After finding out we were pregnant I did what most woman do, I bought every pregnancy book on the market! I read and read like my unborn child's life depended on it. I was constantly on the internet researching this and that and let me tell you I was scared nearly to death. The internet, while a useful tool, is absolutely NOT the place for a hormone filled woman to be. I think that the authors of most of those books sit at home and just chuckle to themselves at the sheer panic they cause for poor unsuspecting women. Not really, I am sure they think they are doing us a service by giving us every mind numbing thing that can go wrong with a pregnancy but let me just tell you...I could have done without knowing. Thank God my child was and is a healthy little bundle of joy.
Truthfully my favorite pregnancy book was "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. I read that book in a mere 3 hours because I could not put it down. I must have read it 10 times while I was pregnant. If you are pregnant right now or have ever been pregnant I strongly suggest you read this book. It is one of the funniest books you'll pick up.
Overall my pregnancy was amazing. I didn't have any of the typical pregnancy symptoms or side effects. I never had any food aversions or cravings. My sense of smell never got any stronger. I never had the first second of morning sickness. I never had any swelling. I thought I would escape this pregnancy unscathed but then about 3 weeks before having my daughter I got stretchmarks on the front of my bulging belly. After having my daughter I was devastated that I would have these hideous marks for the rest of my life. Then, one night in the bathtub it just suddenly clicked in my brain. My life is forever altered by having this sweet child so why should my body be any different. Since that night I have learned to love my new post baby body, stretch marks, jiggly parts, and all.
The only thing that happened while I was pregnant was a blood clot scare. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like an elephant was on my chest. I felt fine when I went to bed that night so it was a very sudden ailment. I couldn't catch my breath and I felt like I was smothering. Since my husband works nights I was all alone and scared to death. I managed to call my sister and she came to pick me up to take me to the emergency room. Upon arrival my oxygen saturation level was good so they weren't too concerned. Then when the er physician came into the room she was alarmed at the sudden onset of my symptoms. They did lab work which was inconclusive. They did a chest xray which was inconclusive. They did an ultrasound which was inconclusive. This all happened over a process of roughly 7 hours. The entire time I was there I was not allowed to eat and was only allowed minimal sips of water. They didn't want me to have anything in my stomach in case I needed surgery for a blood clot. They had the nerve to tell a pregnant woman she couldn't eat...pretty insane if you ask me. :) I was scared to death. The ER here is understaffed so most of the time I sat in the exam room with my sister not knowing what was going on and just staring at the walls scared. Then the doctor told me they wanted to do a CT scan with contrast to make sure that 100% there was nothing wrong. They explained to me the risks of such a procedure while pregnant, which scared me further still. The main risk that loomed in my mind was a higher risk of childhood cancer. I still pray that this will not be something we will have to endure but it is in His hands either way. After praying with my sister, our Pastor and Associate Pastor I felt a calm come over me that the Lord would watch over me and the baby. I had the test done and they did not see any clots. Thank the Lord! I was discharged from the ER after 12 hours of treatment. They still never really gave me a diagnosis as to why I had such a problem breathing out of nowhere but as long as it wasn't something that was life threatening I was happy.
Other than that scare my pregnancy was perfect. My daughter was born at 40 weeks and 4 days. I woke up at around 6:15 in the morning on Sunday December 19th 2010 and I thought I was leaking fluid. I called the Labor & Delivery department and they wanted me to come in to be checked out. I woke my husband up, called my sister, grabbed our hospital bags and off we went. Sure enough, my water had broke and this baby was coming! Unfortunately I was only dilated to a ONE so I knew I was probably in for a long day. We walked the hallways for hours and my progress was slow. I am a huge football fan and I pull for the New York Jets. The Jets would be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers that night so I knew that I would be glued to the television. Sure enough, here I sat hooked up to monitors screaming like a lunatic at the tv during my football game. The Jets won, I was elated! I then watched the Survivor season finale in its entirety. This labor thing was going fabulous. I couldn't believe what all the fuss was about!?! Pan ahead about 2 hours and holy mother of pearl I was singing a different tune. I never really wrote out a birthing plan because I knew that it would probably just be a waste of time. I did however decide that I was going to try pain medicine before I got the epidural just to be sure it was not something I would handle on my own. After about 2 hours of hard contractions I decided that the pain medicine just wasn't going to cut it because I was not dilating quickly. I informed the nurse & they called the anesthesiologist in. I have never been so happy to see a strangers face in all my life. He got the epidural in and I was happy as a clam. Another few hours later the nurse came in to check me and I was fully dilated! The nurse called the doctor and he arrived quickly. After about 30 minutes of pushing my daughter was born at 6:31 in the morning on December 20th 2010. She weighed 6 lbs 4.8 oz and was 18 1/4 in long. She was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen. She was my heart, and now it was located outside of my body for the whole world to see.
How was your pregnancy? Did you have any or all of the typical symptoms or were you lucky like me? Did you make a birthing plan? What is your opinion on natural childbirth vs the use of medicines and epidurals?
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