This is the second in a series of posts of important days in my life and/or the life of our family. Some days are so important, you don't want to forget them! This post has rolling around my head for six years, ever since Amelia Jean entered the world. It's high time I finally put it to print.
John and I got married in August of 2005 and decided before we were married
that we would like to be married for about a year before we actively tried to
get pregnant. We had only dated for 6
months before we got married so we wanted to enjoy that honeymoon time as a
couple and get to know each other better before we brought a child into the
world.
As the year passed, I was getting antsy to get started! I had already waited for so many years to
find the man I would spend my life with and start a family with. Why did I need to wait any longer?! John wasn't opposed to having children by any
means, and would have still been thrilled if we had found out during that year
that we were pregnant, he just wanted us to have a little time with just us and
without the responsibility that comes with little ones.
I think he got tired of me asking and we decided to go ahead and start
actively trying to get pregnant in July 2006.
I broke out the fertility monitor and we started tracking my cycle to
see when we would be most likely to conceive.
Over the next four months we tracked my cycle, went on a wonderful first
anniversary vacation to Maui, got settled into our new house, and I became a
little frustrated after a few months went by with no luck. I didn't feel like we had any fertility
issues, I was just getting impatient.
Finally that October, something seemed different. I was still tracking my fertility daily with
my monitor and noticed that it really seemed like this was a long cycle. I had a few pregnancy tests on hand since we
were trying to conceive, so I thought, "What the heck, I might as well take
a test just to see." I peed on the
stick, tossed it on the counter, and went to drink my coffee and essentially
forget about the stupid test.
I ate some breakfast, drank my coffee on the back deck while the sun rose
over the river, and tried not to think about the test that was most likely turning
negative while I sat there. I had taken
so many tests in the past that had all been negative, why would this time be
any different? I got dressed for work,
put my shoes on, and decided I had killed enough time I might as well go brush
my teeth and face down the test. I
stomped into the bathroom, snatched the stick off of the counter, and felt my
stomach flip as I saw the plus sign.
Positive. Holy crap, the test was
positive! I was pregnant!
I stared at it for several minutes, saying to myself, "OH MY
GOSH!!!! I'M PREGNANT!!! OH MY GOSH!!!" I think the dogs thought I was pretty silly
talking to myself and grinning like a fool.
By that point I was starting to run a little late. I rushed out the door to head to work which
was thank goodness only a 5 minute drive.
Had it been much farther, I may have wrecked my car in the
excitement. Since John and I worked at
the same place I often saw him on my way into work. I didn't have to be at work until 8:00 am
each day, but he had to be there at 5:00 am, so he would often meet me as I
walked in and say hi. As I walked in
that day he and a co-worker were working on a project so I just stopped and
said hi to them and made my way to my office with a huge smile on my face and a
spring in my step. I didn't want to tell
him at work, so I was going to wait and tell him when we got home.
Over my lunch hour that day I went home again and took another test because
I honestly didn't believe that the other one was right and I didn't want to
make a fool of myself. So I went home,
peed on another stick, and watched as it immediately turned positive. Well, that settled that! I went to Wal-Mart and bought a card to write
John a special message.
I went back to work and tried to focus on my work for the rest of the day,
but I wasn't very successful at it. When
I got home that day John was home relaxing and I told him I had an early
birthday present for him (his birthday is in November). I handed him the card and a little box. He opened the card and read my message, opened
the box which contained the positive pregnancy test, and sat there quietly for
a minute. He finally looked at me and
said, "Are you sure?" I
laughed and said, "Uh yeah, I took two tests and they came out pretty
brightly positive!" He was nervous
and surprised and I think a little excited.
I was excited the next three days, then it hit me and I became the
nervous one!
I made my first appointments with the OB office and started my prenatal
care. Every visit was so exciting. John came with me to almost every
appointment. He was with me at my 12
week check-up when the midwife was struggling to find the baby’s heartbeat and
sent us for an ultrasound. We were both
nervous as we entered the ultrasound room, but were relieved when the
technician took measurements and let us know that the due date we had been
given was two weeks off and we were really only 10 weeks along.
The pregnancy flowed along smoothly and uneventfully until the 28 week
checkup and glucose tolerance test. It
was then that I learned I had gestational diabetes. I left the office that day with a referral to
the diabetic clinic for nutrition counseling and a knot in my stomach. I was nervous because I didn’t know anything
about gestational diabetes and I was pretty nervous about the whole thing.
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| Somewhere around 7 months, I think. |
The clinic was great and got me set up for a diabetic diet and gave me a
whole folder full of information. I had
to check my glucose levels 4 times a day and record the information for my
doctor’s office. I was able to control
my levels for with diet for another month or so and then I had to use a pill to
help me control it for the remainder of the pregnancy. At 32 weeks I had to start going twice a week
for ultrasounds and non-stress tests (NST’s).
We have a whole album of ultrasound pictures of Amelia.
I was told after the diabetic diagnosis that I would have to be induced at
39 weeks if the baby didn’t come on her own.
It was never really explained to me why, so I was confused about it and
a little nervous about what to expect.
At my last 38 week appointment they scheduled my induction for the
following Monday, June 25. The midwife
checked me for dilation and I think I was a 1 or 2 cm, so she asked if I would
like her to strip my membranes to see if that helped me to dilate and efface more. Sure, why not? Whoa.
I hope I never have to experience that again!
I went home and spent the weekend freaking out, cleaning like a crazy
woman, freaking out some more, and wondering what was going to happen on
Monday.
On Monday, June 25, after a night of being unable to sleep, we woke at 5:00
am to get ready for the hospital. It was
a warm morning, but I remember shivering all the way up to the hospital from
the air conditioner and the nerves. I
must have looked like a deer in headlights when I walked into the
hospital. I sure felt like one.
The receptionist checked us in and sent us up to L&D for the
induction. We met a nurse who directed
us to our room, sent me to the bathroom with a gown and a cup and instructions
to pee in the cup and put on the gown.
She told us that Beth, our midwife, would be arriving a little later
after her daughter’s swim lessons. She
asked about 1000 questions, most of which I’m pretty sure had to have already
been in my chart or on my preregistration.
After finally getting all the questions out of the way, we waited for a
short time and Beth arrived. She checked
me over and said that I had dilated a little more, to about 3 cm. We decided that we preferred trying breaking
the water and letting me labor on my own for a little while to see if my body
would take over and not need the Pitocin that was sure to cause horrendous
contractions. Beth agreed that we could
do that, so she broke my water and allowed me to walk the halls for the next
several hours.
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| Last pregnant picture! |
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| The bump. |
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| After they broke my water. That face says, "Whoa, this is a horrible sensation!" |
At noon I received a lovely lunch of popsicles, chicken broth, and
juice. Mmm, clear liquid diet. Beth came back about 1:00 to check me and
said that I had dilated to 4 cm and had not effaced any more. She requested that we start the Pitocin so we
could get me into active labor, and I agreed to her suggestion. The IV was placed and they started pumping
the dastardly drug into me and told me to lie back and rest because it would
most likely be a long night. Ha. Little did we know.
At 1:30 I started feeling contractions pick up a little bit. They didn’t feel like Braxton Hicks
contractions anymore. The nurse came in
briefly and turned up the Pitocin a notch.
At 1:45 I started to notice that things were getting significantly more
active. At 2:00 the nurse came back to
check the monitor and kick the Pitocin up one more notch and saw that I was
definitely in active labor. They had
only had to turn the Pitocin up to a 6.
If I remember right, the highest they can turn it up is like 30, so they
were barely giving me anything and my body was definitely responding!
I decided to get out of bed because lying there was getting so
uncomfortable and I felt like I was tensing up a lot, making the pain even
worse. I had decided during pregnancy
that I wanted to try and labor naturally if at all possible, so I wanted to get
comfortable somehow. I spent some time
sitting on the birthing ball, and then some time sitting in the recliner. Beth came in about 2:30 to check on me and I
told her that the devil himself must have made this drug. Contractions were coming harder all the time
and I was getting quite uncomfortable.
She asked me if I was interested in pain relief and I told her all I
knew was that I didn’t want an epidural.
She told me she could give me some other options but I might want to
wait a little longer until I was further dilated because the drugs wouldn’t
last very long and a second dose was usually not as effective. I agreed to wait since I didn’t want to end
up with an epidural. She drew me a hot
bath and let me soak in the whirlpool tub for pain relief and it was amazing.
I got in the tub around 3:00 and at 3:30 told John that I wanted him to
call my mom and tell her to come up when she got off work. I had told her not come until she was called because
I didn’t want anyone but John in the room with me. At 3:30 though, in the midst of contractions
and scared to death, I wanted my mommy.
I sat in the tub for over an hour I think.
Time was pretty irrelevant at that point. Beth suggested that I get out and try some
position changes and perhaps the birthing ball again to see if that produced
any changes. It must have been about
4:00 by that point, I’m not sure. I
remember spending some time rolling around on the ball and feeling a little
relief. About 5:30 or so John started to
get hungry so he decided he would just run up to the vending machine on our
floor and grab a snack. He didn’t want
to head to the cafeteria. It’s a really
good thing he made that decision.
After John walked out the door I had a contraction that was a little worse
than the last one. Shortly thereafter I
had another contraction that was significantly worse. It was so weird to go from normal contraction
one minute to HOLYCRAPWHATISGOINGON contraction a minute later. I had several more contractions while John
was getting his candy bar and pop. That
was about the time that I started to wonder where the hell this vending machine
was. What was taking so long??? I was starting to get SO UNCOMFORTABLE and
where the heck was he?! He finally
arrived back at the room (he was probably only gone for 5 minutes) and I told
him, “I don’t know what is going on, but I am so uncomfortable now! Please get Beth, I need drugs!”
Before he could even leave the room, Beth came to the doorway. She had heard me moaning through the
contractions from the hallway and decided to check in. She kindly waited until I had finished my
contraction and then asked me how I was feeling. I told her that the pain was getting more
intense. She asked if I wanted to
discuss pain relief at that time. I
said, “YES!” We decided that she would
check me to see how far I was dilated and that would help us to know what drugs
they could offer me.
It took me two contractions to get back into the bed, which I was leaning
against while on the birthing ball. The
contractions seemed to be coming right on top of each other at that point, and
the Pitocin had been turned off for quite some time by then. It turns out they WERE right on top of each
other. I didn’t realize it but I was in
transition.
Beth checked my cervix and said, “Oh Tracie! You are at 10 cm! There’s no time for drugs now, this baby is
going to be coming out any time!” I
said, “Well….then let’s do this!”
She called in the labor nurses and they all started preparing the
room. I was lying on the bed and Beth,
who was across the room, said, “Okay Tracie, on the next contraction you can
start pushing with it.” The funniest
thing was looking around the room and noticing that there was NOBODY standing
anywhere near the bed at that point and they are telling me I can push with the
contraction. I thought to myself,
“Shouldn’t somebody be down there to catch this baby?” I must have thought she was going to just pop
out any second.
I started pushing sometime around 5:45 if I remember correctly. I pushed and I pushed in a few different
positions, some more effectively than others.
At one point the fetal monitor kept shifting and they kept losing the
baby’s heartbeat, so they asked if I preferred that they put an internal
monitor on the baby or if I preferred an episiotomy to help me push her
out. I requested the monitor because I
really didn’t want the episiotomy!
They placed the monitor, and I was determined to push that baby out without
them cutting me! John coached me through
each push, until the last few pushes. At
that point he got very quiet because he was choking back tears as he saw her
little head starting to appear. Beth
continued to talk me through the pushing and at 6:07 pm, after only 4 hours of
active labor and about 20 minutes of pushing, Amelia Jean Ihle came screaming
into the world.
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| After they finally got the fetal monitor detached from her noggin. |
I was exhausted. John leaned down
and gave me a kiss and told me how proud he was of me. I told him I loved him too and that he should
go check on the baby. The nurses were
checking her over and she was perfect.
She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long.
And the internal fetal monitor was stuck in her hair! It took them several minutes to get it out of
her hair and get her wrapped up so they could finally hand her to me.
It was so awesome to hold her for the first time. She looked so huge to me, which is silly
because I know she was tiny. It was more
like, “How on earth did something that size fit in my stomach?!” She nursed for a bit, John called all the relatives,
my mom arrived shortly after she was born, and the rest of the night was a blur
of nurses checking up on me and taking her blood sugar since she had low blood
sugar at birth.
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| You wouldn't think 4 hours would be so exhausting. |
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| A family, at last. |
We spent the requisite two nights in the hospital and went home after lunch
time on Wednesday. We arrived home to
our welcoming party, Jasmine the Doberman who was 9 years old at the time, and
Lollipop the Papillion who was 3 years old at the time. They reacted exactly opposite of what we
anticipated. Jasmine sniffed the car
seat and wanted nothing to do with the baby.
Lollipop sniffed the car seat and wouldn’t leave her side. John and I looked at each other and said, “Well,
now what do we do? I can’t believe they
let us bring her home!” We didn’t have a
clue what we were doing. And I honestly
still don’t think we know what we’re doing a lot of days!
