Welcome to the World, Son.

There are moments in life where the world seems to stand still.  Where every single thing around you just pauses.
That moment came at 8:13pm on Friday, September 7th 2012, when the only thing I heard and the only thing that really mattered at that very moment was the first sound, the cry coming from my son.

Let me tell you something, you can read and prepare yourself for the birth of your child and as much as you feel prepared (whether it's your first or not), when that time comes that your little one is ready to make his special appearance into the world, everything you prepared yourself for just turns into mush.
Sorry, I don't mean to scare all my anxious and expecting first-timers but this is true.

I was waiting for the water to break (like what happened with my daughter) or the noticeable contractions coming close together every few minutes to identify that I am, in fact, in labour but that's not what happened here.
I was 37 weeks, 6 days (just one day short of  38 weeks) and was going about my regular day when I started noticing very subtle and mild contractions.  I thought they were just Braxton Hicks because they were not consistent and spread apart -- sometimes they'd be 10 minutes apart, sometimes an hour, sometimes 20 minutes... it was very confusing.
I called my sister who works 15 minutes away from my home in a doctor's office to let her know what I was feeling and she was insisting on picking me up and taking me to the hospital to get checked. Of course being the stubborn person that I can be, I thought I would be able to truly know when it was the right time and also because I didn't want to have her get off work early, "waste time" driving to the hospital with my daughter in tow and pay for the ridiculous hospital parking only to be sent home due to false labour.

After about an hour of me, my sister, my husband and my mom exchanging quick BBM messages to one another regarding my stubbornness and my confusion as to whether or not this was true labour contractions, I decided that after one slightly sharp contraction it was time for me to head over to the hospital to get checked out.

After waiting to be seen by the resident doctor for what seemed like hours (my contractions got stronger about 15 minutes of being checked into a waiting room and hooked up to a monitor), I was glad to see my husband pop in.
Felt so sorry for his hands that felt the wrath of my sudden strong and painful contractions.
What's funny though is that I was breathing through each contraction and still thinking in my head I'm definitely in labour but still early to be able to breathe through these and not want to scream in agony remembering the pain I felt when I was admitted with my daughter at 6cm.

I was one of the first ones that were admitted but the last one seen (which was rather annoying).  I guess it was because I was the only one not screaming my head off, literally.  The two ladies on both sides of my curtains were very much in pain and after overhearing the doctor after they were checked found that one was only 1.5cm dilated and the other 4cm.
Hmmm, I must only be about 3-4 then. So I thought.

Of course, being the cam-crazy person that I am, there I was clicking away while waiting to see the doc amidst the chaos of the L&D waiting room and my contractions.

Finally the doctor came in to check me and the first thing he said was, "Are you sure you don't want to have a vaginal delivery?" (I was scheduled for a c-section since my daughter was born via c-section).
He then advised us that I was already 7-8cm dilated! Wow!
It was quick scrambling from that point on as the doctor ordered the nurses to get me prepped asap for my delivery since I was already so far dilated.  It's happening. And it's happening now!

I was glad that I chose to stick to my gut and go with the c-section because after my son was born, the doctor told me I made the right choice because my uterus was already 1% ruptured prior to the surgery which means had I gone VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-Section), there was a BIG chance I would've had a bad uterine rupture.

The best sound came 30 minutes after the beginning of the surgery and my eyes (and my husband's) eyes welled up in tears as our son cried and cried and the doctor announced, "Congratulations! It's a boy!"

Suddenly all the quick visions of the past year and a half sprung through my brain: the infertility visits, copious amount of fertility meds and needles, the tears and frustrations, the positive pregnancy test, the late-night pregnancy cravings, the first time we saw him via ultrasound and heard his heartbeat.

After my husband cut the cord, the nurses checked, cleaned and bundled up our son, she came right over to me and held my son's face to mine. Looking through my tears, I smiled and soaked in all the amazement as my son stopped crying and opened his eyes towards his mother.
I will never forget that moment. Ever.

Welcome to the world Talan Alexander Gomez!
He weighed 6lbs, 4oz (as he was a bit early) but very, very healthy and strong!

My husband excitedly headed over to the waiting room where our elated family members were patiently waiting and broke the happy news to them.
The special little girl clinging to one of her favourite bears that she wanted to give to her little brother was the first to jump and hug her daddy.
We couldn't wait for her to meet him.

Since it was after visiting hours, unfortunately our little girl and family had to wait until the next morning to say hello to our newest addition.

Another moment that took my breath away, that my husband and I were waiting for was when our first-born precious little girl was able to finally meet her little brother for the first time.

That was it. The moment we were waiting for!
My husband and I were so thrilled to see their connection already and the overwhelming feeling of pride and joy took over us as we smiled at one another knowing that this was definitely it.  Our family was complete.

I wanted to thank all our wonderful family and friends that have supported us throughout my journey from infertility, throughout my pregnancy and to the birth of our son.
You have all been amazing and are so special to us.

And now a new chapter begins.

My two greatest gifts, Ava Isabella & Talan Alexander.