Ok, Official Intro

Hi everyone. Sorry to post all over the place the last couple days without an intro. I intro'd in the Second Trimester Board way back when, but quickly left that board because people were so mean to each other. I wanted nothing to do with TheBump for the rest of my pregnancy.

I came back because I had an urgent need to share a story with more than my own social circle. Not going to get into that in this intro, but if you're interested you can read/see it here.

I posted a couple more times in the 0-3 Month Board and then found my way here and kinda became addicted. I was a little afraid to come back, but what I've seen so far has been very nice. I was especially encouraged by the 'January Moms Rock' post. I wish I had thought to come onto this board sooner.

So, my intro. I'm a first-time, 29-year-old mom. I love animals (have worked as an exotic vet tech, volunteered at two zoos, and am currently the manager at my local PetSmart). I have two cats and two dogs (Siberian Husky & German Shepherd). I am also a huge book worm, an avid photoholic (having a baby has NOT helped my addiction!), and a novice web designer.

 

 

 

My husband and I were together for almost 9 years when we found out I was pregnant, but oops we weren't married! Subjected to shotgun marriage jokes I decided that if we could wait 9 years we could wait another 9 months. But Matt had other plans and proposed to me when I was 5 months pregnant and he REALLY wanted us to be husband and wife before our baby was born, so I had less than 4 months to put this thing together. Well, less than 3 unless I wanted to risk giving birth during the ceremony!! (Don't worry, I didn't!) I wouldn't wish the stress of working 50 hour weeks, being pregnant (with lots of morning sickness), and planning a wedding on such short notice on anyone, but I survived! We ended up having a beautiful destination wedding at Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe on December 8, 2012

It was GORGEOUS that weekend!

 

 I was 8 months pregnant so of course I had a snow wedding!

 

Our beautiful baby boy is a New Years baby. Barely, 20 minutes later he would have been born on the 2nd, but I was in labor through New Years Eve (watching the ball drop from the hospital bed while hooked up to an IV), so darnnit if he wasn't going to be a New Years baby!!!

 

Here's my birth story:

My husband and I kept the sex of our baby a surprise. I come from a family that predominantly has girls and my husband comes from a boy-heavy family so we had been wondering for years whose family would win out. We had fun with it, I was on team girl and he was on team boy... he even brought home 'It's a Boy!' balloons when I was only 1 month pregnant! Early on everyone was telling me it was a girl because I had such bad morning sickness, but later on everyone (and I mean family, friends, AND strangers) told me I was having a boy based on how I carried.

I was due on 1/11/13 and had been on maternity leave for a couple weeks. On 12/31/12 I was enjoying a lazy day, I had just started a countdown to baby that morning on my Facebook (something I'm told jinxed me, lol). After a couple hours of lying down on the couch I sat up and felt a small (but definite) trickle. I looked at Matt and said, 'I think my water is leaking.' He asked if that could even happen. After determining that, yes, that can happen we went to the car to drive to the hospital. But our battery was dead! I had installed the car seat weeks ago and now it was dead. Our other car was not car seat compatible ('65 Mustang), but luckily Matt's parents live in town and came to our rescue.

I was admitted into the hospital at 5pm after confirming that my amniotic fluid was indeed leaking. I was put on IV antibiotics because a ruptured amniotic sac presented an infection risk to LO, but I was BARELY 1cm, only 10% effaced, and not feeling contractions. They put me on a pitocin drip to induce me. My family arrived and we all watched the ball drop from my delivery room.

Midnight group shot before family went home to get some sleep.

 

When I was checked the next morning I was STILL only 1 cm, so my doctor inserted a balloon catheter to get things moving along faster. I hear from other mothers that this procedure doesn't hurt, but let me tell you, it HURT! My doctor had a very hard time inserting it into my cervix because my cervix was posterior.

Things started to hurt (LO was sunny side up) and I was given an epidural, but was only 4cm at my 7pm check. Suddenly, at 7:30pm, I started shivering and crying uncontrollably and couldn't understand why (because nothing hurt). When I was calm enough to be checked they found me at 9cm, fully effaced, and LO had flipped over!!! OUCH!!

I started feeling the need to push around 9:30pm. The nurses kept checking me and telling me Baby was only a -3 or -2. They weren't going to call the doctor until Baby was at +1. At 10:30pm the nurse consented to some 'test pushes'. Test pushes turned into real pushes (I TOLD them I was ready!) and I got Baby to +1 pretty quickly. I don't know if the epidural was wearing off or if it never took the pain away 100% but the contractions and pushing hurt. Then, the worst thing of all... the nurse told me to stop pushing!! I had to ride out a couple dozen (I don't know how many) contractions with Baby at +1 station WITHOUT PUSHING! We were waiting for the doctor. I wanted to punch someone!

When my doctor walked through the door I let out a weak, "Yay!" and everyone laughed. Oh yeah, things had happened so quickly that most of my family (husband, mom, dad, and step-mom) was still in the room. They took turns holding my hands and legs during every push, I really appreciated the support. A couple of pushes later John Ryan was born! Yes! A boy! First thing I said was, "Everyone was right!" I got another laugh.

John Ryan was born at 11:43pm 1/1/13. He was 7lbs 8ozs and we spent that whole first night and the next morning together. I just stared and stared at him. Around 10am that first morning, though, they told me that he had a minor infection due to my leaking waters and long labor and had to be hooked up to IV antibiotics for 48 hours in the nursery before he could leave. I could visit him whenever I wanted but I cried when they took him to the nursery. I had just met him!!

 

 

Even though he was doing great and nothing major was wrong with him I hated seeing him hooked up to all the machines in the nursery and was very happy when he got the all clear and we went home on the 4th. Matt had saved that 'It's a Boy!' balloon all these months. He brought it to the hospital re-inflated the day we went home...because he always knew.



John is now nearly three months old (I go back to work on the 26th, ack!). He is breastfed, but I abhor the pump so he gets formula on occasion. I need to come to some arrangement with my pump before I go back to work. He sleeps in a co-sleeper and in bed with us, but hasn't slept the night through yet. He always wakes with a smile and has been a happy baby in general (knock on wood). He has fallen victim to my photo obsession, but he's a great sport!