My Pregnancy and Birth Story

"August 7th, 1998. I'm a week late. Nah.... there's no way I'm pregnant. My period will start soon.... I hope."

Through the whole month of August, I worried that I was pregnant. But I put the thought in the back of my mind. Weeks went by and still no period. It was mid September, by the time I finally decided to take a pregnancy test. When I saw the blue line, I couldn't think straight and began to cry. What was I supposed to do? I was only 18... fresh out of high school. I had dreams for my future. Dreams that did not include a baby until much much later.

Weeks went by and I did a lot of soul searching. After long talks and endless nights, my ex and I decided we would keep our baby. Fast forward..... I had my first ultrasound at 20 weeks. Everything was fine. My EDD was now April 12th, 1999. They couldn't tell the sex of the baby. It's legs were crossed tightly.

I had my second ultrasound at 35 weeks. My baby was growing well. My ex came with me this time and we found out the sex of our baby! It was a boy!!! He wasn't shy this time, his legs were wide open!

I had a very good pregnancy. No morning sickness, no problems at all. Finally on April 14th, I had my first contraction at 2:30am. It woke me out of a dead sleep. They were coming about 20 minutes apart. After suffering all day, my ex and I decided to head to the hospital. It was 3 in the afternoon and my contractions were about 6-7 mintues apart. The doctor checked me and I was only 1cm dilated. We walked the hospital for about an hour and I was checked again. Still at only 1cm, I was sent home.

My contractions got more intense and and closer together, 3 minutes apart, so at 11pm, we headed back to the hospital. I was checked once again and still only 1 cm, but I was admitted anyways.

At 2am, I was checked AGAIN. Still..... only 1cm. I was given Nubain through my IV to try to relax me. I relaxed, alright and no sooner did I relax, I woke up screaming that I needed to push! At 4:20 am I was checked again and I was fully dilated! I had dilated so fast that there was no time for an epidural. So I had to give birth naturally.

An hour and a half after I began pushing, at 5:50am, my son Nicolas was born! Weighing 7 lbs, and at 19 inches long, he was a healthy baby boy.

As every day passes, I'm so amazed at my lil' man. He's growing so fast. Zipping through each milestone. I might go to bed each night feeling exhausted, but it's all worth it to wake up to his smiling face each morning.

He's my everything and I love him with all my heart.