I have been avoiding writing about Timothy's pregnancy and birth because remembering everything about this pregnancy and delivery makes me want to sit down and bawl. I have been spoiled with great pregnancies, but this pregnancy definitely broke that record. It was one of those pregnancies that makes you think, "I am NEVER doing this again!" Funny thing is that I know I would do it all over again if it is right to add another child to our family. Well, here it goes . . .
#1 The rash from hell!
It is called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP) or polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP). I call it the pregnacy rash from hell. It usually occurs during first time pregnancies and pregnancies with multiples and often times with a baby boy. This is my 5th pregnancy and 4th boy. It also usually starts on the belly within stretch marks. My rash started on my legs and then my arms. Because it was an atypical case, my doctor and the hospital nurses did not believe me when I said I thought it was the PUPPP's rash. I endured 10 days of 2 hours of sleep or less (not all at once) before I was able to get into a dermatologist who confirmed it was PUPPP's and gave me some wonderful steroids and antihistamines. I was so grateful to her that I wanted to give her a hug and say, "I love you," but I decided that might be a little awkward and just said thank you a million times. It felt like having hives all over my body and by the time I got medicine, it covered both legs entirely, both arms entirely and was about to travel to the rest of my body. Apparently it is uncommon and they know very little about it, so that is why most doctors will make you go to a dermatologist.
#2 The BIG fat lady.
I was HUGE this pregnancy. Here is some proof:
Pregnant with Reuben (I was a similar size with all the previous pregnancies) at 34 weeks:
Pregnant with Timothy at 34 weeks:
I got even bigger! Here I am at 39 weeks, 3 days:
#3 The reward.
It is all worth it for our sweet baby! Here is Timothy born on Thursday, September 29th at 4:51 a.m. and weighing in at 9 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. I just love all of his fat rolls!
The kids LOVE Timothy.
Peter: Peter is starting to ignore the younger kids as he gets older, but he still loves to give Timothy kisses and baby talk to him.
Rigby: The morning Timothy was born, my mom told Rigby that she would show he and Peter a picture as soon as they got ready for school. Now, Rigby is usually the world's slowest child to get ready in the mornings, but this morning he was ready faster than Peter (this has NEVER happened before!). He could not wipe this smile off his face the entire day.
Adeline: Adeline will NOT leave Timothy alone, and she and Reuben continually fight over playing with him, even now that he is 2 months old. Adeline will talk to Timothy for 10-15 minutes to tell him how much she loves him and how cute she thinks he is; in return, Timothy will stare at her, smile and coo.
Reuben: Reuben will often grab Timothy's arms and fling them around. He also smacks the poor baby with toys. Reuben is learning that it is important to be "soft" with babies and Timothy is learning how to be rough at an early age. Reuben cannot say Timothy very well so he calls him "baby Tin."
They ran so much IV fluid through me that I was the Pillsbury Dough Girl! My body could not shed the water weight, so the doctor prescribed me water pills for a few days. Those pills make you feel awful, but it was worth getting rid of this chubby look!
Timothy's discharge weight was 9 lbs. 7 oz. and he was up to his birth weight again by 5 days old. He has a ferocious appetite and eats every two hours.
Adeline gave Timothy a pillow and kisses.
Timothy's Birth Story: I started to have contractions on Wednesday night around 9:15 p.m. I had already been to the hospital twice this pregnancy. Once with contractions and a possible UTI and once because I thought my water had broken (it had not and I felt stupid). So, I waited a few hours before I decided to go in. Around midnight I decided this was the real thing, so Scott and I headed to the hospital while my mom stayed with the kids.
When I got to the hospital I decided to get an epidural, because if the delivery was anything like the pregnancy, I knew there would be some crazy and unexpected twist involved. Each time the anesthesiologist went to insert the needle, my leg would have a very strong muscle spasm. I think he was getting very annoyed with me and said gruffly, "You cannot move when I place the needle!" I said, "I cannot help it." He decided to place the needle somewhere else and that worked out much better. Unfortunately, Timothy's head was against my sciatic nerve along my left leg and I think that affected the distribution of the epidural. My left leg was completely deadened and the rest of my body was numb; but not as much as I would have liked!
When it came time to push, I remember thinking, "This feels different, This feels harder than it did the last couple of times." After pushing for about 8-10 minutes, Timothy was born. As they placed him on my chest, I thought, "Wow, this baby feels big." Scott thought the nurses were joking when they said to take back the newborn diapers for size 1. However, he realized they were serious when the scale registered at 9 pounds, 10 ounces! All of the nurses kept commenting on how chubby he was.
Unfortunately after he was born, I had a little problem. This pregnancy had been very rough on my body; between the pregnancy and delivering a baby who was 2 pounds heavier than any previous deliveries, my body was a little traumatized. I remember talking on the phone with my mom when I started to feel weak and sleepy. I told Scott to call the nurse for me because I was too weak to reach for the call button. The nurse came and saw I was hemorrhaging and my blood pressure was dropping quickly. She called some other nurses and they gave me IV meds to boost my blood pressure and slow the bleeding. They also had to push on my abdomen to get all the blood out. It hurt so badly that every time the pressed I groaned and cried; also, I could feel the blood gushing out each time they pressed on me. One nurse even had to put her hand inside my uterus to scrape out any extra clots. Thankfully I did not need a blood transfusion and my iron levels were acceptable. I definitely never want to feel like that again though! The nurse said that something like this can happen after a traumatic delivery. Good thing this cute boy is worth it!
