Boy, Does 1 Year Go By Fast!

Teddy is 1 year old today! Here are some pictures of him as a newborn. He was born at 6:16 am on a Sunday.

Here he is ready to go home from the hospital 2 days later!

Finally home!

Teddy's birthday has us both thinking back on my pregnancy and his birth.. As some of you may know, I had an uncomfortable pregnancy! Once the morning sickness began to subside and my belly started to grow, I noticed that I would get a terrible burning pain in one of my ribs on the right side whenever I was in a sitting position. This plagued me until the day Teddy was born. My growing uterus was putting pressure on a nerve and it only got worse the bigger I grew! Once I was in my 3rd trimester, I could not sit up for more than a few minutes. I found that lying on my side with my arm over my head was the only way to get relief! The pain kept me from going out to eat with friends, or going to the movies because I just couldn't sit up for long enough! During the last week of my pregnancy, I was constantly waking up at night from the pain and had to get up and stretch my arm in the air and rub my rib! I was so tired!

Another issue I had was (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy) or PUPPS. I broke out in a terrible itchy rash all over my stomach and chest during my 3rd trimester. Funnily, it didn't look too bad...just as if it was a mild breakout. But it itched worse than anything I'd felt before and there was no cure. I just had to wait for it to fade, which it did after about a month of torture! I remember putting wash cloths soaking with ice water on my stomach and trying not to scratch my skin raw! Oh the joys of pregnancy! :)

Lastly, there were the pre-term contractions. I remember they started in the second week of July and never went away. These contractions were basically braxton hicks, but I was having them over and over 24/7. All in all there were three trips to the Labor & Delivery section of the hospital for these contractions. (I never dilated, thank God, so I was sent home). One thing that made me really frustrated during this time was that my doctor kept telling me to come back to the hospital if the contractions were closer together, and at that time I was having them one right after another...so I was really confused and worried! I was constantly timing them. Finally I got a hold of one widwife on the hospital staff and she told me straight forward not to worry because when real labor starts I will definitly know it!

The night I had Teddy, I was feeling mild cramps, not much different than my normal contractions, about every 5 minutes. We were watching a movie and I was timing them. After a while we were about to call the hospital, but I wanted to wait because the last thing I wanted to do was go in there for false labor again. I decided that if I could not sleep through the contractions then we would go in. At about 1:45 in the morning I felt a really strong one and my stomach twitched...almost like Teddy kicked really hard. And I felt the water rush out all over the bed! I started yelling "It happened, it happened!" I was so excited...and a little grossed out!

Then we were running around like maniacs packing our bags. Luckily, I made a list of all the stuff I needed. The contractions hurt like crazy immediately! I had to stop and bend over every couple of minutes. We arrived at the emergency room at 2:20 and they got me in a wheelchair and literally ran me to the L&D. I told them I was having contractions every 2 minutes so I assume that's why they ran. Then they took me to a room to check and make sure that I had actually broken my water. I was like "Yes, duh!". I was in so much pain at that point that trying to put on the hospital gown seemed like an incredible task! I was trying to remember my lamaze breathing but I was doing it all wrong because the nurse told me I was going to hyperventilate! It's funny looking back on it now.

Once we got to the actual birthing room, I was humming or moaning through each contraction. That really helped.

Before I could get an epidural, 3 things needed to happen. I had to be monitored and they had to feel Teddy move three times, I had to get blood work done, and my Doctor had to be there. I had called her and woke her up on the drive over. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived and I was so happy to see him. But first he had to explain everything to me and have me sign something. I was laboring standing up at that point, and he had to stop talking every time I bent over and started moaning, so it took forever and I managed to sign it in between contractions.

Sitting on the edge of the bed while he put the epidural in was so hard! I had to stay perfectly still and during each contraction all I wanted to do was kick my legs and thrash my head but I couldn't. It was so bad. It took over an hour for him to administer it! He had a hard time fitting the tube in between my vertebrae. I was in agony. After it was done, I lied in bed and slowly but surely I went numb. It was great. What a relief!

About 30 minutes later, a nurse checked my dilation and she could feel Teddy's head right there. It was time to push! It was a little comical because I think I startled everyone with how quickly my labor progressed...Pediatricians, nurses and my Doctor all ran in! I had no idea that so many people were going to be there. It was funny too because my Doctor was wearing what looked like a hazmat suit! She was wearing a face shield and everything. lol. My wonderful husband, who was being so supportive and encouraging the whole time, held one leg and the nurse held the other. I started pushing. Amazingly, I pushed through three contractions and he was out! I was expecting it to take a lot longer. At 6:16 am Teddy was placed on my chest as he wailed, and the whole thing was so surreal and happy!