A New Pet In My Pocket - Michael's Birth Story

God has once again blessed our family with a new little pet in my pocket. I think every birth story is beautiful and full of excitement, and of course ours would be no different. But this time God threw in a few extra bits of excitement to remind us to count our blessings.

I had been having contractions for weeks, but had been assured that because this was my third kid this was normal (by the way, someone needs to write a pregnancy book for women on their third+ kid, because everything that's normal signs of concern with your first two pregnancies are considered normal happenings after the first two). I also learned with my second child that my body does not feel contractions the same way they are described in books or by most care providers. While being monitored, my contractions may be reading off the charts, and I'm not even really aware of them, or they feel so insignificant that I ignore them.

On Sunday, December 11, around 3pm I noticed that the contractions I was having seemed to be a bit more consistent. So I tried to focus on them so that my husband could time them--this was a first for us. (We'd never had the opportunity or need to time contractions with our first two.) They started out at seven minutes apart, and 1 1/2 later when we were ready to leave for church they were 3 1/2 minutes apart. So we decided to skip church and go to the hospital in stead. As soon as we got in the car, they slowed back down to 7 minutes. We still went to the hospital and spent a few hours being monitored. My midwife checked me, and I hadn't progressed from when I'd been checked two weeks prior, so I decided to just go home and wait it out. By the time we went to bed, I was actually feeling pains that I could associate with labor, but they stopped just after midnight.

Monday was a long day as both my husband and I had anticipated being back to the hospital to have a baby by mid-morning at the latest. But as it was, my contractions didn't even start again til mid-morning, and there was no consistency to them. By the time my husband got home from work they had regained a consistent pattern, and if I had to rate them on a pain scale, I would have given them a one. So, I put together my shopping list and we headed to Publix. I can't say I was completely comfortable throughout our shopping trip, and I knew I was technically in labor, but I wasn't miserable either. We got home close to 9, settled the girls into bed, and around 10 when we headed to bed I told my husband that I might be pushing a three on the pain scale.

At 12:40 Tuesday morning I woke for my routine potty break and realized that I was still having contractions. I climbed back into bed and watched the clock, then I realized they were starting to hurt. I laid there and debated whether or not I should get up or just see if I could ride it out til morning. I also prayed that God would let me know when it was time to go to the hospital, but planned to wait til my water broke. At 1:00 I noticed an intense difference in the contractions--and that they were only two minutes apart! I woke my husband and told him I was in transition. He moves pretty quick in the middle of the night! We called our neighbor to come sit on the couch and headed to the hospital. I called the hospital as we pulled out of our drive and told them we were on the way--my phone said 1:31 a.m. I remember glancing at the clock at some point on the way to the hospital, and it said 1:44. I don't know what time we arrived, but we walked up to labor and delivery. For the most part I was still walking and talking through contractions, and only had to pause three times to wait them out.

They had a room open for me and I walked straight in, grabbed the cup, and went to sit on the potty. As I went potty, my wonderful husband got the room readied my way. Not a single hospital light was on. Just my lamps. And he got me in the skirt I had had made myself for labor/recovery. Just as I finished leaving my sample in the cup, my water broke. With the next contraction I hit that moment that every woman in natural labor hits, and I told my husband, "I don't want to do this." I walked out of the bathroom and into the room, asked for the birth ball, and didn't make it any further. I hit my hands an knees, eagerly waiting for the birth ball to rest my upper body on. During this time a nurse was begging me to get into bed so she could check me, and I remember my husband telling her that wasn't necessary. She then asked if they could monitor me, and I told her no. I couldn't move. She wanted to get the baby's heartbeat, and I told her if she could get it without me moving, then go for. This is all happening in just a matter of moments. For the first time ever, I yelled in labor. It was more of a very loud moan, but either way, I was mentally berating myself because I knew that yelling wasn't going to help anything.

After what seemed like forever of a nurse trying to talk me into the bed, I realized I hadn't been saying any of what I was thinking out loud. Finally I managed to get out, "He's crowning, y'all." Well, that definitely changed the atmosphere. A very experienced nurse had already been summoned when the one nurse couldn't get me to cooperate. She came around the bed and said, "She's right, he is crowning." She then kept begging me to get up on the bed because she couldn't get to the baby. I didn't understand the problem. I had delivered my last child on my hands and knees and knew it could be done. I was mentally begging my midwife to walk through the door. (My husband told me later that I wasn't up on my hands and knees as I thought I was, but was actually resting my bottom on my heels, hence the reason she could not deliver me.) Suddenly the nurse called for the birth stool, it was there in a flash, and my husband lifted me off of the floor and sat me up on the birth stool. Another first happened for me then--everything stopped. Not for long, but for several moments there were no contractions, and time seemed to stand still. I'd never had that kind of break in my labors before. I'd heard of them, but never experienced it for myself. I remember questioning why everything stopped. Then the next contraction hit and at 2:04 a.m. my baby boy delivered!

During delivery, the nurse mentioned something about meconium, but I don't think he actually ingested any because he had no complications. His cord was also tight around his neck, and he wasn't breathing. Kudos to my husband who knew not to be alarmed because the cord was still attached, so he knew the baby would be fine. As soon as I started talking to the baby, he started turning his head. They clamped the cord when it stopped pulsating and took him to the heated crib. He then started crying. He was very bruised and swollen due to the very quick delivery. Due to the concern of meconium, it was a few minutes before I got to hold my baby. During that time I climbed into the bed. My midwife walked in a few minutes later, and I teased her about being late. She can be rather crabby at 2 in the morning. :)

I had studied and researched doing a hypnobirth and was really excited to implement some of what I had learned. I never had time to try to focus on relaxation. One thing however that I definitely knew I wanted to do this time was not push. I wanted to breathe my baby down. Well, I didn't actually concentrate on breathing my baby down, but neither did I push. My body did what God designed it to do, and naturally pushed my baby out.

So, thirty minutes after leaving my home that is twenty-plus minutes from the hospital, I delivered my son!Michael Joel ~ 9lb 6.7oz ~ 22in

I know this story may be a bit too wordy, but I've written it in bits and pieces as I've had time. There are probably facts I'm missing, but I think I have all of the important stuff that I want to remember. I doubt I'll ever forget most of the details.

Lucretia, the wonderful nurse who delivered Michael.
She wasn't too fond of having her picture taken.
She's been a L&D nurse for 31 years!

Count Your Blessings - Winter Clothing

Locally we have an area wide consignment sale that is HUGE. I did a post on this sale several months ago. We're now looking forward to the second sale for this year. As I mentioned before, our family survives off of this sale. This sale is how the Lord has provided the clothing needs of our family as well as the toys and other accessories that we've needed.

Well, this season, we really can't even afford to benefit from this sale. With baby number three on the way and still not even half-way paid for, we don't have the extra funds to put into making purchases at this sale, even if they are necessities.

We've been struggling not to be discouraged about our financial situation, and have been trying to focus on keeping our faith and trust in God to provide for us as He has promised. We chose to trust Him for our children and when we would have them. Now we are reminding ourselves that God has chosen to add this new little blessing to our home, and when and how He sees fit, He will provide for our financial needs with this baby. We fail to not focus on, "I don't know where we're going to get that money from."

One huge blessing God has poured into our lives in the last twenty-four hours as a reminder of His faithfulness to care for us is regarding our concern about how we would have things to get the girls through the winter if we couldn't afford to spend money at the local consignment sale. I grew up on hand-me-downs, but it doesn't seem that people within our circle do hand-me-downs. We've never received any for our kids. But as I said, God has provided in other ways, and we've been fine.

Yesterday I pulled out what I thought was the only bin of winter clothes from the girls for last year and went through to inventory what we had and to see what we would need for this coming winter. The girls enjoyed playing dress up as we tried things on to see what fit and what didn't. Thankfully my three-year-old hasn't grown much since last winter, and everything was really baggy on her last winter. Some of the clothes are still baggy on her at this point, and I'm prayerful that they will get us through the short period of cold weather that we enjoy here. Sadly, there was almost nothing for my eighteen-month-old. She had been such a chunky baby last winter that I tagged and attempted to sell most of the things that would now fit her for this winter, because I thought she would be long past that size by the time this winter rolled around. Well, as it is, she really hasn't grown as much as I'd anticipated.

Discouraged, I inventoried what I had for her. My husband and I discussed last night what I would absolutely need for that one and the new baby (which at that point, I hadn't pulled out the bucket of newborn clothes), and we determined that even spending bare minimum, we'd be stretching the funds too far. I half-heartedly prayed about it while talking with my husband about the special prayer time I had had just the day before about trusting God to care for our needs as He has promised.

This morning I went out to the garage to get the bin of newborn clothes and found another bin labeled "Winter 2010." (I know, it's not size specific--that was becoming too much of a headache for me. I just started sorting by season.) So I dragged that box in the house along with the newborn bin. I went through that winter box first and found quite a bit to fit my eighteen-month-old. Enough to meet what would be the bare minimum for necessity. Then I sorted through the newborn stash and made inventory of what I had for a winter baby from birth to six months. Even though this is my second winter baby, there still wasn't much. I really didn't have much for my second child--about 5 sleepers and a ton of onesies. I finished my inventory, set that box aside, and looked at the very small stack of items that I had set aside during this process to sell at the upcoming sale.

I then went to the garage one more time to grab the bin labeled "M2M - winter." The box of stuff to be sold at the sale. It was full of items that didn't sell last winter, and I was simply going to add my small stash of items I collected today to the bin of clothes. I dragged the bin into the house to make room for the handful of items. When I opened the lid I almost squealed in delight!

Until that moment I had forgotten how disappointed I'd been last winter sale when most of my items didn't sell. I was confused because it was decent stuff that I thought would sell for sure. But the sale was REALLY big that season, and it was hard to sort through the items because the racks were so overstuffed. So it was easy for items not to sell. Inside that bin was more than I need for my children for this winter! Including the new baby.

Well, praise the Lord, those items didn't sell. God knew that this winter we would need those clothes. He knew that we would have a new baby on the way and would need the newborn items I had tried to sell last year as an attempt to have money to spend at the sale last year. He knew that because of the new baby on the way we wouldn't be able to afford to buy anything at this current sale. He was providing for the needs of this year a year ago when He allowed my items not to sell!

Now all we really need for this winter are dresses, since my oldest only had one last year, and that's getting a little short, and shoes. And even in the shoes area, we may not need those. It just depends on how these little feet grow! There are a few other needs for the new baby, but very few. Most are just desires. :)

So now what was going to cost us too much, will now cost us very little, if anything at all. What a mighty God we serve!

Monday Market

Saturday my husband decided we would do our grocery shopping together while we were out running other errands. Believe it or not, I think I prefer shopping with just myself and the kids! He's not really that bad, but to me it always seems to take longer when he tags along. I'm more purposeful and walk through a store as if my britches are on fire, he's very laid back and relaxed. He hunch over the shopping cart with his elbows resting on the handle bars and idly pushes the cart through the store. It was beneficial to have him on this trip since my daughter decided she needed to take an extended vacation to the restroom--I didn't have to haul my youngest daughter and all of my coupon/purse stuffs into the bathroom with me. :)

Okay with the sarcasm, Saturday was a great trip! We have my oldest daughter on almond milk, and I plan to keep our kids on non-cow's milk. This past week Publix had Silk almond milk 2/$5, and there had been a $2/1 printable coupon available. Through the graciousness of many acquaintances and friends alike...and some people I don't even know...I was able to pull together nearly 20 coupons. Some of them I didn't acquire until after this shopping trip, so I'll redeem those tomorrow before the sale ends. So Saturday alone I was able to purchase $56 worth of milk for only $8! (Sorry to my FB friends, I believe I calculated wrong the other day and posted the totals wrong. :/ )


I came out of the store with 6 bags of Banquet nuggets, 16 cartons (there's 6 in that case in the picture) of almond milk, 2 marinades, 2 salad dressings (which around here are also marinades), 2 packs of slivered almonds, 2 packs of craisins, 2 boxes of granola bars (which DH had just been asking for!), 2 bags of pretzels, 2 bags of Sunchips, a bottle of vitamins, and 4 boxes of pasta (as if I really need anymore, but I'm trying to keep a continuous supply instead of buying so much en masse)...and what is the total you want to know? I paid $38.28 oop, and will be getting back a $10 rebate gift card!


I also hit up Staples on Friday to take advantage of the free printer paper deal. I bought 2 packs of HP ColorLock paper at $5.99, used 2 $1/1 coupons (had to do this in two transactions), and submitted for the $4.99 rebate. I used their easy rebate, which I had misunderstood the easiness of it. I had been told that you can get the rebate back by PayPal rather than waiting 4-6 weeks for it to come by check. But I understood that to mean that the rebate would be rather quick. However, when I submitted it, it still said a processing time of 4-6 weeks, it will just go to my PayPal rather than a check being mailed. Oh, well. It's money back in the bank at some point in time!

So we're now a little low on funds for this month's grocery budget, but out of this month we're getting back $30 in rebates. ($10 in gas cards from the Kellogg's cereal last week, $10 from the Staples paper deal, and $10 from the Banquet/Con Agra deal)

Monday Market

I've revived! I was so busy last week I barely had a chance to realize that I hadn't blogged. I started doing a blog post for my daughter's birthday last week, but just didn't get it finished. Now I'll be able to include the fun memories from her birthday party as well!

Last week there was no Market Monday because we only had $2 left to our names for the rest of the month--due to a bit of miscommunication with our new insurance company and when they were suppose to draft! However, the Lord blessed us with some extra money this past weekend which allowed us to have some grocery money this morning. I feel almost guilty for using some of that money toward Oreos--but they came out as "free" after coupons, so there goes the guilt. :)

$20.55

This past week Winn-Dixie had an online printable coupon for $5/$30, so I wanted to work that to my advantage! I worked together $60 worth of groceries on my list and headed to the store. I used 2 of those coupons, and had vouchers from Nabisco and Lender's due to customer satisfaction issues, so the bagels and one pack of Oreos were free! I have never bought fruit gummies for my kids, and still not sure what I think about it, but with them being BOGO and the $4/4 coupon, I figure it couldn't hurt to have them around as an occasional treat! My husband has the world's biggest sweet tooth, and rarely do I give in to it with candy--which is really his preference over baked goods. So I got him some of the BOGO candy, but will try to keep it hidden til Easter! I picked up some more Kraft dressing to use as marinades for freezing my meats, and love that Bertolli pasta sauce, so couldn't resist that! The french fries were a splurge for my daughter. She loves chicken and french fries, which was always something she would get when she went to eat lunch at work with Daddy. However, she is no longer eats for free at the dining room where he eats, so her lunches with Daddy will become much more infrequent. :(

This week seem to have been more of "splurge" items, but I'm trying to get my wheels out of some ruts. I've overcome the hill of, "I have a coupon so I have to buy it!" And I've even gotten over the hill of, "I don't have a coupon, so we can't buy it!" But I haven't fully gotten past, "It's not on sale, so we can't get it." There are many items and things that we use to eat and enjoy that we haven't had in ages because they never go on sale or if they do the don't have a coupon match up, so I write it off as an unnecessary expense. However, as my husband keeps urging me, if it's something I'll eat, it's not an unnecessary expense. (Although, I'm pretty sure Oreos wasn't what he had in mind when he said that!) But this week I enjoyed relaxing myself a little bit and getting not just necessities, but a few pleasure items--which many worked out to FREE because of using two of the $5/$30 coupons--so it wasn't so bad! The crescent rolls were one of the items my husband was referring to with his statement, so I excitedly grabbed two of those. I LOVE Pillsbury crescent rolls!

So, in summary, I bought 32 items, used 17 coupons, spent $20.55, and saved $71.22!

Mom2Mom - Moms blessing Moms

The logo on the new Mom2Mom t-shirts accurately describes how the Mom2Mom sale has affected our family. I want to give a special thanks to Anne and Lisa and to their families for all of the hard work and time that they put into our local Mom2Mom sale. I know these families sacrifice quite a bit of time, not just for the one week of each sale they hold, but year round as they prepare sale flyers, update and perfect their tagging system and software, building more racks for clothes to hang on, reserving facilities, and SOOO much more. Just watching Anne and Lisa at the sales makes me tired!

One tough financial decision in today's economy is to choose to be a stay-at-home mom and live on one income. But God promises to provide for our needs. Along with blessing us with children, God also blessed us with the Mom2Mom sale. Anne and Lisa, I want you to know how much God has used your hard work in the life of my family . I want you to know that I greatly appreciate all that your families put into these sales.

I grew up living off of hand-me-down clothes, and not ones that fit. We got the bags of clothes that people didn't even want to take to Goodwill. But that is how God provided for my family growing up. Naturally, every parent wants better for their child, and I am no different. But my husband works for a ministry, and while one income is a struggle for anyone, ours is a rather small one. I couldn't see that my children would possibly have better than I had growing up. But then, when I was pregnant with my first daughter, someone asked me if I had heard of the Mom2Mom sale. I was told it was a consignment sale where I might be able to find some things for our new baby.

Might was such an understatement. When I showed up for my first shopping trip at a Mom2Mom sale, I was SO overwhelmed! I think I spent the first hour just standing there watching everyone. It was incredible!

Thanks to Anne and Lisa and the work that they and their families do, my girls have all of their clothing needs met, and even come out with some things on their (or Mommy's) "want" list. I had never shopped in real stores for clothes for myself, and now I never shop in real stores for my kids. Yet, unless I told people (which I do, why not brag on God's goodness!), no one would ever know that my kids clothes were pre-owned. My girls wear all big-name brand clothing, and can hob-knob with the "preppy" kids, and never feel out of place or ashamed of their appearance. While some people boast how much they paid for their kids clothing and other items, I boast on how little!

Even Mommy has benefited from the sale! Of course I've found maternity clothes there, but I've also found many of my normal, everyday wear in the juniors section. So, it doesn't help me look my age, but it keeps us on budget!

I have also been blessed to work with Anne and Lisa for volunteer shifts each sale, and they are always such a sweet blessing to me. I've interacted more with Lisa than with Anne, and I always walk away feeling so encouraged and like she's a good friend, even though we only talk twice a year!

I've had people ask me if I shop at Mom2Mom, and my honest answer is always, "I don't shop anywhere else!" Very, very rarely do I set foot in a "real" store in search of clothes, and almost as rarely do I go to a store in search of any other children's item. God has truly used the Mom2Mom sale to bless our family and provide for our needs and even to fulfill some of our desires.

Jesus Love Me, THIS I know!

A little over a year ago, I delivered my third child (my second live birth), and fell almost instantly into the abyss of post partum depression. I'd hear of this horrible, dark, emotional valley where women were "emotionally unstable," and even some couldn't stand to be around the precious baby that they had just delivered. I couldn't fathom not whole-heartedly loving that precious little life and feeling giddy over the baby's presence. But then, one day, I woke up in that same dark valley...only I didn't realize it until months later.

I brought my second daughter home from the hospital ready to take on the challenge of parenting a toddler and caring for my newborn babe. However, this emotional high seemed to catch the tail wind of a storm, and was blown far, far away from me. Two days after I was released from the hospital, my mother (who had been at my house for three weeks because my stubborn little girl didn't want to come out) had to return home. My husband had already returned to work, and I found myself home alone with a four day old baby and a almost two-year-old who went from being Madame Independence to Madame Dependence. An my new baby was not as easy going as her big sister had been! On top of this, I had four absessed wisdom teeth that were causing extreme pain, and all I could focus on was my own misery. I hated changing diapers, I hated fixing meals, I hated caring for my family, and the one thing I would have never believe possible--I felt I hated my children. I almost cringe just thinking those words. At my two week check up with my midwife I shared with her the truth of how I was feeling, hoping that by confessing these emotions, they would go away. She "lectured" me on finding time for myself (something mommies definitely don't get, especially mommies of such young children!), and she told me to find time alone for just me and my husband. Following this appointment, I went over to the dentist to have all four wisdom teeth extracted (kids in tow!). Now I had even more reason to be miserable.
I praise the Lord that I have always been a level-headed person who has been able to act outside of my emotions. Not to say that I always do. But through this time of depression, I was able to talk to myself with logic and keep myself going. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have caused myself or my children harm just by being neglectful.
My eldest longed for Mommy to be the same, attentive Mommy that she'd always known, and my youngest nursed and cried all the time. Neither one of them were good sleepers. It didn't help here, that I didn't care to make meals for myself, so I was eating a proper diet for breastfeeding around the clock. So that just added to my exhaustion.
There were many days, during nap times and even at bed time, that I would be holding both of my girls in my arms, each screaming because she did not want to go to sleep, and me crying because I was SO tired and stressed, and I just wanted someone to care for me. (Not that my husband didn't, but remember I was in a well of self-pity, I didn't think he cared.) As I had always done, I one day started to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to comfort and calm my girls. But this time it was different. This time I couldn't finish the song. How could I sing these words when I felt so unloved and abandoned. My thoughts and emotions ran the gamut. "Jesus doesn't love me. If He cared even a little, He wouldn't make me go through this torture. He'd help them go to sleep. He'd let me go to sleep. He'd keep the baby from being so fussy all the time. Jesus doesn't love me!" And thus started a long road of anger and bitterness.
The postpartum depression phase subsided somewhere between 12 and 14 weeks postpartum. I remember thinking how thankful I was that I didn't have to go back to work like so many around me since I was just starting to find my footing and settle in to my new phase of motherhood. But I still struggled, and every time I felt tension between me and my kids, or between me and my husband, I blamed God. Through this, I felt SO alone. No one knew except my mother. I had no friends to talk it out with. The few adults that I did talk to, I wasn't comfortable enough with to tell them the truth. There were a few times where, in desperation for someone to help me, I dropped hints to people hoping they would catch on, but no one ever did. I know it's my fault for not just asking out right.
Well, a few months ago, I started getting my spiritual life back on track. I'm definitely still not where I should be, but I'm not angry and bitter anymore either.
God has been SO good to our family over the last year. He's taught us some hard lessons, but I think we're learning from them. The other night I was singing "Jesus Loves Me" to my youngest daughter just before laying her down for the night. As I sang, she rubbed my face with her tiny little hands, cuddled herself up against me, and kissed me about ever five seconds. My heart was ready to burst with love for her and how precious she is. She definitely wasn't an easy baby, but she is such an easy-going and joyous baby now. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I sang to her and thought, "Just her sweetness, and the two beautiful blessings I have is proof that Jesus loves me." As I thought that, I remembered back to the wretched thoughts I had a year ago while singing the same song. What a wonderful, and forgiving God I have! Jesus DOES love me, and the Bible tells me so. That should have been enough to comfort me last year, but I chose to ignore that fact. But God, in His graciousness, has shown me His love through my children. I can now sing, "Jesus me, this I know." My prayer is that, should I ever experience again the same emotional roller coaster that I did last year, that I will remember this lesson, and remember that no matter what, Jesus loves me!

1 comments:

Clueless_Mama said...

This was a very beautiful post. I know first hand that it can sometimes be hard to keep positive and remember that Jesus loves us no matter what. I am so glad that you are in a good place. I will pray that you continue to have joy in your life. Have a terrific week.

January 20, 2011 3:03 AM

We live across the street from a public elementary school. The were doing their annual carnival today, and Monkey was SO excited about the "party" going on. She watched the tents go up, the bounce house getting blown up, and the firetruck pull up. She couldn't wait to go across the street, but we had to wait for Froggy to wake up and eat her lunch.
While Froggy was napping, I took Monkey outside to play. At one point they stopped the festivities across the street for their official kick-off with the Star Spangled Banner. I made Monkey come stand in front of me and put her hand on her heart. She thought this was fun for the first few measures of the song, but then wanted to play again. I made her continue to stand there. At one point she started getting really fussy about it, and I told her, "Mommy's not punishing you, she's teaching you. This is a special song, and we need to stand still and listen." So, in the end, I wasn't too respectful because I spent most of the time correcting my child. But she'll learn. :) She's also been potty training the last few days, so about every five minutes while we were out there, she told me she had to go potty, but she didn't want to come inside. She finally did come in and go. She's doing SO well with it. I've been very impressed with her!
Well, Froggy finally woke up and ate. So, with Monkey on her monkey leash, and Froggy in the Moby, we headed across the street. We went straight to the firetruck. Monkey climbed up in the firetruck and just stood there. She didn't know what to do, but she didn't want back down either. While standing there, I mentioned that we live just across the street and that she'd been watching their truck all morning. The youngest fireman asked which house I lived in, and then said that he'd had a call at that house about a year ago. He even remembered that I had been pregnant with Froggy at the time. Here's what happened as best as I can remember:
Around 8:00 one night, Monkey wanted to go outside to watch Daddy fix the car, so I went out with her to keep her from being too helpful. I was only outside for a few minutes before I realized I was getting bit on my feet. I looked down to find an ant crawling all over my foot...the same foot that was swollen last weekend from and bites. Well, this time, I was bit multiple times on both feet. Tired of being eaten alive, I left Farm Boy to fend for himself against the car, and against Monkey.
Around 8:15, I brought Monkey in, changed her, nursed her, and put her to bed. By the time I finished feeding her, my entire body itched and I had hives everywhere. I took some children's Benedryl and didn't feel any better. Unable to reach my doctor through the emergency line, I called my neighbor who is an RN and who also has multiple allergies herself. By that time, by breathing was becoming very restricted as well. She told us to call 911 if I was having difficulty breathing.
So, around 8:45 we called 911. The volunteer EMTs arrived first and put me on oxygen. The ambulance was coming from about twenty minutes away, so we waited a while for them to arrive. By the time they arrived, I was beginning to lose consciousness. After they hooked me up to some wires, they finally got me to the ambulance, hooked me up to an IV, and gave me an epi shot. By 9:30 we were pulling away from my house. At this point, I decided I am not a fan of GPS systems. Rather than taking the interstate, we took an extremely long route, and hit every red light on the way. We arrived to the ER just after 10:00.
During this whole time, I was also having contractions. (I guess I should mention here that I was 4 1/2 months pregnant with Froggy.) So, after switching from the ambulance equipment to the hospital equipment, we got a nurse from Labor and Delivery to check the baby's heart rate, and all was well. By 12:45 I was discharged from the hospital.
Many times since that night I've wished I could thank the people who saved my life. I remember thanking the EMT on the ambulance, but by that point I was stabilized. I had another opportunity one day when the volunteer department called asking for donations. Sadly, because of the ridiculous charges for the ambulance and ER visit, I had not money to donate to the ones who actually saved my life. It was an amazing thing to me to meet today one of the first responders from that night. I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to say. And then all I could say was thank you. I felt like an idiot. Standing before me was a man who had helped save my life, and all I could think to say was thank you. It seemed so inadequate. But what else could I say? It made me want to come home and bake him a whole batch of cookies! As we were walking away, I told Monkey that that man had saved Mommy's life. I never saw the faces of any of the responders that night except for the lady EMT on the ambulance. Today I was able to put a face to one of my many unseen heroes. And I want to say, "Thank you."