The day following our positive pregnancy test, I headed to the doctor to confirm the pregnancy. Once we were confirmed and received our estimated due date, Aaron started spreading the news. I had hoped to tell my parents in person, but I didn't want the news to reach them before I had a chance to tell them, so I called my mom and dad and made the announcement over the phone. They were so excited as was the rest of our family!
The first trimester was a bit challenging. I was tired, emotional and I struggled with what I called an "all day bleh!" versus the standard "morning sickness." Still, I embraced every icky moment as a blessing. My little bean was growing strong and making itself known!
By the beginning of the second trimester I was feeling great! The morning sickness had worn off, my weight was in check and I was starting to look pregnant! I was 13 weeks along when the first stranger noticed I was pregnant! Here I am a week later at 14 weeks.
I felt the first flutter at 15 weeks! I’ll never forget that moment. I had a delayed reaction to it because I wasn’t expecting it, but when I described what I felt to other mothers I knew I was sure that the little scurry I felt across my belly was baby!
At 17 weeks I scheduled a gender screening with a private company here in town. I was too anxious to wait for my formal ultrasound with the doctor (scheduled for 19 weeks) to find out the gender of our baby. We were so excited to find out we were having a baby boy!
Here I am, closing out the second trimester and heading into the third!
In January, my mother and sister threw us a baby shower. We had family come in from out of town to join us in celebration. I had such wonderful time and was so happy to have family and friends around to share the joy!
By the time I entered my third trimester I had only gained a few pounds, but baby was growing well! In fact, I measured 4 weeks ahead during one of my check-ups. I went in for an ultrasound to determine the reason for that and it turned out it was just a full bladder that was causing me to measure ahead of my due date. Thankfully, there was no need to worry and I got an extra peek at my little guy. Look at those cheeks!
With everything going well and me still feeling wonderfully there was no reason to rush through the last few weeks! I spent every moment savoring my pregnancy, enjoying the sensation of my little man wiggling around in my belly and having him with me constantly. Aaron would "play" with him in the evening when we were having quiet time. He'd lay his head on my belly and the baby would nudge him in the face! So cute!
Although I had always imagined I would go past my due date, I started to become concerned that I wouldn't make it that far. I began having contractions again only this time they kept coming day after day. I didn't mention it before, but at 28 weeks I had a bout of pretty regular contractions that landed me in Labor and Delivery. Fortunately at that time, the contractions weren't causing changes in my cervix.
At 36 weeks I was feeling disappointed that all the contractions I had been having were tnot causing any change in my cervix. At my appointment that week the doctor reported that I was 0 cm dilated and just a tiny bit effaced!
Again, I was thankful that I was feeling great because with the lack of progress I was certain I'd be pregnant a full 10 months (40 weeks)!
At 38 weeks the planner in me started to become anxious at the idea of not having control over when my son would arrive. I scheduled an impromptu appointment with my doctor to talk induction dates as my due date was creeping up and I still was not progressing.
Assuming I would make it that far, we made a plan to induce on Tuesday, April 19th at 5:15 p.m. I would be 41 weeks exactly! The doctor also suggested I plan to start my maternity leave the Friday before.
By the title of this post, I'm sure you can guess that I did make it past 40 weeks. Here I am in one of my last pregnancy pictures.
I worked all the way through to 40 weeks 3 days and started my maternity leave on Friday, April 15th. I decided to take that weekend to prepare for baby and finish packing the hospital bag as my induction date was approaching. Either way I was going to be in the hospital (and hopefully in labor) by Tuesday night.
That weekend the contractions started up again. I woke up Sunday morning feeling them pretty intensely, but I expected that they'd taper off as they had many times before, so I didn't pay them any mind. After being up for just few hours though, I was feeling exhausted. I ended up falling asleep on the couch for a nap!
Aaron mentioned that he thought maybe my body was gearing up for labor, but I still was hesitant to believe I was going to go into labor without the help of my doctors!
I contracted the entire day, but when I went to bed that night I expected that I would wake up to find the contractions had worn off by morning. Instead, I had trouble even sleeping as the contractions persisted and I started to believe that I could actually be in labor!
Since the contractions were still tolerable, I decided that I'd stick it out at home and suggested that Aaron continue on about his day (he thought about canceling track practice to stay home with me).
I stayed home and tried to keep busy by cleaning, making dinner and reading my baby books, but by the time Aaron got home that night the contractions were becoming almost intolerable.
I sat on the couch and tried to breathe through each contraction, until I was brought to tears at which point we decided it was time to go to the hospital! Aaron jumped in the shower and I called the nurses to notify them that I was on my way!
When we arrived at the hospital I was 3-4 cm dilated and since I was scheduled to be induced the next day anyway, they admitted me. That was Monday, April 18th at approximately 9:30 p.m.
After being admitted my contractions began to come without relief. I was having them one on top of the next and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to manage the pain, so I took an epidural. I hadn’t made up my mind about the epidural before then because it’s hard to decide whether or not you’ll take one until you actually experience the sensation of labor pains.
After a few hours, the nurses realized I wasn't dilating past 6 cm because the epidural slowed down my contractions.
The doctor decided to administer Pitocin to get them back on track and thankfully that did the trick. I reach 10 cm by noon on Tuesday, April 19th. Unfortunately, at that point, the baby was still only at -2 station which meant he was high and not engaged in the birth canal! I would have to wait until he made his way down before I could begin pushing!
We waited and waited, but after 24 hours of laboring in the hospital he was still not engaged and the doctors detected an infection. For my son's safety and mine, I needed to have a c-section!
That was a scary proposition, but it was our only option at that point! Thankfully, Macario was delivered safely by cesarean on Tuesday night, April 19th at exactly 41 weeks!
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