The Beginning

So there is no denying the fact that I have WAY more pictures, keepsakes, videos, etc. of Ally versus Mya. In order to make up for lost time and memories, I thought I would spend this week blogging about their lives a little. What better place to start than the beginning.

***Warning - this post is long and deals with childbirth...just in case you are in a hurry or may be eating!***

I was 20 years old when I found out that we were expecting Ally. Nick and I had been together for about 4 years at this point but we were not yet married. Yes, I got pregnant before we were married. We had talked about getting married before this. Nick had actually bought a ring and then chickened out of asking me the April before we found out we were expecting. I was working at Town and Country Bank as a Loan Processor and Nick was still in college working on his Bachelors in Business and IT. We found out on August 6, 2004 that I was pregnant. We were both in shock but were determined to make a good life for our child. We didn't want to rush and get married just because we were pregnant so we spend a couple of months talking and dreaming about life and Nick surprised me with a proposal on October 23, 2004. We were married on November 27, 2004.

My pregnancy with Ally was pretty good. No major sickness or issues. We did quite a few non-stress tests because she didn't like to move a whole lot but each one of those turned out perfectly.

Maternity Pictures - March 2005

I actually went into labor with Ally on the night of her due date, April 18 (it was a Monday). Around 11:00 PM, I woke up with contractions. They weren't too intense so I just turned on the TV and cat napped through the rest of the night, waking fairly frequently to time contractions. The next morning, I woke Nick up because they were getting stronger. I was scheduled for a doctor's appointment that morning so we decided to walk and wait for the appointment. Much to my disappointment, I was not dilated at all when I saw Dr. C. She said baby is head down but that it wasn't quite time yet. So I spent the rest of the day walking and contracting and crying and well you get the picture! I was miserable. Tuesday night around 10:30, I could not take it any more. I was tired and the contractions were pretty close together and getting strong enough to where I doubled over with each one. We called my mom and headed to the hospital. The nurse that we got that night was not nice at all! They hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. Despite my rather intense contractions, I was still not dilated. So, a shot of morphine and nausea medicine later, I was on my way home. I think I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep until the morphine wore off and my contractions started back. Up at 5:00 am and feeling frustrated...I was determined to have a baby that day (Wednesday, April 20)! I walked ALL day off and on. Finally Wednesday night, my husband had watched me suffer long enough. I tried to resist but eventually gave in to his demand that we go to the hospital. We were almost to the hospital doors when I had a very intense contraction and then began to loose fluids. Great, I thought, not only are they going to send me home again...I now can't control my bladder. The nurse this time, SUPER sweet! Monitors in place and another check --- still NOTHING. You have got to be kidding me! I think my exact words were, "I just need to go to the bathroom and then I will go home and never have this child!" As I was getting up to use the bathroom when my water broke and out came some weird, dark substance, meconium. I was pretty sure I had read about this in some book and it was not a good sign. They quickly started hooking me up to monitors and trying to get baby hooked up as well with an internal monitor when the sweet nurse realized that our baby was breech. CONFESSION...I did not read the part of the pregnancy books about c-sections. I was just sure I wouldn't need it.  Everything from that point on happened so fast, most of it is pretty fuzzy. Dr. I was not my OB but he was the one on call and since my water had broke and baby was in stress, there was no time to wait and call Dr. C. So into the OR we went. Up to this point, we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl. We are strange and don't find out! Nick was busy snapping pictures of my insides when they pulled her out and announced that she was a girl. Once she was out I made Nick go to her because I was so scared that she would be sick. I got to see her for a few minutes before they whisked her off to the nursery to check her over. Allyson Lauren was born at 11:56 PM on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 weighing 6 lbs. 8.5 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. She was not sick at all. Due to the fact that she was breech, none of the meconium got into her body. Praise the Lord!

Allyson Lauren

We always knew we wanted more children and decided to start "trying" again Summer 2007. We figured 3 years was a good age distance. When our ideas didn't really pan out, I quickly got depressed. I know that there are people out there that try for many years and I cannot even begin to imagine that. The 5 months that we waited were LONG! We finally found out that we were expecting baby #2 on November 15, 2007, a day before my dad's birthday! I was subbing at the elementary school when I got the call from the doctor's office called to tell me that my blood tests showed that I was indeed pregnant. I couldn't wait to get home so I called Nick. I think he was in the car with a guy from work but I didn't care...I just blurted it out! He was excited and we planned to take Ally out for dinner that night to tell her and to celebrate! I made a few more phone calls that afternoon because I could not hold in the news! Everyone was very supportive and excited!

My pregancy with Mya was so different than my pregnancy with Ally. I was very nausous, mainly in the evenings, for the first 4 or 5 months. I thought for sure the baby would be a boy because of the differences in how I felt and how I was carrying. Unlike Ally, Mya moved all the time. They still hold to those tendencies very well. Ally is much more relaxed and laid back and Mya is always on the move! I loved being pregnant! Both times were great experiences.

Baby Shower - Late Spring 2008

I did a ton of research on VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Ceserean), and weighed the pros and cons of that or choosing another c-section. I settled on a c-section for many different reasons. So, Dr. I scheduled me for my c-section on July 8, 2008, a week before my actual due date which was July 15th. If you have ever had a scheduled birth, you know the intense anticipation that leads up to that day. We got up that morning and headed to the hospital. My mom came to our house to stay with Ally until closer to time of the baby actually being born and then she would bring her up to meet her new sibling. We still did not know the gender of baby #2 so when we stopped at a gas station for Nick to get coffee, we decided that we needed to finalize names. We decided on Collin Michael for a boy's name and Mya Ann for a girl's name. Once at the hospital, my nerves totally kicked into hyperdrive and got worse as we waited for Dr. I who was running late. This time, things went in slow motion. The nurses tried to get an IV started and it took 7 sticks before the anastethiologist finally got it in. My arms looked like I had been beat. Then we watched the clock for a LONG time.

Last picture as a family of 3

Dr. I finally go there around 9:45 or so and off to the OR we went. I was almost positive this baby was a boy, so I was extremely surprised when our second baby girl was born! We had lots of nurses in the OR that morning. They weren't too busy and they all wanted in on the surprise of the gender! There was lots of clapping and cheering when she was announced a girl!

Mya Ann was born on July 8, 2008 at 10:38 AM, weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. She had a little janudice but was another perfect blessing from God.

Just like that, Ally became a big sister!

And we became a family of 4!