Before I get in to what happened, and how my life shattered in 2008, I am going to tell you about my pregnancy.
When I found out about my pregnancy, I was honest with my OB/GYN about the problems that I suffered from...especially my depression, as I was worried about post-partum depression.
I became pregnant in 2007 and I suffered with a very rare condition called Hyperemesis. As I wrote, it is a very rare and serious condition which affects approximately 3% or less of all pregnancies.
I was sick the entire time. Way beyond morning sickness. And, it never went away. Oh, how I suffered. I would cry and cry because the only time I wasn't sick was when I was sleeping. My OB/GYN took me off of my pre-natal vitamins during my first trimester because I was so very sick.
I had to go to the Emergency Room one day because I was so dehyrdrated from how sick I was. At one point, I was out of work for approximately 3 weeks, and I was hooked up to an I.V. at home, which pumped liquids in to my body to help keep my hydrated, and at one point during my third tri-mester, I was on 7 medications. SEVEN. One of them was a pump where I had to keep sticking myself with needles every other day, and the pump was pumping anti-nauseau medication in to my body....the same medication that they give to chemo patients.
Despite all of that, I continued throwing up. Oh, how I suffered. Everthing made me so sick. I would cry and cry because of how very sick I felt and was, yet nothing was able to help me.
Somehow, I managed to work throughout my entire pregnancy. There was so much pressure on me....I knew that if I didn't work, there went the roof over our heads. And I couldn't depend or count on my ex to keep us afloat....it was all up to me. So, day in and day out I forced myself to go to work. I even worked that second part-time job that I still had.
I managed to gain 14 1/2 pounds. My OB/GYN saw how bad I was suffering, and without my even asking, they told me that they were going to induce me 2 weeks early to stop my suffering.
I knew that I was having a little boy. And I was so very happy to find out that I was having a boy, as that is what I wanted. I worried about my son, and I hoped that my hypermesis didn't affect him in any way.
Long story short, my little boy came just under 3 weeks early. My son, who had been head down for a good month or month and a half or so, flipped last minute. And just when I was almost fully dialated and getting ready to push, they saw that he flipped, and I needed an emergency C-Section. Everything happened so fast, and because I was in labor, there was no time to spare.
So off, they wheeled me to the Operating Room and they delivered my little boy. It's amazing...I fell in love with him as soon as he was born. And the bond was so very strong from that instant. It's amazing how that happens.
Thank God that all of my suffering did not affect my son at all.
After they delivered my little boy, they let me see him, and then they took him to clean him off, etc. In the interim, my OB/GYN took one look inside my body, and called for the surgeon that was there to come in to the Operating Room. I was still awake, so I heard their whole conversation. Trust me, you don't want to be awake during an operation....especially hearing the doctors converstaion.
You see, the adhesions that I received from my colon surgery back in 2001 were real bad. The adhesions wrapped themselves up all around my intestines. It was bad. Real bad. The two worked together cutting the adhesions off of my intestines. I found out aftwerwards, that all of the adhesions that I had would have more than likely caused me complications in the future.
So I underwent 2 back to back surgeries. First was the C-Section, which I should mention was not the typical C-Section....instead of a horizontal C-Section like they typically perform, I had a vertical one. After that came the surgery on my adhesions.
It took me quite a while to heal. While I was still out on maternity leave, I ended up going back to work at my part-time job. I was no where near ready to go back. In fact, one morning, my son was crying and I got up in the morning (along with my ex), and I ended up passing out in the master bathroom and I fell down on top of my marble trash can, smashing it in to pieces, and my fall caused quite a gash on my side. Despite that, I went to work the next day. The way that I looked at it? Somebody needed to support our family, and I couldn't cound on my ex to do so.
Getting to my son....my whole reason for living. I was and am so happy to have HIM for my son, and I absolutely love being HIS Mommy! I was so happy. All of that suffering that I went through was worth it.
My little boy was born on February 14, 2008. That's right....Valentine's Day! He is the BEST Valentine's Day gift that I have ever received or that I ever could receive. He is the BEST Blessing that God has ever given me, and I thank God for my little boy!
