My first doctor’s appointment was on January 7, 2008. I was so excited that I barely slept the night before. I could not wait to hear the baby’s heartbeat. Unfortunately when I got there and they put the sound machine on me, they could not hear anything. After five minutes of trying, the nurse gave up and told me that I needed to have an ultrasound. I was so excited that I wanted to get up and do the happy dance! I was going to get to see our baby for the first time.
They pulled me into the ultrasound room where a woman put some cold stuff all over my belly and then she used the machine to locate the baby. It was so small, but you could see what looked like small arms and legs. I was in love!! The heartbeat rate was 176bpm, which they told me was a good strong heartbeat. The baby seemed to be jumping around and the nurse had a hard time keeping up with him.
Around February, I started feeling round ligament pains. My belly was growing and you could tell that I was pregnant. I was so excited to finally have a bump to show off.
On March 13, 2008 we found out that we were going to have a baby boy! Both of us were so excited, even though John says that he already knew it was a boy. Our baby boy had a strong heartbeat of 143bpm, and we got to see all his little parts, the head, body, heart, and spine. After the doctors appointment, we rushed over to Cavenders to buy our little man his first pair of cowboy boots.
By the end of my second trimester my morning sickness started to lighten up, but not by much. I was monitoring my blood pressure due to stress and the fact that it was causing blurred vision. On April 15, we went in for a toxemia test, everything was great and his heartbeat was 152bpm and he is 13 inches long and weighs a little over a pound.
My mom and dad bought us our new crib and changing table, and I was so excited to start setting everything up. We settled on the name Joshua Bauer Smith. We wanted him to have a “J” name like his parents and John’s mother suggested Joshua after a song that Dolly Parton sang.
Entering the third trimester, my morning sickness seemed to only get worse. Not only that, I went to take the gestational diabetes test 3 times and failed every time because I could not keep the sugar drink down. Even taking medicine before I went did not help my stomach settle any. So, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I had to give myself 3 shots a day. It was not fun, but I would do anything to make sure that the baby was healthy.
On May 19, 2008 I went for another doctor’s visit this time I was told that he weighted in at 3lbs 12oz. and that if he continues to grow at this weight that he will be around 8lbs 5oz at birth. I gained about 30lbs at this point and have become so tired I sleep most of the day. John likes to quack at me for fun and says that I waddle when I walk.
My baby shower was on June 28, 2008. All my family and friends were there and it was so exciting. I had so much fun and this little man is defiantly spoiled. We are so grateful that we have so many supportive friends and family. I don’t know where we would be without any of them.
June 30, 2008 was my first biophysical. I was 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. I only have about a week and half to go! I was so excited and scared all at the same time. I also had my non-stress test on the same day. I had to drink OJ to get him moving, but boy did he move. He scored an 8 out of 8 on the scale. They also did a lung test on him to see how well his lungs were developed and he scored a 10 out of 10. I was so ready for him to come out and meet everyone. Sleeping, eating, standing, and everything else was getting so uncomfortable by this point.
July 8, 2008 he was still in there and now I was 1cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was put on moderate best rest because my hands, feet and ankles are all very swollen. Heartbeat is in the 160’s and he is now 7lbs and 8oz.
On the morning of July 21, 2008 we arrived at the hospital at 6:30am. I was so excited and scared all at the same time. They weighed me in and put me in a birthing room. They hooked me up to all the monitors and then broke my water pretty early that morning. By that afternoon there was really no progress, so they decided to give me picotin to speed up the contractions. It started working so well that I need an epidural to help with the pain. The epidural was not as bad as some people make it out to seem although I got sick while he was inserting it. Almost 12 hours into the whole process, Dr. Bost came in and told me that I would have to make a decision because Joshua did not want to come out of there. Every time he checked on him, Joshua would pull up into my ribs and hide. He did not want to come out. By this point I was tired and in pain, so we decided to have a c-section.
I was so glad to be in the surgery room and about to meet our new little boy. However, the doctor began to cut me open and I could feel everything. I was in so much pain and screaming for John. They brought John in, as well as the anesthesiologist who worked so fast to shoot some happy medication into my IV so that I wouldn’t feel anything. After about 5 minutes they began to work again. I felt some pain, but not as bad as before. Then I felt some jerking and heard a scream. My baby boy was here! John got to hold him first and I gave him a kiss before they took him away to clean him up. I don’t remember much after that, just waking up in a recovery room and waiting about another hour before I finally got to hold my little boy. It was a magical moment when I did though. I don’t know if I could ever love something more than love him. I was now a mother.
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