Last year was a crazy and very hectic year for us. This time last year we were living in Southern Indiana…Seymour to be exact. We were happy and trying to stay warm. Then my husband found out that he might possibly get a transfer back closer to home. We didn’t say anything to anyone (except I couldn’t keep it from my Mom…so her mouth was zipped!) because we just didn’t know if it would happen and we also didn’t want to get our hopes up. I actually was on the fence about it because I was just beginning to make more friends and we had planned on finding a church home. But, God had other plans… Eric did find out at the end of April that it was a sure thing about the same time that we found out that we were expecting our first child. We had just done a Spartan Race and I was lacking the energy to do it…well I was pregnant! That was why! I was lucky enough to be visiting Texas during this time to tell my parents and grandparents. However, I had to keep it from my closest friends and even my brothers and their families until we could tell Eric’s family. It was so hard not to say anything!
So, April on was a complete whirl wind. I don’t remember half of it because we were trying to get things situated and find a new home in Texas. Eric took a transfer position in Clovis, New Mexico but we wanted to be on the Texas side since we are born and raised Texans….so we chose Muleshoe. Finding a house was VERY frustrating….our first two offers didn’t work out. But the one we ended up with was the right choice for us in the end. We only saw it once and ended up buying it while we were in Indiana. Buying a home 1,800 miles away was not my idea of fun but we had a great realtor (Crista Bass) and loan office (TTUFCU) so that helped a ton. Once we got moved we didn’t get as long as we had thought before the movers showed up. We left Indiana on September 18th and the movers arrived in Texas on September 22nd. We had planned to paint and do all that fun stuff but again…God had other plans. All during this, my baby bump was growing quite rapidly so things became harder and harder for me to do. I went to stay with my parents in Snyder quite a bit (about 3 hours from Muleshoe) while Eric worked on some of the stinky stuff like staining and polyurethaning our new wood floors (more on that later). We had really hoped our home would be somewhat ready before Trinity arrived (I was due on December 31st). However, that didn’t happen as we had hoped.
Before Thanksgiving, I had begun experiencing lots of swelling and high blood pressure. This is common with pregnancy but mine just didn’t feel right. The day before Thanksgiving, I spent some of the afternoon in maternity triage to monitor my BP. Luckily I didn’t stay but about an hour and was sent on my way. Thank goodness! I was going to the doctor and having NSTs (non stress test) every single week since mid-October so all the traveling was really starting to get to me since we live a little over an hour away from Lubbock. The swelling was getting REALLY bad and was diagnosed with pitting edema. I was also getting some very eratic BP numbers as well as significant water weight gain (which I DID NOT need to happen). My doctor (Dr. Farooqi with UMC…LOVE!) had me collect my urine (sorry if this is TMI…but just sharing my journey) for 24 hours. So….on Monday, December 3rd when I went in for my check up my doctor came in and said I had preeclampsia and that she was going to admit me today. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! This threw a kink into EVERYTHING! I did not expect to be admitted! I knew my swelling was bad and the BP numbers were eratic but I just thought she would send me home for bed rest. Since I lived an hour+ away, she didn’t want to take the risk of me having seizures (fun things that can happen with preeclampsia) and not getting the fast help I would need. A hospital stay that I thought would be short ended up being almost 2 weeks. Yikes! I hated staying in the hospital at first but then I just went with it. I tried my best to sleep a lot but all of you who have stayed in the hospital knows how hard that can be. I became very anxious to meet my baby but was so nuts that things weren’t ready. I mean that in every way possible. We had stuff piled in her bed and NOTHING had yet been washed or put away. I didn’t even get to experience “nesting” so my Mom had to do it for me. Praise the Lord for my Mom! As the days went by, my preeclampsia was starting to take over which is what my doctor was waiting for. I was getting pretty severe headaches and nausea. She wanted me to keep the baby cooking as long as possible but it came to a point that I had to be induced. She first stripped my membrane on the 11st which began my labor. Ladies! This HURTS!!! No lie. On 12/12/12, I was taken to labor and delivery and began the inducing process. Since I was preeclamptic, I was given a magnesium IV and it made me feel terrible! I had the worst headache…so bad that it made the contractions seem like a breeze. I don’t really remember the timeline of the entire day but I do recall watching the announcement of the new TTU Red Raider football coach (exciting!) and being told that if my water hadn’t broke by a certain time that my doctor would break it for me. Praise the Lord that my body did it on its own and I have to tell you I thought someone shot a gun. It was the loudest pop I have ever heard but no one else seemed to hear it. Ha! 🙂 From the point everything progressed….
I have to say that the contractions kicked on to a whole other level and it was pain I have never experienced. I had never been more ready for an epidural…like STAT! Getting the epidural wasn’t bad it was just the aftermath….I vomitted almost everytime I moved. UGH! Unfortunately, one side of my body wasn’t too numb so I could literally feel half of the pain so I pumped the epidural juice as much as I could within the amount I could. Sheesh! Now onto the MOST amazing thing! I was finally ready to push!!!! I am not sure if anyone noticed the rush of emotions I had….so excited, nervous and absolutely terrified! When I did start pushing, I had imagined in my head my two trainers I had in Indiana (Hillary and Corey) coaching and pushing me through planks. Yes, it is true! This helped a ton and it helped even more that I had exercised through the majority of my pregnancy. It took me 4 contractions to meet my sweet little Trinity Harlowe. 🙂 Instantly I was overcome with the most amazing feeling. I have never been in love like this before. It was amazing! Eric was amazing! My Mom was amazing! All of the things that I had been through in the 1-1/2 months prior to her arrival was definitely worth it. 🙂 Trinity missed having her birthday as 12/12/12 by 53 minutes but I have to say I am glad. We had watched so much hype and we were glad it was 12/13/12. 🙂 She weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. and was 20 inches long. 🙂 She has stolen my heart!
