My Pregnancy

So, we were very excited to find out we were expecting a little GIRL last December, right before Christmas.  Alden was not very excited at first because he said he wanted another little brother, but he slowly grew to accept the idea of a sister, especially after we let him pick an outfit out for the new baby.  But, he still told me that after she was born he wanted to have a brother and another brother and another brother and another... Yeah, that is not going to happen (especially after this pregnancy) but at least he became excited to have a little sister.  Anders did not really understand that he was going to be a big brother but it was fun to talk to him about it.

Drew and I were really excited to have a daughter joining our family and we have been really excited to meet her for months, but she got a little too excited as well and tried to come a little early.  It turned out that this pregnancy was going to be my hardest yet and really put my body to the test.  My pregnancies have never been easy or pleasant but this one made my others look easy.  I started the pregnancy with 4 months of horrible morning sickness and then just as I was starting to feel reasonable I got horribly sick for a week and a half with food poisoning that put me in the hospital for dehydration.  After I started recovering from that I started having an increased number of contractions and by 30 weeks I was in preterm labor.  At this point my doctor considered hospitalizing me but I asked to stay home so that I didn't have to find all day care for my 2 boys.  So, instead my doctor put me on partial bed rest and some medication to hopefully help stop the contractions and stop me from progressing more.  At this point I was extremely grateful that my mom happened to be in town and was able to stay and help me for a week and a half as I adjusted to the bed rest.

After my mom left I had to adjust because I am usually extremely active and hands on with my kids but, being on bed rest and feeling sick from the medications I was not able to do that.  It was hard for me to accept that as long as I fed my kids and kept them healthy and safe then I was a successful mom.  I had to constantly remind myself that in order to keep our baby girl healthy I HAD to rest. It was okay if my kids watched a ton of TV one day if that was what I had to do to entertain them and rest.  The situation was only temporary and just doing what I needed to survive didn't make me a bad mom.   I was still feeding the kids, keeping them clean and healthy and giving them lots of hugs and kisses and for a little while that was enough.

Alden was a big helper and would help entertain Anders.  Here he was reading to him.

I enjoyed the cuddle time I got with Anders while on bed rest.

Our church community helped out loads as they brought in meals 3 times a week since I couldn't stand in the kitchen for long periods of time to cook.  Drew was also extremely supportive and patient with me.  I felt bad when he would come home from work after a long day and then proceed to play with the kids, help get them in bed, do the dishes and help clean up.  On top of that, he took me to the hospital every weekend for three weeks to get an IV for dehydration and he never complained!  I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband who kept reminding me that I was doing well and that Alden and Anders were fine and knew they were loved, even when I couldn't play with them and take them out like normal.

Drew and the boys wrestling and goofing off

I have so much more sympathy for those who experience complications during pregnancy now.  I understand that it is hard to rest and that bed rest is nearly impossible with older kids but you do your best.  I know that I felt miserable and couldn't wait for the pregnancy to be over because I felt so uncomfortable and sick, but at the same time I felt guilty for wanting the pregnancy to be over because I knew our little girl needed more time to grow and be healthy.  I am glad that the doctors were able to help stop my labor and I am so grateful that my doctor listened to me and took my opinions into account when we discussed how to get me as far along in the pregnancy as possible.

I made it to 34 weeks on the medication, Procardia, that they used to stop my contractions before they decided that it was no longer safe for me to keep taking it.  The medication was causing me to feel light headed, have my heart race and I almost blacked out a few times.  I was grateful when I got to stop taking the medicine because I felt way better but I was also scared that our little girl would come before she was ready.  I was very grateful that I was able to continue the pregnancy for two more weeks after I stopped the medication and I made it to 36 weeks before our little girl came.

This pregnancy was one of the most challenging experiences of my life but I also learned a lot about myself and my family through the experience.  I learned that I have more strength than I thought to deal with pain and emotional turmoil.  I learned that in my hardest times turning to the Lord in prayer is where I find the most peace.  My family was always there to support us during this time, whether it was in phone calls, visits or prayers and their love was felt strongly as we fought to get through every day.  I cannot express enough gratitude to all of the people that helped us throughout the hard months of my pregnancy.  Whether it was my friends coming over late at night to help clean our empty apartment in South Carolina before we left there, or people bringing us meals every week for a month and a half, we had support and felt loved everywhere we were.  I am sure that I was able to make it through so much of the pregnancy because of all the help and support we received.  And because I was able to make it so long, our little girl arrived fairly healthy as I will talk about later.

16 weeks

32 weeks

34.5 weeks

 35 weeks (7 days before our little girl was born)