Born: January 13, 2006 at 9:07 a.m.
Gestational Age: 38+ weeks
Weight: 9 lbs. 5 oz.
Height: 20 1/2 inches
The Pregnancy: Michael and I were excited to start our family soon after our wedding. We were very blessed and became pregnant without difficulty. However, I will be the first to admit that I didn't enjoy pregnancy much. Except for feeling the baby's movement (which was the only thing that could bring a smile to my face and help me get through the experience), I found the whole experience difficult. My first trimester was plagued with continuous nausea and vomitting. Soon after I had sciatica for a few weeks and became unable to enjoy the outdoors. This was very difficult during the nice summer season! I was able to enjoy the honeymoon phase of the second trimester. But then all the aches and pain of the third trimester soon appeared. My darling husband was very supportive and encouraged me to get frequent prenatal massages. And he made it to all but one ob appointment. I was growing at a very rapid rate despite my yoga and walking. Growing fast turned out to be true of my little girl too! She measured in the 99%ile in her 20th week ultrasound and because of that, I had monthly ultrasounds done to watch her growth rate. I wasn't diabetic but my ob decided to watch me like I was one.
The Plan: Because of her large size, and also because of the small chance that she could be a he and hemophilia runs in my family, I did not want to risk a broken clavicle and/or using a vacuum or forcepts. So a c-section was scheduled at 38 weeks.
Labor and Delivery: Ironically enough, the night before my scheduled c-section, I went into labor at midnight, right when I was having my last snack. I wasn't sure at first because it felt nothing like the Braxton-Hicks I felt in previous weeks, or even a stronger version of it. But as I watched the clock, I saw a rhytmic pattern of every 6 minutes, so I called my doctor and was told to go to the hospital. At 3 a.m., I was hooked up to the monitors and was relieved to see that I was, in fact, contracting and not delusional. So I was given some morphine to try and get some sleep, and we would continue with the c-section as planned. Well, I never was able to sleep and by 6 a.m., the contractions were making my eyes tear. It was the worst pain I ever felt. When my ob came in at around 7:30 a.m., she moved the c-section to as soon as possible. Later, she confessed to me that she was going to see if I wanted to try and do a vaginal birth since I went into spontaneous labor, but she said once she saw my face, she knew I wouldn't want to. And I'm glad we did what we did. The c-section went smoothly and the recovery went well. Serena and I were discharged by Sunday late afternoon. I got what I prayed for - a healthy baby and a healthy mom.
