"I have your results right here. You're pregnant. Congratulations!", the Dr. said. I was shocked. I had been sitting there for almost an hour waiting for those results, so I had plenty of time to think about it. Deep down I was secretly hoping I was pregnant, but also not wanting to know the results if I wasn't. My mind was racing, because I knew I was going to have to call my parents and tell them. Andrew and I left the Dr.s office and started walking to Safeway to get some Prenatal vitamins. We made a phone call to my Mom and i said "Well, Mom, the test was positive. I'm pregnant." She had a feeling I was and wasn't surprised, but she wasn't honestly okay with it either. I texted my dad, because I was more nervous about telling him more than anything! He was surprisingly okay about it and even made a comment about he hoped it was a boy and a girl! We were walking on the side walk and I look down and saw a pile of rocks in the shape of a heart and for some reason I knew everything was going to be okay!
I made my first Dr's appointment for October 22nd, 2010. I had terrible morning sickness and I couldn't eat anything without promptly throwing it up! October 22nd rolled around and I excitedly went to my first appointment with Andrew and my Mother in toe! We sat down and they asked about my medical history. Because there were multiples on both sides of the family they asked if it was okay to do an ultrasound to see what they were working with. I laid down on the table and waited as the ultrasound technician put the cold jelly on my tummy. She wiggled it around for a bit and said she couldn't see anything and was going to need to do a trans vaginal ultrasound. I went to the bathroom and came back and the ultrasound technician asked me a question I will never be able to get out of my head. "Michelle, Who told you that you were pregnant?" I just stood there on the verge of tears and said, " The Dr. at ready care. Is there something wrong?" They set up the ultrasound and started looking around. After what felt like an eternity I couldn't take it anymore. I started crying and my Mom came over to hold my hand. She told me everything was going to be okay. All of a sudden as if my prayers were answered, the baby's heart beat popped onto the screen. I breathed a sigh of relief and the tech started doing the measurements. They gave me a due date of May 24th, 2011.
 |
| First Ultrasound |
 |
Ready for my First Dr.s appointment
|
By the end of November I had quit my job working at the grocery store. My Dr. advised it as it had been causing too much stress on my body. In December we scheduled our anatomy ultrasound for January 6th, just 10 days before my 19th birthday. I was hoping for a girl and Andrew was hoping for a boy. January 6th came and the ultrasound room was filled with Andrew, my Mom, my cousin, my sister and her boyfriend. The ultrasound started and we were asked if we wanted to know the gender. "Yes, Please!", I said. She moved the wand around and finally said, "It looks like you are having a girl!" I was so happy and I knew Andrew would be too.
It's a Girl!
A few weeks later I was laying down in bed and I started having terrible pains in my stomach. I called my mom and told her what I was feeling. She said it sounded like contractions and I needed to be seen immediately. I hung up the phone and started bawling my eyes out. This couldn't be happening! I was only 24 weeks along! I called Andrew at work and told him not to worry, but I was going to the hospital. I got to the hospital and they hooked me up to all the monitors. They told me I was having contractions and it was because my blood pressure was sky rocketing. They told me my contractions weren't really intense, but they were going to give me some medicine to stop them and to bring down my blood pressure. After a few hours I was feeling better and the contractions had subsided and they sent me home. I was put on blood pressure medicine in order to keep my high bp at bay.
I was told to try and do as little activity as possible for the remainder of my pregnancy. I took my medicine like I was supposed to and tried to do as little as possible. The next few months were pretty uneventful. At the end of March I had my baby shower!
Towards the end of April the Dr.s noticed my blood pressure was not staying down, even with all the medication I was taking. I was put on strict bed rest. The beginning of May I started feeling pains again and I was taken to the hospital. They said it was nothing and to go back home. I called my Dr. because it didn't feel right. They decided to try and induce me. They were unsure if baby girl was doing good inside me. May 9th I went in for an induction. They started the pitocin and inserted a foley bulb. I had contractions, but my cervix just didn't want to dilate. They said baby must not be ready and they sent me home on the condition that I cam to the hospital or twice weekly non stress tests. I was crushed leaving the hospital without my baby, but i concentrated on not stressing out.
May 18th I went to the hospital for an NST at 9:00 am. They hooked me up and started monitoring me and baby. They told me she needed to move a certain amount of times in 20 minutes. I was supposed to press the button when she moved, but she never moved. The nurse came back and gave me some juice to get her moving, but nothing. They sent me down to get an ultrasound. I was scared! What is wrong with my baby?! They started the ultrasound and told me they were looking for movements and size. Once again they couldn't get her to move and then they noticed she was small. She was measuring only 36 weeks at 39 weeks. They told me they would give the results to the Dr. and to go back to my room. I called my Mom and told her what was going on. She said she was on her way. We made it back to the room and my Mom showed up while we were waiting for the Dr. to come back. Finally the Dr. showed up and said, "We are having a baby today." He informed me that She was no longer thriving inside me and needed to be born. He told me we could try and induce again or go for a C section. I immediately told him to do a c section. I didn't want to mess around with trying to induce. I wanted her out right then! They started prepping me and my C section was set for 5:00 pm that evening.
At 5:30 pm they started my c section. I was so nervous to meet my baby! They rolled me into the operating room and set me up to get my epidural. After the epidural they laid me down and Andrew came back into the room. They turned on some Country music and started the C section. I could feel the tugging and pulling and at 6:04 pm I heard her first scream. They had been worried about lung development, but that first scream was the loudest sound I had ever heard. They cleaned her up and brought her to me.
They took away while the sewed me up, but I couldn't keep conscious. I stopped breathing and they hooked me up to oxygen. As soon as they got me breathing again I threw up everywhere. Finally I was sent to recovery and they brought her to me. Once again i threw up, so they took her away again. Eventually they let me go back to room and hold her. Later the Dr. came to come check on us. He told me that they had found the reason why she was so small. There had been a blood clot in her umbilical chord preventing the nutrients from getting to her. He told me that if I hadn't been so persistent on being seen, He wasn't sure if we would have had the same outcome. I was so happy and sad at the same time. I was proud that i listened to my instincts and that my baby was finally here. We named her Brooklyn Nicole. She was 6 lbs 1 oz and 18 inches long. She was my miracle.
