So I've been totally slacking on this blog lately. Nothing really interesting has happened lately and I didn't want to bore everyone with the everyday, mundane things. However, this week has been a good one. On Tuesday, Hunter started 7th grade and Katelyn started 2nd grade. I had no worries about Katelyn, my little social butterfly. Hunter, however, I worried about. Only because he was starting junior high and that means lockers and changing classes. I made him a little schedule he could keep in his backpack that also had his locker combination on it (just in case), and he seemed to like that idea. We get to school and I walk Katelyn to her room to meet her teacher and drop off all of her school supplies. Hunter thinks he has avoided the embarrassment of mom with her camera at this point. But, he was wrong. :) After I made sure Katelyn was all set, I headed for Hunter's locker with camera in hand. I managed to get a picture of him by his locker before his friends showed up, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been. I hung around to make sure he could get his locker open, though. He couldn't. He had the combination right, but it kept jamming at the top. One of the teachers told him not to worry about it, that she would help him until it got fixed. So, I left and went to work and worried all day long. I know, I'm such a mom. :) When I picked them up from school that afternoon, I couldn't wait to hear all about their first day. Katelyn declared that 2nd grade is easy because they didn't do any work. HAHA! I reminded her that it was only the first day and they would do work. I asked Hunter about his day and he nonchalantly said that changing classes "was nothing". So I worried for nothing. But that's okay. That's what moms do. We worry over "nothing".
The week ended with the debut of my newest great-niece, Adelaide Michelle. Our little Friday the 13th baby. Well, our second little Friday the 13th baby. I have another great-niece, Lexi, who was born on Friday the 13th, too. Her sister, my oldest great-niece Breanna, was born on Wednesday the 13th. So apparently the 13th is a good day for my family. Anyway, the excitement of the new baby made me a little nostalgic and I've been remembering the days my children were born.
I went to the hospital to be induced the evening of Tuesday, August 25, 1998. I had to be there by 6 that night so they could give me something to finish thinning out my cervix before inducing me the next morning. I was scared and had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I had loved this little baby with all my heart from the minute that pregnancy test showed 2 pink lines (on New Year's Eve). I never knew you could love someone you had never even met so much. My pregnancy wasn't the easiest - I was horribly sick all day and all night for the first 5 months, complete with a trip to the hospital for IV fluids because I was dehydrated. Then I felt good for about a month before the toxemia set in. I swelled up like a balloon and was fairly miserable during the hottest summer to date. I knew it would be worth it all when I finally got to meet my new little baby though. I didn't find the sex during my ultrasound. I insisted on being surprised, so I had a boy name and a girl name all picked out after some arguing with Byron. See, I wanted the boy name to be Dylan Blake, but he didn't like that. We thought about Noah for a while. Then one day I was listening to one of the local morning talk shows on the radio and I found the perfect name. The wife of one of the show's hosts was expecting a baby boy and they had listeners calling in with suggestions for names. Someone suggested Hunter and that was it. We decided to use Byron's middle name too and we had Hunter Wyett. The girl name I had a hard time with too. I had always said if I ever had a little girl I would name her Katie Elizabeth, but I wanted to work my mom's name in somehow. I couldn't find a way to do that without going the route of 3 names. So I had decided on Katie Elizabeth Renae. Anyway, back to the night of August 25th. I had everything packed and ready to go. I had been on bed rest for about a week because of the toxemia so I was ready for this baby to get here. I was due on September 2, so we were one week ahead of schedule. I remember stopping before I got in the car and looking back at my house one last time thinking how things would never be the same again after that night. I get to the hospital and get all settled in, still nervous. I sent Byron home for the night to rest. Then at about midnight, I got up to go pee and well, started leaking amniotic fluid. Not a big gush, just a little stream every time I got up. I called Byron to tell him and he freaked out. HAHA! He asked if he needed to come back to the hospital and I told him no. I don't think he slept much anyway, but I tried to be nice and let him get some rest. The next morning, the doctor came in around 6 am and broke my water. That's when the good contractions started. I was only dilated about 1 1/2 cm at the time and they informed me that they would prefer me to be at least 4 cm before getting my epidural. So I dealt with the contractions for a couple of hours. The contractions themselves weren't really that bad. It was the back pain that got me. My nurses finally felt sorry for me and asked the doctor if I could go ahead and get the epidural at 3 1/2 cm. He was nice and said yes. Epidurals are miracle drugs. After that, I was good. I've had stomach cramps worse than what I felt for the rest of the labor. At about 9:00, I started feeling a little queasy. The nurse checked me because that can be a sign of labor progressing and sure enough, I was 8 cm. We decided that the epidural relaxed me and that caused the labor to speed up because I was only a 3 1/2 about half an hour before that. I started pushing at about 9:45. Byron had left the room when I got the epidural and was eating breakfast in the waiting room when his mom went to tell him I was pushing. He flipped out, of course, dropped his biscuit in the floor, and ran back to the room. He looked a little funny when he came in. I laughed at him. I pushed for an hour and then I heard the most beautiful sound ever. My baby cried. The doctor informed me that I had a healthy baby boy. I had never seen a more beautiful baby than the 7 pound, 20 inch one they handed me at 10:45 am on Wednesday, August 26, 1998. I never knew your heart could live outside of your body until that moment. They handed him to me and with tears in my eyes, I smiled and said, "Hi, darling. I'm your mama." And he settled down and looked exactly like he belonged right there in my arms. I think I held him for an hour solid before I let anyone else touch him. I just sat there holding my little miracle and smiling at him, memorizing every detail. He was perfect.
Fast forward about 4 1/2 years to Wednesday, April 2, 2003. I had been through 5 more months of throwing up day and night, with 2 trips to the hospital for dehydration this time. I had just gotten over the worst ligament pain ever and had been going to the doctor every other day for non-stress tests due to borderline toxemia again and an ultrasound that showed low amniotic fluid levels and a baby girl measuring smaller than expected. Since I was surprised with a baby boy the first time, I decided to find out the sex of baby #2. I had already decided on a girl name and Byron didn't even argue me about it. This baby would be Katelyn Renae. The Katelyn came from the same morning radio talk show host, just in case you were wondering. And the Renae came from my middle name which came from my mom's name. I never really picked out a boy name since I knew she was a girl. And I bought pink hair bows the day I found out she was a girl, too. Anyway, this time I had to be at the hospital at 6 am to be induced. She was due on April 7, so she was only 5 days early. I wasn't quite as nervous this time since I had an idea of what to expect. I kissed my baby boy goodbye and told him I would see him in a few hours (he was staying at home with Byron's dad) and headed to the hospital. After I got settled in and hooked up to all of the monitors, the nurse looked at me kind of funny and asked if I felt like I was having contractions. I said no. She smiled and said, "Well you are having them about every ten minutes." The next time a contraction started to show on the monitor, she asked me if I felt it. I said not really. I wouldn't have noticed it at all if she hadn't said anything. She was shocked. Apparently I was having fairly strong contractions. She joked with me and asked if I was sure I didn't want a natural childbirth. I laughed and said, "I've done this before. It will hurt eventually." The doctor came in to break my water around 8 am. He pulled and tugged, but no gush. That still amazes me. I thought I was leaking fluid a few weeks earlier and I still believe I was. How Katelyn was born healthy, I don't know, but I'm thankful every day that she was. After the doctor did his thing, the contractions picked up pretty good. My nurses told me I could have my epidural whenever I wanted this time, I didn't have to wait. I was already about 3 cm anyway, so I got one. The anesthesiologist was great. I warned my nurses that the epidural sped up my labor the first time, but I don't think they believed me. Shortly after the epidural, I started to feel queasy because it had bottomed out my blood pressure. They gave me some medicine in my IV and it knocked me out. I vaguely remember hearing my mother-in-law ask the nurse if my contractions had stopped before the nurse woke me up to check my progress. She put some oxygen on me because Katelyn's heart rate was dropping with every contraction. This freaked me out a little but she assured me that everything was OK. She checked to see how much I had dilated and her eyes got really big. She asked me if I felt like I was ready to push. I told her I couldn't feel anything so I wouldn't know when to push. She told the other nurse to call the doctor and tell him to come down while she basically ran around the room setting up and telling me how I was right about the epidural speeding things up for me. She asked the other nurse if she had spoken to my doctor and she said she told the nurse who answered the call to tell him to come down. The nurse that was setting everything up told me to push and then told the other nurse that if the doctor wasn't there in the next 5 minutes, she needed to talk directly to him and tell him to come down RIGHT NOW. The doctor walked in right after that thankfully. I pushed 6 times and there she was. She made her entrance at 12:43 pm screaming at the top of her lungs much to my relief. I had thought the cord was wrapped around her neck when her heart rate had decreased. She was loud for such a little girl - only 6 pounds, 7 ounces and 19 inches long. They handed her to me and again with tears in my eyes, I said, "Hi darling. I'm your mama." And she immediately calmed down and settled into my arms. She was a perfect little angel. She really did look like a China doll with dark skin and a head full of black hair. She looked a lot like Hunter when he was a baby, only a little smaller with a little more hair. When Hunter came in, he had to make sure I was okay first and then he gave me a big hug and kiss. He looked at his little sister and said, "Mama, she's beautiful." And then my little family was complete.
Even though my babies are almost 12 and 7, I remember both of those days so clearly...like it was just yesterday. I remember bringing both of them home, those wonderful first days of getting to know my new little babies, the sleepless nights, and all of the firsts we've had so far. I can't imagine life without them. Now, I'm going to go give them both big hugs and tuck them in to bed for the night. While they sleep, I'll probably sit here for a while longer taking a trip down memory lane. I look forward to the new memories we'll create tomorrow and every day after that.
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