Birth Story Novel

Here is Katelyn's birthday story. Pictures to come when I get my camera working with our computer.

I was due the 26, but nothing had been happening. According to my mom, she was 11 days overdue with me, so I wasn't expecting anything to happen for a while. Monday morning I got out of bed and I felt a little wet, but nothing serious. No gushing water break. I talked to a friend that afternoon and she said she had felt the same thing and that it wasn't a big deal according to her doctor. I had an appointment scheduled for that Wednesday and thought I would wait until then. Tuesday morning 2am, I felt some severe cramping but nothing that I was able to time. After an hour or two they went away and I could go back to sleep. Nothing happened all day Tuesday. Wednesday morning, the same cramping pain was back at 2am. It continued on and off again for the entire morning. So I went to my appointment and told my doctor what I had been feeling. She checked me and did a slide to see if my wetness was amniotic fluid. It was. My water had broke Monday morning and I was expecting "the gush" everyone talks about. So she said I was going to have a baby that day.

What's funny is that Jason had been asking me everyday and everytime he called me, "Are you going to have a baby?" He had asked me that morning, I said I would see. I had had a feeling that morning that something like this would happen when I went to the doctor. Once Dr. Spomer saw that it was amniotic fluid, she called the hospital, which is next door to the clinic, and let them know that I was on my way. I called Jason from the doctor's office and let him know that he was to clean up his job and go home and get my suitcase, cause we were going to have a baby! He couldn't believe it and I think was kind of shocked. I got my first ride in a wheel chair as Misty the nurse, pushed me down to the Baby wing. I got settled in my bed, met the nurse who would sit with me. I never had a moment by myself, which wasn't all bad. There was always a nurse in the room with me. They put all the info into a laptop right beside me and she can monitor me better. So 11:30 am I checked in and my doctor schedule Pitocin induction for 1:30pm. I was only 1 cm dialated, unlike her assistant Lisa, who thought I was at 3 the week before when my doctor was away on a trip. I was so hoping that I wouldn't go into labor when she was away, which I didn't.

Jason had called our friends Quin and Tracy and they were in town so they stopped by and chatted with us for a while as we waited for them to start the pitocin. I was still having cramping contractions but they weren't too bad. 1:30 came and they brought the pitocin a little later and we got hooked up to it. I had also been given some antibiotics as a precaution since my water had been broken for 2 days and also some fluids so I wouldn't get dehydrated. Once I was on the pitocin, the contractions were getting more frequent and more intense. I was going to go as long as I could handle them and see how hard they would get before I would ask for something. They were coming really fast and would last for 60-90 seconds with 30 seconds in between. Around 4ish, I was really starting to get overwhelmed with having no breaks in between contractions and the anticipation of the next one. I tried the breathing and concentration techniques but they just weren't working. I was starting to lose it and Jason and the nurses had to tell me to breath because I would hold my breath. I had asked a nurse for the first drug I could get and she told me it doesn't do a whole lot. It didn't help at all. Jason said the contractions were registering off the chart and the nurses said other women would be screaming at that point, but I held it together and never had the urge to scream.

Bring on the epidural. The doctor took a while to get there and made the joke about me walking down to the operating room so he could do it there. HA HA, not so funny. 4:30pm I was sitting up for the epidural but the contractions were so close together that I had to tell the doctor when I was having one. As I was sitting up, I got light headed and thought I was going to throw up. Once it was over, they noticed that the baby's heartrate went way down and my blood pressure had dropped. Doctor Spomer was there monitoring and was very concerned about the drops we were having. She didn't know why and I didn't say I had felt faint. I was put on oxygen for the rest of the time hoping that would bring up her heartrate. The stomach monitors were also taken off because they weren't giving accurate readings of my contractions or her heartbeat. Instead I had to have internal monitors put in for the contractions and one ontop of her head to read her heartbeats more accurately. I was feeling really good after the epidural but was scared that she would want to do a c-section. Spomer didn't want to let me go too long if there was no improvements. Jason called our pastor and some friends to start praying that we wouldn't need to do a c-section. We both were praying and just waiting. The heartbeat took awhile to improve and thankfully Spomer was patient and didn't rush with any decision. After an hour or more, she decided that we were doing okay. She told the operating room that we wouldn't be coming in, we would be on our own. My room was a constant flow of people. We had nurses and doctors and a medical student in there and we were laughing and talking. By 7:50 pm I was a full 10 cm and the bed was broken down so we could start pushing. Thankfully I had enough drug in me that I never felt any pain with pushing or when Katelyn was born. I was so thankful for that. 8:30pm she popped out and I opened my eyes to see a little blue baby with eyes wide open, in the arms of my doctor. She couldn't put her on my chest because she had had a bowel movement inside and was handed off to another doctor. My doctor didn't even look to see what we had had. So I asked as she was handed off what we had and the nurse said "it's a girl!" Jason was excited and was taking pictures of her as she was cleaned off and suctioned. She didn't cry until a long time after and it wasn't a very big cry. They thought they would have to put her in some oxygen for a while but again my doctor came through and said to give her to me for some skin to skin. They like to do that for at least an hour or two. She was pink and wide awake and didn't need to go on any oxygen. Our pastor and his wife and Quin and Tracy were waiting in outside and they came in to see her. When she was weighed later on, she came in at 7lbs 14 oz. and 18 inches long.

We had really great nurses and I love my doctor. She was so easy going and friendly. Looking back now almost 3 weeks later, I can't believe I went through it all, but I would do it again. I love this little girl and I just want to keep her small forever. I'm not worried if stuff doesn't always get done, because I'm taking the time to snuggle and hold my girl.

Katelyn Rose Pellegrino!

She's here! Pictures to come, not that we haven't taken any. If you want one of the first pictures at the hospital, go to www.pvhc.org. and go to the birthplace and under the month of April 2009. These are all of the babies of the month, but as of today, she was not on there. She was born April 29th.

When I've got more time, I'll write down the whole birthstory. It's a miracle.

No Baby yet!

I've made it out of my house to the library for some errands on the net. Surprising you can have errands on the internet, but I do and this is one of them and checking up on everyone else.

No developments so far as far as baby at my last friday appointment. I was closed for business. I do have another appointment tomorrow and maybe things have changed. It seems like it's sitting more on my bladder than before. This probably happened due to our weekend events. After church on sunday, we drove up Clarks Fork Canyon with some friends and took a 4 wheeler/jeep trail in a suburban. Let's say it was bumpy, but not too bad that I was extremely uncomfortable. The guys went fishing while myself and Tracy sat around the fire. We weren't there for long and we were in the truck again. Tracy said that a bumpy ride started her contractions with her first, but I'm hoping that it didn't do anything but maybe drop it. My doctor informed me on Friday that she is leaving the 22-25th of APRIL! I'm due the 26th! So now I'm praying that I don't go into labor this weekend because I really want her to deliver and not some man I don't know. We'll see, this could be a very long week. Just pray with me that this little one will not make their entrance until next week. I still can't believe I'm going to have to go through the birth process. AAAHHH!! I"ve been watching a Baby Story on TLC to get myself prepared for this next "adventure". I can't help but tear up when I see the end result.

I have enjoyed being at home and doing what I want. I finally, after 7 long years, have finished my DTS scrapbook! It feels so good to have that thing out of the way. I've since moved on to our honeymoon, because that would be a short one to add to our album. I have yet to start a pregnancy book, but I don't have any pictures of the two of us. Just my weekly update photos. So that one could be short too. I've also been keeping a journal that I occasionally write in. I've also had grand intentions of making food for the freezer, but that just hasn't happened yet.

Somehow, someway, I'll keep you all posted on the upcoming details.

38 weeks!

Last Post for a while

I'm sitting at the end of an "era". My life is going to be radically changing before me. Tomorrow is my last day of work and while it's a good thing, it's kind of sad too. I've told them that I'm just taking a leave to have the baby, and most of them know that I probably won't be back. I don't want to terminate my position just yet, because the insurance is what is paying for this baby. It will when we finally meet the deductible. Anyways... I've been at this job for my 4th year now and it's been my routine. I've also been lucky enough to have a personal computer that I've been taking home and been able to use at my whim. Well, that too will leave me tomorrow as I hand in my computer and keys. I was not sent off without a little baby shower. I did bring my camera but was too embarrased to ask anyone to take some photos, but I did take a shot of the gifts that were given to me.
These were from some of the ladies that work in the special ed. department. It was not expected at all but much appreciated. Some much needed zip-up jumpers, 5 onesie shirts, a thermometer, burp clothes, 2 homemade blankets, a book and rattle and a little bit of cash. Right now, our baby is going to be wearing a lot of yellow. They even decorated a couple of tables and had bought a little cake with little plastic blocks and balloons. My face was red of course, being the center of attention. We even had one of the guys show up who definitely looked out of place and didn't stay very long, but we all had a chuckle.


This is the belly at 35 weeks (2 1/2 weeks ago) and this is the belly today at 37 weeks and 3 days. Yep, I'm still getting bigger. I still can't believe that I'm going to be having a baby!

I don't know how soon I'll be able to post pictures of the baby or make an announcement about it due to the loss of a computer with internet. We plan to buy a laptop sometime soon so we can once again stay connected. Hopefully, it won't be too long.

Last Hoorah! (Buckle up, it's a long one)

Oh how absence makes the heart grow fonder!

3 weekends ago, I made the trip down to Denver to see my lonesome husband. He had been working and living with his cousin for 3 weeks in February and desperately wanted me to come down and see the big city. It was just my luck that a friend was driving down to Cheyenne, WY the same Friday I was wanting to leave and was willing to risk driving with a 7 month pregnant woman. This saved me a lot of money, not having to fly from Billings to Denver. I sure wasn't going to drive down by myself. He was kind of nervous that I would go into labor on the way and wouldn't know what to do. You would have to know Rob Hill, to know that he gets teased quite a lot for some of the things he says or does, from some mutual friends we have. Plus, he's from England and has the whole accent thing going too. Anyways... we made it to Cheyenne in one piece, 6 1/2 hrs later and found Jason sitting in Rob's hotel parking lot. I kind of had that butterfly feeling in my stomach because of the anticipation and couldn't quite smiling. It was kind of like we were dating again. After gathering all my stuff, it was off to Sonic for a quick bite and off driving again for another 1 1/2 hrs.

We stayed with Jason's great-uncle Paul and his wife Carol. They were so sweet. Saturday morning, we observed Paul's ritual of feeding his squirrels. He lays out a couple handfuls of peanuts in the shell and they watch 10 different squirrels come in and eat them. It's quite comical to watch, because they come from everywhere. Because the peanuts were salted, the poor squirrels were licking some water off of their pool tarp. Jason suggested giving them some water. Paul got out a pie plate and filled it up. Sure enough, a few of the squirrels went and drank from the plate. So to add to Paul's feeding of peanuts, he now gives them water.


After breakfast, we headed out on the town to find some baby shops where we could look for some much needed items. Our area doesn't have a lot of stores geared towards baby or kid items. I had wanted to find Babies R Us and we did. You could spend so much money on so much stuff for kids there. Our big ticket item that I wanted to find was a stroller/car seat combo. They were all pretty expensive, and the cheaper ones had the four plastic tires which we didn't want. Jason found a set that we both liked but there was none to be had because they were a good price. We walked down the aisle and found the exact same one just sitting there. So we asked a salesman and he said that he would give us 20% off! There was nothing wrong with it but it was probably a model. That was a huge saving. A $200 stroller for $160! And the colors are unisex, grey and green. I was pushing it around the store to see how it would maneuver, which it turns on a dime. We're both pumped to go for walks with it. Jason loves all the adjustment on it and the wheels make it push really smooth.
I also wanted to get a changing pad for on top of a dresser instead of buying a change table. So we found that, and an over the door hanger with canvas baskets to hold things for later and just some other little things. We've still got a long ways to go. We found another store that sold used clothing, but it's so hard to buy clothes when you don't know what you're having. So we've held off on that. I'll buy a few jumpers just so we have something to take our bundle home in and then we can go shopping or borrow clothes for the gender. If it's a girl, I've got a couple of friends who said they were willing to lend me clothes.

Late afternoon, we headed over to the "sacred" Bass Pro Shop outdoor store. This story was HUGE! Jason had spent quite a few hours here by himself and he was so excited to show it to me. This was a room full of very expensive guns. I had to wipe the drool from Jason's mouth and sometimes pull him from this room, to keep moving.
This is just one example of the many mounts they had all over the store. They had a huge aquarium with oversized fish and this 100lb catfish which was huge. The elevator went behind the waterfall that fed the tank and the glass. They also had a full restaurant, which we had to eat at. Here, I'm trying Alligator, which was really good if you didn't get a piece that was terribly chewy but it was really tender. The dipping sauce was good too. I tried Mahi Mahi and Jason had the Salmon.
Right in front of us, there was a 15,000 gal salt water aquarium filled with all kinds of fish. There was this one fish that was so funny. He would swim the whole length of the glass, float up, turn around and he was off again. He did this the whole time we were there. We could just hear him say, "There has got to be a way out of here. I know I'll find it." We asked a waitress about it and she said that it does not stop. He does it even when they close.

We made a few more stops and then headed to a hotel for the night. It seems like forever since we stayed in one and Jason knows that I like to because it feels like a vacation. He had the fortunate opportunity to work for a lady who worked at the DoubleTree hotel. She was able and willing to book us a suite room for $54/night! Unfortunately, we didn't have any swim suits, otherwise we would have made use of the pool. We were both so tired from walking all day that we crashed pretty early. While being in Denver, Jason had been going to Vineyard church for the services. After another quick breakfast, we headed across town to church. The music was really good.

I met his cousin Dan for the first time in 7 years, since the last time I met him. We went out to lunch to a cajun restaurant called Papadeaux. We all stuffed ourselves on their brunch buffet. The guys wanted to look at guitars, so they played around for a while at a nearby store. We headed back to Paul and Carol's for a nap and then went for supper with them. Paul has always been into cars, and has a Jaguar sitting in his garage. He opted to take us for a ride in it and showed us some of its power, much to our delight.

Monday came all too soon and it was time to pack up and drive home. But we had to stop first for some Chic-fil-a and get some sweet tea for the hubs and food for the babe. If it sounds like all we did was eat, we did. Jason thought it was so much fun to expose me to some of the things he grew up with in Texas, like Sonic and Chic-fil-a, and some of the tastes he discovered in Denver. I didn't mind, I was on vacation. And this kind of was our last big trip just the two of us. It won't take long and I'm going to pop. This is the 33 week body, very attractive. HA HA! I look at these pictures and think I'm so huge, but me looking down, I don't feel that huge. Go figure.

Tired of being Sick and Tired!

As I sat at my desk yesterday morning, I noticed my throat felt kind of sore and my nose started to feel fuller. Great, I'm getting a cold! After going all winter long with no sniffling colds, but one day of stomach flu, I thought I was doing really well. Somehow I couldn't outrun the sniffling virus that has plagued so many at school. I almost had a panic attack about being sick and pregnant at the same time. It's been bad enough that my nose plugs at night and I have to breath out of the mouth to sleep because of pregnancy. Now, as I was trying to drink and not be able to breath at the same time, I had a rush of feeling like I was drowning OUT OF WATER! Thankfully it passed.

Sleep has also been a struggle for me lately. My internal alarm clock is now set to 2:30 AM and has made it a struggle to sleep after that time. It's not the most restful sleep after 2:30, but I get in some extra minutes, only to wake up ever hour after that or to a nudge from the hubby to get the freight train to stop snoring in his bed. This makes work somewhat difficult. I sit a lot of the time in class and have found myself fighting the heaviness of my lids at every part of the day. I get up and walk, take a drink, eat something, only to sit and feel some relief for a few minutes. The human body is amazing though. As soon as the final bell rings, it's amazing how awake I feel and ready to go home. I think I may get a quick nap in before supper, but I'm not a napper.

Really, I can't complain with how I've been feeling through this very quick pregnancy. 6 1/2 weeks left until the due date! And still, no nailed down names. We haven't really discussed anything. We did start our prenatal class last Thursday. There is an apparent baby boom in the midst of a recession. Our class has 15 couples signed up in one class. The due dates range from April 25 - mid June. So there is a span but not by much.