Baby Finally!!!

As I got situated in the car, and we pulled onto Schertz Parkway I was feeling a little uneasy-no pain just a lot of anxiety. We were driving on Hwy 35 towards New Braunfels when I felt it-yes it-the urge to PUSH! We had taken all the baby prep classes we could and I remember oh so clearly the instructor describing this very feeling-the urge you just couldn't stop. So, I leaned over to Justin and said, "I need to push." He turned to me and said,  "Well, don't!" At this point he turned the flashers on and we were going about 90 down the highway. I was trying my best to breath (the way we were taught-although during class, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to practice) so I wouldn't push-it was sooooooooooo hard not to. Anyway we made it to the hospital and I began to open the door and realized-If I stood up-something was gonna fall out (not really, but it sure felt that way). I instructed Justin to go find a wheel chair and I would wait for him in the truck. Well, after about 5 minutes, the husband, wheelchair and orderly came to get me. During all of this try to imagine me-huffing and puffing trying to hold it together-she wheels me straight to the registration desk-are you kidding me, was all I could think of at this moment! They must not realize I "needed to push" badly-I didn't have time to fill out any paperwork or sign any documents! I looked up at the nice orderly and said, "I need to push now." I probably repeated that statement 5 or 6 times. At that point the orderly informed the registration desk clerk, "She looks like she really is in labor, I'm going to go ahead and take her upstairs."  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
 I am sure the entire ER waiting room-along with the other women in labor leisurely filing out her paperwork could only laugh at the spectacle. We came off the elevator and she rolled me down the hallway towards the nurses station-they were expecting me! The nurse asked, "Is this your first one?" "Yes" I replied. "Oh, then he isn't coming out for a while!" Okay-that would have made me feel better, if I didn't have this horrible urge coming every 2 minutes or less. As I was pushed into my room, I asked the orderly, "Do I still get my epidural?" With a surprised tone, "You wanted an epidural? Honey, you are too late for that I'm afraid." What??????? Yes I wanted an epidural, I am a chicken, this is gonna be bad was all I could think about as I entered my room. Justin had been following closely with my bag in tow-I'm sure scared out of his mind-who wouldn't be. As we entered my room there were 2 nurses ready for me-no doctor.....with some effort I stood up and this sweet nurse tells me, "Okay, I'm gonna need a urine sample and please undress and put this gown on." I looked at her and with every last inch I had in me to not scream, I said, "I need to push now, I can't undress or give you a urine sample he will fall out." She looked at me bewildered-and a little annoyed. I was not making this urge up-why wouldn't anyone believe me? "Okay honey, get on the bed and let me check you." the annoyance in her voice was unmistakable. So as fast as I could I pulled down my bottoms the gown went over my t-shirt and I laid down on the bed. As she checked me her eyes grew very wide and she stated, "You're complete! She's complete. She's complete!" I had been telling them that the entire time anyway. "Someone call the doctor, and let her know" she said. What? The doctor still wasn't at the hospital? "Where is she?" I asked. No answer. A monitor was strapped to my belly to hear the heartbeat and the other nurse was trying to get my information into the computer.
"Name, date of birth, social?" she asked. What??? More questions, did they not understand what I was saying? I could feel at each contraction him moving further down. Justin did is best to answer those questions, when all of a sudden the nurse entering things in the computer put her face in mine and said, "Roll over on your left side now." In my mind I was thinking, wow how about a please? I rolled over on my left side and she found his heartbeat. My hands were going numb-I was hyperventilating so they put an oxygen mask over my face and told me to take long deep breaths through each contraction, but DO NOT push. What??? I signed the authorization forms with a huge X over the entire paper mid-contraction trying not to push and breathing in and out very deeply. So there I was staring at the beautiful rose wallpaper border telling Justin to squeeze my arm as hard as he could so I could think about not pushing, but he was coming out-no matter what I did or didn't do. I was thinking to myself, "They are gonna be so made at me, he is coming down anyway." The thought of me thinking that now makes me laugh. During the 30 sec. or so break I would ask,  "Where is the doctor? How much longer? Just tell me how many more minutes till she gets here." The nurses were tight lipped about the where abouts of my doctor. They just kept saying, "Don't push, she's almost here." I would then say, "Call her again, see where she is! I need to push please."
Finally, she arrived, at about 12:10. (time estimated here, but what occurred in the next few moments gives me a clearer indication of when she actually arrived) She entered the room, said hello and began looking at the print outs of my progress. I looked at her and said, "Where have you been? I need to push!!!" "Well, go right ahead." she replied. What?? Finally! Relief!!! I was thinking, this is gonna hurt so bad as I rolled over to my back. Justin to my right holding one leg and the nursery nurse to my left holding the other leg-I gave one big glorious push and out popped his head-unbeknownst to me. My doctor was still standing at the computer when the nursery nurse yelled, "His head is out!" My doctor came around and said, "Kimber stop pushing, stop-don't push anymore." she then proceeded to bark orders to the nurses to get the table ready and then of course get her scrubs on. At that instance, I was thinking-I have been holding him in, and no one is going to tell me to stop pushing. And that was that, the next contraction came, I pushed one more time and he came out! I can not put into words the intense sense of relief that flowed over me once he was out-the urge was suddenly gone. So, the bed wasn't ready, the doctor wasn't ready and boy, I don't think I was either, but Cooper was ready and made it in record time. As they laid Cooper down on my chest, I couldn't help but feel confused and surprised. I looked up at Justin thinking I should be crying and overcome with joy-but he and I both were in "shock" Cooper was not at all what I envisioned-he was wrinkled and squished, purple and dirty. But he was ours all 7 pounds 7 ounces! 39 weeks of pregnancy over with in about 88 minutes!

Baby almost....

All in the all the last few weeks of my pregnancy went by quick and physically painless. At my 36 week checkup I was already dilated to a 3 or 4 and 85% effaced. My doctor informed me that this baby was gonna come early and I should have a fast labor---I was hoping she didn't jinx me! I tried to keep my feet up when I could and to take it easy those last couple of weeks-Cooper still needed to cook a bit longer. During this time as most of you know-July 4th weekend to be exact-my mom became very ill and we both were in and out of the hospital. But we are focusing on the BEST part of 09 now.
Each week I would enter the doctors office nervous about my progress-kind of wanting to be ready-but also scared about the unknown. At week 38 I was dialted to a 4 and 95% effaced-at some point I must have been having contractions-I just didn't know it! Well on Monday Aug. 17th I went for my last checkup-at that time we schedule my inducement for that Friday-since my due date was Saturday the 21st. My doctor bless her heart was doing everything she could to get Cooper here safely and quickly in order for my mom to have as much time with him as possible. I decided I didn't need to be checked at that appointment and went home knowing that Tuesday was my last day of work and then I could really relax! That evening Justin coaxed me into a walk around the neighborhood-boy was that silly-I made it about a mile and was ready for a break. My mother in-law came in town to stay with us since my mom had her first oncologist appointment for Wednesday morning. I was worried something would happen and I would not have been able to take her-so Janet was there just in case-Boy was I glad she was there!
Tuesday morning I woke up and got ready for work as usual. Work was slow-no surprise there-I went to lunch with some co-workers, Italian (my favorite) and during lunch my back started to feel "different" I describe it this way because it wasn't painful-just different. I had had Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy and so I was used to feeling those in the front of my belly but this was different. I thought I was just sore from the walk the night before-brushed it off. I got home that night around 6:30. My mom was in need of a pedicure from being in the hospital-her feet were BAD-so I sat cross legged in front of my mom and washed her feet- (as I type I realize the significance of this last statement-wow) I did my best to make her feet and nails look and feel great-at this time still feeling a little back discomfort-which I contributed to the fact that I was sitting on the floor crossed legged at 39 weeks. After making sure my mom was set-Janet and I rummaged around the nursery still putting things away-she told me I was in hyper nesting mode! Justin came in to see Janet and I using the vacuum to suck the air out of those damn space saving bags-total waste of money mind you. I complained a bit about my back discomfort and he rested his hand on my belly and said "You're having contractions!" I was not in pain-so this couldn't be labor or contractions-The classes we had taken and the books we had read said you would be in pain-and lots of it. Justin ran back into the living room check the clock and told me to tell him when I felt more discomfort. This was around 8pm. Well, Justin decided my contractions were around 5 minutes apart-again I didn't think I was having contractions. So I brushed him off and decided to get ready for bed.
At around 10:00pm after my nightly ritual of soaking in coco butter bubble bath-lathering myself up with lotion I was in bed reading all my books again on what to look for when you are in labor. Nothing I was experiencing was described in the books-I mean I had had no symptoms of pre labor-I was pacing around and calling my cousin to ask her advice-should I call my doctor? She stayed on the phone long enough to time the back discomfort and tell me I probably needed to call my doctor and inform her what was going on. Again, I brushed her off and told Justin to rub my back and maybe I would get relaxed enough to fall asleep. Thing again! As soon as a rolled over a sudden POP! noise startled me and my water broke. I don't want to be too graphic but it wasn't the "normal" trickle you read or hear about-it was like the flood gates had opened at Hoover Dam! Justin finished throwing things in my hospital bag and was yelling get in the car! I spoke briefly to Janet about how to use her camera-and woke my mom to tell her my water had broken and I was going to the hospital. It was about 10:45 once we got in the car headed to the hospital 20 minutes away-Justin had called my doctor and so I was expecting her to welcome us at the ER with open arms saying, " Let's have this baby!" Yeah right-----

Baby continued....

The next several days were a blur. I was busy daydreaming of our little one and calling around to find a doctor! (my doctor completely stopped delivering babies-so had to find another!) The holidays went by quickly without a peep mustered to either side of the family. My first doctors appointment was not until the end of January and we were both prepared to wait until the time was right to tell our friends and family. Although to our surprise (well, not really mine) Justin's brother Jason and his wife Brandi were expecting too! Our little bundle would have a cousin just a few weeks older! That is one thing I truly cherished about my pregnancy was going through it with Brandi. It was so nice to be able to call/text her with anything.
My first doctors appointment was interesting! People just don't really tell you what to expect. We received our fuzzy black and white photos and were told our baby would arrive Aug. 22, 2009! Wow, we really were going to be parents. Then it was time to announce via text/calls the big news. First on the list-my mom. I called her immediately after the celebration lunch we had at Olive Garden (I love that place). I told her to sit down, and I had some news. I think she knew what I was going to say, and was thrilled. She wanted to call my dad, so with specific instructions to "be nice" she broke the news to him too. Our family was very excited, Janet was in heaven learning she was gonna be a "Granna" twice in the month of August.
On Jan. 26th I broke the news to all of my closest friends. It was a great weekend to share my news with my girls! They were all very excited to be aunts!! The next several months flew by-I was very blessed to have hardly any pregnancy problems, other than the weight gain-my left ankle would swell up-my blood pressured stayed low and baby was moving a lot.
At our 16 week check up I was getting really anxious and really wanted to find out if our bundle was a boy or a girl. My doctor ended up squeezing in a 15 second ultrasound and there it was in all of HIS glory! Spread legged! Although I still couldn't really see much-my doctor was quite certain that it was a boy. I have never seen such a huge smile before on Justin's face. He was one proud papa! The same day Jason and Brandi found out they were having a boy too!!
All of my closest friends hosted a shower for me and Cooper on July 18th in Austin. It was great. God preformed a miracle-since my mom was able to make it. We loaded the car and drove home to get the nursery set up. My mom and Nanny helped me put together and put up all the goodies. The nursery turned out so cute! Just a little over a month left before we would meet our little bundle!!

Let's Start with Baby....

Well, since the baby part begins the year-lets start there. Justin and I had been seriously talking about parenthood and the possibility of starting a family beginning in the summer of 2008. We always knew we would want children and of course-being the planner-had a great plan ready. When we finally decided we were ready-I think it was unspoken on both ends-it ended up happening much easier and quicker than both of us realized. God really did have a glorious hand in creating Cooper.
I had been feeling very fatigued for a couple of weeks, sleeping most of the days and nights. Justin had a hunch that I might be pregnant-and of course stubborn me didn't think that could be possible so fast. So, one night (Dec. 18th) after a glass of wine (for both of us) Justin and I went to the local pharmacy and I made Justin go in to buy the pregnancy test (I was too embarrassed-why?) He looked EVERYWHERE! Ha!!! Finally came back out with 2 tests, just to be sure!! I was scared out of my mind......Well after approximately 30 seconds the test was a clear-positive!

Four Funerals and a Baby

Has anyone ever heard of the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral?? Well, if I were to title my life thus far-it would be Four funerals and a Baby. This past 12 months has been such a struggle. Life is so uncertain-a year ago I was getting more and more excited about being a new mom-my mom was making plans to move back to San Antonio, I had just completed my first month at my new job, and we were getting ready for a long overdue vacation to Colorado! Today, I have worked thru my company filing for bankrupcy, finding a new place for my mom, my mom moving back in the middle of the night, being pregnant, my mom and brother reconciling, showers, ER visits, being pregnant, giving birth, my parents reconciling, chemo/radiaiton treatments, ER visits, having a new born, breasfeeding problems, doctors visits, baby coos, lack of sleep, mom moving in, my my brother moving to San Antonio, constant family at the house, PawPaw Wayne passing, Mom passing, Justin's aunt passing, Pops passing and moving into a new house. Whew! So many circumstances to make a person crazy or stronger. We are gonna choose the later. We are gonna make it thru this.