Firstborn Meme

I found this at Deb's blog and Alexa's blog, and thought I'd play along!

1. Were you married at the time?
Yes

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant/approved?
Shocked. Unbelieving.

3. How old were you?
32

4. How did you find out you were pregnant?
I thought I had a bladder infection and went to the doctor. He did a urine test and told me that it was clear. Then he did a physical exam and said "Well, when you're pregnant you do pee a lot." I said "I'm not pregnant!" He felt around some more and said "I'm pretty sure you are. I'd guess about 6 months." He went to run a pregnancy test on my urine and I sat there and read a book, expecting him to come back and say "Well, you're not pregnant, so it must be cancer."

Umm, he came back and said "Yep, you're pregnant. Ask them to schedule you an ultrasound at the front desk and I'd find an OB if I were you."

The next day, I had an ultrasound, which dated me at 28 weeks! 12 weeks to the day I found out, C was born.

5. Who did you tell first?
My husband, who was in as much shock as I was.

6. Did you want to find out the sex?
At that point, I felt like I needed to know everything possible!

7. Due date/Expected arrival date:
November 18, 2000

8. Did you deliver/meet your child early or late?
Just a couple days early -- November 14

9. Did you have morning sickness/anxiety?
No. I did have heartburn, but passed it off as getting older. I did have headaches, but I've had those all my life in cycles. I was extra tired for a while, but passed it off as changing jobs and the stress involved. I did go a little crazy during the early months, but that was just passed off as I don't know what. Looking back, I can see how irrational I was about some things (I quit my job and let my boss pretty much beg me to stay; I was overly emotional -- there were just some things that weren't normal.)

10. What did you crave?
watermelon and potatoes and crushed ice

11. Who irritated you the most?
One man in our office -- I still cringe when I think of him.

12. What was your first child’s sex?
Male

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?
10 maybe? I regularly lose weight during my first 2 trimesters and gain some in the last (which I know now after 4 pregnancies)

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy.
Nope

15. Where did you give birth?
hospital

16. How many hours were you in labour?
15

17. Who drove you to the hospital?
My husband

18. Who watched/went with you?
My husband was with me the whole time.

19. Was it vaginal or c-section?
emergency c-section. My water broke and we went to the hospital. I wasn't having contractions, so they started pitocin after a couple hours. THEN the contractions started! I had an epidural in the early afternoon, but it still hurt quite a bit. I just thought it was supposed to continue to hurt. I was dilated, and pushing for almost 3 hours before I started running a fever and the baby's heart decelerated and it was decided I had to have a c-section. After I was cut, it was found that the umbilical cord was knotted and too short to ever have let him come down far enough to be born.

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain/self medicate to calm your nerves?
I had an epidural, which didn't work. Turned out the needle was in the wrong place the entire time I had it - until about 20 minutes before my c-section when they figured it out. I was almost put under for the c-section, but they fixed it just in time.

21. How much did your child weigh?
8 lbs, something (is it terrible I don't remember?)

22. What did you name him/her?
You know I never spell out my kids' names! His first name starts with C and is an old (as in VERY old) nickname for Nicholas. It is Gaelic, and I honored my Gaelic/Irish heritage with it. DH also wanted it to start with a "C" because he thought "CJ" would be a cute nickname. (We've NEVER called him CJ since he was born. oh, well.)

His middle name is Jeremiah. I wanted to name him Jeremiah for his first name, but didn't like Jerry and was afraid that would end up his nickname. I chose Jeremiah for the verse in Jeremiah "Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4)" It just seemed appropriate since I was pregnant for so long without knowing.

23. How old is your first child today?
7yo