I got pregnant with K when I was 18 years old. I was scared- but at the same time, I was confident. I felt like I was meant to go through what I was going through and it made me more comfortable with the situation. I only knew one girl my age who had her daughter at a young age and unfortunately, I no longer had her contact information, so I depended on my family. They have ALWAYS been there and I knew I could count on them.
The pregnancy with K was great! Aside from the fact that I was told I was miscarrying and the pain that came with it. I craved fruit and the old style jolly rancher chews that apparently no gas station, supermarket, Target, Walmart or other store carried. After discovering I was pregnant, I moved in with her daddy and spent any time I could with him. We rented a house with some close friends and everything was great! I saw my parents often, and talked to a lot of friends daily. Since Ray mostly worked nights, I spent my nights watching The Office until he came home. Life was great! I was all belly and my feet didn't get too swollen. I worked 4-5 days a week on my feet until the day I had her. Yep! I worked fries at In N Out the day before I had K. When I think about it now, I feel like I was crazy.
The pregnancy with K was great! Aside from the fact that I was told I was miscarrying and the pain that came with it. I craved fruit and the old style jolly rancher chews that apparently no gas station, supermarket, Target, Walmart or other store carried. After discovering I was pregnant, I moved in with her daddy and spent any time I could with him. We rented a house with some close friends and everything was great! I saw my parents often, and talked to a lot of friends daily. Since Ray mostly worked nights, I spent my nights watching The Office until he came home. Life was great! I was all belly and my feet didn't get too swollen. I worked 4-5 days a week on my feet until the day I had her. Yep! I worked fries at In N Out the day before I had K. When I think about it now, I feel like I was crazy.
The day I had her...
I remember it like it was yesterday. The night before, we were at my parents house celebrating my birthday (May 14th). I felt tensing in my stomach but didn't think much of it since it went away pretty quickly. I ate my birthday cake (enough for two, maybe even three) and left home to our new apartment that was closer to my parents house. It was Ray and I in a 2 bed/2 bath apartment. Not one we loved, but we were in a time crunch and just needed a place ASAP at the time. ANYWAY! I went home, went to bed. Nothing crazy.
Okay so... If you knew anything about me when I was in my teen years through 18/19, you would know that I like to sleep. Being pregnant only made me want to sleep more, so the only reason I would wake up before 10 AM was because we had a store meeting, or because I worked at 1030 AM. I loved sleep.
May 16th, I woke up at 8AM because my stomach hurt. Being the first time mommy that I was, I immidiately thought "count your contractions". I had no clue what I was doing so I just decided to call Labor and Delivery and talk to a nurse. She was worried because I had mentioned she wasn't moving as much as she usually does, so they suggested I just go in and get a check. Now my husband who had been up all night playing World of Warcraft (yeah, don't even get me started) was still sound asleep and suggested I go by myself to the hospital because "it probably wasn't anything serious". Yeah... OKAY.
Off I went to Labor and Delivery. I called my mom and she met me there. They hooked me up to the monitors and took some blood to run some tests because I was only 37 weeks pregnant. After about 2 hours in the hospital, I remembered I was supposed to work that day. I called in and remember saying "Hey, I've been in the hosital for 2 hours and I don't know when I'm going to leave so I might be late to work today." Yes, I promise that's what I said. My manager said "Well, lets take it as you're in the hospital and going to pop any day... why don't we just start your maternity leave today? I'll cover the rest of your shifts." Made sense...
An hour or so later, Ray arrived (I assume my mom told my dad he wasn't here and my dad gave him a little wake up call). We sat in my room and he turned on Nascar. Yep. Nascar. The one thing every pregnant lady asks to watch on her hospital TV, right? WRONG. An hour or so later the nurse says my contractions weren't consistant so there wasn't much for them to do. They were worried about my high blood pressure so they need a 24 hour urine sample. Yep. They wanted 24 hours of my urine. YIPEE.
I was discharged, went home, and got ready for a BBQ my parents were having for Mother's Day for my Grandma Nancy. My Uncle John was there. I went in the back with everyone else, sat down and started feeling those contractions again. This time though, they were actually hurting. My Uncle John kept looking at me and asked if I was okay. My dad responded for me and said "Oh she's fine. She has another 3, maybe 4 or 5 weeks left". My parents made dinner, but I didn't want any of it. Ray took me to Jamba Juice, then we went by In-N-Out for a burger. My best friends Christiane and Brittany were working. I remember them coming to the window and saying "I thought you were in the hospital?". I told them what happened, then went back to my parents house. I finished my dinner and sat on the couch.
Contractions.
Even worse than before. But I tried to hide it since everyone had convinvced me they're just Braxton Hicks. I remember trying to get up from the couch and Ray had to pulll me up, but mid pull I got stuck because... well contraction of course. My parents walked us out to the car and we talked for a bit. My dad again reassured me that I needed to "suck it up because when I'm REALLY in labor it will hurt much more". So I did. We went home and being the awesome daddy to be that he was, Ray remembered taking a bath with some relaxing candles might help kick those practice contractions out so I can get some rest. While in my relaxing bath, I felt calm. Then, they came back.
CONTACTIONS.
I fumbled my way to the bed and expressed how much pain I was in and tried to sleep it off. CONTRACTIONS. They wouldn't go away. Finallly, the vomit. I told Ray I felt sick so he brought me a trash can. Not even 2 minutes later, all my Jamba Juice and In N Out had been in the trash can. That moment I think is when Ray started to take me seriously. He then started to count my contractions and not even 5 minutes later, he was running around the house throwing stuff into our hospital bags.
CONTRACTIONS CONTRACTIONS CONTRACTIONS.
Suddenly we were in the car on our way to the hospital. It was all such a blur since I was concentrating on not freaking out and just breathing. We got to the hospital and went in through the Labor and Delivery entrance I went through earlier that day. Walking in, the young man working behind the counter informed us that we had to go around the building and into the Emergency Entrance. CONTRACTIONS. I said "IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO UPSTAIRS RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO HAVE MY BABY ON THIS FLOOR." He let me through.
CONTRACTIONS.
I finally got upstairs and into a L&D room. I was then informed by the nurse that "Ray needs to go downstairs to register you, and I need a urine sample." ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I complied and took the cup and went into the restroom. Nurse comes in and asks "How you doin' honey?". "I fell like if I pee, she's going to fall into the toilet" I responded. CONTRACTIONS. The nurse then had me lay down in the bed and started hooking up the monitors. Nurse checks me and says "Oh my honey, you're ready. I think you've been ready." In my head I'm thinking "OMG I've been telling everyone all day and NO ONE has been listening to me." Thankfully, my midwife was there covering someone else's shift. As soon as she walked in, I was so relieved. "I'm ready when you are" she said.
One push.
My midwife told me my water had not broken yet so she's going to break it for me to help with pushing (or something like that-I don't really remember).
Two push.
I look up and notice both Ray and mom have made it by my side. No words can describe how happy I was to have my momma by my side. The woman who dedicated her life to making me happy and made sure I had an amazing life. I was ready.
Three push.
BABY.
My sweet girl, my first girl. 3 weeks early, but healthy. Five pounds and an ounce. Everything changed. She was beautiful, and she was mine. I could go on about my emotions when they put that precious girl on my chest, but in a nutshell-she was perfect.
My dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin, mother in law, father in law, two sister in laws and Regan were there. My heart was so happy. From the pictures, I looked like hell.... but it was so worth it. My girl was finally here and in my arms, we were surounded by the ones we love most. It doesn't get much better than that folks!
Ray took this picture just seconds after she was placed on my chest and after we became parents of this sweet girl. We held her skin to skin for about 3-4 hours. Maybe a little tooo long seeing as she had her first bowel moment right in daddy's hand. Nothing says "welcome to parenthood" like a handful of meconium from your first born.
So I tried to make it short but it probably sounds longer than I intended. In reality, it was a very short labor. I was most likely in labor for less time than it took you to finish this post. Let's just say I went through In N Out drive through around 6:30PM and K was delivered at 8:58PM. So I went from being in okay condition, ate, went to my parents for a little bit longer, went home, got in the bath, got to the hospital and got situated in 3 hours. lol
This folks is one of the signs that stuck out to me and told me I was meant to do this! My labors are in no way complicated and my active labor goes by very quick! I love babies, and I can't wait for 10 months to come by so I can deliver a baby for my intended parents and see the look on thier little one's face when they see they have a little sibling.
Hope you enjoyed my story of how K was brought to us and I hope to see you next time when I talk about how S came about! Have a wonderul night!
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