1. Were you married at the time? Yes ma'am
2. What was your reaction when you found out you were pregnant? I got really teary and excited. I wanted this so so badly and while I was not shocked, I still could not believe I had gotten what I wanted so much!
3. How old were you? 22 when I found out, 23 when she was born.
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I was at a point where I knew an early positive result could show up so I started testing with these cheap internet tests early that week. They all looked negative to me. Then randomly on Wednesday night, I double checked the one I took that morning (which ironically had not been thrown away yet...ewwww!) and it looked like there was a second line that had appeared after the "waiting period," you know, when it is supposed to be invalid. Since I had a feeling anyway that I could be pregnant, I asked my friend Sarah to take me to CVS the next day to get a digital test that actually said "pregnant" or "not pregnant." I actually waited until the next morning, July 3, to take it and it was very quick and clear with the answer!
5. Who did you tell first? I ran downstairs to our bedroom to tell my husband (we were living in my parents' basement at the time,) and he was still asleep. I woke him up and said "you are going to be a daddy!" He smiled that half-wake smile, gave me a hug and said something like "See! I knew we could do it!"...then fell back asleep. In all fairness, it was six a.m. on his day off. So after talking to him, I ran outside and called Diane and Gretchen, two of my dear friends. As the day went on we called a couple more close friends, and told our families by the end of the weekend.
6. Did you want to find out the sex? There was no doubt in my mind! I scheduled that appointment as early as I could (about 18 weeks.)
7. Due date? The Dr. due date was March 14. The one in my head was March 10.
8. Did you deliver early or late? Early! I was so convinced I would go late as first time moms tend to do, but she was born on March 9 at 7:25 p.m.
9. Did you have morning sickness? I had a lot of nausea and food aversions, but I think I only threw up a few times. I did go about two months where I ate a lot of soup and crackers. I had all-day headaches which were way worse than morning sickness to me.
10. What did you crave? Taco Bell, soup (all different kinds, all the time,) pasta, sushi...but a lot of those things I crave regularly. It was just way more intense when pregnant.
11. What irritated you the most? There was a woman at my office who felt the need to tell me EVERY week how much I had popped over to the weekend. I finally said something like "no I popped months ago, now I am just getting bigger." This same woman also liked to predict whether I would go early or late according to my energy level. SO annoying. Also, I was pregnant at the same time as one of my good friends from church (due two days apart,) and because she is tall and thin, she showed way later than me. Making me look HUGE, even though I looked pretty normal! Lots of people came up to us at church and would make comments on how I couldn't possibily be due the same time as her because I was so much bigger. Other than that, I didn't mind people commenting or touching my belly too much.
12. What was your first child’s sex? Girl. And let me tell you, even though I would have been thrilled and thankful either way, I wanted a girl so badly. I didn't believe it when I found out and made them check every time I had an ultrasound throughout the pregnancy.
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? about 25 lbs, and yes, it is all gone ;-)
14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Very minor things, like a little spotting or low iron. I was in a car accident at 20 weeks, which made some things very emotionally complicated.
15. Where did you give birth? a very large and popular hospital near where I live. It had a great NICU, which I thankfully did not have to use. My birth experience there was really disappointing.
16. How many hours were you in labor? About 14 hours total. I labored at home for a while, then walked the hospital grounds for a while. By the time I got admitted, I only had 4 cms and 2.5 hours to go.
17. Who drove you to the hospital? My husband. We made it a point not to tell our parents until after we knew we were staying so not to get anyone's hopes up. We left for the hospital at about noon, but took hours before we actually were admitted.
18 . Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I took nothing, which was exactly how I wanted it. It was horribly painful and awful, but I am proud of the decision I made. However, the hospital I was at had about a 97% epidural rate, so as you can imagine, I was a rarity. And the hospital staff definitely made that known. They were very unsupportive and unencouraging of my decision to go natural and it ultimately made it more painful, tense and difficult. I am so thankful that my labor was quick and Allen was supportive of my desire to have a natural birth.
19 . How much did your child weigh? 7lbs 6 oz
20 . What did you name him/her? Lorelei Rose
21 . How old is your first born today? Almost six months old! I can't believe it!
22. Who does your child look like? It is no question that she looks exactly like her daddy, because she has his eye shape, forehead and hair line. She has my nose, cheeks and mouth, and looks like me when she smiles. I really hope she has blue eyes like me, but I think they are turning hazel or grey.
23. Did you get mad at your husband during labor? I didn't. I remember wanting him close to me and touching my back or my hands (though I didn't want him to kiss me like he kept doing :-)) With the awful hospital experience, I felt like he was pretty much the only person on my side and I felt otherwise very confused and alone. But in the end it really doesn't matter because Lorelei and I were both
healthy, and I ultimately had the type of birth I wanted.
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