Alexa's first cocktail party!

Chimmy and Elizabeth came over Wednesday night for some wine and soft cheese (two things I couldn't have when pregnant) to celebrate Alexa turning one week young!

To get into the party spirit, Alexa dressed up in a black onesie that says "This is my little black dress." We tried to get a photo of the front of her top, but she was a little shy and kept waving her arms around! I'll try to get a shot of it to post.

In the meantime, here are some shots of our dinner guests with the birthday baby!

Of course, no night of revelry would be complete without a seriously challenging diaper change... But thankfully we had a lot of help!

Nevertheless, poor Alexa ended up all wet and we had to wash her off. She sure liked being bundled in this comfy towel - a shower gift from Aunt Chimmy!

Alexa's birth story

It's been almost a week since Alexa was born. And I still can't believe this miracle that she is. Every time I look at her, I am in awe that she grew inside me! I look at her long fingers, her tiny toes, her eyelashes and slightly curved eyebrows, her tiny ears and steely blue/grey eyes and just marvel at how perfect she is...

But before too much time elapses, I wanted to share her birth story.

My baby daughter, Alexa Leilani, was born on 9-9-09 at 5:14 p.m. weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 19 3/4 inches. She popped out via c-section with a very hearty scream, getting an Apgar score of "9" in the 1st minute of life and a perfect "10" at 5 minutes, prompting the doctors to all comment on how rare and amazing that was... I was in an epidural fog, but I thought that was pretty cool. My little Alexa, acing tests from the first few minutes of life. :-)

As most of you know, I never went into labor. She was late and did not want to come out! I had mixed feelings about an induction. I was open minded about whether I'd end up delivering vaginal or c-section, but I always thought I'd at least GO INTO LABOR NATURALLY..... Well, I talked to my doctor last Tuesday and I was still just 1 cm dilated. He said since she is 1 week late, induction was not inappropriate and in his medical opinion, she was ready to come out, no matter what my body was or was not doing about that.

So I checked into the hospital at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. I was put on an IV and hooked up to a fetal monitor and contraction monitor, two belts around your belly. Then my doctor came and inserted the Cervidil, which is a shoe string that is put into you like a tampon. The medicine is on the end of the string and that is placed next to your cervix. You then keep that on all night and it's supposed to soften the cervix and get you ready for induction. At about midnight, I was allowed one last snack: I ate 2 Luna bars, a fig newton, some Chex cereal and drank an Izze soda. I had eaten a hearty meal of enchiladas my mom had cooked earlier, so I wasn't that hungry.... I wish I had eaten more though...

I barely slept, because the nurse kept having to readjust the fetal monitor... But she woke me up at 5:30 am to shower, which was nice. After the shower, I got back into bed and never got out for almost 2 days. My doctor came by and removed the Cervidil string. He then checked me and announced happily that I was now 3-4 cm dilated. He said that was great and we'd get the party started with Pitocin and see what happens! Yay!

By this point, I was feeling mostly just an intense back ache. Pain was rated at a "4" since it was "tolerable." Papa Bean put on "The Rookie" and we watched the movie to pass the time. My doctor kept coming in and out inbetween his scheduled c-sections to check on me. I remained at the same 3 cm dilated position tho. So he had them stop the Pitocin for an hour and restart it, hoping to jumpstart some contractions.

Up until this point, I was just feeling the back ache and some cramping. I couldn't tell when one contraction started and the next one ended. It felt like continual menstral cramping. I never did feel a REAL contraction... My doctor said, honestly, that he didn't know why this was happening to me but that it was a problem. He said I was feeling very minor contractions every minute or 30 seconds. They wanted me to be feeling LARGE, BIG contractions with rest inbetween spaced out about every 3-4 minutes. Those are the kind of contractions that help to dilate the cervix.

So the day passed and even with the "restart" of Pitocin there was no change. By this point, it was around 4 p.m. So I had been in "labor" for 10 hours already, not including the 12 hours spent at the hospital for the pre-induction Cervidil procedure. This time though, when the nurse asked me to rate my pain, I said "5." She asked me, what changed to move it from a "4" to a "5"? I was like... "Well... It's been TEN HOURS... I'm getting a little tired of this backache and these cramps and I'm FREAKIN STARVING!" She was like, OK, I'll mark it a "4/5."

Then my doctor came in and said if I wanted the epidural, I could have it. He had told me that all day and I had kept saying, no, let's wait until it gets bad.... I was scared of the needle in my back thing..... This time, he told me it was entirely appropriate for me to get one now and I should not feel bad. He also wanted to check dilation again and said if I got the epidural, he'd wait and check afterward so it wouldn't hurt. I was tired. And I didn't want another painful check. So I was like... Sure, give it to me.

When the anesthesiologist came in, I asked him if the epidural would also take away my hunger pains? He laughed and said if I was making jokes, maybe I was not in enough pain for an epidural! I was like.... Oh baby I am, give it to me! But pain never was really TOO BAD... I was just tired mostly. The needle thing still freaked me out, but I leaned over like a yoga pose and soon it was done and WOW.... LOVED IT!!!!!

Then when I could no longer feel my legs, my doctor came back and checked me. I was STILL ONLY 3 CM DILATED! WTF?!

As my doctor explained, we had 3 options:

(1) Stop the Pitocin and then restart it. Same thing we already tried, but maybe it'll work a 2nd time? But he said since we already tried it, he didn't think it would work, it would just prolong the process.

(2) Now that I had the epidural, we'd crank up the Pitocin REALLY HIGH and HOPE that my contractions came in the pattern they wanted. The danger would be if they did not and they were too strong and too close together... It could put the baby into distress, she could pass meconium, and we'd have to be rushed into more of an emergency c-section situation. But if I wanted to go for the vaginal delivery, this was the best option and my doctor said he'd support trying it if I wanted.

(3) The third option was to just do the c-section now.

He left the room so Papa Bean and I could discuss. It was a short discussion. We agreed that the GOAL was a healthy baby. Not a vaginal delivery. And we agreed that we'd rather deliver that baby when she still had a good heart rate and NOT when she was under distress. So we told my doctor..... Let's do the c-section. Let's have this baby. Honestly, I was terrified of either a ceserean section or a vaginal delivery, either way would be painful... But I wanted to give my baby the best start possible.

It was about 4:45 by now. They prepped the operating room for the c-section. It was FREEZING. I had to lay on a table with my arms out on either side. They put a warm blanket over my arms. There was my Doctor, some guy who was his assistant, David theanesthesiologist, my replacement nurse since my primary nurse had dumped me to go have a baby with another patient, and a couple pediatricians. I was spread eagle in front of all of them. I asked for them to crank up the epidural. Then they put up the curtain and brought Papa Bean in. I was SO SCARED.

Then my doctor said the procedure had started and it was going perfectly. He kept saying that it was going perfectly. And I felt a tugging on my belly. And then I heard my baby crying! And I started bawling. I was crying so hard Papa Bean asked if I was OK and all I could think was... That's our baby.... Alexa was delivered at 5:14 p.m.

In what seemed like forever (when she scored the 9 and 10 Apgar scores), they brought her to my side to show her to us for a second. Then she went back for more checks. Then they handed a bundled up baby to Papa Bean to hold as they wheeled my bed back from the OR to the delivery room.

Once back in the delivery room, they gave her a sponge bath and I could see her dirty two diapers in a row with meconiun. Then they handed her to me to try breastfeeding. To my surprise, she latched on right away! Then I took a few pictures of Papa Bean posing with Alexa in his operating room scrubs. He looked so handsome holding Alexa! He was totally smitten and it was the most adorable thing ever. He took a few shots of me and Alexa as well.

Then Papa Bean went and got my parents and sister and my two friends who were in the waiting area also.... After the visit with family, they moved us to the postpartum unit and transferred me into a bed there. They kept me on the epidural until about 4 p.m. the following day, so I had to stay in bed. It was good because I could drink all the fluids they told me to and I had a cathetar so I didn't have to get out of bed. Haha. I kept practicing breast feeding and holding Alexa.....

I was taken off the epidural Thursday afternoon and got out of bed breifly. Friday morning, I took a sponge shower and we attended a breastfeeding class for new moms and dads in the hospital. I did more walking... Like walking down to the cafeteria with my sister for an ice cream! By Saturday, I felt MUCH better and was up and walking normally. Then on Sunday, we took our baby home.

And that is the story of how our life as a family started...

Alexa's first pediatrician appointment

Good news! Alexa is gaining weight! While she was born weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces, Alexa lost some weight in the hospital. This is common with babies, but the doctors don't like babies to lose more than 10 percent of their birth weight. Alexa had dropped to 6 pounds, 15 ounces at discharge, which was right at 10 percent.

However, on Monday at our pediatrician's office, she was up to 7 pounds, 2 ounces!

My milk came in on Sunday and she has been drinking her fill, which probably accounts for her sudden upswing in weight. Yay for Alexa's hearty appetite!

Also at our pediatrician's office, we ran into friends Mary Clare and George -- and their new baby Catherine Mary Elaine! Catherine was born on Aug. 29, delivered at the same hospital and by the same doctor who delivered Alexa!

Here is a photo of the two babies. Looking forward to play dates with Alexa's new friend Catherine!

Alexa comes home!

Today was a day for many firsts: Alexa's first time outside, her first ride in a car, her first time entering the house we bought for her, her first time in her own nursery... We think she enjoyed it all, except that she mostly slept through it all!

Here we are leaving the hospital. A big thank you to Nurse Tino and all the other nurses at Sibley Memorial Hospital, who were amazing and totally made my 5-night stay such a great experience.

We think Alexa liked her new car seat, but again, she slept the whole car ride home!

Welcome home, Alexa! We hope you like our house. We bought it and moved to Bethesda just for you, darling princess. Mommy and Daddy want you to grow up in a nice neighborhood and go to good schools. We are so excited that you are finally here. Our house is now a home.

Upstairs in Alexa's nursery, we found this surprise from Aunts Jen and Kelly! A Tiffanys piggy bank! WOW! Thank you!

Finally, relaxing at home in Alexa's nursery...

More hospital photos

I was in the hospital for five nights, including the night before Alexa was born. Here are some favorite shots from the rest of our stay.

How we chose the name "Alexa Leilani"

We considered several names... Read a stack of baby name books... Scoured the Internet looking at baby name Web sites... Narrowed the list down to our top five favorites...

And the winner was Alexa Leilani!

Here is why...

We chose "Alexa" for Papa Bean's uncle Alan, who he was very close to and who I also knew well. He signed and read the Ketubah at our wedding. He was always ready with a smile and truly enjoyed life. Every time we were up in New Jersey, he was the first one over to Papa Bean's mother's house to see us and hear all about our latest adventures.

In December, about two days after we conceived, but several weeks before we KNEW that we were pregnant, he collapsed and died while playing tennis. He was 69. I have felt the whole pregnancy that Uncle Al has been watching over Alexa, like her guardian angel. We named her in his honor. We hope she is able to enjoy life with as much joy and zest as Uncle Al did.

We also wanted her name to honor Papa Bean's grandmother, Frida "Fritzie." I met her once when we first started dating. Papa Bean's aunt Sara described her to me in a recent e-mail this way: "She was very independent, though compassionate and thoughtful to family, friends, and strangers." Aunt Sara aded: "After having met your parents in Hawaii, I know Alexa will be immersed in those qualities from both sides of her lineage."

To honor Grandma Fritzie, we considered making our daughter's middle name "Frida," spelled like the artist Frida Kahlo, or even Singer, her maiden name. But I really wanted one of our daughter's names to be Hawaiian. My side of the family doesn't have any naming traditions, but I felt that choosing something Hawaiian would reflect my background and upbringing, especially since my first name is Hawaiian.

We discussed inserting the Hawaiian name "Kai" into the name or using "Anani" or "Aolani" in a name that would have two middle names. But I felt strongly that I wanted just one middle name. After getting married, I kept my full name and made my maiden last name a second middle name and took Papa Bean's last name. So I have a four-name name. It's been a pain.

Unfortunately, "F" names are very hard to come by and there are no F's in the Hawaiian language to use for Frieda! Doh! Frieda means "noble woman" or "peaceful" so we looked at the Hawaiian words with those meanings: Kalani (chief), Keilani (glorious chief), Malulani (peaceful sky) and Maluhia (peaceful). We also looked at Hawaiian names that mean "flower" to give us the F for Frieda: Pua (flower), Puakea (white flower) and Leilani (heavenly flower).

We chose "Leilani" because of its meaning, which gives us the "F" to honor Grandma Fritzie and also because the "-lani" in the name reminds us of the beautiful beachside place where we got married... Lanikuhonua, which means "Where Heaven meets the Earth."

We didn't finalize our decision on "Alexa Leilani" until the Sunday before I was induced. So I think Alexa was late because she was waiting for us to come up with the perfect name. It took us a while.

As an aside... I would add that another cool thing about her name is that all the women in my lineage have a name in which the 2nd syllable starts with the letter "L." My grandmother is Elena. My mother is Lillian. I'm Malia. My daughter is Alexa.

Our darling Alexa Leilani. I couldn't imagine her by any other name... It's perfect. Just like her.

Alexa's many hospital visitors!

Alexa is one popular baby! While in the hospital, she received many, many visitors!

My parents were there for her birth, along with Papa Bean's mother. Plus my sister, Auntie Jen. And my friends Chimmy and Elizabeth! We also were visited by friends Kristin (and Kaitlyn Marie) and Marcie!

Thank you to everyone for coming to see us and being there for us!

Alexa with Auntie Jen (above)

Alexa with Auntie Chimmy (above)

Alexa with Auntie Elizabeth (above)

Alexa with Grandma E (above)

Alexa with Grandma Lillian (above)

Alexa with Grandpa Tom (Above)

Auntie Kristin (with Kaitlyn Marie in her belly!) and Auntie Marcie came visit Alexa in the hospital! (above)

Papa Bean with Alexa and Auntie Marcie (above)

Our first photos with Alexa!

Proud Papa Bean holds his daughter, less than an hour old

***

Overjoyed Momma Bean shows off Alexa

***

Our first family photos