I'm pregnant!

I decided to log in to my blog and record Madelyn's birth story while it's fresh on my mind.  Turns out I never even blogged that I was pregnant.  So...I'll do my best to catch up and record all the stuff I want to remember in one post. Thank heavens for Instagram.  That's all the journaling I've done for the past nine months.

I found out in mid September that I was pregnant again.  Because of my miscarriage history, positive pregnancy tests have become a bittersweet thing.  It's just so scary.  I knew I had a couple weeks before morning sickness would set in (if I didn't miscarry), and I wanted to get my house in order and sort of make preparations before I was sick, but I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to just rest.  It was like nothing else mattered, and every breath I took, every activity I took upon myself, and every thought I had was all for this baby.  I cut out any and all extra stress.  I can't even really describe what I was feeling, but I remember it well.

My morning sickness started on October 1st.  I had signed up to go with Dillon's class to Staheli Family Farm for a field trip.  The manure smell was horrible, but I managed to get through the activity, and then spent the rest of the day on the couch.  With every pregnancy (not including my miscarriages) my morning sickness got a little worse, and lasted a little bit longer.  This one followed suit.  The first few weeks were the worst.  My doctor had put me on a baby aspirin and had stacks of documentation showing that it can help women who have recurring miscarriage.  All my energy went into keeping that baby aspirin down!  I laid flat in my bed for most of the day, barely moving to keep from throwing up.  My boys had to fend for themselves and started their 9 mos long journey of fixing their own meals, and taking care of the dishes.  Todd was ridiculously busy with his private practice, teaching two classes at Dixie State, and running Lifestar groups in the evenings...not to mention his calling with the 11 yr old scouts.  He did what he could to help during the week, and then spent every weekend playing catch up on whatever house chores/projects needed to be done.

We had one scare, the day before Thanksgiving, when I had some spotting.  A quick trip to labor and delivery revealed that baby was doing well, and we just continued on in faith.  It's all such a blur...the waiting, praying, hoping, and feeling sick.  It was hard on our family, but now that it's over, it was so worth all the sacrifices.

We found out two days before Christmas that were having a girl!  It was fun to tell the boys and announce the gender to our friends and family on Christmas morning.  I had high hopes that I would be feeling better in January, but it took until the end of February for my morning sickness to go away.  I think it was around 26 weeks.   I had also hoped for a few good months to clean my house and prepare for baby before the aches and pains of late pregnancy set in, but by the time I was feeling better, I was already waddling!  I had so many wonderful friends who helped us through the winter.  We had several meals brought in, and lots of offers to help clean and take care of the housework.  I will be forever grateful for the help we received.

I had three impressions through my pregnancy.  One, was that I needed to watch my sugar intake.  Another was that she would come early, and the third was that her delivery would go quickly.  All proved to be true promptings, though they didn't happen exactly as I thought.  I was worried from 20 weeks on that I would have gestational diabetes.  When it came time for the test, I passed it...barely.  Because I passed, I didn't worry too much, but I wished I would've listened to my gut when at 34 weeks she was measuring almost 6 lbs on ultrasound!  At that point I went on a diabetic diet as a precaution.

I spent plenty of time stewing over my other two thoughts.  I was afraid of my water breaking and either having her at home, or so quickly that there wouldn't be time for my beloved epidural.  I had all kinds of scenarios played out in my head, and what I would do or who I would call if they happened.  I never dreamed that last week I would learn she was breech and that I would have to have a c-section.  Still, she was born a couple weeks early, and the delivery was quick, like I thought it would be.

I'm sure I'm forgetting so many details, and I don't have my pictures available right now, but hopefully I can come back and add in details I want to remember, or maybe put a book together of my pregnancy and Maddie's birth.