The Birth Story

Christian Alexander turns seven this month.   April 28th is the day our whole lives changed.  I was reminiscing with mom the other day.  For so long I was worried that we would not be able to get pregnant (that's a HUGE joke now a days).  I had to stop my chemotherapy drug first, then wait 3 months for it to be out of my system, then get blood work to make sure my immune system didn't go crazy again.  Once that was cleared up we were allowed to start trying.  That was August of 2004.  In September I took a pregnancy test and it came back what I thought was negative.  Three days later my mom told me I needed to take another one.  She was convinced I was pregnant (mother's intuition?).  I didn't want to, but did so begrudgingly.  To my surprise mom was right, and so it began.


The day Alex was born was supposed to be a normal day.  The night before I was tired and feeling very pregnant, but I still had some weeks to go.  About 11 I woke up with what I thought were gas pains.  They went away, and I fell asleep.  The next time the pain woke me up was about 1230.  My stomach was cramping so bad, I assumed I had the runs (TMI?). So I got up, but ended up laying back down.  For the rest of the night, I was up back and forth as the pains got closer.  When 530 came, and it was time to get up I was exhausted.  I got up, and Donnie was already in the bathroom brushing his teeth.  I told him I felt terrible, and sat down to use the bathroom and all of a sudden a huge gush, HUGE.  Donnie peeked in and I said I DIDN'T PEE, THAT IS NOT PEE, WHAT WAS THAT!!!  Needless to say we got ,called in to work, picked up my mom, and headed to the hospital.  In a very eventful day, I was admitted to the hospital after they determined my water had broken, and my blood pressure dropped dangerously low, and the baby was in distress.  They started pitocin and an epidural, which I did not want, but they told me it was a precaution just in case they had to take the baby quickly.  Thank goodness I got it, 20 minutes after everything was in place I sent Donnie and my mom reluctantly to the cafeteria to eat.  I was sitting with my Godmother enjoying a pain free rest, when all of a sudden she got a disturbed look on her face, right at that time nurses rushed in and they both told me to turn on my left side.  After rocking back and forth, and a whole mess of doctors and nurses rushing in they rushed me to the operating room.  It was chaotic and scary, and my godmother was there to help me stay calm, but I was worried that Donnie wouldn't make it in time for the c-section.  They promised me, and had him paged over the hospital intercom.  From what I heard, when he heard that announcement, he hurdled a couple of tables, dove on the elevator, and sprinted the whole way.  He made it RIGHT before the first cut.


At the end of the day we had a beautiful baby boy.  Four pounds, four ounces, and seventeen inches long.  His original due date was June 2, but was changed by ultrasound to  June 12.  He was between 33 1/2 to 35 weeks along, but we just go by the original and say he was a 35 week baby.  Donnie promised that we would never have another because he could not bare to put me through that again.  You see how well that worked out, right. LOL