pardon my...

short leave of absence....its been a bit busy getting back into the swing of school....and, i am soooo sick. today is the first day i have gotten out of bed since sunday. blech. i dont know when the last time i was this sick....i havent started my new job yet, but i have orientation next week. woot! i am so excited to get back into 'that' swing of things....

blogger wouldnt let me log on today. it said 'there was suspicious activity on my account'. so i just spent the last half hour trying to figure out wth that was all about....maybe its bc i havent been on the computer in over a week....hm. i wonder what 'suspicious activity' entails.

emersyn is about to turn 4. i cannot believe she is almost 4. it seems like just yesterday i found out i was pregnant with her....i had a complicated pregnancy with her. my triple screens came back abnormal-the tests that can show potential birth defects such as neural tube defects, down syndrome, spinal bifida, etc....so at 20 weeks i had to see a perinatologist. kelly and i werent together during this time and i was so scared. the tests often give 'false positives', but it cant be determined until you have further testing....which of course just causes a lot of worrying and stress....i saw the perinatalogist-and he informed me that my little girl was healthy. there were no heart defects, no other problems. except that she was very small. and had a big belly. :) they told me she was going to be little. i never believed this. never. just bc kelly is pretty solidly built. a few weeks after this appointment, i got a kidney infection that landed me in the hospital for the weekend. typically-it can be managed at home, but since i was considered to be a 'high risk pregnancy' b/c of my abnormal triple screens, and uti's and kidney infections while you are pregnant can cause pre-term labor. at 24 weeks, i worked a night shift at the hospital and began to have chest pain. which was really odd. im not a 'heavy' person, and by this time i had only gained about 5 lbs. since i was at the hospital-and know all the doctors, i just plopped myself down to the ER, just to put myself onto the monitor. i began throwing up, and feeling just-sick. i finished my shift out at the hospital, and when i left in the morning, i called my OB/GYN. the dr. on call wanted me to go to the hospital, this time as an actual patient...i went to our 'sister' hospital, since it was closer to home and (heaven forbid) if anything happens, they have a NICU onsite. by then, my chest pain was gone, but i still didnt feel good. they sent me to the OB floor to be monitored, and lo and behold, i was having contractions. i couldnt feel them, but they were fairly consistent. they decided to 'check' me, just to make sure i wasnt dialating. i was. i was dialated at 1. so now, we were in a whole new ball game. i was only 24 weeks.....it was too soon to have this baby....i spent another weekend in the hospital, on multiple drugs to stop the preterm labor(i wouldnt wish magnesium sulfate on ANYONE). it seemed to 'subside' and i went home. on bedrest. STRICT bedrest. i couldnt even pick jaelynn up and carry her. i could only get up to pee. it sucked-but worth it. i went in every week for an ultrasound and a stress test. finally at 32 weeks, they took me off the strict bedrest. they continued to say emersyn was going to be 'small'. i still didnt believe this.....but....at my 36 week appt. they did an ultrasound, found that for some reason i had a larger than normal amount of amniotic fluid-which they said wasnt a big deal, but ALSO found that our 'little' emersyn was weighing in at over 8lbs.....

yeah. i called that one. so, technically, i had 4 weeks to go. but my dr. didnt want to wait-with all the issues throughout my pregnancy, and mostly-he said, he didnt want her to get any bigger.....he said my 'bone structure' was that of a small frame and would not be able to accomodate such a large baby.....(your telling me) so-we were going to induce the following week, at 37 1/2 weeks.

on the day of her delivery, i went in and they broke my water pretty much right away. i was already dialated at 2. when i have pain, i puke. i was doing okay, but all the sudden the contractions started coming fast and hard.....she checked me and i went from 2-8 in a matter of 15 minutes. they called for my epidural-which i recommend every mother should seriously consider. it took only on one side. so after an extra dose of epidural medicine-i was completely dialated. and super numb. my dr. came in to help deliver, but i was too numb to push.....so they turned off my epidural (yikes) and was going to come back once i had a 'little more feeling'....but.....as he started to walk out, emersyn's heart rate took a swan dive. now there was no choice. she had flipped herself over-they call it 'sunny side up' and had gotten the cord wrapped around her neck. all at once, there was a million people in the room. i was freaking out. this is one of those times, as a nurse, you wish you werent a nurse. bc you just know TOO much. i knew exactly what was happening and it wasnt good. they got the vacuum and forceps, and in a matter of seconds, she was out. all 8lbs. 4oz. of her. and she was beautiful.


so, long story. complicated pregnancy. complicated delivery.

healthy baby-priceless.

happy birthday baby girl.