The Pre-Addyson Birth Story.......

So yea, I know I haven't updated how my blog looks....Hmmm...I should probably figure out how to do that.....but Lauren did such a good job on it and so I guess for now let's just pretend it is new and pretty!!!

A new friend of mine was talking about our birth stories, and I figured it was probably about time to write mine down....Before I tell the story of what an incredible delivery we had, there's a little bit of a back story to understand why it truly was amazing.....So this is the PRE-BIRTH story....

Ron and I knew we wanted a baby.....We didn't really think to much about it....Just figured it would happen when the Lord wanted.....and in some ways, that was completely true....When we finally realized how the getting pregnant game works and that there's certain times, etc, we got pregnant immediately and we couldn't have been happier.  I remember seeing what I thought was a positive pregnancy test and freaking out, texting my Mom and best friend a picture, asking, "Is this positive enough?!?"

I can't help but smile thinking about it now and how silly they must have thought I was.....We had just bought a house, Ron was starting a brand new full time ministry, and it seemed like everything was falling into place.  The Lord knew what he was doing because I was due in October, which meant I would have all the holidays off and truly get to spend some amazing time together during the holiday.....

So pregnancy started and at 6 weeks I felt amazing!!! About the middle of my sixth week, it HIT.....like a tornado....Never have I experienced the nausea and horrible icky feeling that pregnancy brought....and it wasn't just in the morning, it was all day long, all night long, every second of the day....I was working at LWR and would literally wake up, have to eat honey nut cheerios before my feet even touched the ground, work till 4:30, miserable and barely able to stand up, come home, fall asleep, Ron would wake me up at 8:00 to eat dinner, and then I would go back to sleep....and that is how I lived life except for having to be at church and lead worship....and it lasted for what seemed like forever......I lost weight and pretty much forgot about running....I felt like there was an alien in my body and I had no control over it, which I would soon learn, would be so true even now :)  I thought I would never feel human again......And after almost 18 weeks of misery, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.....

or so I thought.....

By 18 weeks my nausea was gone and I learned I would be the Mommy to an amazing beautiful DAUGHTER.....which completely scared me...I didn't have sisters or really that many friends that were girls and I thought for sure I was going to have a boy....Man, the Lord has a sense of humor...

Things were good for about 10 weeks....I was able to start running again and I almost felt normal.....almost....

At 28 weeks I started having incredibly painful back pain....I tried prenatal yoga, I tried exercise, I tried stretching, but nothing seemed to make it better.....And then it happened.....

The Saturday before I was almost 32 weeks preggo I was at a birthday party for one of my besties when all of a sudden I couldn't breathe....I had never felt so much pain before in my entire life.....I knew I had to lay down....as I laid down on her sofa, I felt pain on my right side and I knew something was wrong....I could barely walk, I could barely breathe, I could barely move...

This sent me through a long series of numerous tests, ultrasounds, and two different hospital stays....I visited a chiropractor and his response was, "Well, it is an incredibly rare thing, but darling, I think your daughter broke your rib...." And after all the tests to rule out galbladder, kidneys, preterm labor, basically everything in the world it could be, all that was left to blame it on was a broken floating rib....in fact, on the numerous ultrasounds I was having to have, I could literally see her little foot propped up by rib, her own personal ottoman, crazy girl!!! This was followed by 8+ weeks of more misery.....

I am not sure if any of you have experienced a broken rib...but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy....Every time you breathe it hurts, every time you move you find sharp pain.....Ironically the same exact time I found out I had a broken rib, I also found out my work was downsizing and I would no longer have a job, unless I returned to being a floor nurse.....My absolute worst nightmare....

I was at a loss and had no where to turn but to the Lord.....He sustained me, he was the ultimate healer....He allowed doors to open up for me and I was able to assist in other areas at work, while living on ice packs.  Thank God for the LWR physical therapy department...They were my constant source of ice packs, which I lived on 24/7 since we all know Tylenol is not really good for anything and the Lord blessed me with a husband who was patient enough to understand......The Lord really made a way for me to survive in so many ways....Like the fact that our neighbors had a pool that I could relax in every night, and believe me, floating made is soo much better....weightless......and through it all...I grew and I grew and I grew....Although Addyson was measuring small, those 8 weeks passed, and we started anxiously waiting Addyson's arrival....

I knew I wanted to try to go natural.....I figured, I was an athlete, a runner, birthing a baby would be an easy thing.....My doctor highly suggested against it, since I did have a broken rib and all, but my mind was set, and I was going to at least try.....So many of my friends had gone natural, of course, so could I....

40 weeks came....and 40 weeks went...I really didn't want to be induced....the thought of pitocin was definitely not in my plan, but the Lord once again knew what he was doing.....I tried everything to get her to come out....I even ran almost 3 miles 2 days before she was delivered...(see the pic of me after my run below!)  She was stubborn and liked my ribs too much to want to leave

So the day came and my doc basically said, "Jenny, it's time......It's time for that rib to heal and for you not to be in pain anymore.....and so the date was set.....I would go into work half a day on Monday October 17th, leave around 12 to get ready, and return at 6 that night to start cervadil, in hopes to kick start my labor.......and as much as I DIDN'T want to be induced......I was finally done with the idea of pain, so big, and just ready to see my sweet girl.......

And so the labor would begin....or at least try to begin......

Stay tuned for the actual labor story next blog to see what happened!!!!