How I get the best deals when I shop onlineCarlos and I are so happy and proud to introduce you to our little munchkin: Tristan Antonio Misa Fernandez. He was born on July 2, 2015 at 8:45am–he arrived 39 weeks into my pregnancy and weighed 7.6 lbs and was 52 cm long. We were praying for a normal delivery, and I am so glad I was able to do it (thank God I was able to draw up a birth plan, which I discussed with my OB-GYN). I labored for 12 hours and pushed for an hour before he finally came out. It was the longest day of my life, as my water broke before I felt any contractions and I had to be induced to speed up labor. I struggled for five hours before getting an epidural, and seven hours after I was ready to push. It all seems so simple now that I am putting it into words, but let me tell you, that day was a crazy mix of emotions and many levels of pain.
The past three and a half weeks have been challenging, to say the least. Tristan had to stay an extra week at the Newborn ICU because his blood work indicated that he had an infection (white blood cell count spiked to 3x the normal number). My OB-GYN and Pediatrician said it was likely because he swallowed meconium while in my tummy. At first I didn’t think this was anything to be concerned about, because Tristan looked perfectly normal when he was delivered. But I was told this could be life-threatening if he was not treated with antibiotics, so Carlos and I extended our stay in the hospital to be with Tristan.
The hard part about it was being away from him. Having just given birth, I wanted my baby with me at all times. Having to go down to the 3rd floor to visit him was heartbreaking. I cried uncontrollably for a few days because I wanted so much to be with him. Thankfully, I had to breastfeed, so I was required to visit Tristan every three hours, ’round the clock. This was so tiring because feeding usually takes 30 minutes to an hour and I had to be back at the NICU after two hours, which left me hardly enough time to eat, sleep and freshen up. But I did it for a week. As did Carlos, as he had to wheel me in for the first five days since I had a hard time walking long distances. I am very thankful for the kind nurses at the NICU for helping me take care of Tristan–I learned so much from them, from changing diapers to giving baths. They kept me company during long nights when all I wanted was to be in bed, resting.
Looking back, it was good practice for Carlos and I as new parents because now that we have Tristan with us at home his schedule hasn’t changed. I still need to feed him every three hours. Thankfully, I got used to sleeping (or napping) for an hour or two and having to wake up to nurse soon after. I am just grateful I don’t have to take an elevator to see my baby. Being sleep-deprived has been the most challenging thing for me, but overall everything has been good. Tristan is a good baby–he only cries when he is hungry or when he wants his diaper changed, though there are some nights when he gets fussy. But it’s nothing we cannot handle (Carlos and I are trying to do this without hiring a nanny or yaya). The only thing is that we can’t leave the house whenever we want, but there’s really no place we’d rather be than home (at least for these next few months).
Breastfeeding was a little difficult in the beginning, but St. Luke’s Global has an excellent Lactation Department so I didn’t have to struggle with it so much. Their lactation consultant was very accommodating, and visited me throughout my week-long stay in the hospital. She saw my progress and corrected my mistakes early on, so now I don’t have so many problems nursing Tristan. I am still exclusively breastfeeding at the moment and have only introduced cup feeding (Carlos is in charge of this). I’m thinking maybe in two or three months I can introduce the bottle, just so I can sleep longer but I haven’t decided yet.
And so, finally you get to meet my Tristan! I’ll be blogging more about him and my crazy life as a momma in the future, so I wanted to make sure you met him. Honestly, I can’t believe I am able to find the time to blog again as I am so tired all the time. But I missed you guys A LOT! Thank you for continuing to visit my site, I really appreciate all your clicks.
Congrats! He is so cute!! xoxo
Thank you 🙂 xo
I love your blog about Tristan and pregnancy. I’m on my second trimester and I’ve learned a lot from you. God Bless your family
Best of luck! Enjoy the second trimester, the third can be uncomfortable. And get ready for sleepless days and nights on the fourth trimester! 🙂 Praying for a safe and smooth delivery for you.
Thank you so much.
your baby is soooo cute! i’m about to give birth soon & what you just wrote is inspiring. God bless you & your beautiful family! 🙂
Good luck! I hope you have an easy delivery and praying that you and your baby will be safe and happy. 🙂 God bless!
Good job Kelly! I hope we get to meet him someday. Birth stories are so important to document as you tend to forget the hard part later on. Glad nursing is going well. It’s quite a job! Love ya!
Hey Carla! Yes, I hope our babies can meet in the future! Your kids are so adorable! 🙂 It is hard to imagine ever forgetting the birth of my first. It was just so… painful haha. I am so thankful that breastfeeding hasn’t been such a struggle. Its really just the waking up to feed that is so hard for me. BF is a marathon! I love sleep pa naman! Hope all is well! Love you too! 🙂
What a beautiful baby – that last picture melted my heart!
Sobrang sakit pa din po ba kahit may epidural? Im 7 months pregnant kasi and im scared of giving birth. Hehe. 😊
I was induced kaya labor was really painful for me. From what I was told, if you’re natural labor it wont hurt as much so if you’re doing that all the better. Epidural was relief for me–labor was so much better with epidural. It removes the painful contractions but you should still be able to feel like pushing, hindi totally mawawala yung feeling. Also epidural only lasts for about an hour and a half to two hours so you will probably ask for a top-up after some time. Ako I requested for it before totally mawala yung epidural, kasi it was really painful for me without it.
But dont worry so much about it now. It is best to keep positive until the time comes, and deal with it when its there. And know that kaya mo yan! After all that and the baby is out you will feel like you can accomplish anything! You can do it, girl! 🙂
Thank you Ms. Kelly for replying.. 😊
Tristan is very cute. Truly heaven sent. Enjoy motherhood and God bless your family! 😊
Hello Mrs. Kelly. First time mom here. 😊 and giving birth soon. 😊
Nice blog, i enjoyed reading it.. you’re so lucky to have a very supportive husband and a cute little tristan.
Can u describe the pain during your labor and the pushing stage?
And how was your recovery? I have read you still have hard time to walk for a few days..
Hello Elle! Thank you for visiting my blog! 🙂 And congratulations in advance! Exciting, you will see your baby soon! I know exactly how you’re feeling now. I was so anxious and scared to give birth too, I didn’t know what to expect.
In my case, I didn’t feel any contractions but my water broke which is why my OB induced me. From what my friends who gave birth without being induced told me is that the pain is bearable because contractions don’t happen one on top of the other (I can describe contractions as waves of pain). Being induced is so painful because there is hardly time to rest for the next “wave”, it just piles one on top of the other. I remember saying to my husband I felt like my back was getting crushed–I think the pain is a mix of pressure and cramps. But then again each one is different–I’ve had friends breeze through their labor like it was monthly cramps. Once they got the epidural in it was instant relief though. The thing is, it only lasts for an hour and a half to two hours so you will need to get top ups throughout your labor. The pushing stage felt a lot like you need to go to the bathroom (number two haha). You will definitely feel like pushing out something and you will use the contractions to push. This is where breathing exercises come in handy. This will help you relax and push.
I got a episiotomy, which is why I couldn’t walk for a few days (I could stand and go to the bathroom but I couldn’t take long walks). A lot of people say you dont need this, and my friends who didn’t get it were able to walk right after. I also chose to use a wheelchair for a few days because it was easier. I had to go to the newborn ICU many times during the day and I didn’t want to keep walking back and forth. It isn’t so painful though, recovery is bearable.
Gosh, I hope I didn’t scare you. I didn’t want to sugarcoat things because when you get there you wont get the sugarcoated version. It might be difficult when that day comes, but just think that in a few hours (or the next day) you will meet your baby. And never think you can’t do it, because you can! When its all done you will feel proud of yourself and feel like you can do anything! Praying for a safe and smooth delivery for you and of course a healthy baby! Keep positive, and never doubt your body. Our bodies were made to give birth! 🙂
Congrats on your very cute baby! May I know who is your OB?
Thank you! 🙂 My OB is Dra. Regina E. Capistrano of St. Luke’s Global.
Hello Tristan!
Kel,im super happy for you and carlos.Congratulations to your new bundle of joy! 🙂
Abby! So nice to see you here, and yay you have a blog! I will bookmark it! 😀 Thank you and hugs from me and Tristan.
Yey thanks so much Kel! Hoping to see you and your tristan soon! X