My first pregnancy was probably my hardest. We were living on very little income and had made a choice to live on my in-law's property in order to save some money. My husband was working multiple jobs and I spent a lot of time alone. We had a lot of fun times, but much of what we both remember is lots of extra driving, problems with housing, and me being alone. Of course, I slept quite a lot due to the growing life inside of me, didn't exercise much, and ate as cheaply (and unhealthily) as we probably ever have. I took the idea of "eating for two" and ran with it. I was underweight starting out, but ended up gaining about 70 pounds by the end of my pregnancy. Three weeks before my due date of January 27th, I went to my regularly scheduled appointment with my in-hospital midwife (thank you Sooner Care). My blood pressure was not good and she was concerned I was pre-eclamptic. So, they gave me a wheelchair ride from the office part of the hospital to the triage part of Labor & Delivery. After watching my blood pressure for a while, they decided it was time to go ahead and induce. My desire leading up to labor was to have a natural birth, but I pre-ordered the epidural "just in case". I got my snazzy hospital gown on and got set up in the bed to start labor. Pitocin, that evil drug, started dripping in through my IV. I was doing ok at first, Twila Paris' "Bedtime Lullabies" playing in the background, until the Pitocin actually started kicking in. It seemed like torture. I remember wondering how long my labor could be, especially after knowing the general time-frame most first time mothers experience. I wasn't sure I could take 8+ hours of Pitocin. So, I gave in (in my mind) and asked for my epidural. What sweet, splendid relief it was after having that in. My husband said I went from being a monster in that hospital bed back to his wife in no time. I spent the rest of my 9 hour labor in peace. Unfortunately, when it was time for the pushing stage I was having oxygen issues so they hooked me up with a lovely face mask full of oxygen while I attempted to push my baby girl out. Unsure if I was lacking the appropriate ability to sense anything as the epidural had rendered the lower half of my body almost unmoveable, eventually a Doctor was called in to use the vacuum to help Zoe enter the world. As much as I hate all of the interventions that happened and the issues I had, I would do it again for that sweet girl to be part of our life. I held her for a few minutes before they took her aside to clean her up and became concerned at a noise she was making (we would find out later it was just her cry) and so she spent a few hours in the NICU. We had so many friends and family come see us at the hospital and welcome Zoe Love into the world. I remember packing up a day early to leave for home as there was a winter storm rolling in and thinking how unprepared I was for this job. Realizing it was just going to be me and Rod taking care of her was overwhelming. It's been our privilege, though, for the past nine years and while it hasn't always been easy...especially with her bilirubin being off and having to deal with a bigger case of jaundice in the first week of her life...we've gotten into the rhythm of this parenting thing.
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