Wow, where do I start? First off, our pregnancy came and flew by so quickly! I still can’t believe I became pregnant and delivered a baby! The human body is so so amazing, it’s hard to process. I want to share my birth story but also feel like I should give a little background on the whole process.
I found out I was pregnant on September 8th, 2018. My Husband Sione and I were planning on trying toward the end of the year but were but surprised with the news a little earlier than expected which means we became pregnant while we were on vacation in Italy. I already love Italy but love it even more now since it holds a special place in our hearts now. The day we found out, we were traveling for a friends wedding. I was so nervous about being obvious about not drinking alcohol. At the wedding, Sione and I couldn’t stop whispering to each other that we couldn’t believe our test was positive. It was so sweet.
The day I found out I was expecting 9/8/18
We told our families that we were expecting on my 30th birthday when I was 10 weeks along. I wanted to have both my family and Sione’s together and tell them on a day the they least expected it. I gave a thank you speech at my birthday dinner thanking everyone for being there then Sione gave a speech and gave me a special “surprise” gift. I was acting like I didn’t know what it was and opened it. It was the What to Expect When Expecting Book. Everyone was confused so I shouted out “we’re pregnant!”. Everyone was surprised to say the least! It was a special day.
My 30th Birthday (10/13/18) and the day we told our families we were expecting. 10 weeks pregnant!
Overall I had a smooth pregnancy, I had very little nausea and no complications. I did have a big jump in my blood pressure at my 31 week appointment. My doctor was worried and sent me to labor and delivery to get monitored. She was concerned about pre-eclampsia. Sione and I got really scared that day. Fortunately labs came out ok however I continued to have high blood pressure from weeks 31-34. My doctor put me on disability at 34 weeks due to my blood pressure. We discussed possibly inducing at 39 weeks if my BP continued to stay high. We also discussed to possibility of a c-section. Very soon after i was put on disability my BP normalized. My job can definitely be stressful at times with the kiddos and add on top of that, your commute, being on your feet a lot, the dreaded patient charting etc. I’m glad I was able to rest while on disability and so very thankful for it.
31 weeks. In L&D for monitoring my high blood pressure.
Over the course of my pregnancy I gained more than your average amount, it was a total of 50 lbs. I gained a lot early on and part of the reason I believe was that I was doing doing a low carb diet before I became pregnant and had lost a significant amount of weight. It was hard to eat low carb during my first trimester so that’s why I think I gained so much in the beginning. I also gave in to all my cravings which were mostly potatoes and ice cream! Toward the end of my pregnancy I tried to be more conscious and tried going on more walks. It’s harder than you think. I had one instance at an appointment with the nurse practitioner at my OB’s office at my 38 week appointment. She said I had a big jump in my weight since the last visit. I instantly felt my heart drop and I became very quiet. As soon as I walked out the office I cried a lot. I knew I had gained weight (obviously I’m pregnant and emotional) but I felt like I was shamed for it. I had already been trying to control my weight and eat better so it was not fun to hear that. My OB on the other hand never directly said anything about my weight, she always encouraged healthy food choices and was positive.
Maternity shoot pics . 32 weeks
At my 39 week appointment (Tuesday) my doctor checked my pelvis and said I was already preparing for labor! I was dilating and effaced. We also found out this day that the baby was weighing about 9 lbs! I was surprised because so far I hadn’t had any false contractions and thought most women go beyond 40 weeks their first pregnancy. My Dr. wanted me to check into L&D Thursday evening to be induced Friday morning! Sione and I kept telling each other we can’t believe this is really happening.
That afternoon we had lunch with my parents and talked about the upcoming delivery and some of the things we had to take care of before Thursday. I decided to get my nails done after lunch and finalize my hospital bag. We ran an errand in inglewood that night and passed by Randy’s donuts and I had to get a chocolate bar. Since we were in the area we also stopped by Rally’s for the best French fries ever. We got back home and I started working on our nursery tour post.
Lunch with my parents and husband, Sione. 39 weeks
I started having weird pains on my lower abdomen that would come and go followed by 5 trips to the bathroom (TMI, I know) which I thought was super weird because pregnancy causes constipation. I continued to work on the post through the pain and finally texted a friend at 10:25 pm saying “I think I’m having contractions.” I started tracking the contractions with an app I and they lasted 45-50 seconds every 5 minutes on the dot. I started getting really nervous so I took a shower, washed my hair finished packing my bag and toiletries in case this was really happening.
At Randy’s Donuts 2 hours before I went into labor at home on 4/31/19. 39 weeks
We had repeatedly been told by L&D and our OB that we should follow the 5-1-1 rule, 5 contractions within an hour for at least 1 minute each prior to arriving to L&D. I was a few seconds off but unsure if I was actually in labor. It was getting late and there was no sign of the contractions slowing down so we called our hospital L&D to ask if we should head over. They told my husband that I needed to be in “excruciating pain and unable to speak during a contraction” to come in. That was basically happening even though my husband thought I was faking it, lol. We left our house around 3:45 AM and arrived to Good Samaritan Hospital around 4 AM. I walked from the parking lot up to L&D and remember having a contraction in the middle of the street and I couldn’t move! Lol.
4:02 AM on 5/1/19 arriving to L&D. 39 weeks +1 day
We checked in and were moved to triage. I got all my monitors on and low and behold I was in active labor. I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes and 2.5 cm dilated. I was in 9/10 pain. The nurses called my OB and asked if I should be admitted and she said yes and to give me an epidural as soon as they can. I looked at my husband and said “This is really happening!”
Part II coming soon
