Dean’s Birth Story

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This is a mother’s day present to myself, to finally sit down and write out Dean’s birth story so I will always have every detail in writing.

I was in my living room watching A Baby Story before work when I went into the bathroom to check the pregnancy test I had taken a few minutes earlier, this was my I would say 358^thtest in 2 months so I wasn’t expecting much.  I looked down and saw 2 lines and was in shock and a little disbelief (I still have that test taped to the refrigerator).

I texted Daniel to ask him to get more tests on his way home later to be sure, but it was proof enough for him, he was already calling his mother.  My mother knew something was up when I was downstairs earlier than usual and I showed her the stick and the screaming ensued.  My sis-in-law had a digital test and so I took that one too, which we all waited anxiously as the word “pregnant” popped up, cue more screaming lol.

Since it was a few days before Thanksgiving we decided to wait until then to tell the rest of my family but of course we told my aunt and my grandma right away.

Can I tell you hard it is to concentrate on work the day you find out your pregnant… extremely.

I had a very easy pregnancy at first, no morning sickness, no soreness, a little heartburn but not enough to complain about.  It was a wonderful pregnancy and I loved every minute of being pregnant.

A few weeks in all I could think about eating was Pierce’s BBQ in Williamsburg.  I had to have it!!  We loaded up the car and drove the hour there, I get in line and order the biggest sandwich they had, and ordered some to take home.  I sit down to eat after days and days of being able to think of nothing but this sandwich, I go to take my first bite and my stomach rolled, I was nauseous, I could barely look at the sandwich let alone eat it.  I don’t know how I made it out of the restaurant without puking, on my way out everyone I passed was stuffing their faces with the stuff, my nose was filled with the smell and I couldn’t wait to get to fresh air.  How could something so little make me want something so bad only to make me want to throw up my guts at the sight of it?  I should have known then he was trouble.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant I counted down the days until I was 20 weeks when I could find out pink or blue.  Oh when that day came I was so nervous I thought I was going to explode.  I didn’t care either way boy or girl but I still couldn’t wait to know.  I laid there with my eyes glued to the screen waiting to find out, and when they announced it’s a boy I was soo happy and Dan jumped up and down lol.  I finally had a name for the little baby growing, Dean Strider. I loved watching him kick boxes off my tummy (yes, he was super strong lol), I loved that every night at 11 he would get the hiccups.  He rolled constantly, kicked and punched and let me know his dislike of me lying on my side.

Then at 28 weeks all hell broke loose, I got PUPPS.  It is a pregnancy induced rash. I got it all up and down my legs and my stomach and my arms.  It was miserable and heat makes it worse, it was summer -_-.  I spent about half my day crying and scratching, there was nothing the doctors could do, the cure was to deliver and being 3 hot itchy months away from delivery I was sure I would have no skin left by then.

They gave me some cream for it but by the time I rubbed it on all the itchy spots the first spot would start itching again.  I was at my wits end.  Then one miserable night while I was eating ice out of the freezer at about 1 in the morning I had an idea, I rubbed the ice on my itchy spots and lo and behold the itching ceased.  My husband was little confused to see his pregnant wife stripped down in front of the freezer rubbing ice on her tummy like a madwoman in the middle of the night.  So I kept up that routine multiple times during the day rubbing a combo of ice and cream all over, it took like 20 minutes to cover all the spots and I had to repeat it throughout the day.

I had another ultrasound that turned out to be a super scary one.  The tech said his kidneys were enlarged and I need to go see a specialist for another ultrasound.  Well that right there sent this hormonal mommy straight to Google where I found all sort of awful things enlarged kidneys could indicate.  Waiting for that ultrasound felt like an eternity where I would cry and scour the internet for more information.  The ultrasound was scheduled for the Friday before my baby shower -_-.  The day came and I laid on that table praying as they measured his kidneys which measured normal, the doctor told me little boys often hold their pee which makes their kidneys appear larger than normal on ultrasound.  That was it?? Weeks of agonizing over a stubborn pee’er -_-

Relieved we all made a pit stop to Doumar’s to celebrate the good news.

The baby shower was great, it was so nice to spend the day with my family and friends celebrating, especially with the good news from the ultrasound we had double reason to celebrate.  Everyone there just made it a really special day and it was perfect.

The next few weeks were hot and I was huge and miserable and couldn’t sleep, but I was still ecstatic every time I would feel a little kick or hiccup.

I went to my 39 week appointment and the doctor said I was 1 cm dilated and she gave me a scheduled date for an induction.  I asked her about natural ways to get him moving along and she said doing the same thing I did to conceive him can work sometimes but it takes awhile and a few tries.  Discouraged I went shopping at Target with my mom and walked around there.  I went home and cooked my favorite dinner (I asked Dean all week to stay in long enough for me to eat that dinner).  After dinner itchy and hot I took a shower with my husband and followed doctor’s orders so to speak and before I got out of the shower I started not feeling well.

I just didn’t feel right, just a little off.  Dan and I snuggled down to watch Ghosthunters and I couldn’t sit still, I was irritable and I got up to pace and eat ice lol.  I didn’t feel anything like what I thought contractions would feel like because the uncomfortablness that I felt was constant.  Daniel called my mom who encouraged me to call my doctor who said she thought my uterus was just irritated.  Great no answers there.  I tried to get in bed and sleep and that didn’t work, I just couldn’t get comfortable.  So back to pacing and ice I went.  Finally at about 2:00 in the morning, I called my mom, packed the last few things in my baby bag and Daniel,
me and mom were off to the hospital.

Waiting around in the emergency room waiting area when you are a pregnant woman who has no idea what they are feeling is torture and I was cranky.  Finally the ball gets rolling and a L&D nurse came down with a wheelchair, I did not want to sit, I was only comfortable standing, but that’s not the way things are done and I had to be wheeled -_-.

I get into a room, and a nurse checks me and says “Wow you having a baby tonight”  I was 3-4 cm.  Talk about scary and exciting times lol.

I get settled down in my room and I want an epidural, my contractions were not bad I just wanted to make sure I didn’t feel him exit my body lol.  After awhile I get my epidural (that soo does not hurt, but is nerve-wracking).  At this point I am exhausted and lay there listening to my mom, and husband and grandma chat.  My aunt came to see me before she left to go out of town for the day.

My contractions were still there and I was sick as a dog, I was sooo nauseous, so the nurse puts an alcohol pad on my nose and it works miracles, who would have thought!?!  I cant have any more epidural to ease the pain and the reason it doesn’t work too well is because my body is metabolizing the medicine too fast, I didn’t even know that could happen and its time to push, and push, and push and push, and get on my hands and knees and push, (I felt like a cow) and that didn’t even work!  The last time I slept was for 4 hours Wednesday night and it was now Friday evening and Dean just wasn’t coming out.  Finally they called a doctor in, which thankfully was a doctor my family knew and he said C-section!  I was like fine, lets get him out, please lol.  So they prep me for surgery and give me this stuff to drink so I don’t throw up during surgery,  I tell them I don’t want that medicine because I WILL throw up if I take the medicine, and they say no that it will prevent me from throwing up, we will see about that.

I take the medicine and they wheel me out and past my family, I remember seeing my uncle and then I get into the OR and puke.  I told them.  I then continue to throw up all throughout the prep and everything, its not nerves or anything like I’m just ill.  They begin the surgery and my arms begin to shake uncontrollably.  They tell me to please sit still so they can get an accurate blood pressure read on my arm, and I’m like “really do you think I’m shaking like this for fun?!?!?” Then out of no where they shove a needle in my shoulder, I don’t even know what that was for.  Finally the doctor says I will feel pressure when they take out my uterus, okay that is way freaky to hear.  Then he says here comes the baby and then they pull out Dean and the nurses gasp and the doctor says “Oh my god”…. not reassuring things to hear the first time the doctor sees your baby.  A million thoughts try to race through my clouded mind but they hold him up and he is perfect.  His cord was slip knotted twice around his neck and his arm was trapped in the cord pressing it to his cheek.  If he had come out vaginally he would have strangled to death before the nurse could get the cord off his neck. They bundle him up and show him to me, I smile, turn my head and puke lol.  After that I finally gave in to the rest I needed.  I wake up in recovery with no baby :(  Ill get to see him later, but I learn he is almost 9 pounds!!! But perfect in every way.

I am beyond thirsty at this point, all that pushing and puking had wiped me out and I needed something to drink.  The nurse says no, I am not allowed to have anything to drink because I just came out of surgery, she says I’m not really thirsty because I have an IV giving me fluid.  Thankfully I was still drugged up or I would have killed someone for a glass of water.

Finally later that night they bring me my beautiful chubby baby and I sigh as I hold him in my arms where I have waited for him to be for so long.  I examine every little piece of him and am amazed with how much love I have for him already.  For the first time in 3 days I felt so peaceful.

They take him so I can rest and at 3 in the morning a nurse comes in and takes my blood (I hate having my blood taken, especially when I’m sleeping at 3 in the morning).  I am so beyond thirsty it is all I can think about, I ask her if I can please have some water and she says no, but I can have a popsicle.

That popsicle was the best popsicle I have ever had in my life.

The next couple of days in the hospital go by like normal, a ton of visitors, a ton of pain, a ton of bad hospital food and one wicked bad trip off of some pain medication they gave that I refused for the rest of the hospital stay lol.  One night in the hospital Daniel decided he wanted to change the baby by himself, he was surprised with a poopy diaper and Dean peed as soon as the diaper was off then Dean turned his head and threw up (guess he takes after me), not a pleasant experience for a first time daddy, but a hilarious show for mommy lol.

Monday morning we get to go home and getting in and out of an SUV after just having a 9 pounder ripped outta you is excruciating!

We were so happy to be home and put our new bundle in his little bed and in his new little clothes and take 3000 pictures.  My grandma came for lunch and we all just sat enjoyed our new little addition.

He was a happy baby, he slept like a champ, he spit up a ton but he had a mild case of reflux and we fixed that right up.  As soon as he could smile he was a super smiley baby and I couldn’t have asked for a more precious son.

He loved baby food but he wanted to eat it in his own way by spitting it on his bib and sucking it off lol, but it got veggies in him so I can’t complain.  Even now at almost 2 years he is still a great eater, he loves veggie burgers and pickled beets, so we definitely do not have a picky eater on our hands lol.

He refused to roll over, I though he was behind and he wasn’t rolling over when I thought he should so I was worried about that.  I laid him on the bed to take a shower like I did everyday and while I’m in there a hear a bump and a cry and Dean learned how to roll over right off the bed lol.  He was fine just a little scared.

He loves music, even in my tummy he would love the music his daddy would play for him.  When he was old enough he would sit and sway to whatever music you wanted to play for him.

Once he learned he could be mobile that was it.  His goal in life was to walk.  He learned to crawl and pull up at 7 and a half months and for the next 2 weeks all day everyday he tried to walk, he was determined.  He turned 8 months old and started walking!!  He was so proud of himself, all he wanted to do was to walk like the rest of us, he did not want to crawl.  I should have known then I was in for it.

After walking comes running and climbing and jumping and standing on objects not meant to be stood on.

He had a wonderful first birthday that was just a great day all around and couldn’t have been more perfect.

And that brings us up to date on my adorable son Dean.  He is still a great sleeper, great eater and still full of trouble.  He now climbs bookcases, colors on my walls, picks all the Easter eggs off my Easter wreath, grabs the dog by his tail, breaks my laptop screen and gets in the shower with his clothes on.

Despite his mischievous demeanor he is still the sweet, snuggly curly haired little boy who loves to smile, laugh and give kisses.  He doesn’t have a lot to say because he is too busy running and jumping but he can sign a variety of words.  Every night we snuggle in the bed to read, he always chooses the same potty book, never any other book, just the potty book, then we give kisses and I lay him in his crib and tuck him in and hand him his “nite nite” (lovey blanket).

I love you Dean, you mean the world to me and I am so happy I get to be your mommy.

I never sang until I had you.