The Story

So I figured I would post a picture and video first since that is what everyone really cares about, but for those of you who want a little more detail, here you are. Something I started doing about a month ago is writing letters to Abigail. Here is the one I wrote for her today:


Dear Abigail,

Let me tell you about the day you were born. You were born on a Saturday, August 6th 2011, in the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, TX at 11:44 AM, but let me go back and start with Thursday morning. We went in to see one of your three doctors, Dr. Largoza, and your mom told her that she has been itching all over for about a week. The doctor told us that this is a symptom of Cholestasas, which is a build up of bile acid. She said that we would need to do a lab test and wouldn’t get the results back until Monday or Tuesday. I asked what this meant and she stated that if Nichole did have Cholestasas, it increased the chances of us having a still birth. I really didn’t like hearing that. Just the thought of losing you made me really scared. We went to do the lab, then after thinking about it decided we didn’t want to wait until we got the results back. We figured, if your mom had already been experiencing all the symptoms of Cholestasas for a week, we didn’t want to wait another 4 or 5 days! So, we called the doctors to talk about it, but they were both resistant, saying they wanted to wait until Monday when she was 38 weeks. Dr. Largoza finally consented to have your mom come into the hospital to do some other tests. The results came back that there was in fact an increase of bile in her liver, and they decided to induce her the next morning. We got a room and they started her on citadel to prep the cervix. We were both pretty excited. That was a long night at the hospital. Your mom and I were both pretty uncomfortable and the nurses kept coming in and out, etc. Of course your mom was way more uncomfortable than me because she was having contractions and stuff. Anyway, in the morning they gave her pitocin, and then they broke her water. That was when the really painful contractions started. She asked for an epidural and that made things way better. Still, she kept throwing up and the doctors were worried about her heart rate being too low. Things moved along pretty quickly though, and before we knew it you were ready to come out. Everyone was really surprised at how easy the labor was. Your mom had three contractions that she pushed on and out you came. You were all grey and slimy and your head was cone shaped. I couldn’t believe it though. I was just so amazed! It was probably the most spiritual experience of my life seeing you. They cleaned you up really quick and gave you to your mom to hold. She was so excited. Then they took you to the NICU and I got to spend some time with you, just you and me. You were so awake and interactive. You just kept looking at me and it seemed like you were smiling. I was so amazed at how much your expressions reminded me of your mom. That made me love you so much more, because I love your mom so much. I’m so glad you are finally here Abigail! It’s party time!
-Dad