Pregnancy

Thought I'd take this day before my Emily's 7th Birthday to talk about my pregnancies. They are rough to say the least! John and I had quit using birth control about 1 year into our marriage because all the pills made me sick (should have been a clue) and well we figured if it was gonna be a long road of infertility treatment or saving up for adoption, then we might as well figure it out early. 6 months later I was pregnant! I was pregnant well before our 2nd anniversary to our surprise. We were both 24 going on 25 years old. I remember waking up feeling very nauseated! John was at work. I called my brother and told him I was going to get pregnancy tests. He was the first to know. I took 3,4,5 tests and all were positive. I couldn't stand it....so I called John at work and told him as he was riding in the ambulance down in Wakulla county. His first words were, I'm going to vomit, I'll call you back! Well that started months of vomiting, not for John, but for me! Immediately at 7 weeks pregnant I started having all day sickness. This got me IV fluids at CHP urgent care once and then admitted to the hospital three days later for IV fluids. About a week later, I was put back in the hospital for dehydration and this time the doc said we are going to have to do something more long term for this. They put what they call a PICC line in me. This is a long term IV that they insert in the upper part of the arm. The catheter threads in the vein and sits right above the heart. I was discharged from the hospital with around the clock IV fluids and vitamins. I literally would vomit all day. I ate phenergan as if they were candy. I had to force myself to eat one animal cracker. Drinking was horrible, I could tolerate ice chips sometimes. I basically spent the first three months of my pregnancy at my parents house because John was doing crazy shifts in Wakulla County and couldn't take care of me. When he would have days off, he would come get me. I took three months off of work. I lost 20 pounds. All the while, my doctor would say that the baby was healthy! About a week after the PICC line was inserted, it got infected. The home health care nurse had to remove it and then they started just putting regular IV's in. My veins became so corded and hard to find that finally the home health care nurses had had enough and couldn't stick me anymore. John stepped in and literally put a new IV in every two days to give me fluids. The IV's wouldn't stay any longer than two days because my veins were in terrible condition. John got me every time though on the first stick. It was such a blessing to have a husband that could do this and of course my OB doctor thought it was awesome. About mid second trimester, I started getting better where I didn't need the fluids constantly. I got rid of that horrible IV pole and we would just start fluids at night if I needed a boost. John and I could pretty much tell and handle it on our own. I still vomited everyday of that pregnancy I think...I know every morning but it got better so that I knew once I vomited, I would feel better and was able to eat. At about 37 weeks, my blood pressure went up some and my legs started swelling...at one of my regular check ups..doctor said this is the day..it is time we get this baby out. So off we went (no bag packed) to L & D. Stay tuned for the story of the birthday of our sweet girl tomorrow.

P.S. a little side note...John tore his ACL playing flag football on a city flag football team when I was 5 months pregnant. This involved him being out of work as well, having surgery to repair the ACL and then needing care himself while recovering. I remember us waking up downstairs (because he couldn't go upstairs) on the sleeper sofa, me having to practically carry him to the bathroom in his cast and brace while holding my puke bucket in the other hand. It was terrible. I also had to bathe him which was a return favor for him having to bathe me during my first trimester b/c I was so weak that I couldn't stand in the tub. For our second anniversary, my Dad brought us Outback steakhouse takeout because we were both laid up!