The HALLway: Life. Love. Simply Creative: Flashback Friday: Our Birth Story

It is so crazy to think that exactly half a year ago today, we were headed to the hospital with so many different emotions running through us.... "Oh my gosh, we are having a baby", "We are going to be parents.... we are going to be PARENTS"! I was going to be a mom... a MOM... How crazy! I have been waiting for this day since as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to be a mom, and I couldn't wait until the day that would happen... and it was happening! I was scared, nervous, excited, happy, and freaking out just a bit, but I knew it would all be worth it!

So a little back story of my pregnancy... I was considered high risk from day one because we had a miscarriage in August due to my Crohn's Disease. The fact that I have Crohn's Disease puts me at high risk as well. So I was seen by my OBGYN, Dr. Walker (LOVED him!) every week for the first 10 weeks, and got an ultrasound done at every visit. At the 10 week mark, we were seen every 2 weeks until we hit 16 weeks, and then we were seen every 4 weeks as normal! As far as the pregnancy itself, and Charli, it was a very healthy pregnancy... it was my Crohn's Disease that was not cooperating. I was extremely sick the entire pregnancy, with the worst flare ups I have ever had since being diagnosed. I had lost about 7lbs at the beginning because I was so sick, and by the time I was 6 months pregnant I was only up 5lbs. I gained 18lbs the entire pregnancy. Needless to say, I had a very rough 9 months, but it was so worth it. So with all of that being said, my OB knew he wanted to induce me early (and if you knew my OB, you would know that is not like him at all... he is the one OB here in Monterey who will NOT induce until almost 42 weeks). So that brings us to 6 months ago today...

So our birth story begins...
I was 38 weeks 4 days and we were headed to the hospital on this very day 6 months ago (July 18, 2012). We checked into the hospital (CHOMP) at 7:30 AM. I was induced by 9:30 AM, and so the fun begins right... I had the worst flare up that day, and my Crohn's Disease was the worst it has ever been... I was in so much pain due to that, that I couldn't even tell that I was having contractions, and when I finally felt the first contraction, I said to the nurse "Wait, that's it? I could do this all day"! haha! I was on all sorts of pain medications, IVs, and I even had to get an enema (gross... and the WORST part of the entire labor). Around 8 PM, I really started to feel more contractions... Steven and I were walking up and down the hall, and breathing through the pain. At 9:30 PM the cervidil was taken out, I was 2 centimeters dilated, they broke my water, and gave me my epidural right then and there. (it all happened pretty quickly). After the epidural, I pretty much passed out and slept through everything until I was about 7-8 cm. At this point, I started throwing up during every contraction, and was able to start pushing at 9 cm. After a few contractions, and pushing, our beautiful healthy baby girl was in this world and crying! She was born on Thursday July 19, 2012 at 9:14 AM! What an overwhelming since of love, joy, and pure happiness! Honestly, the absolute best day of my entire life... and I did it! I got through it with my amazing husband by my side!

It feels like just yesterday we were holding our Charli Adele for the very first time, and it has already been HALF OF A YEAR! It really is amazing how fast time goes by once you have a child. I love her more and more every single day, and could not imagine my life without her in it!