The Story of Jessica

We found out we were pregnant with Jessica when we were in the process of leaving graduate school and moving to David's new job. David had to leave two weeks earlier than me, and I went down to visit him one weekend. While down there I took a pregnancy test and told him it was positive. He rolled over and went back to sleep hoping it was a bad dream! Then I had to leave to finish getting everything packed up. While I was there I ended up having some pretty heavy spotting and ended up driving myself to the ER in the middle of the night! Thankfully everything was just fine, but they said to follow up with my doctor immediately. Well, since I was leaving the next day, I did not have a doctor yet so I asked a girl I knew down here who she used and made an appointment for the next day!

Probably the only good picture of my pregnant with Jessica!

That summer was rather full. In less that a month we went from both being in graduate school and working to moving to a new state farther from family, graduating, David getting a job, me not getting a job (for like the first time ever), buying a house, getting pregnant, not to mention all of the things that go along with an out of state move! Also it was summer, and it was HOT!!!! I kept getting dehydrated which eventually resulted in another ER visit. I eventually realized that it was just too warm outside for me! I also seemed to have trouble pushing things. It made me feel sick. Overall though the pregnancy itself was uneventful, which we were very grateful for! We were also very fortunate to have so many wonderful family and friends (both old and new) who made welcoming our sweet little girl into the world so much easier and much more fun!

A day or two before we went to the hospital.

A week or two before my due date, I was at 2 cm, and the doctor said I would have her within the week. Well, I didn't, and then I missed my next appointment because he was delivering another baby. That night I started having some contractions so we decided to go ahead on in since it is almost an hour drive and we knew I was over 2 cm. We got there and I was at 3 cm, having good contractions, but they weren't really doing anything yet. By morning we decided to stay and get petocin because we were really afraid David would be at work and would have to drive 45 min home and then drive another 45 min to the hospital. I think it ended up being a good decision because after they got the petocin up to the right level, Jessica was born 6 hours later with only 30 minutes of pushing, which is incredibly short for a first delivery (Average is 12 hours and usually several hours pushing). This is especially true since they did not break my water until 9 cm which also slows down the process. The nurse tried and tried to break it accidentally, but ended up having to wait for the doctor to show up. Apparently they did not expect it to go so quickly. The only real negative was that I broke my tailbone, which really hurt since I did not have an epidural. I did get some medication through an iv which seemed to help a little. The petocin is supposed to make the contractions much worse, but I found it to be doable (not great mind you but doable). Once the doctor got there, things went quite quickly, and he managed to keep me from tearing very much at all. (In case you are curious, I did have a local anesthetic for the stitches!!) Apparently it is uncommon to not have an epidural because the nurses kept having to tell the staff "She can walk. She didn't have an epidural."

Where Jessica slept most of her hospital stay...otherwise she screamed bloody murder....seriously she woke up the family across the hall!

The birth experience I would describe as doable. I had to be hooked up to an iv since I had tested positive for strep group B so I had few options about moving around. I did try a birthing ball at one point and did like that. However, mostly it was the quietest 6 hours of our marriage. The more pain I am in the quieter I get. I kind of go into a zone. David tried to go get lunch once, but I wouldn't let him because I did not want to be alone. I didn't want him to do anything or say anything, but I didn't want to be alone either. He did field calls from family which was good since I wasn't saying much of anything. Apparently the doctor and nurses were quite shocked at how quickly things progressed. Towards the end the nurse suggested I scream to scare everyone in the next room. (I did not) I think she thought I was being a little too quiet, but it seems to work for me! It's one of the few times in my life something has gotten my attention to the point that I can block out everything else!

All cleaned, fed, and sleeping in her little cart!

Jessica was very alert when she was born and nursed almost immediately! She really took to it like a duck to water! She spent most of her time in our room, and the only negative was that she got kind of ticked our last night in the hospital because while I had colostrum, the real milk hadn't come in yet and apparently she was ready for the real deal! Since we were in the hospital over a weekend, there were no lactation consultants which was fine because I didn't end up needing them. The nurses kept telling David to make me get out of bed and move on my own not realizing that I had broken my tailbone (I didn't know at that point either since it was my first!). Thankfully, David didn't listen to them. He knows I don't whine about discomfort until it gets really bad! The two things that aggrevated me the most was that it took them 3 hours after Jessica's birth to get me some food and the blinds didn't block out enough light to allow you to sleep during the day!

Obviously, we were smitten from the very beginning! I think the last picture I have of David smiling like that was when we got married!

Overall, Jessica's pregnancy and birth were relatively easy and without complication. There were challenges, but nothing unmanagable. Although we had not planned on having a baby at that time, we were truly ecstatic at her arrival, and we both believe she is one of the best things that ever happened to us! Obviously....we decided to have another one!! I am undecided as to whether or not we will try petocin this time or not. My new doctor was also absolutely shocked it went that quickly and understands my concern about actually making it TO the hospital!! However, we will see how things progress!