pregnancy calendar from WhatToExpect.com

First Pregnancy:

About 1 week after my high school graduation in June 2002 I found out I was pregnant. I was scared and happy at the same time. My due date was Feb 27, 2003. I married in August 2002. I went for my ultrasound around 14 weeks and everything was ok. They could not determine the sex at that time. I continued to go to my Dr. appts., when I was around 7-8 months pregnant my husband went with me to the Dr. appt and asked him to give me another ultrasound to see what we were having, the Dr. did not want to do this, but when he measured me I measured bigger than I was supposed to so, he sent in the order for another ultrasound. Thank God he did because when they did the ultrasound the cord was positioned at the edge of the placenta. I had to continue to get ultrasounds about every 2 weeks so they could measure the blood flow of the cord. That was scary. I found out that we were having a boy. I always wanted a little boy, but I did hope for a little girl because my husband has 5 boys already (from previous relationship). But needless to say I got my 1st wish. Well my due date came and went; I had to get a non stress test and continue to see my Dr. every other day. How fun! I was not dilated at all, not even a sliver. He also told me that I might have a C-section because of my small frame and because I was over due. Another thing to worry about. Finally on March 9th, 2003 he had scheduled me to get induced. I went in at 9pm and around 10 or 11pm they inserted cervadil into my vagina to help me dilate, then they were going to start pitocin. Well lucky for me after they took out the cervadil at about 5am, I was contracting on my own. They popped my water bag, and after that the contractions were non stop, I wanted to do this naturally, but they were too intense. When my Dr. asked me if I wanted pain medication I told him yes through an IV not an epidural. He told me that because my baby's heart rate is dropping that the IV would affect him and could make things worse and that an epidural would not affect the baby and that I would still be able to move my legs. Thinking of my son, I opted for the epidural. When they inserted the needle I did everything they asked, stay still, back out, relax and then my right leg shot up in the air, kind of reminded me of when the Dr. checks your reflexes with the little hammer thingy. Anyway, as soon as I was given the epidural I thought I would feel better, but I didn't, granted the pain of the contractions from my belly got a little relief, but I had all back labor, so to me the epidural was a waste. They put me on oxygen because the baby's heart rate continued to drop. Finally after pushing for so long my son was born (face up! now I know why I experienced all the back labor and pushed for so long) at 12:23pm on March 10, 2003 he was 8lbs 2.1oz and 21in long. The only problem that my son had was acid reflux for the first 8 months of his life. Other than that he was and still is very active and healthy. Not to mention I was excited that I did not have to get that C-section!

This pregnancy so far:

Well found out I was pregnant on April 21st, 2007. What made me get a pregnancy test was that I had a dream that I gave birth to a baby girl with dark hair in a supermarket! I told my husband I have a feeling that this one might be the one! After 6 boys he doubted, and I did not want to keep my hopes up either. We started thinking of baby names right away. At 20 weeks, on Aug 8th, 07 went to the ultrasound with my oldest stepson, my husband and my little guy. Guess what, IT's a GIRL!! My husband could not believe it! He stood up and was so surprised, asked a million times are you sure, are you sure!?! We call this one lucky number 7, lol. On Sept. 26th, 07 was told that I had strep throat, could not take the normal medication that I would have taken if I wasn't pregnant to feel better, so after taking the antibiotics I still was coughing up phlegm for about a month. Horrible! On Nov 12th, 07, I was cramping a lot on my left side, I thought maybe I pulled a muscle or it was ligament pain. Well it continued to hurt and I had the urge to pee a lot, but only a little was coming out. I called my Dr. and went in on Nov. 14th for a urine culture, it came back negative for an UTI, but they did find blood in it. Oh great another thing to worry about. They had to send it out to the lab for further testing. On Monday the 19th, I got a call from the Dr. saying that they found some bacteria (eww) in my urine and gave me a prescription for a strong antibiotic to take 2x a day for a week. So far with this pregnancy I have been experiencing a lot, and I mean a lot of BH contractions, I don't even remember feeling these when I was pregnant the 1st time. Went to see the midwife on 8Nov. 21st, when I was 34 weeks pregnant, I measured at 36 and she said wow you are going to have a big baby I told her yes probably because my son weighed 8lbs 2.1oz when he was born. She told me that I must carry them big. She asked me to see her the next week, I told her that I made all my appts ahead of time and that I wasn't due to see her until the 5th of December she told me oh no that is too far off I need to see you next week. So I made the appt. I saw her again on Nov. 29, 07 and she tested me for group B strep and checked to see if I was dilated, sure enough I was! Granted it is only 1cm, but still compared to the last pregnancy, I am so excited, there is hope that the baby will come on its own and that I will not need to be induced again.

My birthing plan for medication:

None this time, especially the epidural, the spot that they inserted it in still hurts to this day! My husband cannot even rub my lower back without it pinching or feeling like I have been jabbed with a needle again. I'd rather go through hours of pain than more years with another spot that will hurt. I may decide to get meds through an IV if the baby’s heart rate is stable this time.