So it's literally been 17 months since I've written a blog post but I wanted to write down Teddy's birth story since its still fresh in my mind.
Our sweet Teddy has been a surprise from the get go. We weren't trying to get pregnant since we just had our little Charlotte 9 months prior, Sean was starting his masters program down at BYU, and got called to be Elders quorum president in our ward. We'd literally decided Sunday night that we'd wait at least another 2 years till we had another one since our lives were pretty busy at the moment and Sean was never home due to all his demands.
Well low and behold I was already pregnant! It had taken us almost a year to get pregnant with Charlotte, we figured it would take just as long. Let me tell you, it really only takes once!
That following wednesday, May 10th which is Mother's Day in Mexico, I realized I was "late" and I just happen to have an extra pregnancy test. I was still nursing Charlotte and my monthly cycle had been short some months and long other months, not regular at all. So I figured eh, what the heck I'll just see what happens. Low and behold a big fat positive sign showed up. I couldn't really compute in my mind what had just happened! I traced bak to when it could've possibly happened and I guess luck was on our side. I texted Sean the picture of the positive pregnancy test and said, "happy mother's day! You're gonna be a dad for the 4th time" he didn't believe me at first so I had to send him a video of the pregnancy test. Then he texted back "well, here we go again!" needless to say, after we let things settle, we were very happy.
That following Sunday was Mother's day so we told all of Sean's family. We then geared up for morning sickness and all the joys that pregnancy has to offer and tried our hardest to prepare ourselves for four kids under that age of 5!
Time passed and my morning sickness never showed up. I had my 8 week dr appointment and the were the little nugget, heartbeat and all. It was beautiful! My due date was set for January 19th. 2018.
As I got further in to my pregnancy, I got more and more uncomfortable. We found out we were expecting another little boy and were thrilled! When I had my 28 weeks appointment, little dude was measuring really large and the midwives thought I had hydroamnios which it too much fluid in my belly which could be harmful to baby. I had ultrasound after ultrasound monitoring him and all turned out well after all.
All my previous pregnancies, I've delivered about 2 weeks early so I just assumed this little guy would follow suit. Jokes on me! At my 38 week appointment I was dilated to a 3+ and 80% effaced so I for sure thought I'd go in to labor that week just like my other pregnancies. I'd set an induction date just in case he didn't show up by 39 weeks. Low and behold, 39 weeks came and I was still pregnant. Of course the Hospital was booked up to high heck so it was looking like I wouldn't even be able to have this little guy on my induction date (January 12th). That evening I wasn't feeling this little dude move very much and was getting nervous. at 6:15 pm the hospital called and said they had room for me. I got so excited! Sean and I headed home, grabbed my stuff and then he dropped me off at the hospital so he could head home to bathe all the kids and put them to bed, then come over to be with me.
Around 8pm I got my epidural and immediately I had a metallic taste in my mouth as soon as they pushed the epidural meds through. The anesthesiologist had to stop, flush me out, and try again in 20 minutes. 20 minutes past and Zach (the anesthesiologist) came back in and tried again. the metallic taste came back so he had to flush me out, wait 20 minutes and try again. this happened 2 more times in a matter of 3 and a half hours. Finally, around midnight m epidural was fixed and we were able to get going. shortly after, little buddy's heart rate dropped pretty low and they had to rush in and break my water to put a head heart rate monitor on his head. he started regulating once again and we were able to move forward. By this time it was 1 am and they had to take me off pitocin and my epidural medication to monitor baby. I labored on my own which was not fun at all, having contractions every 2 minutes that which only got worse. I dilated from a 7 to a 10 in less than 5 minutes so they had to call my midwife to tell her I was ready to go. I sat there for 45 minutes trying to hold this baby in while my midwife got to the hospital. It was horrible. Finally, she showed up and after one push my little baby boy was out. He was born at 2:45 am weighing a teeny tiny 6 lbs 12 oz and only 17.5 inches long. He was blue as could be and it freaked me out. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and it took him a bit to pink up but he finally did. I started feeling really woozy and lightheaded and next thing I know there were dozens of people surrounding me checking me, giving me oxygen, and trying to wake me up. Apparently I passed out from pushing too hard. Finally, after all was settled, I got to hold my sweet, tiny, baby boy who is absolutely perfect. We named him Theodore Anson Bowman. Theodore after my maternal grandpa who'd recently passed away and Anson after my great great paternal grandpa who was good friends with Joseph Smith.
This has probably been one of the worst labors for me but I feel so blessed to have Teddy here with us a, safe and healthy. Im grateful for Sean for being there for me always and for my seeet hannah, Deveroux, and Charlie who love tos baby like no other.
Yay for motherhood!
