El Classico

I probably misspelled Classico but the Boca - River games starts in 33 minutes.

The River fans rushed the police secruity gates and caused a scene but it looks like everything is ok.

I do want to go to this game someday. It is part of my list of games around the world to go to just to say I've been.

15 days to Elena's first birthday. I was just back at my OB-GYN group Friday to get my last dose of the HPV vaccine and I was recounting the story of her birth.

So in true Ali form - here's one dedicated to my beautiful, rotten, spoiled, incredible little miracle.

I was hoping you'd come around Easter in 06. You would have been a month early, but after the scare of having low amnio fluid a week or two earlier, I was ready to have you out.

Dr. Moon had measured me the week before and my belly was a good 1-2 cm. smaller than the week before and she said in passing that if the ultrasound we were about to have turned out the fluid was too low we'd go to surgery. Our bags were at home, 3 hours away, and your dad and I were like - ummm, we can do it tomorrow morning, but we have to get home to get our stuff (including your carseat).

But all turned out well and you didn't have to come that early, nor did you come around Easter.

My other two preggers friends had their babies soon thereafter. One on a Thursday, I think, and the other on that Sunday morning. You, my dear, were still a month off.

The Friday before your due date Dr. White tried the accupuncture to induce and it didn't work. It would have been nice since Dr. Moon was on call that weekend.

So the next Friday we went in for ultrasound again to check fluid and the normal checkup. The office was running behind but we finally got in and Dr. Moon said if you weren't born over the weekend (Dr. White was on call so we had complete confidence in who would deliver you) we'd induce on Monday night.

Right after we got done Dr. White buzzed over to our side of the office and Dr. Moon told her this was her last shot she had to make the accupuncture work as we were inducing Monday. Dr. White said 'Cool, I love a challenge' and marched us into a free exam room.

As soon as she got the door shut she said, 'You don't want to induce with meds, and we're desperate so I'm going to hit every point. Sorry if this hurts.' The pinki toes were the most painful but still not bad. After 45 minutes we left and headed home, hoping we'd be back the next day bc of the accupuncture.

I woke up the next morning and noticed my mucus plug falling out. I didn't tell anyone in case I was getting my hopes up but I know at that point the accupuncture had at least worked to some degree.

We went over to the abuelos and hung out and I still didn't mention anything but going to Carmel again on Monday for induction. We knew you'd be here by Tuesday.

Dad and I went to bed around 10 that night and everything seemed normal. At 11:48 I woke up as I felt and I swear I also heard a 'pop' and then what felt like a small gush.

I got up and went to the bathroom and sure enough my water had broken.

I yelled at dad from the bathroom to get up and he was completely startled out of a dead sleep. He got me the phone and I called the answering service for the dr's office. Dr. White called back and I told her she had done this to me. Her repsonse - get down here.

As I got dressed and made sure everything was packed dad called abuelos to let them know we were going. Unfortunately they couldn't go with us, but they knew what was going on.

We packed the car and left at 12:15. I didn't feel any pressure or contractions at the time so I drove. I should have known at that point something wasn't quite right but I was more worried about making the 140-some mile drive in the driving rain (it had been raining for almost a week straight).

We were passing the Starbucks at 23 and Ironwood, about 7 minutes into our trip and your dad asked if we could stop. I'm not shitting you - he really did ask. Someday you'll understand the look I gave him. I told him if I was doing ok in Kokomo I'd think about stopping, but we were charging on.

I called aunt Deb to see if should could give the Peru State Police Post a heads up that we were headed that way so they'd not stop us if we were really speeding and I later found out she did call but her fried wasn't working that night. I talked to grandma and grandpa a couple of times, too, to let them know we were all ok, and I called aunt Heather to let her know you'd be here by Monday so she could come see you on her day off.

The drive was uneventful, minus the occassional hydroplaning at 85 mph, and we did the 3-3.5 hour drive in exactly 2 hours. We probably averaged 75 the whole way. Momma never did get stopped by the coppers.

I got set up at the hospital and after 8 attempts they got the IV in my hand. I started having blood pressure issues and my contractions were still nothing so I got pumped up with pitocin and eventually had to have an epidural (after a couple of hits of stadol). My advice to you, young one, if when you have kids they say, you need pitocin, don't let them until you have the epidural. It's not worth enduring. Dr. White did do some accupuncture for pain before they really cranked up the pitocin and it worked, but after a certain point, nothing but major drugs injected into the spinal area will work.

Around 3 p.m. I woke up out of my drug haze to see Dr. White at the foot of my bed saying she thought we had to go to surgery. After several times of saying I didn't want to go to surgery I heard someone say, 'the baby's heartrate is dropping with every contraction and we can stop the contractions and prolong the inevetable or we can go to surgery, which we will have to do anyway.'

At that point we decided to go to surgery. I remember helping Dad get the camera ready and getting wheeled into the hallway. I don't remember much before hearing you cry and Dad say 'It's a girl'. You had done so many acrobatics that the cord had wrapped around your neck twice. Quite the drama queen. The nurses also said you were the diva of that week, too, in the nursery, so it's been predestined. God help us in 8-10 years.

I saw you for a moment before Dad took you to meet Aunt Jena and the grandparents. While I was in recovery grandpa and Jena got photos of you and Dad decided to add the Josephina to your name. You can thank him for the insane length of your name, even though it's goregous. I was on too many drugs at the time to think through the consequence of the long name. I'm sorry you won't be able to spell it before you're 10 years old, but, it's still pretty.

We were in the hospital until Thrusday. Aunt Heather and the abuelos came over on Monday and you saw the other grandparents almost every day. Mom even got some Donatos thanks to grandpa.

Dr. Moon said I could stay an extra day since we had so far to go to get home. When we did get home, Dad had to immediately had to go out and get cat litter because Monty was out and the box was full and I think, milk.

So - thats how you went from riding around with me for 10 months in the car, poking me in the side with that elbow of yours to being here in the flesh - with all your glorious personality.

I love you and I can't believe it's been a year already. I just hope you're ready for a little brother or sister hopefully next year!!!!

Te amo mucho, mi hijita,

momma - aka. La. Sra.