She's HERE!

Yes.
You probably heard our exciting news by now.
The waiting is over and Olivia Renee Del Castillo decided to offiially join us on July 8, 2014 after about 7 hours of labor.

Here is the story.

Ever since we moved (June 7th) and school ended (June 16th) life has been full of baby preparations!  We painted her nursery, got ALL of her furniture, organized her sweet little things, etc.  Sufficed to say, I have been busy and trying to treat every day as the "last" day I have to do this before our sweet (but needy) little one comes!
July 7th was no different.  After work, Esteban and I took the whole evening to run some errands in Virginia and ended by watching Captain America at one of our old stomping grounds.  So, waking up at 6am with some pressure on my back seemed normal.  However, I quickly realized (after a terribly named "plug" was "unplugged") that I was starting the labor process!  Being a novice at this whole labor and delivery thing, my continued back pain (that I attributed to gas caused by the I-probably-shouldn't-have-eaten-McD's the night before...ha!) didn't seem like contractions, so I didn't start charting them until I was crawling on the floor in pain!
So, fast forward to the charting, when I finally realized that what I was feeling and what was making me immediately assume the oddest positions were in fact contractions, they were about 50 seconds long and 2 minutes apart.
I was supposed to call the doctor at 3 minutes apart.
No time for that.
Grab the hospital bags and car seat (yep, hadn't installed that one yet) because we're going to the hospital!
Thankfully, 10:00 (or around that time) traffic is much better than 6 am traffic and we arrived at the hospital in record time! On our way up to the 3rd floor and into triage, I had to get out of the wheelchair I was in and assume my own yoga position (AKA get on all fours). So, when the nurses said that either they couldn't fully feel my cervix or that I was 10 cm. dilated, I knew I had to be the latter! 
In I go to a labor and delivery room where they break my water and I have to go through about 20 minutes of contractions until I'm ready to start pushing. 
Pushing was definitely the hardest.
I honestly didn't know if she would come out.  But after lots of encouragement from my husband, some helpful hints from the nurses and an hour and a half....we heard that sweet whimper and it all became worth it!

Baby Stats:

Olivia Renee Del Castillo

1:18 pm

8 lbs. 4 oz.

21 inches

Firsts....

This is old to news to probably all of you, but I just love saying it:).
I'm pregnant!

Yesterday was the offical halfway point. 
20 weeks.
So exciting!

Since this is our first bundle of joy, there have been MANY "firsts" for us over the last 5 months!

 We've now experienced our first...
... time reading a positive (or any for that matter) pregnancy home test {after I wasted the first one due to my false sense of urgency...}
... montage of pregnancy apps and multiple bookmarks of "what to do/what not to do" websites for pregnant women {which, at the beginning, I referenced almost every time I went grocery shopping just to make sure I could eat what was in my cart....the somewhat lengthy list was a little overwhelming for me at first}

 At this time, our baby was the size of a poppy seed.  Guess who thought we were having twins? 

... first trimester nausea and cravings.  Our little girl surprised everyone with her "savory" cravings of sushi and anything italian! She may not be made with as much sugar as she will have of spice:)..uh oh!
... ulstrasound!  I was so thrilled and relieved to see the peanut inside of me that, before then,  I had sometimes doubted even existed. {Esteban didn't need the sight of our gummy bear to know that SOMETHING was growing in me due to the amount of hormones that immediately introduced themselves to him through the form of "unnecessary" tears}

 Her first picture!

... announcement to family! Everyone was thrilled and surprised...in a "finally" kind of way:)!
... gifts for the baby!

L-R: soft blanket and a bilingual bear that says a prayer in English if you press one hand, and a prayer in Spanish if you press the other...THANKS Gramie!  Her first picture and frame from a colleague.  Flowers from Daddy:).   The softest swaddling cloths from Auntie Jeni and the white baby blanket on the bottom of the pile belonged to Esteban when he was a baby- GRACIAS Abuela!

... bump pics:)

... 4th graders' reactions to the news that their teacher is PREGNANT!  {And I thought our families were excited:)!}  How sweet are my numerous notes and germ-filled faces pressed against my belly every day to "hear" the baby.

... 20 week {OK, we did ours at 19 weeks because I was a little impatient!} ultrasound with a view of her crazily developed yet tiny little body!!

So we know she's a little "alien baby" at this point, but I can't help but already think she's beautiful!

... announcement of our "spanglish" DAUGHTER!

Thanks to everyone for your heartfelt congratulations.
We feel so blessed by all of these "firsts" and look forward to the many more to come!