i found out i was pregnant back in april during spring break. my mom, sister, and i went up to boise to visit family. the entire trip i was so exhausted, like the minute you wake up want to climb back in bed and never face the world kind of tired. i constantly would call home to shyler and complain how tired i was, and how i was 1000% sure i was sick with mono. he kept telling me when i got home we would go to the doctor and see what was making me so tired. on the last day of the trip my aunts got me a pregnancy test and made me take it. i went to the bathroom and did my business when the little positive sign came up. it didn't even take the entire two minutes to appear. i must have been really pregnant. all i could think was how fast we had gotten pregnant. i had only been off my birth control for 2 months. we both felt that we have had so many opportunities and privileges of amazing adventures together (knowing someone for 10 years that will happen) that we wanted to start our family. i mean i was 25 gosh dang it, i didn't want my ovaries to get dusty. i called shy and told him the news, he was so excited when i got home he had decorated the entire house in baby decorations. the joke is he decorated the entire house in blue. thinking he would have a son first. but then again i thought it would be a boy as well so the joke really was on the both of us.
my pregnancy was pretty much picture perfect. except for the fact that i felt like i had mono on steroids. it didn't help that i was teaching 6th graders and it was almost summer. the fatigue only lasted the first trimester and then i basically didn't feel pregnant until i felt her move. i never threw up during the entire pregnancy. i know girls that would probably like to punch me right about now. i had a friend who never quit throwing up throughout her pregnancy. although i did get nauseous a few times. like when i would be backing my car out of the driveway, sitting up too quickly, or the smell of pickles (which actually always makes me nauseous). when we had out ultra sound we had the technician write down what the gender was and put it in an envelope. then we had a cake baked and frosted the inside with the color of the gender. we invited out family and friends to a park and cut the cake. when i saw pink frosting i was in complete shock. i just though my entire life i would have 5 boys. don't ask me why. it's probably because i grew up with only sisters and boys are a complete mystery to me. a week before we found out what we were having, shyler told me he hoped it was a girl i think heavenly father was kind of softening his heart to the idea. it takes a special dad to be the father of a girl. i would know because i have the best dad, and i know shyler will be just like him.
i was worried because she was due one week before christmas eve. the hospital i was delivering at wouldn't let me be induced until a week after my due date, which like i previously mentioned was christmas eve. now i don't want to sound selfish, but who wants to be in lab or on christmas eve? i decided to try everything i could to help my labor start naturally. i got pedicures, ate sicey food and booked a prenatal massage. i went in for the massage on saturday, december 13th. it was really most amazing thing. she told me i probably would feel minor contractions that day, and boy was she right. later that afternoon i started feeling contractions around 4 o clock. they started getting more consistent the later it got. around 7:00 we were timing them around 2 minutes apart, so we packed our bags and headed to the hospital. when we got there i was only dilated to a 1. the hospital policy is that they keep you for an hour and if you dilate to another centimeter they will keep you, if not they will send you home. unfortunately i didn't dilate any further so they sent us home. that night was basically hell. pardon my french. the contractions were getting really strong and so frequent i didn't sleep a wink. and the worst part was i look over at shyler sound asleep in bed. yes, the meanie in me wanted to smother him with my pillow. i couldn't make it past 9:30 before we were headed back to the hospital, this time to stay. i was now dilated to a 3. all night in pain and only 2 centimeter more dilated. the nurse kept telling me to relax, let my body do what it was supposed to do and i would dilate faster, but every time a contraction came it was so painful my whole body would tense up. congrats to those who can force their body to relax when the entire thing keeps tensing up. as soon as i got the epidural came though everything changed. bless modern medicine. in five minutes i no longer felt any pain, my body was able to relax and i went from a 3 to a 10 in a few hours. i was so nervous to push, but in the end that was the easiest part. it was so encouraging hearing the doctor and shyler say they could see a head of dark hair. i only pushed for 16 minutes before i was able to meet my sweet little baby. the nurses cleaned her up and we were able to cuddle skin to skin. it was the most magical thing i have ever experienced. she was fussy but the minute i started talking to her she completely calmed right down. she was perfect. she was born on december 14, at 4:46 pm. she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. i can't explain the feelings of becoming a mother. i am so blessed to have little harper lee. i think i am sold on this cuddle bug.
