We were very blessed by our Heavenly Father to have this sweet little girl. Five months before I found out we were pregnant with her I miscarried with another child when I was 12 weeks pregnant. I never imagined the heartache and emotional rollercoaster that would send me on. Wondering if we should have any more children and then trusting in our Heavenly Father that there was still one more child for us. Every appointment I was scared that I wouldn't hear the heartbeat again. I got to my 12 week appointment with Abbie and the strong heartbeat was such a blessing. Then one week after that I started having some kidney pain.
I thought I had torn a back muscle on an early morning run. Turns out I had a kidney stone that was stuck and couldn't pass. This blocked the flow of urine and my kidney was soon infected. I went to the hospital after about 5 days of pain and fevers and was informed I was had Sepsis and an emergency surgery was needed. All of this while I was 13 weeks pregnant. I feel such peace that she would be ok and I am grateful for that. There were a few moments that were a bit scary. After surgery I was in the ICU for 2 days and a regular room for another day. Everytime the nurses would come in for fetal monitoring they found her heartbeat and that brought such peace to me.
After the initial surgery I had a stent placed in my Ureter and it remained there for 6 weeks. There was a followup surgery to blast the kidney stones and remove the stent. I have never been so grateful to have that thing removed. This happened around 20 weeks and as Christmas was fast approaching we had a gender reveal with Craig's family and my family via Facebook Live.
Craig's brother Bob put together the party and did such a great job. We popped a big black balloon and to our surprise we were showered with pink confetti.
Fast forward a few months of school, soccer, scouts, work and daily life and we are in May. Her due date was May 11th. I kept having a few hours of hard contractions but they would then stop. May 11th came and went and I was still pregnant. I talked to our doctor about being induced as Craig was going to be traveling for work in a few days. They scheduled the induction on May 12th at 7:30 am. Well a lot of women had babies that day but not me and my induction was pushed back to May 13th. That day also came and went and I was still pregnant. Being induced was totally new for me and I couldn't believe how frustrated and sad I would get when I heard we were being bumped again. Then came May 14th, Mothers day. We were not Bumped!! We went to the hospital at 7:30 and they started the petocin and antibiotics(Group Strep B) around 9:00 am.
Being induced was very similar to my natural labor and I was able to maintain being drug free until around 12:30. I tried taking Nitrous Oxide(laughing gas) but it smelled horrible and I had to change my breathing so the contractions were even worse. I decided to have an epidural. At this point I was fast approaching a 10 and Abbie was in position so they gave me an Intertheacal(sp) injection which worked perfectly. It numbed from my belly button down but I could still feel the pressure and new when to push. Dr. Schroeder came in and had me start to push. After about three pushes it was apparent that either Abbie was stuck or the cord was wrapped around her because she wasn't coming out. Dr. Schroeder had her nurse(who was Awesome!!) push on Abbie's shoulder. Her head emerged with the cord wrapped around her in neck. In a very quick manner Dr. Schroeder was able to clamp and cut the cord and Abbie was born the rest of the way. Her face was dark purple from lack of oxygen and her body was so white. It was a bit scary to see.
The NICU team came in and in what felt like forever but was only a few seconds had her breathing and crying. Tears streamed down my face as I heard that first little cry. I am not sure I have ever prayed harder than I did in those few seconds waiting for her cry. After they were able to make sure she was stable they brought her back to me and she quickly calmed down hearing my voice and having skin to skin contact. She also nursed right away which helped me feel better too.
We prayed so hard for her to be healthy and strong through the whole pregnancy and we were blessed with just that. I had only gained 14 lbs during my pregnancy so I didn't know if she would be big like her brother and sister were but she sure was. 9lbs 11 oz 22 1/4" long and a head circumference of 14 inches and born at 1:48 pm. I am so so grateful for that epidural if you know what I mean.
About an hour my mom arrived with Kailin and Austin to meet their new baby sister. They were immediately smitten just as we were when we saw her.
She is now almost 3 months old and it is hard to believe how fast it has gone by. Here are some pictures from her BirthDay!
Headed to the hospital
Petocin had been started.
First picture with the three of us. Can you see how purple she is? This picture remind me. When I was in transition and contractions Craig totally surprised me by telling me how beautiful I was. He mentioned it a few times and I feel so blessed to have such a great husband.
