Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Annalise's Arrival

I have done birth stories for each of my children, only Annalise, my firstborn and my first pregnancy, was in the form of a survey called "My First Pregnancy":

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? All of my babies are planned, no matter what.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Surprise and excitement as well as thinking "that was so easy!"

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? no way

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 32

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My cycle was a little late but since we had traveled around the world to China I just assumed it was messed up from that. I ended up taking a pregnancy test just to see one morning and saw immediately that it was positive.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Jeremy, and he was excited as I was.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? We weren't sure at first, but both changed our minds later since we were already praying for her and wanted to know how to pray better.

9. DUE DATE? Nov 11th 2008

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes, but before I knew I was pregnant I thought I just had food poisoning or that I was sick from drinking Oolong tea in the morning. I really doubted at first that I could possibly be pregnant so easily!

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Cold noodles with peanuts, spices and cilantro they sold on the streets in China

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? When I began to grow out of my normal clothes and had a hard time finding well-fitting pregnancy clothes while in China

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, once we found out later in the pregnancy I was super excited to have a girl - about dressing her up and teaching her as she grows into a beautiful young lady. Jeremy was always afraid of having a girl - he will be very protective of her and need a shotgun when she's older.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 40 lbs.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Not really

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Olmsted Medical Hospital in Rochester, MN

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 2 days at home and then 12 hours at the hospital, I would call in twice a day and the nurses advised me to labor at home (I had such a calm voice over the telephone they couldn't tell how far along the labor had progressed!), by the time we went in to the hospital I was 8 cm dilated.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Jeremy

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Jeremy, 2 or 3 nurses and the doctor

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I had an epidural for the last 3 or 4 hours with pitocin

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs 1 oz

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? November 11th, 2008 ( right on her due date )

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Annalise Pearle