My pregnancy and birth story

 

As I mentioned in my last post my pregnancy was very long. 10 months to be exact ! But in all seriousness it was the hardest thing, by far, that I've done. I was never comfortable, I was never over the moon excited because I was scared. Scared straight.

 

Mr. B & I were very lucky, we only tried for three months before we got pregnant. We knew that we wanted to try in the new year of 2012. I was finished with school and ready for the next chapter in our lives. I was actually over ready. I couldn't wait to be pregnant, be a mom, and see Mr. B be a dad. My pregnancy started out just like everyone elses I assume, calm? I tested five days before I was due to get my period. I remember I had gotten the stomach bug that was going around last year and the Monday I tested, I was still off from work because of it. I texted my sister asking if she thought it was too early to test, she said no... so off I went to test. It came up with a faint line of a yes and I immediately texted her the picture. She said, "Go get another test!" and off I went to get more. More positive lines. I then texted my mom a picture, she doesn't respond... I call her, and tell her I texted her a picture of curtains (because her and I had been looking for some at the time.) She hangs up with me, calls me back and says, "What color are those curtains, blue? LOL" She didn't believe it at first because I had played so many jokes before that I was pregnant. Even an April fools text went around with a positive pregnancy test lol. (yea I know mean)

 I tested for the next five days... ten tests later, all saying positive. (proof of said tests here lol http://kokopelia.blogspot.com/2012/07/so.html ) I finally believed it. That weekend we told Mr. B's family. Everyone of course, was ecstatic.

 

I can remember telling my mom Easter weekend that I didn't feel pregnant. I was only about 5 weeks... that following Tuesday after a pedicure with friends on our lunch break, it hit me. Hard. Whoof, morning (um all day) sickness set in and carried me all the way to week 13. It was HARD. I was sick all day long and would puke a lot. There were times that Mr. B thought I was never going to stop. It sucked. To add to the sickness were progesterone suppositories. I had gone to the doctor and were told my levels we low and needed these. Finding a pharmacy that carried them was a whole other story, talk about stressful. Taking the suppositories increased my all day sickness. I remember feeling depressed because all I felt was sick. I missed lots of parties, birthdays and get togethers because I could not get out of bed. I had to work and I had to tell my boss I was pregnant before I even planned on doing so. Thank goodness he was understanding and allowed me to work from home for some weeks. I could not do it in the office. It was hard enough to get to work, let alone sit there all day without trying to puke. I didn't want everyone know I was pregnant yet and covering it up was even more stressful. After week 13, I felt better. Dare I say, I felt good. I got the glow. Then bam, I got a cold. Talk about luck. It was hard. Clearly, you are limited to what you can and can not take when pregnant. And it lingered. I never get sick ! My luck would be that I get sick when pregnant. I was miserable !!!

 

Of course, that passed. But next up week 28 and my RH negative blood type. Now, I know this is very common but for me it got very confusing. I had a weird appt. with very fast information given to me and I didn't really understand it. I was convinced that I was going to hurt our child and that I would make antibodies against him... it was not a good point. Thankfully I have amazing doctors, who apologized for the quick information and explained it all. I felt better. I got my Rhogam shot and was on my way....

 

 till Hurricane Sandy.... I was beyond stressed and scared. I do not do well with mother nature. It's way too unpredictable. Knowing that last year, Hurricane Irene left us with out power for five days, I knew we'd lose it again. And yep, we did. Another five days... I couldn't stay home because it was cold here and Mr. B worked during the day. I didn't know how to work our generator by myself and didn't want to risk it being pregnant. I couldn't go to work because work had power, but no Internet or phones for us to work. I spent the days at my sisters because she is a teacher and there were no schools open. Driving a fifteen minute ride to her house was stressful. The amount of traffic lights that didn't work and accidents were out of control. I would stress the entire way there... no good. So guess what happens? Week 34, we go for a  growth sono and was told my amniotic fluid was low. Um, what? I had no idea what that even meant. Of course, I called in the troops. (MOM) She came from week 34 for a nice long visit to, well, after Noah was born... (more on that later)

 

I got well acquainted with what low fluid meant moving forward. My doctor basically told me my fluid level was in a gray zone. Could have been stress related or something else was going on inside.  If it went lower, I was going to be admitted to the hospital immediately. For the next 6 weeks, I was at the doctor every week. Sometimes three times a week. Each visit I had a sono and was hooked up to a fetal monitor. The visits averaged about two hours each. It was stressful. On December 6th, we went for our last visit. My fluid level went below the gray level and it was time to make a decision. My doctor told me either way, I was heading to the hospital that night. We were either going to try to increase my fluids or we were having a c section. I knew that I had done everything I could to increase the fluids, I was literally drinking ten 16 ounce bottles a day, so this was not an option for me.... it was c section time. 

To say I was scared, is an understatement. I was petrified.  

 

Clearly Mr. B was cool and calm, he was geared up and ready to go :

 

We waited in labor and delivery while they administered my iv, I think took blood etc. It's kind of a blur because I was so scared. I started to shake and when the anesthesiologist came in, my mom asked if he could give me something when we got to the operating room to calm me. Thank you Jesus for that man, because he did, and I was calm... peaceful... The next thing I knew, I was telling my doctors who sang the songs in the operating room (Train and Black Eyed Peas) and twenty minutes later, life became new again. Noah was born !



I love this picture

 

The next four days we spent in the hospital as a family (yes Mr. B stayed) were awesome. Now, maybe that's not for everyone, but for me, I wanted Mr. B there. He wanted to stay too. The nurses at St. Charles Hospital are angels on earth. Each one of them so caring, patient, kind and just down right amazing. My stay was nice. Sure, I was in pain, but that's what the nurses and Mr. B were for ... I was over the moon (finally!) That time in the hospital with Mr. B and Lil B will always be so special in my heart. Even if there was no hot water for me to shower, (yep, told you my luck) I still wouldn't change it for the world.

 

I will say, my pregnancy was not fun, but the end result is so darn beautiful. Everything hard is 100% worth it. That remains true for every single aspect in life.