How 2 beacome 3

They say every pregnancy, labor, and delivery is different...I do find this to be true. With having 3 different little bundle of joys I have had many ups and downs through the whole process.

Me 8 months pregnant with James

5 months pregnant with James

2 months pregnant with James

               We got pregnant with James in March of 2005. We were living in Pensacola Fl at the time. I was being seen at the Naval hospital. With this being my first pregnancy I was always reading up on what to expect, and what I should be worried about. Well let me tell you, this is where my anxiety of being a mom started!!! There were so many awful things that could go wrong in a pregnancy. I swear that there was "something wrong" with me every week! I was a nervous wreck that maybe he had the cord wrapped around his neck, or he wasn't growing properly, or his heart had just stopped. It might sound weird to some, but most all us moms feels this way during pregnancy. Well in all reality it was a perfect pregnancy, everything seemed to be going as planned. James was growing, I was growing. in my 7th month we were told that Matthew was stationed in Havelock NC, so I went to my midwife and received all my medical records. She had told me that my platelets seemed to be dropping and that it was not a huge problem yet, but if they got bellow 100,000 that I was not going to be able to receive an epidural during labor. She suggested that I made sure my doctors in NC checked the platelets when I saw them. Well being that I was 19 years old, this being my first baby, and not having other moms to talk to  I didn't see it as a huge threat. I told my new doctors in NC that my platelets were dropping, she told me that I should not worry and they don't check those until you went into labor. I thought "ok this is my doctor, she knows best" im almost positive she was thinking "what does this little girl know? and who does she think she is trying to get me to order tests for her" ........Well low and behold!!!!!! I go into L&D with severe side pain, at 37 weeks, they check my platelets, what do you know, I only had 47,000!!!! Mind you 200,000 is normal. So I was transferred from that awful Naval Hospital at Cherry Point to a teaching hospital in Greenville. When I arrived I was told I was to be induced, and not able to receive an epidural(with platelets that low if they nick something in your spine your blood will not be able to clot so you will bleed out and become paralyzed, anything below 100,000 anesthesiologist wont touch you). They started me on Pitocin, and broke my water. About the worst pain I had ever felt in my whole life. I have never broken a bone, never had any teeth pulled, never been though any surgeries, so pain was a new thing for me. My friend from FL was also stationed in NC and was able to be with Matthew and I through the labor. Thank goodness!!!! Labor took about 18 hours, about 4 hours into it I was pretty much just emotionally and physically drained, something takes over your body, its not you anymore, I could see this all happening to me as if I was standing above my bed just watching. No epidural, and if the baby had to be taken by c-section they would have had to put me under, and there was a chance that I could bleed out after I gave birth. All I could think is how much this all hurt, and what if i wasn't able to raise my child! After about 15 hours it was time to start pushing, I pushed for about 3 hours. His heart rate started to drop and they were wheeling me out of the labor room, at that point I wasn't sure if they were having to do a c-section, or I was able to push him out. Everything was happening so fast. It was a very chaotic time and I really hated my experience. Thank God I was getting a sweet little baby out of it!!!! So in the Delivery room I pushed him out, I was not able to hold him, I was not sure of what was going on. They wheeled him off and I did not see my child for 10 hours!!!! They had to stitch me up, which was not fun I was cussing at the doctor because she was teaching while she was stitching a woman up who was not able to have an epidural. I don't see why she could not see that I was obviously not the patient to be teaching on!(We made sure that we did not have any more teaching moments with the labors to follow!) She had stuffed me full of gauze, like a turkey, and forgot about it. The nurse noticed what she thought were clots, she looked very worried. Right then and there Matthew and I looked at each other in complete fear and I know that we both thought I was going to be fighting for my life. Did I mention how much I hated this whole experience?? Well turns out it was just gauze and I was bleeding the normal amount, what little platelets I had left were doing their job,  and I was going to be ok. 10 days in a hospital after you have a baby is no fun. THANK GOD JAMES WAS PERFECTLY HEALTHY THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE MESS!!!!

James Matthew Born December 5th at 5:30am 6Lbs 11Oz 19in