Our Blessing From Heaven

Monday, March 23, 2009 started out like any other work-day. Got up way to early for my pregnant body, got Charles out of bed, got ready, grabbed our lunch and headed out the door... and we grabbed our overnight suitcase for when I go into labor. Not a bad thing considering we were heading into Council Bluffs for our regular 2 week prenatal check-up. The suitcase had been in the car for the last few weeks, but I went through and re-packed it the day before.

At work, everyone keeps talking about the possibility for tornadoes and storms all day and night. I worry because I HATE tornadoes. But my mind is elsewhere while the chatter goes on around me. Then I am waved at by a friend's mom who says, "Desiree is just sure you're going to have that baby today or tomorrow because of the storms bringing in the pressure change!" I laugh, and tell her, "Yeah right! I have a little over 4 weeks left!"

Work ends, and we are off to the doctor's for my check-up. I have a few braxton-hicks, but nothing to worry about. Considering all the books say that if you cannot talk through a contraction, you're really in labor. I just sat there and sang along with the radio and chatted with my wonderful husband.

We get to the hospital and get in the room with Dr. Potter. I have my GBS test to do, so it's pants off! He swabs me, and I'm feeling all sorts of gross! Then he tells me to make fists with my hands so that I can place them under me so he can check my cervix and see if I'm possibly dilating. He then pauses, looks at me confused, and says, "Umm... have you been having contractions?!" I look at him, and say, "Well, just Braxton Hicks..."

He looks at me and tells me that I'm already dilated to 4cm and I need to go across the street to Mercy to be put on the fetal monitor. I look at Charles and he just stared back at me. We didn't know what to say. Dr. Potter continued with my ultrasound and sent us on our way.

We get outside to hear all the sirens going off. Tornado Warning. Awesome. We get over to the other side of the street and pray that if it hails, our Jeep would be okay. We get out of the car, and grab the suitcase. Thank goodness we grabbed it!

We get up to labor and delivery to find that everyone is out in the hallway for the tornado warning. I got to talk to some people and laugh about what Desiree had said earlier about the pressure change brining on my labor.

I got into the room and my contractions were about 1 - 2 min apart. I wasn't in pain, so I wasn't worried. I was checked to see if I was progressing and I was 5 cm and 80% effaced. Dr. Potter was called and he didn't want to stop the labor... so I was hit hard with the reality that Charles and I were going to be meeting our little girl really soon.

I stopped progressing at 6 cm. Was given pitocin to help on Dr's orders, but it just hurt me and didn't dilate me. He broke my water... nothing happened. I opted then for an epidural. I was exhausted from working on my feet all day, to being in labor all night. The nurse checked me soon after and I was at 7 cm. I told Dr. Potter I felt the need to bear down, and he checked me. He said, "Good thing you need to push... you're ready to go." I went from 7 cm to 10 cm in 2 minutes!

After just under 12 hours of labor and 13 minutes of pushing, I was looking at my beautiful little girl! Caitlin Nadine!! 6 lbs, 13 oz!! 20 1/2 inches long! I wasn't able to hold her right away. But after they cleaned her up, I got to hold her for just a minute. She was having difficulty breathing. I knew then that she would be taken to a different hospital. Which she was.

As of today, Caitlin is breathing on her own. She is doing really really well! She is getting ready to be converted from an incubator to a crib! And she is breastfeeding now! Her lungs are doing better! She has a small nasal passage, so she likes to breath out of her mouth, but breastfeeding is helping her to adjust to breathing through her nose. We plan on getting out of here within the next few days, but we'll see.

I'd post pictures, but we aren't allowed to do that here. Hospital rules. I cannot access Facebook, Myspace, or anything else really for that matter. But Charles will post some soon when he goes home to go back to work on Monday.

I will keep you updated otherwise. Pray for our little girl! She needs it!

P.S. Janelle, you are going to be taking our baby photos and family pictures! Just thought you should know ;) LOVE YOU!

Ch-ch-changes!

To update most of the world, I'M PREGNANT!

Charles and I found out the morning of our 1st Anniversary that our dream to become parents was becoming a reality! I'm not gonna lie, I took like 7 tests within the course of the next week or two just to be sure! And all were positive!

Now, dealing with my past miscarriages, we did not tell a soul about our pregnancy. Other than our mothers. I was excited, but scared at the same time. Right about when I was 12 weeks, the family went to a pumpkin patch/corn maze. It was fun! Until I started bleeding... scary. We got home and I layed down. The next day, I stayed home, and called the doctor. He wanted to see me in the very next day. I was put on bedrest. LAME.

The next day was a sigh of relief. I was still bleeding, but the baby was fine. I was not bleeding from the inside of my uterus. Thank goodness! My cervix was irritated, thus causing the bleeding. I have been fine ever since.

The weeks seem to have gone by so fast, but getting to this point has taken so long! Every Wednesday, I add a week onto my pregnancy! This past Wednesday, the 19th, was my 18th week! I can no longer fit into ANYTHING of mine! We found out at the last ultrasound that the doctor is about 75% sure it's a girl! So we're looking forward to her arrival on Apirl 22, 2009!! I will keep everyone updated on how things go! I will also be posting ultrasounds and belly shots! :D Things have been amazing! I can feel her moving every once in a while and it is nothing short of amazing! Keep us in your prayers! We miss and love you all!

P.S. Jenelle, you are SO taking all of our preggy pics!

Things on my mind...

These last few months have been crazy hectic. With Charles and I trying for children and buying a new house, I've spent a lot of time looking into the lives and lifestyles of my friends and loved ones. Nothing bad, I just like to admire their courage and strength. Some of my friends that have had babies, came out and told the world that they were pregnant right off the bat... some wait for a few months... and some don't even tell anyone until they show up on your doorstep with a baby. However they do it, the ones who come right out have much more courage than I do. The ones who wait to tell, I'm taking notes. And the ones who don't tell anyone, I don't understand why you wouldn't!?

When I found out I was pregnant with this last one, the EDD was 11-13-08... Charles and I spent nights talking about if we wanted to tell people or not... we even discussed whether or not we would even get excited... well, we decided to go ahead and get excited and tell some close friends. We figured that if we kept shut and didn't get excited, we were only expecting a loss. So we swallowed our fears and held our heads high and proudly told our close friends... only to discover that we would lose the baby just 2 weeks later... Our first pregnancy ended in a molar pregnancy . It was quite scary considering the cancer risk involved. I had a suction D&C to remove the contents of my uterus. The tests came back negative, thank goodness. This time, I had to save the "tissue" I passed and take it in. Talk about humiliation... it was horrible. But the pathology report came back negative for a molar pregnancy, WOO! My doctor told me NOT TO try again for over 6 months. This means I'm not allowed to try again until about late September, early October. Charles and I will be spending the first year of our marriage by ourselves. It's quite the blessing... but we are kinda bummed about not getting to at least share some of it with a big baby belly.

We have prayed and pondered about this for the last week and we both came up with the conclusion that Heavenly Father wants us to try because He knows we're going to fail a couple tries. We're taking this loss very well. Surprisingly. It's hard to say why, but we are okay with it. It's crazy hectic with getting packed and getting rid of stuff that's unneeded.

On a lighter note, I'm going to use this time to get back into shape and lose all the marriage-weight I've gained! I wanna look half way decent in a swimming suit! I hope to regain my muscle and get physically healthy and ready for our future babies!