Having a Baby--CONTEST

Words cannot describe the feeling of being a new parent. You honestly have to experience it for yourself. I was told this numerous times, after my husband and I shared the good news with friends and family, but it took the day of delivery for me to experience the joy of holding my new baby girl for the first time.

The nine months I had carried her was a journey in and of itself. I was so miserable physically, nearly sick the entire nine months. Up until the final two months of the pregnancy I had been holding down a full time job in marketing and boy was that tough! Trust me, spending a good portion of that time over a toilet losing what little you'd eaten that day, was no fun, then to return to your office to pretend everything was fine? Ugh, not what I had expected pregnancy to be. Nothing helped with the nausea- the sea sickness bands, crackers, ginger ale...I had to literally take the pregnancy day by day, some days having to call in sick, too weak to drive myself to work.

Oh and don't get me started on the back pain! Excruciating! The only way I could function sitting, was to visit my chiropractor frequently. What relief. I guess my daughter didn't want to be scrunched into a little ball anymore and wanted out, because she insisted on thrusting her little feet into my ribs- you talk about a dull, burning fire!

While there were very trying times in the pregnancy, there were also some good memories. Like when I first learned I was pregnant, using the EPT wand. I remember- a few days prior my husband and I had visited a local amusement park for his company's picnic and we went on various rides. Well, normally the "Swing" is my favorite, but not that day. As it dipped and rose I felt my stomach doing a strange imitation of the ride. I mentioned to my husband that I bet I was pregnant. My period had done a no-show; I had been more shaky and sick to my stomach lately.

Well the Saturday night before the big revealing, we stopped at the store and bought an EPT. Then on the way home we stopped at an Italian ice shop and bought a gelati. It did not set well with my stomach. I felt so nauseated the entire night.

Next morning, since you have to use the EPT with fresh urine not diluted with liquids (like the gelati), I woke up before my husband, crept into the bathroom, having to pee like mad and wanting to make sure I didn't waste any of the precious fluid and miss the wand. I hurriedly unwrapped the crinkly wrapper, and did the deed.

Then waited, and waited. Those two minutes were the longest of my life!
Finally I picked up the wand, lying on the sink and looked. Two lines- one slightly lighter but definitely there.

I was so excited! I took the wand into our bedroom and woke my husband. He wasn't too thrilled to be woken up, but my news quickly registered. We could hardly contain ourselves. While the news was definitely exciting, we were still trying to dig ourselves out of debt that had resulted from school loans, personal loans when my husband had been unemployed for a stretch of time, and reality was also setting in. A new baby was on the way, who would add more financial stress to our already stretched budget, but we would somehow cope.

We announced the good news to my family first, since we live in their proximity. My husband called his parents later that evening, who are out of state. Everyone was elated and eagerly looking forward to this new arrival.

Another fun time in the pregnancy was on Halloween. I decided to do up my swollen stomach with craft paint. Using a long mirror I carefully (harder then it sounds) traced a black outline of a pumpkin, my stomach the obvious plump part. Outlined triangle eyes and nose, using my belly button as part of the goofy missing-toothed mouth. Then using my fingers I filled in the outlines with orange paint, added some yellow to the eyes and green for the trunk and ivy.

It was cute, if I do say so myself. I had knotted my black and white jammies just above the creation, pulled on the matching pajama pants and using our digital camera, took a picture for my baby-to-be's scrapbook.

I was lying on the couch, my pregnant belly in obvious sight when my husband came in from work. I stayed there, partly because of the back pain and wanting him to "discover" my jack-o-lantern belly.

"Happy Halloween," I greeted him as he stepped into the house. As he saw what I had done, he cracked up. He thought it was funny and pretty creative. I will tell you, it took forever to scrape that stuff off in the shower--I was scraping flecks of paint off the tub for weeks after! And every time, I would get a smile, thinking of the memory I had created for our little girl to look back on, later in life.

Well let's jump ahead to "The Day"

It was a rather chilly day, not unbearable but not altogether that pleasant. I had breakthrough bleeding that morning, which the doctor said was very likely the ripening of the cervix and that delivery was around the corner. I was having contractions throughout the day at my mom's ( I had been going there as my due date got closer because my husband was at work all day and wanted someone with me, just in case), but they weren't strong enough to induce labor.

Finally, I had had enough. I was getting bored, and sick and tired of the back pain, the painful tightening of my stomach. I grabbed my brother and together he and I shot some hoops in basketball. About an hour later, I was bent over the car, panting. It was time! So to anyone not sure how to get labor moving along, walking didn't do it for me, jumping up and down on the basketball court did the trick! Just an idea.

We waited out the half hour until my husband got off work, then immediately he and mom helped me into the car and we were off for the hospital.

I was in so much pain! During a contraction my entire body felt paralyzed. I thought for sure I would put my foot through the floor of the car. The steady Whew-Whew- Whew breathing technique helped me get beyond the pain.

I was admitted to triage, and it was there that the contractions picked up. There were barely a minute a part. I was in tears, the pain was so bad. My husband grabbed a nurse who checked my chart and proclaimed me definitely in active labor.

As soon as I was wheeled into our delivery suite, I requested the epidural. I was so weak I could hardly sign for the pain reliever and not move as my back was prepped for the drug. I think the worse part of the epidural was the tremendous pressure as it was inserted and having to remain still as a contraction came on.

But once it was clamped into place, all I felt was this wall of cool relief- no pain, even as the contractions went off the chart. I highly recommend epidurals!

The downside of the epidural was that it had slowed down my contractions, but I would cope with that, if I didn't have any pain to deal with. Nearly seven hours later, I felt a strong pressure moving down, my baby.

The nurse came in and began coaching me to push.

There was a huge, wide mirror above my bed, which allowed me to see my baby as she arrived.
My husband supported my head and back, and helped hold my leg against my chest as I pushed. He was such a wonderful coach!

It was like nothing I had ever experienced, to see my baby's small round head coming from my body. And then to see the rest of her slither out into the doctor's hands.

My husband said there was alot of blood, so I'm glad I didn't see it.

I remember vaguely passing some bowels during labor. I had always wondered about that prior to giving birth, if it would happen and how embarrassing it would be, but the doctor and nurses had seen it so often, it was no big deal and was quickly whisked away.

What hurt the most I think was the delivery of the placenta when the doctor was pushing down on my stomach-yeouch!

My husband cut the chord and then our baby was placed in my arms. Wow, what a feeling of love that washes over you. This is your baby, the product of you and your husband's love. God has placed this beautiful bundle in your life to bless and to love.
I was so tired.

I did throw up immediately after, to which the nurse said was very normal. And I started shaking uncontrollably. She said it was the strain on my body from labor and placed several heavy warmed blankets on my chest. Boy, did that feel good!

We were released two days later. It was nice to get settled into our home again, but now everything was on me. There was no nurse to take the baby when I got tired; there were no responsibilities to undertake.

But actually it wasn't that bad. She slept like a trooper, eating every two hours and going immediately back to sleep. So I got my rest while she slept.

I think, looking back, the only problem I found difficult post-pregnancy, was that I had torn during delivery and had an episiotomy and the itching was terrible! So the sleepless nights weren't so much due to the baby as for sitting for an hour on the sitz bath and spritzing endless soothing medicated spray on the area.

My husband and I were forbidden to have sex for six weeks and due to the painful stretch of the incision, that was okay with me. We got through it, and were elated when the six weeks had come and gone.

The bleeding finally stopped and then I got the Mirena IUD inserted- foolproof birth control for five years, less if you want to have kids before then. It was so awesome not having to worry about taking the pill every night.

Breastfeeding was better than expected in some ways, some ways not. My mother had told me stories about how your breasts hurt as the milk comes in, but I never had that! It was great. My daughter took to it right away and there was such a connection between us.

The drawback to nursing that I found, was the EXTREME leaking the first few months. I would soak my clothes constantly. Finally I started cutting up maxi-pads and using them inside my bra, what relief not to change my shirt three times a day.

I also had dry, cracked nipples, so sore I nearly screamed when my daughter would latch on. I began applying Vasoline and Lanolin between feedings and eventually they began to heal.

At four weeks of age, my daughter began to fuss after the feedings, as if she wanted more, especially at night. So I started feeding her liquefied rice cereal after nursing--she slept through the night, not waking until 6-7 the next morning! It was Heaven for Mommy!

My daughter is now 9 months old. She's such a joy to our lives. Her laughter and smiles brighten our days. Her newly acquired word, "Da Da" warms her daddy's heart.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can be compared to being a parent. Adding a baby to your lives will change your life forever! And indeed it has and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Comments From Readers ...