My pregnancy with Mac and his birth

(Last year I did a "trip down memory lane" in photos for each birthday, but this year I want to enter in my pregnancy/birth journal, which I have for each kid).


After having four kids (no twins) in three-in-a-half years (who does that?), my body needed a rest. We took a little time off to enjoy our four little ones without morning sickness. I also decided I was going to have a more enjoyable pregnancy next time and get myself into shape beforehand. For almost a year, I worked out daily and counted calories. I got within 5 lbs of my goal weight. Then we decided to get pregnant, thinking it would take a few months - for some reason I wanted a May baby? Mollee was 5, Tavis was 4, Daegan was 3 and Capps was about to turn 2. We got pregnant right away.

I assumed I was pregnant, but we were heading to the beach with Jason's family, so I decided to wait until we got back to take a test. I think we were in Florida for less than 12 hours when I bought a test and took it and it was positive, but we didn't say anything. The beach trip was great, except that I slept all the time. I think we waited until I went to the dr before we told people we were pregnant, around 8 weeks. Due date was January 25.


Nausea with this pregnancy wasn't as bad as with Capps, but it was still present until about 20 weeks. I was able to nap every day and that helped a lot. At 15 weeks, Mollee went to kindergarten. That was very emotional on Mommy, but we got into the swing of school very quickly - of course, it helped that she loved it. I felt the baby some at 16 weeks, but really felt him at 20 weeks and he was very active from that point on. Ultrasound at 18 weeks indicated a definite boy! For some reason, I assumed it was a girl.



I had planned to keep up with my exercise throughout pregnancy, but was just too tired at the beginning. By my second trimester my shortness of breath was extreme and exercise was out of the question. After all the hard work before pregnancy, I gained 55 lbs. total with this pregnancy.


My fundus height increased faster than with other pregnancies, so at 33 weeks they did another ultrasound and the due date came back to January 14, but if it didn't change the date by two weeks, they wouldn't change it on the chart. I was told that the baby would be over 9 lbs. At 35 weeks my sciatica pain was extreme, I was always out-of-breathe and I was miserable. I remember trying to be tough, but hoping my midwife would induce at 38 weeks. I was a little scared of a big baby.


At my 38 week check-up, my midwife agreed to induce the following Monday. I was only 1cm and the baby was still floating, but I was done being pregnant. We had problems with insurance at our hospital of choice that was causing some stress while trying to get induction scheduled. Hospital saying insurance no longer accepted, but insurance saying they had already pre-approved that hospital so we could go there.


We headed to the hospital Monday morning at 6 AM. I am always beta-strep positive and allergic to regular antibiotics, so I'd have to get a different antibiotic that took longer so we'd have to get it started as soon as possible. Antibiotics started at 6:30, Pitocin started at 11:00 - set at 3 and bumped up 3 every 30 minutes. Midwife broke my water at noon and I got epidural at 12:30, in case things went quickly. I felt epidural was too heavy and I got extremely itchy. Because of back labor my nurse made me lay on side to progress labor, but it all went slower than normal and I can remember being very frustrated. At 3:15, I was checked at 90% effaced and only 6cm. A different nurse had checked me and made me roll onto the other side and within 10 minutes I told her to check me again - I was sure I was complete. I was and they made me wait for midwife to get there and I pushed twice and baby was born at 3:37.


A beautiful baby boy: Haynes (my grandfather's name) MacArthur. He was 6 lbs. 15 oz (not 9 lbs?) and 19 3/4 inches. I nursed him right after they cleaned him up, which went well and I nursed him until I had to have my gall bladder out when he was 11 months old and my milk supply didn't survive the surgery. He looked a lot like Daegan was the comment everyone expressed in the hospital!


The other kids are 12 1/2 months, 15 months and 16 months apart, so with a 2 1/2 year gap, we felt like we were starting over - as crazy as that sounds! Since Capps was our "baby" for 2 1/2 years, we feared he would be jealous, but he ended up being very protective. Sometimes too protective.


Mac was a happy and easy baby. He never took a paci, but sucked him thumb from about 6 weeks until 9 months and then just stopped on his own. He had major separation anxiety from the start, and has just recently started going to Sunday School.

I didn't quite remember this, but until 6 months, his weight percentile was around 50% and his height was around 10%, after that he fell off the chart and was too small to be on the chart. He was a poor eater, and still is, but the dr was never concerned because his weight was a higher percentile than his height.

I remember thinking that the Lord's timing was perfect, once again. To have a January baby was much better than having a May baby. I was available to participate (not recovering from birth) in end-of-the-school-year activities. During the summer, I was able to get the two little ones down for a nap and take the big ones to the pool. If I had to choose, January and March (Daeg) were my favorite months for having a baby.

Sorry this is so lengthy. It was fun to go back and read thru all my entries. Today he turns 4. He is a funny character who runs with the big boys, but is absolutely fine playing in his room by himself. He is completely out of diapers (not even at night) and as soon as we can find another set of bunk beds, he will move down to the boys room. He is a snuggler. He has a blanket that he drags around the house with him everywhere and, if I'd let him, he would take it on errands too. Jason calls him R2-D2 because he beeps and squeaks and moans instead of talking (which we are working on), personally I think it is because Curious George is his hero - have you ever seen the show? We also call him Pork Chop, because of a t-shirt he picks to wear every time he dresses himself.
I mentioned in my Christmas letter that he has been a perfect "last child", which is so true! He goes with the flow of me volunteering at school, but he also loves to stay home - especially if it means he can stay in his PJs.

Happy 4th Birthday, Pork Chop! *sniff*