite adorable, if I do say so myself (and the accompanying photos will attest). My mom is here with us for a few days this week, which is a tremendous help during this transition time, and we’re hopeful to get this parenting thing down pat very soon. (ha ha…)
Thank you to everyone for your support and well wishes…if we seem out of it for the next several weeks, well, now you’ll know why!
Love from
Yvonne, Daniel and Mateo
(this was originally sent as an email by Yvonne to all our friends and family)
