I found out about my little surprise sometime in October 1999. Great! Just in time to be sick enough to not enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas. My first pregnancy was all but glorious so I expected to not 'glow' early on. I wasn't prepared to 'not glow at all- ever'! This little one had me ready to pull him out around week 9! lol The whole 'morning sickness' didn't subside until month 8! I couldn't even hold water down. It was an experience that left me NEVER wanting to go through that again. :) I did the best I could with what I had going on, but at 6 months I found myself out of work and in the hospital in labor. Yes, this child wanted out. Who could blame him? I had the whole exorcist thing happening. But no luck for him. It was too soon for him to be born. I tried everything..."what about those incubator things? What about sticking him under a lamp? I don't know, do something!! This kid is killing me!" I won't mention how I pulled the nurse by her shirt down towards my face and threatened her! lol After being punctured with needle after needle after needle and having bruises all up and down my arms, I finally was able to rest in bed for a couple days. They fed me intravenously so I didn't have to worry about throwing up anything that went in my mouth! I was pleased to finally be settled even though I was sporting a crack whorish look with my 'track' marks! lol Totally not the look I was going for. I was hoping I looked beautiful, happy and full of joy...instead I looked, well, like a crack addict. Fun!
Fast forward to month 8. Cereal. Any kind, anytime, anywhere! That's what Austin craved, that's what Austin got. A L O T of it! We're talking 2 gallons of whole milk plus roughly about 4-5 boxes of cereal a week. I didn't sleep. I ate. Austin didn't sleep either. He ate. This was an all night affair with my belly, my baby and our tubs of cereal. All of my weight was gained in month 8. Month 8 seemed to be very memorable for me.... I could finally eat with no problem, I gained all my weight (up to 147 to be exact!!), enjoyed my baby shower and prepared for delivery. Make no mistake... I still was NOT glowing and was ready to get this kid out. My 'crack whore' look had finally diminished but I was now sporting the 'cow' look. I had no clothes that fit- NONE. I wasn't about to go out and purchase maternity clothes for the two weeks I had left. Instead, I opted for the 'house husband' look which consisted of really big boxer shorts and a totally over sized tee shirts found, probably in the back of some one's closet! I didn't care. I was comfortable, eating and enjoying Oprah. Another week passed and more weight added. I literally thought this kid's feet were gonna fly out of my mouth! How did I even have enough room for biggins? I only weighed 116 prior to deciding on a child. Now I was carrying more weight than I ever had in my entire life! How was this happening? When I delivered my first son I weighed 126. Not too bad. This monster, however, was tearing me up! Even more scary....how would I deliver baby Kong? I spoke with my doctor and begged (I'm not kidding), BEGGED her to schedule a delivery before he got to a whopping 50 pounds and I die. She said no and that I would have to wait until the actual delivery date which was still four weeks away. YOU. HAVE. GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. Fine. I tried everything! And I DO MEAN EVERYTHING to induce my own labor, but nothing. Austin had finally become comfortable with his home and being fed 500 bowls of cereal a day. Oh no! We're not having this!! I spoke with my doctor again and begged (still not kidding) her to schedule a date. She agreed. However, she was going on vacation and would be back in one week. PERFECT! "Can we schedule it, pleeeease?" "Yes", she says. "How about Tuesday, July 4th? A Fourth of July baby!" "Listen here Lady, I have been begging you to get him out since my 6th month! I need him out yesterday, but MONDAY, JULY 3RD will be just fine!" Done. The date scheduled, time in place, bags packed, room ready, hair highlighted, pre-pregnancy wardrobe ready to go, legs shaved (thanks to some help I had), and all babysitters ready to work their shifts.
Delivery day. July 3, 2000. Check in, 5am. My first pregnancy took over 13 hours. I figured I would be here for a while. The doctor comes in, greets us all and asks if I'm ready. Hmmm,,,, I'm pretty sure she did not appreciate the sarcastic gesture I gave her.. just kidding, but in my head I slapped her a few times! lol Regress. She checks me out, makes sure all is ready for the main event that should happen later in the day... much later. They start the pitocin (to induce labor) at 8am. "I've had a baby before, I won't need an epidural." What voice said that??? "I'll do this all nat-u-ral", the voice says again out of nowhere. "Ummm...no you won't", I yelled out. At this point my mom and Aunt Hilda come in the room to visit. Really? Visit? I have an al-fresco thing going on and they wanna visit? Ok. No problem. It'll be good to have Thelma and Louise make me laugh. But there was no laughing soon enough and I needed the meds- ASAP! My contractions were coming very fast and very hard. I didn't know what was going on!! All I knew is I was taking back every word that stupid little voice said about not needing the drugs!!! Thankfully, I was within the time frame to get the epidural. They shot me up and I was good. The time now was about 10am. Contractions closer, harder, longer and I felt nada! Yay. The doctor comes in, checks me and says, "oh you still have a ways to go. I'm gonna have lunch and I'll be back in about an hour." Fine, I thought. She's the doc, she knows. So Gracie and Hilda decide to do the same. No sooner had they left and I felt 'the urge'. Uh oh. "Um, 'scuse me,,,,can I get a nurse in here? I think this kid is looking to make his debut." lol The nurse comes in and calmly says to the other nurse, "can you call the doctor? She's very close." She failed to tell me this child would be born in a matter of minutes! Yikes!!
The doctor rushes in just in time to put her gloves on and catch Austin as he makes his way into the world! Gracie and Hilda ran in with lettuce hanging off their lips too! lol The sweet cries of my baby boy had finally sounded. Austin James was born at 12:05pm, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Now, I was complete. I held my big boy and just thought, "you we're the little guy causing all this trouble? You made me that sick for so long? You're my cereal boy? Oh, how I just loooooove you!!! Welcome A.J. Happy birthday baby boy! You're my everything! I had MY fireworks on YOUR birthday."
Austin 5 months
Austin, playing in the tub!
Austin sleeping
I love this kid!
May God keep you safe all the days of your life! I love you. Happy Birthday baby!
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