Charlotte's Birth Story

Disclosure that personal information follows...
On the 2nd I went to the doctor for an appointment. They told me, again, that I was close to labor and wouldn't see my due date.  However, my blood pressure was 150/90. Extremely high since it had been under 120/80 for my entire pregnancy.  Obviously the doctor was concerned, and sent me for lab work, and told me to quit working.  I agreed to the lab work, but begged to see my 11 o'clock patient.  After some convincing she told me to see the patient and then go straight home.  I got my blood work and my 24 hour pee bucket and went back to work.  I was really upset.  I wanted as little intervention as possible for my birth and I wanted to work up until I popped the baby out.  I felt so disappointed, but went back to work to tie things up.  I extracted a tooth on my patient then went and told my boss (still crying) that I had to be finished working.  I went home (with my 24 hour pee bucket) and started to see the silver lining.  I figured that since I was only 38 weeks I had a least 1 week of total freedom until I would fight induction at 39 weeks.  I didn't even bother nesting that day because I had at least 1 more week to finish everything.

The next day I woke up and used my modified bed rest as an excuse to forgo the gym.  I got ready for the day and at noon got in the car to meet my brother for his birthday lunch.  Then I got a call from my doctor's office saying to head straight to the hospital. The poor nurse who had seen my breakdown the day before was the one who had to deliver the news.  Embarrassing.  Since I had used my favor to finish work the day before, I didn't argue much.  However, the moment I hung up the tears returned.  I felt my liberal birth plan was out the window.  The one thing I was opposed to was induction.  I called Austin and somehow he figured out to head home even through my crying. My house, which had been clean everyday in preparation for our departure, was a mess, but we grabbed what we needed and left it behind.  We got to the hospital and everyone was congratulating us on being induced.  They were oblivious to the fact that I looked like I was heading to a funeral. Looking back I don't know why I felt like I did, but I was so upset about having to be induced.  The doctor walked in and all I said was, I don't want a c-section.  He thought I was crazy and tried to talk me down.  With some convincing I held him off on starting the blood pressure medicine because I didn't want to slow labor and he applied prostaglandins topically to start things going.  Within the hour my contractions were every 2 minutes. They came in 2 hours later and checked me.  I was at a 4 so they broke my water.  I should have gotten the epidural before this because it made labor unbearable.  I couldn't move from my bed and by the time the anesthesiologist reached me I had lost control.  My saving grace was eating popsicles and tootsie roll suckers.  The epidural was great.  It didn't ever take away the full extent of the pain, but took the edge off and allowed me to breath through contractions.  They kept asking if I wanted the doctor to check it, but to me it was a good amount of pain.  Within an hour I felt pressure, but didn't believe I could have dilated so quickly so I didn't tell anyone.  I told my mom to go home for a little bit because I thought it would be a while.  The doctor came and checked me 2 hours later and was very surprised that I was fully dilated.  He had me practice push and I must have done a poor job because he then said he was going to be back in a while.  An hour later a nurse came and told me that he was going to do a c-section and would be back in an hour.  So I sat fully dilated for at least 3 hours.  He came in and I pushed for 20 minutes and then the most perfect being I have ever seen was placed in my arms!

Austin was my lifeline during my hospital stay.  I never changed a diaper and he handled the recovery grossness better than me.  I realized how fun it is to live by family because it was so great having a steady stream of visitors.  We kept telling Charlotte how loved she is because if it wasn't visitors coming in it was flowers! I was scared to leave the hospital because of how poor I still felt, but between my mom and Austin it was so nice to be out of there! I am so grateful for them and couldn't have survived without them.  More about our first weeks soon, but until then... hospital pics.

Charlotte Diane Johnson

February 3, 2015

6 pounds 3 ounces

18.5 inches long

A little Southern Charm for our Charlotte

When we picked out the name Charlotte for our little girl my sisters immediately started planning a Southern brunch baby shower.  From the biscuit bar to the copious amount of yellow and gray to match her nursery... it was the best shower I have been to (even without my personal bias).  I felt so overwhelmed by the amazing generosity and love.  Not only from my mom and sisters, but from my aunts and friends who traveled to attend! I just kept looking around in awe that so many people love and support our little family.  Be prepared for a million pictures because I just can't get over how beautiful it was! 

Meredith is an expert diaper cake boss. She planned this cake for 6 months. It included 316 size 2 diapers, crib sheet, 4 receiving blankets, headbands and decorations! I would run into her at Target and every time she had more diapers in her basket.  I have to say all her work was worth it because it was the hit of the shower! I am still admiring how amazing it turned out. 

                                 

We played the embarrassing ribbon around my giant belly game.  For the record NO ONE's ribbon was too short.  Always good to find out you look bigger than you are ;)

The day of our ultrasound my best friend's mom, Cathy, called to tell me she would make me a quilt!  I was ecstatic because her quilts are unbelievable.  She took me to Ft. Collins to pick out fabric and then I had to wait 3 long months to see it.  Even knowing how amazing she is, I was not prepared for how perfect Charlotte's quilt would be! My cheesy smile gives away how excited I was to have it.

I made Austin come help me open presents because I was getting embarrassed with all the attention on me!

Jessica and Emily left Friday night to be here for my Saturday shower.  It was one of those gestures that made the shower even more magical and I'm so grateful for their sacrifice!

I'm so grateful that Charlotte will have such wonderful people in her life.

Most of the pictures are curtesy of Austin's amazing aunt... who is Charlotte's official photographer!

Holiday overload

I am officially over the holidays.  Normally I can't get enough, but this year I had plenty.  I started out the Christmas season with a last "girls trip" before the baby to Salt Lake.   My mom and I shopped from opening to closing of stores and had so much fun getting ready for Christmas!

Our neighborhood does a Christmas light contest every year.  Last year we thought ahead and found this blow up on clearance at Lowe's.  I bought it thinking that for a hundred bucks a 4 ft blow up was a bargain!  However, this year when we blew it up it was actually 12 feet and as tall as our house! Even with this white trash blow up, somehow we lost! I think it was fixed.

In my Grinchlike state I couldn't stomach the thought of buying, decorating and cleaning up after a Christmas tree.  Luckily my mom sent this mini version for a little Christmas bling.

 We then had Christmas parties every weekend night, and were already feeling ready to be finished.  Unfortunately, for actual Christmas, Austin and I counted that we opened presents on 5 different occasions.  My family had two Christmases and his family had two Christmases and we had our own little Christmas... it was a lot.  In total we had 6 holiday meals! It was so fun, but at 8 pregnant, I was exhausted!

                                           

2014 was one of the best years of my life.  It brought 2 amazing job opportunities, a new baby on the way and so many wonderful memories.  We both feel beyond blessed for the life that we have.  2015 will be quite the change, but we are so looking forward to parenthood.

Ultrasound Take 2

Our first ultrasound was slightly disappointing because our little girl only wanted to show us her little bottom.  We tried to move her and she just wasn't interested in being seen! So we had to go for a follow-up, and itt was so much more fun this time.  Since Austin has size 14 shoes he is always concerned about the size of the baby's feet.  So even though the doctor thinks we are crazy, we have made sure to track growth.  They were 5.5 cm (which via google is normal).

The best part of the day was when we got to see her sweet little face.  The ultrasound tech got to her face and I saw the cutest pouty lips that I have ever seen. Then she switched to the 4-d and I about died at how cute she already looks.  We had people come in to the room just to sneak a peek.  The tech was so impressed at how cute and chubby she was, and admitted that her own kids weren't that cute via ultrasound.  Austin saw her and immediately made me apologize for giving her an "Asay nose."  However, we both realized that we think she is the cutest thing we've ever seen.  We admit to being totally biased!

Third Trimester!!!

I go to the gym before work everyday, but today I have a lot of extra energy for some reason.  So I obnoxiously woke Austin up to take an embarrassing picture of me pregnant.  I have not taken these pictures because I feel huge and would rather not remember, but I want the baby to have some representation of what I went through! 

 

(excuse our messy bathroom)

Overall I feel amazing.  I don't really have any pregnancy symptoms or cravings beside being a lot larger.  The baby kicks all the time and I can definitely feel her growing.  Austin told me he was 75% excited, 20% scared and 5% apathetic.  Besides the apathetic part, I feel the same amounts of scared and excited.  She is going to change our lives so much! We have had 3.5 years of married life just the two of us.  We are so used to hopping in the car for dinner, movies or even just a trip to Target that having to plan around a slightly demanding diva will be quite the adjustment.  Our marriage has been so strong, fun and fulfilling that I'm scared of the change.  At the same time, though, I can't wait to meed this little girl.  I can sense her personality and can picture what she'll be like.  I see this spunky little blonde that is too mature for her age.  I see a girl that is going to wrap her dad around her little finger and be her mom's best friend.  I can't wait to see if I'm right! 

Less than 3 months until we meet you...

Fall of Parties

I feel like we've been partying everyday for a week! Fall birthdays and Halloween get me every year. This year was no exception.

My sisters both hold Halloween parties for their neighborhoods.  My mom and I helped them get them pulled together, and at Meredith's we fried over 80 doughnuts!
My mom has an even crazier October because she makes all of my nieces and nephews' Halloween costumes.

Austin and I also got to dress up this year.  We do not have the personalities to enjoy this task, but when I thought of doing Juno we both stepped up to plate.  I spent the better part of two days assembling the outfits, and literally visited every store in Cheyenne.  Living here limits what you can find, but in the end I love how they turned out.  I fell even more in love with Austin when he agreed to wear those $2.99 JC Penny's yellow shorts.  I might have laughed every time I looked at him that night. However, this small amount of humiliation won us 2nd place in the costume contest!

To top off the large amount of celebration/baby weight I've gained, Austin's birthday is on November 2nd.  We had his all time favorite food (brisket and pistachio cake) at my parents' house and opened presents.  Since we have been finishing our basement for a year now, all his presents are basement related.  I also might have thought it was funny for him to have to unwrap a toilet.  He loved it!  It's been a very fun week, and if I weren't pregnant I would be doing some sort of cranberry/cucumber water cleanse to help me feel less like a beached whale.   But since I am, I will just enjoy it and use it as a warm up for Thanksgiving.

A Family of 3

Last Christmas I wanted a puppy.  Like 5 year old girl crying to her parents in a pet shop wanna puppy.  I begged, pleaded and guilted.... but no puppy. Then just as my dreams of a puppy under the tree with a red ribbon around his neck faded, Austin gave me something better.  He said instead of a puppy, let's have a baby.  Best Christmas Eve ever! 

We prayed for the right time and were quickly blessed with the best news ever!  When I told Austin he just kept kissing me.  We were ecstatic, and  I felt like I was living a dream. Until 6 weeks hit and then I was banished to the bathroom.  Hence the delay in posting about our elation! 

To say it was a crazy summer is an understatement.  In July I decided to take a couple weeks off due to the nausea and feeling like it was unfair to patients for me to work on them in this state.  During this time I was approached to work at Healthworks.  I debated (and threw up) for the couple weeks and when I went back to work I felt like switching jobs was the right decision.  I put in my notice and prepared to enter the world of public health! 

Austin and I ended up telling people much earlier than planned since I was not functioning very well. Since most the people I told got, "I'm pregnant, but feel like death.  I'm miserable!" I was determined to tell the Facebook world with a cute announcement! So during a trip to Estes, I made Austin take this somewhat corny picture.  Even though it doesn't quite pick up the way I felt at this time... it meant the world to have a picture describing how I wanted to feel!  

I'm 24 weeks now and just weened off of a great combo of unison/b6.  I am feeling great 95% of the time and loving returning to my previous level of activity.  I have been feeling kicks and turns for about 2 weeks and it seems to fade the memory of "morning sickness."  For months I have been telling Austin that this will be our only child, but with every kick I feel my only child decisiveness dwindle. 

So far I love the job, but even more I love getting ready for our DAUGHTER! We feel so unbelievably blessed to have great jobs, a growing family and each other.