Labor Day!

     While everything is still kind of fresh in my mind, I want to document my labor journey. I started off by a tale-tell sign of being ready to go into labor: NESTING. I actually went to bed to bed on Tuesday night wanting to clean. I was excited to get up the next morning and get some cleaning done! Wednesday, I got up and swept, mopped, did laundry, and got everything set out for Thanksgiving dinner. I felt very accomplished! That very same night, around bedtime, I started having mild contractions. They hurt worse than the Braxton Hicks I had been having, and continued to get worse throughout the night. I didn't get much rest.
      At around 2:40 AM Thursday morning (my due date) I gave in and started timing them. They were getting pretty strong at that point. They were happening about every 5 to 7 minutes. Knowing that the hospital wouldn't keep me if they weren't in a better pattern, I continued to wait them out. That morning, my mother-in-law started cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I had decided that after I eat I was going to the hospital. At that point, I thought if these contractions hurt much worse than they were then, that I'd just DIE!! I was afraid of going to the hospital too late and not being able to get an epidural. Plus I had lost my mucus plug.
       During Thanksgiving dinner/lunch, I had contraction after contraction, so I stuck by my word and after lunch, we gathered all of our things and headed to the hospital. At this point it was about 2 PM. When we got there, they triaged me in and monitored the baby and my contractions and checked my cervix. I was only 1 1/2 CM! I was so bummed!!! But the nurse gave me an hour to change and nothing happened so I got discharged and headed back to the house.
      When I got home I went straight to the bed. I was tired from contracting all night and a little embarrassed for going to the hospital and getting sent home for the second time! (The first time was a blood pressure scare.) I laid in the bed until that evening (around 5 or 6 PM) when I finally decided to get up and walk. I was clearly in labor and everyone told me to wait and walk when I went into labor. So Dewayne and I got out of the house and walked around the neighborhood, even though it was drizzling and COLD!  We walked for about an hour or so and came back and I continued to have irregular contractions.
       When we finally laid down for bed, I had a contraction that I couldn't even stand to lay down for. It hurt so bad I had to move! Well when I got out of bed my water broke, but not a lot came out. I was hoping it would eventually break because I knew the hospital couldn't send me home. I told Dewayne and he did a ninja move and got out of bed and got my mother-in-law and my dad up and everyone got ready and headed to the hospital for the second time that same day. It was funny because right before bed my dad said "watch it happen right after everyone gets to bed."
        When we got to the hospital, we had to go through the ER entrance because it was after hours. We made our way to L&D and had to get triaged again. When I walked into the triage room, it was like the flood gate opened and water went everywhere! When the nurse finally checked me, I was 4 cm! YAY for progress!!! They finally got me into a L&D room and I was really starting to hurt. The nurse said she would start my IV and draw blood for the labs that would determine if I could get an epidural. 5 NEEDLE HOLES LATER she sent off for the lab work. It seemed to take forever and my contractions just continued to get harder and harder. I said repeatedly that I hadn't mentally prepared myself for the pain that I was having! It was HARD! It hurt so bad that I sent Dewayne out to see if the blood work had come back. The nurse checked me and I was already 6 cm! Finally, the guy, Paul, came in to give me my epidural. I was really nervous about moving but he made me feel better about it. He told me that it couldn't actually paralyze me (which is what I was afraid of!) They sat me up and gave me the instructions to have bad posture and hold my head down. He gave me a few sticks to numb the area and then started the actual epidural. It was the craziest feeling! I could feel the thing going into my back! It didn't hurt terribly but it didn't feel like butterflies either! I could feel that it settled on my right side. Dewayne stood in front of me the whole time and laid his head down with mine. Once he was done he taped me up really good and I almost immediately felt better. Once that was done, I wanted to make sure that everyone, esp my dad, knew I wasn't in pain anymore. It almost made him sick to see me like that. After everyone knew, me and Dewayne laid down to get some rest.
       When I woke up after about 3 or 4 hours or so, I was having some pain in my left side. Not terrible, but I could tell some of the medicine had shifted out of that side. I was extra numb on my right side and the feeling was slowly starting to come back to my left side. I told the nurse, Shannon (who was an Alabama Fan,) about it and she had the anesthesiologist to come and check it out.  This time is was a younger guy. He gave me a boost of Lidocain (sp?) to help take some of the pain away (which by the time he came in there was alot.) He didn't want to give me too much because he thought I wouldn't be able to feel enough to push. Well the Lidocain didn't help at all really. So I sat there feeling every contraction in my left side. The nurse finally checked me again and said I was complete on one side but I       still had a little cervix on the other side. It was because Jake was balled up on my left side (the one I could feel!) You could see how he was laying only on one side. Well, they waited for a little while and then they said that I could try pushing. The nurse gave me the instructions on what to do and then we were off!! I had Dewayne holding one leg and Marilyn holding the other. We sat there waiting on a contraction to come. When I felt one coming on I pulled my legs to me, curled around my stomach, and pushed until I thought my eyes were going to bulge out. There is no doubt that it feels like going to the bathroom. My contractions were so strong but pushing actually made them feel a little better. I would normally do about 3 good 10 sec pushes with each contraction. I pushed for probably close to an hour. He wasn't moving very much at all even though I was giving it everything I had, so Marilyn actually pulled Jake from my left side to the center and held him there as I pushed! When she did that, I could feel a difference in my pushes and they were actually moving him down way faster. After I pushed each time and let my breath out, I was in so much pain. I think I told Dewayne several times that I wasn't going to be able to do this! At that point I didn't care how he came out, I just wanted him OUT! Dewayne and Marilyn were very encouraging! Without them 2, I would have never been able to do it. When he finally started moving down, the nurse went and got the Doctor. I was so excited because that meant I was really making progress and it was going to be over soon! When the Doctor came in, I think I pushed for about another twenty minutes or so and all of the sudden he said "He has some sort of skin tag on his head." I was terrified for him!!!! Me and Dewayne probably looked like we had seen a ghost. But I continued to push and then he said the magic words, "His head will be out with the next push!" THANK YOU LORD! So I gave it EVERYTHING on the next push, and his head was out! They cleaned everything out of his mouth and nose and removed the cord that was wrapped around his neck. The doc then told me to give just a medium push, not too hard, and then he was out! They put him on my chest and the world came to a complete stop! He was here!!! Our baby boy!! Jake! Marilyn, Dewayne, and I were all blubbering messes! We were crying our eyes out!! All of us! He was greyish and all covered in mess, but he was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on!! Thankfully he had only one skin tag and it was relatively small. They took him to the warmer to clean him up, and the doc delivered the placenta, gave me a few stitches, and it was done! Physically, I felt 100% better. What a relief it is after the placenta is out. I know thats gross to talk about, but my lord! It was like phew!!! They took Jake to the nursery because he had a fever that I had given him. Twenty minutes after he was delivered, I got up and walked to the restroom. That's how much that stupid epidural had worn off. Since they had taken Jake, the nurses in the nursery took a couple pictures and printed them off for me. And shortly after that I walked to the postpartum room.
       After we got there it wasn't very long before they brought my little bundle of joy in there. I've been in love ever since! What an amazing feeling!! I wouldn't trade any of my experience in for a million dollars!! The pain was totally worth it! I just really hope with my next kid, my epidural works!


**This was written with my very cloudy memory of how things went! I've learned that when you are in pain you really don't stop and think about recording every single little moment. BOO! But as things come to me I'll update this.

Newborn Pics!!

37 weeks 4 days

Exhaust+Christmas Music=Bliss

      Ok, so after seeing Dewayne off to work, smelling the exhaust from his motorcycle, and turning on some Christmas tunes I am ready to blog.  Speaking of Christmas, I am even more excited about it this year! I cannot wait to get my decorations up! I want to see my tree; I miss it! My excitement only grew with my last trip to Hobby Lobby! I found 1000 things that I wanted. I get so super inspired by that place! I'm hoping Dewayne gets into it this year since we will have the little one. Our tree colors this year are appropriately Blue and White. We actually had that picked out right after Christmas last year. We didn't even expect to get pregnant!
       I'm officially 37 weeks today! YAY! That means if I had him today, the likelihood of everything being 100% developed is great! So now I sit and wait. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and I'm not even a little dilated. I was bummed!! I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions but that are obviously not powerful enough. Lately, I have been getting up several times during the night. I either have to go to the bathroom or I'll wake up because my hands are completely asleep! This whole carpel tunnel thing is no joke. My fingertips are constantly numb and if I write or have to grip anything for an extended period of time my hands HURTS and goes numb. One might ask how can something be numb and hurt at the same time and the answer to that is, I don't know!! But if I find out, I will let you know! Oh, and if you know me, you know that my handwriting is terrible so imagine how bad it gets with this going on! But back to the doctor's appointment, I finally got to meet the person that will hopefully deliver my baby boy. Her name is Dr. C. Shirley and she is very nice! Well except for she "encouraged" me to get a flu shot and made me do more blood work at this visit. Oh yeah, and she did the Strep B test. NOT. FUN. AT. ALL. If you don't know what they have to do, google it! But other than that, no complaints. I've also toured the hospital here, which just so happens to be right across the street from our neighborhood. I could literally walk there if need be! Everything is really nice in the maternity ward there. It's a new women's center, so they have all new equipment and such. Large rooms, too. The lady that gave us our tour is from Alabama, go figure. Of course, she was an Alabama fan and Dewayne wore his Auburn shirt. LOL, good start, huh? But, I'm happy with the hospital. I just hope they have a really good anesthesiologist! Haha! My only request!

Well I've rambled on and on so I'll end this one here!

Goodbye :)
 

A true burden..

      I know it has been forever since I have blogged. Since my last blog, I have quit my job, moved to Texas, and gotten REALLY big! I just got my computer set up so now maybe I can keep up with my blog a little better.
     The real reason for this post is to explain a true need of mine. Now before I write this, I am no glue sniffer, mind you. I do, however, have a real craving for smells. This has been a problem since the beginning of this pregnancy but has truly been worse lately. There are certain smells that really feel the need, such as motorcycle exhaust, motor oil (old and burnt, not new,) my dad's garage, auto body filler (bondo,) and gas. But one thing is better than the rest: tires.
     I first realized that I was craving the smell of tires when Dewayne and I were walking around Sams club in Augusta and we walked by the tire department. It was GRAND! My dad seems to think that Jake may end up being a mechanic! LOL! That's ok as long as I can hang around his work and smell the lovely smell of a greasy garage!
     Now, I'm going to do some laundry. Not for the clean, fresh smell of fabric, but for the slight greasy smell that our new, barely broken in washer gives off. YUM!  

25 weeks and 4 days!

24 weeks!!!

Dearest Jake:

Here lately you have been kicking me like crazy!! You move around constantly which I feel is a very good thing! At your 22 week ultrasound, the sonographer had trouble trying to get you to stay still long enough to get all of your measurements. You love to move the most at night and right after I eat. I look at it as a tiny reminder that you are real. I know it sounds crazy!

On a side note: We got the results for the Maternal Serum Screening and everything was great! No amniocentesis! I can't wait to get to hear what the doctor says about the ultrasound. That is, if I can understand her! (She's Romainian!) I go back in 4 weeks (August 18th) for a check up and to schedule my glucose test.

This is all passing by so quickly! I'm sure it will slow down at the very end but for now its zooming by! We are currently trying to get all of our PCSing crap figured out. Will we move before Jake is born or after? Will we stay in an apartment and be cramped or in a townhome and have plenty of space? Will we be able to take the dogs? Will we sell my car and get a SUV? Will we have to drive both cars out there? UGHHHHH! I want to have a plan for everything and it's just so up in the air! Maybe we'll figure it all out soon.

23 Weeks!!

Duck Face + Pregnant Picture = Love

Facelift!

New layout, whoop whoop!! What do ya think??

WAHOO!

It's in my nature...

I'm such a worrier!! I don't if I'm the only one or if all moms worry about this but I have an uncontrollable worry that haunts me. I'm so worried about something being wrong with my baby. Like if he or she is behind the growth scale or just anything!! I just want the bean to be healthy! Maybe after I see the little tiny thing tomorrow, I'll feel better!

And speaking of.....

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! I hope we're able to tell what the baby is! Oh man it would be so awesome to know already!! If not I only have to wait another month. It just seems like forever! But at 8:30 in the morning Dewayne and myself will be headed toward Atlanta with out closest family and friends to find out if we're having a Jake or a Madelyn. I can't WAIT to find out!!

BBQ Chronicles

I wanted to do a timeline of my BBQ eats this past weekend:

Saturday, May 29th - 

I scarf down an entire Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Potato.
I purchase 2 bottles of Big Bob Gibson's white BBQ sauce.

Sunday, May 30th - 

I visit with dad and sister and her family. We order the BBQ special from PJ's.
I eat 2 whole BBQ sandwiches with cole slaw on them and persuade my dad to do the same.
I also consume leftovers later that day.

Monday, May 31st -

I stop at Green Top BBQ with Dewayne and eat a BBQ salad.
I also order 1 pound of meat to bring home.

Tuesday, June 1st -

For lunch and dinner, I plan to eat the meat that was purchased on the day prior.
I also plan to cover it in way too much Big Bob's white BBQ sauce, of course!!

Feeling better?

    Well, I surely don't want to jinx things but I have been feeling so much better!!! Sometimes I still get those feelings where the thought of food makes me want to just die. I can be thankful its not every night now! On our trip to Alabama this past weekend I ate NOTHING BUT bar-b-que. When I say that, I mean that aside from one egg and three pieces of bacon all of my meals were BBQ! (See: BBQ Chronicles) I FINALLY got to give in to a craving that had been just killing me into the ground (just ask Lauren!!) I got to get a Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Chicken stuffed potato, including way more than one person should consume of their white BBQ sauce! (I also purchased 2 bottles to bring home since GA doesn't sell it) On another note, I have been feeling way more heartburn. (I used to be one of those lucky people to never have heartburn, so now when I get it once or twice a week I consider it "way more heartburn!") Physically, I think thats all thats changing.

   Emotionally, I'm a tiny wreck. Several people in my family have told me that they think I'm going to be a good mother. GOD, I HOPE SO!! I just worry about everything. I'm thinking that every little move I make is going to have an effect on how this child turns out. That's scary! I just hope I do okay, thats all I'm asking.

   I'm pretty excited for next weekend. I get to make a trip to the ATL with some of the most important people in my life to find out what the little bean is. BOY OR GIRL!?!? I hope everyone gets to see he or she's little legs moving! It's the funniest thing I've ever seen! (Haha, yeah I'm going to be one of THOSE moms, YIKES!) Well, thats all I can think about to write now. Maybe more will come soon. Toodles!

What's behind door #2??

Today marks my 2nd Trimester!! Yay!! This one is supposed to be like a "second honeymoon." Before anything like that happens, this nausea and heartburn are going to have to pack up and leave!! I have been much less nauseous than normal, so thats a plus. And I'm starting to get a round belly. More so than usual!

To celebrate this new trimester, we bought a crib!! Babie'r'us was having a 20% sale so we decided to go ahead and get that big piece of furniture out of the way. It wasn't in stock so we'll have to go pick it up in 7 to 14 days.

I have an appointment coming up on May 24th. I hope I can see a good profile of the little bean. And on June 5th, we're going to be making a trip to the ATL to go to an Early Gender Determination appointment at a 3D/4D Prenatal Imaging place. I don't know if I'm more excited about finding out the sex of the baby or going to the Cheesecake Factory and getting a big, fat slice of White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake. YUM!

Well, untill next time...

Williams OUT!

Stress..

I feel the need to destress my life. There is one particular 40 hour a week stress that I have. Something needs to give with it! I leave with a headache 5 sometimes 6 days a week!

Somethings this week that are making me extra nauseous are: Mexican Food (Just in time for Cinco de Mayo,) Eating dinner, bland food, and sweet clementines. I have been eating more sour food and the colder the better! I have noticed I have to have food with alot of flavor. For instance, Dewayne made some mashed potatoes and because they didn't have a strong flavor I almost got sick. I mean just the thought of them makes me want to gag. (He is a good cook, and I'm sure normal not pregnant Tonya would have loved them!) I really hope I'm like most women and my nausea goes away in a couple of weeks!

Blech

Not feeling it today. Not feeling it today. Not feeling it today.

I cannot believe it is only Tuesday. I am so tired!!! My house is a mess. The dogs were unruly this morning. Dewayne took a regular t-shirt to PT instead of a PT shirt so I had to take him one. It was so early it was still DARK! I might snap today. Oh and I cried like a baby on the way to work over a song, THAT I WILLINGLY TURNED ON!

FML

WHY!?

Why does it seem like this first trimester is going by sooo slow??? Oh wait, it's probably because the stupid Dr. changed my due date back 10 days!!! UGH! All that progress, LOST! On the upside, I'm going to eat tonight with the Smith's! Too excited for some yummy Guisseppe's pasta! Bring on the elastic waistband!

Hot tea...Oh how I love thee!

So far, hot tea has been the best help with the old nausea. My favorites are Bavarian Berry, Peppermint, and Honey Vanilla Chamomile. I swear I'm turning English. Maybe I'm preparing for the day I live in Europe. Oh, it's coming! I don't care where; Germany, Holland, Belgium, ANYWHERE!

Will this end??

Ok so for some reason I thought I might slip under the radar without any sickness. I was WRONG! I have been no nausiated! Ugh, even my favorite foods don't sound good. And I constantly burp or have the hiccups which trigger a gagging reflex. BLEH! I want to just eat again!!! It's my favorite hobby! I love to eat! I miss eating Zaxby's the most with that yummy Zestable sauce. *sad face* AND to top it off, I thought I was 10 weeks so the end of this would be in site, but THINK AGAIN! The doctor thinks I'm only 8 weeks and 4 days. STUPID!!!! 

Pregnancy Woes #3

I have started having a little Nausea. Nothing too bad! I'm still able to go to work and I haven't thrown up at all. But the doctor did give me some Vitamin B6 and Phenegrin (sp?) to take as needed. I've learned that right now I'm craving something, eating as much of it as i can possibly fit in my stomach, and then getting very sick!! Ha!

First Picture in the Brag Book!

My appointment went very well on Monday. No blood was given thank God! AND most importantly I got to see my BAYBAY! I got to see this little living things HEARTBEAT!! I didn't get to hear it but it was like seeing magic to see that this little peanut had a flickering heart!! I've never fell in love so quickly with anything ever in my enitre life!! It was amazing!!! I have been spotting, but the doctor didn't seemed too worried about it because he couldn't see it on the ultrasound. Oh and the Doctor thinks I'm not as far along as suspected. They estimate tomorrow I will start my eighth week. I have to go back for another ultrasound in 2 weeks to monitor bleeding and get another ultrasound and then they'll determine my actual due date.

Pregnancy Woes Post #2

The smell of Bradford Pear trees are making me as close to sick as I have been thus far. They smell TERRIBLE!!!! And they line the track that I walk at! Bleh!

Pregnancy Woes Post #1

So far the only symptoms I've had is a very achy, strechy feeling in my abdomen. Very close to a menstral cramp. I haven't had any morning sickness or anything else really. I am a little tired. But thats about its :)

1st Appointment

I had my very first appointment this morning and it was very overwhelming! I first talked to a very nice OB Nurse, Ms. Blackmon. She gave me a ton of reading material and told me my due date. November 14th, 2010!! Anywho, my next step was to go to the lab and do more blood work. I get down to the lab and find out I have to give blood AND urine, easy enough? Not so much! I get called next and go to to the technician, who was a student!! I automatically get nervous, but he ended up not hurting at all. 9 VIALS OF BLOOD LATER, I'm put on a bed because I about passed out!! Ugghhh It was embarrassing!! So, I get done there and go to give my urine sample and ended up using the cup wrong. I don't know how I did it but this cup looked weird! It has a straw in it and the directions were confusing! It didn't just say pee in the cup, it had a step by step and I got all kinds of confused. Anywho, I used the first one wrong and then didn't have to go anymore but tried in another cup. It didn't work that time either. So we left! Haha! I still have to go back!! On top of all that excitement I also had to go to the Tricare Referral Desk and the OB dept on the 10th floor. Phew...It was tiring. My next appointment is April 12th at 1:40PM. Maybe I'll hear the heartbeat!

My very first "pre-natal" visit.

My first Dr. appointment is on March 18th. I'm so excited, I can't wait!

Blood test was...

POSITIVE!!!!

2 more Positive Tests!!

Pictures to come!! I also just went to the Army hospital and left some of my blood behind. They should be calling in the next 3 hours.

Just saying...

I had 2 positive tests today....Going for blood work tomorrow!!!

Dr. Appointment Yesterday!

I went to get my yearly exam yesterday and spoke with the doctor about getting pregnant. He asked a ton of questions and then scheduled me for some blood work, just in case!

A whole month of not worrying.

Ok so I quit stressing about it. I really did for a while! However, it is almost time to start looking for aunt flo. WE'LL SEE!