9 (well actually it turns out to be 10) months can go incredibly fast and yet slow at the same time. When God blesses you with the gift of a child, all you want to do is meet this wonderful little person but you also want to cherish being pregnant at the same time. Thats literally how I felt my entire pregnancy. Back in December, Tom and i made the decision to find out the sex of our baby...a girl! WOOHOO! So exciting and terrifying at the same time. 1st trimester in my pregnancy I was the typical sick...I didn't really have the "morning" sickness but rather all day sickness. Fortunately, somehow I didn't get ill at work which was a blessing b/c Tom and I chose not to tell any non-family members till after the 1st trimester. Anyway, I entered the 2nd trimester flying high. I felt AWESOME...had so much energy, felt "cute", etc etc. 3rd trimester was totally up and down. I still loved the fact of being pregnant and having this cute belly to show off...but woah!, does your body ever take a beating or what!? I never expected to be SO uncomfortable after a long day of work...i felt so bad for Tom and my family b/c I think I was in a constant state of complaining for a good 6 weeks. Anyway...April 26th (Penny's due date) was approaching fast but yet at every O.B. appointment, NOTHING was happening. Every appointment, I would tell myself "ok, don't get your hopes up..." and every time leaving, I would think "oh my gosh, I'm going to be pregnant forever!!!" Well, I had my final O.B. appointment the morning of April 26th at 9am. I arrived in my work attire b/c i just expected to be heading there after seeing Dr. Jacobi. During my appointment, Dr Jacobi informed me that I was 1cm dilated and about 75% effaced. Then she said the words I had been waiting on..."I have an opening tomorrow morning if you want to be induced!" Out of no where, I just start bawling. Total emotional bawling. I totally didn't want to be pregnant anymore b/c I was so uncomfortable but somehow felt guilty for considering being induced. I felt that maybe it wasn't God's plan if i jumped the gun and said "ok!"...i felt terrible if i said ok and went ahead with labor if my sisters were not in town yet...every emotion was running through my head. Dr Jacobi left the room to let me think for a few minutes but not before stripping my membranes and saying "well, lets see what happens the rest of the day but I'm going to pencil you in for tomorrow morning to be induced. You can always call and cancel but I think you're emotionally done being pregnant." DING! She was so right.
Alright...jump forward about 30 minutes. I'm talking to Tom on the phone and he only confirms that he as well is ready for me not to be pregnant anymore. :) As I'm talking to him, I feel a sharp pain in my lower back. Hmmm. I decide to call into work and say I'm not going to be there b/c who really wants to work the day before they are expected to give birth!? The pain slightly happens again. Hmmm. I went ahead and drove to my parents house...I mention to my mom that I think i might be having slight contractions since Dr J stripped my membranes. At this point, they were very random...no timing needed at this point. My mom mentions that she needs to go to walmart at some point to pick up snacks since the rest of the family was getting in town in the next few days. I decide I need to run to baby gap b/c all I could think about was the fact that i had hardly any socks for my newborn baby. So, mom and i loaded up in the car and headed to baby gap 1st...while there, only a couple contractions. Walmart was another story. I was stopping about every 8-9 minutes and breathing through things.
After walmart, my mother and i headed to Tom and I's house so i could get into comfortable clothes and so I could pack a bag for the hospital. Tom was still working at this point...it was about 1 or so in the afternoon. I decided to take a bath to try to relax (i'm typically not a bath person at all!)...sooo relaxing. I believe I was in there for about 45 minutes and actually my contractions stopped the whole time. But soon returned after getting out. Tom finally came home around 5:30pm from work (and yes, he was hurrying all day to get home, or so he says. :) ) I remember him walking in, I'm lying on the floor of all places b/c it was the most comfortable at that time. Since Tom was now home, my mom decided to head on out and give us some time for the 2 of us. At this point, I'm having contractions about 6-7 minutes...in and out of the bath again, getting sleepy and hungry. After talking on the phone with Jay Kline, Tom and I decide to go out to eat with our best friends, Jay and Holly, to Darios in Dundee. (WHAT?!...I know.) It was a super yummy meal of cheeseburgers and pomme frites. Tom and i got home about 8:30 and at this point, I'm having contractions about every 6 minutes. I decide to get in the bath again...Tom falls asleep on the carpet outside of the bathroom door. Glad someone could relax. I spent the rest of the evening trying to relax in between contractions. At about 4 am, I decided that our bed was just not comfortable anymore so i headed back out to the living room floor. After about 45 minutes of contractions every 4-5 minutes, I yelled for Tom to get up. Yes, literally yelled. We talked for a while about what our game plan was going to be...do we just head to the hospital now? or do we wait until 9am b/c thats when i was going to be induced anyway? At about 5:30, I put my foot down and said "i'm not waiting until 9 am!" Tom decided to take a shower (seemed like the worlds longest shower!!!) while i finished getting a few things together. Well, that took longer than expected b/c i had to stop every 4 minutes. We finally loaded up in the car at 7 am. I remember starting to cry backing out of the garage b/c this was the last time it was just going to be "us." (*tear)
On the way to the hospital, I'm having contractions about every 3-4 minutes. I remember hearing beastie boys of the radio and not even caring about turning it off for some reason. Its a short drive to the hospital (thankfully!) When we get there, Tom drops me off at the door so he could park the car. I decide to wait inside with my purse and suitcase. The lady at the front desk notices I'm in labor and am having contractions. Next thing I know, she comes out of no where with a wheelchair, practically yelling "YOURE IN LABOR!" and pushes me up to the 2nd floor, Labor and Delivery. She whisked me up so fast, i left my suitcase...i couldn't really talk at the time but remember thinking "Tom's going to think I got taken in the rapture!" :) Ok, so since i was in active labor, I got shoved to the front of the line to get checked in since everyone else was either checking in to be induced or a c-section. We get to the room and my nurse checks me to see how dilated I was...2cm. What?...are you kidding me?? That's it!? Dr J arrived shortly after and soon broke my water and without even asking me if i was ready for my epidural, she went ahead and ordered it. SWEET RELIEF!! When I very 1st got my epidural, it was only active on the left side of my body and I was soo upset thinking about the possibility that it was only going to take to 1 side of my body. But!...the nurse (her name was Michelle...amazing nurse!!) had me flip flop for a while and it finally kicked in everywhere. My mom and dad (dad didn't stay long) showed up shortly after the epidural and I actually slept very well for a while. YES!
(note how good my hair looks here and note how AWFUL it looks after delivery)
Throughout the day, the nurse kept checking me to see how I was advancing. 4cm...7...9 1/2...WOAH! THIS IS GOING FAST!!! At 2:30ish the nurse informs me that its time to start pushing and lets up off the epidural a bit. OUCH, PAIN IS BACK! At this point, I could feel contractions and when I needed to push.
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Aaaaand then, I passed out. (whoops!) I remember hearing Tom and my mother say "Renee...Renee...are you ok Renee? I think she passed out!" and I remember trying so hard to open my eyes but not being able to. The nurse at this point brought in a fan and my mom brought over a wash cloth. That brought me to and I kept telling my mom that he wash cloth needs to be more wet! Soaking mother!!! (which is why my hair looked so bad!!) The nurse started asking me questions like "do you know where youre at?, what day is it?, whose the president of the United States?" just to make sure that I was really with it. Dr J arrived shortly after to get this baby rollin! And oh boy, did we ever work hard! I remember looking and seeing Dr Jacobi pulling with all her might to get baby out. And then, Tom and I's life changed in one single moment!...at 4:02 pm, we heard Penny Ray Himberger cry for the 1st time. No words can describe the joy that fills your heart and all corners of the room when you see and hear your baby for the !st time...
Heading home...
Meeting Aunt Dana and Aunt Celine for the 1st time...
Thank you Tommy for giving me the most wonderful gift in the world. God has truly blessed my life with an amazing husband and baby girl. I love you both so much.
looooved hearing penny's arrival all again. what a sweetie!
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