Abigail is Here!
Posted on December 27th, 2008 by Laura
Abigail Diane (pronounced Deon) Loveridge was born on December 15, 2008. She’s beautiful and we are just loving having her in our family.
Here’s the story of her birth.
At around 7 in the morning, I rolled over and had a pretty strong contraction. I thought I had just rolled over too quickly and got hurt like I had so many times before. But soon after, I had another contraction. I decided to look at the clock and it was 7:21. So, I tried to sleep and managed to until 7:28 when I had another pretty powerful contraction. I decided to time one more before I woke Ben up and I had another one 7 minutes later. I tapped Ben on his chest and said, “I don’t think I’d go into work if I were you. I’m having pretty good labor contractions every 7 minutes.” He asked if I was sure and I said I was.
So, we showered and started getting the rest of our hospital bag together. I was going to try to french braid my hair to get it out of the way, but as I was going to do it, my contractions were getting fairly painful and rather close together. Ben had called my mom and told her that I was pretty sure there was a baby coming that day. So, she was going to get ready to come down in a few hours or so.
In the meantime, Ben and I had gotten Thomas up, changed his diaper, and finished packing the bag. It was around 8:30 am. I was getting contractions pretty close together at this point, like every 3 minutes or so. I had to stop periodically because they were getting more and more intense. Ben called his mom to come over and watch Thomas so we could go to the hospital. While we were waiting, I mostly finished getting ready and Ben got the car packed. At one point, I got on my computer to tell some people that I was heading to the hospital and had to get back off before I could because I was having a contraction and I felt like I needed to push.
I was starting to get a little nervous at that point. So, at 9:15 or so, Ben’s mom finally comes in the door. I had just had a contraction that was pretty bad and had scared Thomas. He doesn’t like it at all when I’m in pain or sad and he kept saying, “Mommy!” and crying. It was so sad. I had Ben get my socks and shoes and we left quickly. Once we were in the car, my contractions were one minute apart and painful! I screamed and Ben drove, almost knocking into people in his rush to get me to the hospital. Luckily, we only live about 2 miles from our hospital because we got there within 5 minutes of leaving home.
Ben pulled up to the main entrance and we saw that the driver isn’t supposed to leave the car. We knew there was no way that was going to happen, so we left the car there and expected our car to get towed. People were looking at me as we went into the lobby because I was screaming and moaning. People kept offering me wheelchairs, but I refused them because sitting made things worse.
While we were riding the elevator, I got a small respite from the pain, but it came back as soon as we got off. We called the nurses and they opened the doors. No one was there at the desk. Not a soul. I had another great contraction and I started screaming. 3 nurses came running down the hall. I screamed, “I need an epidural! I feel like I need to push!” One of the nurses said, “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get the epidural in time because it sounds like you need to push!” They offered me another wheelchair, which I refused and we hobbled to a room. I struggled onto a bed and at this point, there were about 5 or 6 nurses in my room.
They ripped my pants off, but didn’t have time to do my shirt. It was about 9:22 when the checked and found that I was at an 8. At that point, I said, “My water hasn’t broken yet.” As soon as I did, I got a good contraction and I just had to push, which broke my water. I went from an 8 to a 10 instantly. All this time, I’m screaming my guts out because it hurt so dang bad and also because I wanted an epidural. The nurses put a badly done IV in my hand to start getting it ready. It’s my fault it was badly done. I couldn’t hold still long enough for them to do a good job. So, a doctor who I don’t even know came in and introduced himself. I didn’t really care who he was at that point.
The nurses were trying to get me to calm down. I asked again for the epidural and one of the nurses said, “Honey, we’re trying, but one way or another, in 20 minutes you’re going to feel much better.” All of this happened very quickly, you must understand. At one point I screamed that I was going to die and another I yelled to “Get this thing out of me!” Ben almost laughed out loud at some points because it was just so abnormal for me to be screaming so loudly and to be in so much pain that he found it rather humorous.
So, after a few minutes, they told me to push. I just have to say, that was the most painful thing in the world, but there was nothing else I could have done. I pushed 3 times, and my little girl was out. I can’t say that I was thrilled because I was still in way too much pain for anything. My head was pounding and I was terribly sore and still contracting a bit. In any case, total time from getting to the hospital to delivery: 8 minutes. Total labor: 2 to 2 1/2 hours. And Abigail’s stats: weight-6 lbs 14 oz, length 19 inches, hair color-strawberry blonde, eye color-blue.
I was a bit upset that I had to go natural because I honestly couldn’t enjoy her birth as much as I wanted to. I didn’t even get to hold her until I was in my room because I couldn’t deal with the amount of pain I was under. My doctor came in 4 minutes after Abby was born and thanked me for getting to the hospital.
When I got back to my room, my mom and Lisa showed up because Ben had called them to say that we had a baby girl. Everyone was shocked at how fast it happened. So was I, as a matter of fact! Ben came back with Abby (still nameless at that point) and I finally got to nurse her. It was about 2 hours after she had been born, but she latched on fine and everything has been great since.
So, that’s my story. I never wanted to have a natural birth, but I got one. I’m glad I can say that I did it and I’m actually very proud of myself. I will never do it again if I can avoid it, though. True, the recovery has been much better than it was with the epidural, but everything else was so terrible, it’s just not worth it.
We were going to stay the full 2 days at the hospital, but I was sleeping terribly and Abby was doing so well, we decided there was really no reason to stay.
Oh, and another thing, I had to have my IV in until around 5:30 at night because I was bleeding pretty heavily. Remember how I said it was a badly done IV? Well, I have a nice, big, nasty bruise from it now. It was a long day full of a lot of pain. The IV had pitocin in it so that I would cramp more, which made everything very uncomfortable.
So, we’re all doing well, considering the whirlwind delivery. I was famous at the hospital for being the mom that almost gave birth in the car. Speaking of which, it was still there when Ben went down to get our bag.
Thomas Got Stitches Today…
Posted on October 22nd, 2007 by Laura
I was watching TPiR and forgot that I had to keep Thomas out of the kitchen. Our trash can is just sitting under the counter where he can get to it any time. Well, the trash was pretty full and there were things in it I definitely didn’t want him to get to. Well, he got to one of the things I didn’t want him to get: a refried beans can lid. As I was sitting there watching, I hear a cry. I pause the show and go in to see him sitting by the trash can.
I say, “Oh, did you cut yourself?” all nice and calmly. Then I realized he really did cut himself…pretty badly. I grabbed him and instantly put a paper towel on it to try to stop the bleeding. Well, that didn’t work, he just thrashed around and pulled the paper towel off, which made it bleed again. I didn’t know what to do, so I called Ben. He called our doctor who said to bring him in right away. So, I got him in pjs that were easy to get on and off and changed my clothes. I put a piece of gauze around his hand, but he started thrashing again. So, I wrapped it up as well as I could and put him in the car. Ben met us at the doctor’s which was probably a good thing. He needed to get stitches in his tiny finger (the pointer finger on his left hand). I was already in tears, so Ben stayed with him while the procedure was done.
The worst thing was, I could still hear him crying out in the lobby. So, there’s my story. It’s pretty traumatic. I’m still shaking a little bit. I’ll take a picture of his little hand all bandaged up to post when he wakes up. It’s pretty sad, but I think it needs to be documented.
There's something coming…
Posted on November 8th, 2006 by Ben
Laura started having contractions again last night, though still a pretty good 6-9 minutes apart, sometimes as much as 13 minutes. They were a little intense, but not so bad that she couldn’t stand them, and not as painful as the ones she was having when we came in last Saturday. Still, we went to bed excited, telling ourselves that this was the real deal, and that this kid was finally going to come.We went to bed around 11:00 pm, and by this time the contractions were starting to hurt more, but still not close enough together. It was a rather sleepless night for both of us. Usually I sleep like a rock, but tonight I just couldn’t do it. I woke up at 3 o’clock, after having dreams so active that I almost felt like I wasn’t getting any rest at all — I’m sure you know the type. Laura was awake, too, and her contractions were a lot more painful, but only coming once every 8-10 minutes. For almost an hour I fitfully tried to sleep, but since it wasn’t working Laura and I started talking.
We told each other that this was really it, that the baby was really going to come this time, and generally kept each other excited. Around 4, she told me that I should try to sleep again, and I grudgingly agreed. I dozed until around 4:20, when Laura got back from the bathroom for about the 4th time in an hour, then talked a bit more, then finally fell asleep again.
Shortly after 5:00 I woke again. Laura hadn’t been able to fall back asleep since 3, and the contractions were coming much more regularly and much more intense. When we were in the hospital on Saturday, they told us to come back when the contractions were closer together (they were 2-4 minutes apart then) and/or they were so painful that Laura couldn’t really talk or walk during them. These seemed to fit the bill.
Every time she contracted, she gritted her teeth and squeezed my hand hard. The contractions were averaging about 4-5 minutes apart, with some as close as 2 minutes and some as far as 6. We hung around in bed until about 5:25, when Laura said that it was time to go; the contractions may not be quite as consistently close as they were on Saturday, but she was in a LOT of pain. So we got dressed, threw the rest of the items into our hospital bag that were out (shampoo and the like), and got in the car.
Laura’s mom wanted a call when we went the hospital, whatever time it was, so Laura called her on the way. We got to the hospital around 5:40, were in a birthing room at 6, and the nurse came to check Laura’s dilation. When we saw the doctor on Monday, she was dilated to 2cm, and this morning was dilated to a 4. She hadn’t really contracted between the appointment on Monday and when she started contracting last night, so all the change was since then. We had been telling each other as we came in that she would be dilated to a 3 so the hospital wouldn’t send her home, but apparently guessed short of the mark.
The doctor was called, and (of course) told them to keep Laura here, and also to start her epidural — Laura decided long ago that she’d rather have an epidural than endure all the pain, and she is glad she did. They hooked her up to the IV and waited for the anesthesiologist arrive and do the epidural; they almost gave her some pain medication in the IV — anything but morphine, since morphine stopped her contractions on Saturday — but the anesthesiologist arrived before that was absolutely necessary.
Her epidural was put in, and she only hurt through about 15 more minutes of contractions. At 7, she was dilated to 5cm. It’s now 7:15, and she is almost completely out of pain. Thank heaven for the epidural! She is shaking like crazy (which supposedly is normal), has some pain in her bum (which also is supposedly normal), and we are both excited to meet our new baby and finally find out what the gender is!
The nurse just left and said if she has the baby by lunch time they’ll go ahead and feed her. Here’s hoping!
Busy Busy Busy
Posted on October 17th, 2006 by Laura
Today is the first day of my 9th month of pregnancy. It’s rather exciting, actually. However, Ben and I feel the baby should come sooner rather than later. We’re rather excited to start our new life with our new little one. I’m going to stop working on Nov. 1 so that I have some time to get the apartment ready. We need to do quite a bit of cleaning. However, the baby room itself is almost done.
We have the crib all set up and the mattress put in. All we’re waiting for is the bedding, which is on it’s way. Here’s a picture of the crib all set up (without the mattress).
And here’s the bedding we got.
We’re basically done buying for the baby until after we find out what gender it is. We don’t have much clothing, but we do have the diapers. Ben and I decided to go with cloth diapers to save some money. It’s actually kinda fun having these little pieces of cloth that you know are going to fit around your little one. It’s going to be so fun to have a little baby around! I can’t wait.
Not that it already isn’t. I mean, Anna is absolutely adorable. (If you go to our gallery, there are some really cute pictures of her in the “Extended Family” section.) I don’t get to see her nearly enough. Sometimes it’s hard living in Provo while the rest of the family’s in Murray. But, I’m doing okay, even if I am missing Anna-time.
So, Ben’s busy at school and work and I’m busy with work and getting ready for the baby. It’s kinda hard to stay motivated with the other stuff when the baby is so exciting. I’ll just be glad when everything is the way it’s going to be for a while. Kids are so fun.
Well, that’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll be updating a lot more when I’m home waiting for the baby to come. And after the baby’s here, well, we’ll see.
Howdy-ho!
Posted on July 26th, 2006 by Laura
The pregnancy’s going well. This is a pretty active baby, so I”m getting to know this kid pretty well. Ben and I got to see our baby on July 3rd. It was awesome! Everything looked healthy and on schedule. And no, we don’t know the sex of the baby. We don’t want to know what it is. So, if anyone’s planning a baby shower, wait until after the baby is born.
(Flynn’s now on my shoulder, rubbing his beak together, which makes a really cute noise. He’s also on one foot, which means he’s very comforatble.)
Ben and I are doing well. We’re struggling for cash a bit, but that seems to be the way of newlyweds. Things are looking up, though. It’s lots of fun looking forward to the day when we won’t have to penny-pinch so badly. Soon, hopefully by November, we’re going to be independently wealthy. If you have questions as to how, give me a call or send me an email. It’s really an amazing thing.
I’m still working at the Writing Center at UVSC and finding that I still love it. I’ve been asked to be a coordinating tutor next fall, which I’m excited about, even if it doesn’t give much perks money-wise. It’s good because it shows that my boss is recognizing me and my experience. It’s really quite fun. I’m excited for the day when I don’t have to work, though. I want to be able to raise my baby. I’m sure you understand
Anyway, that’s it for me right now.
Pregnancy Woes
Posted on May 31st, 2006 by Laura
I think the part I don’t like the most is the fact that I can’t stand people’s breaths. It’s especially hard when it’s Ben’s breath I can’t stand and it happens all too frequently. I hope that goes away soon. The headaches are a bit annoying, too, but I can stand those better.
Anyway, one of the bright spots in our lives is our little birdie, Flynn. My family would say that he’s not little, but we say he is compared to us, which is true. About a month ago, I was feeling quite depressed and lonely, so in order to cheer me up, Ben suggested we go to a pet store. I thought it was a great idea, so we went. Little did we know that we would both fall in love with a little cockatiel (picture below). We bought him, then thought about our landlord. We weren’t sure how he would feel about Flynn. So, we gave him a call (since he was in Virginia) and asked him. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea. (Incidentally, my landlord is my brother-in-law, Jarom). So, we called my in-laws and asked if we could keep Flynn there until Jarom had the opportunity to take a look at him and give him a sniff. You see, his biggest problem with birds is that many of them stink. Usually, it’s the big birds that smell the worst and our little guy doesn’t smell.
So, when Jarom came back, he agreed to let us keep him on probation. So, here’s our little Flynn bringing joy to my life through his cuteness and his silliness. He’s so friendly and loves to be rubbed behing his neck. He preens like no-other. We got him to eat an apple the other day and he really likes it. We also started him on a pellet-diet instead of seed because it’s healthier. He’s doing rather well with it, surprisingly. Usually when a bird has the option of seed or pellet, they’ll go with the seed, but Flynn eats both of them in almost-equal portions. It’s rather nice.
So, life is going well, though it’s stressful. Luckily, I have my birdie and my wonderful husband to make life bearable.
Engagement and Courtship Pictures
Posted on February 27th, 2006 by Ben
We enjoy these pictures, and they can all be viewed in our Photo Gallery.
Okay. That’s all for now. Pretty boring, huh?
