Micah Alan

Here we go again...we are about to take another walk down memory lane. I love these trips, they are a great reminder of how God has blessed me. This time it's Micah's story that fills my head and heart. There isn't anything like your first pregnancy and your first newborn. Nothing can compare to that experience. Each child is special with their own special story, but the first born is special just because it's the first.

I was working at a Doctor's office and kept having a lot of abdominal pain. I confided in one of my very good friends that I worked with and she asked if I could be pregnant. I called my Doctor. They asked me to come into the office to be checked out. Dr Bolan asked me a few questions and then sent me down to the Hospital for a few tests. First we needed to figure out if I was pregnant...he wanted a blood test.

I decided not to call Kevin, I didn't want him worrying if it turned out to be nothing. I had my blood drawn (and didn't pass out...amazing for me). I went and nervously sat in this little waiting room. It took about 45min before the lab tech came and asked me to pick up the phone that was sitting in this dark little room. Tim, from Dr. Bolan's office, was on the other end, telling me that I was pregnant and that I had to have an ultrasound done, too see what was causing all the pain. I was shocked, scared, excited, nervous and now I needed to call my husband.

I called Kev and told him the wonderful news....then I told him that I was having all this pain and had to have an ultrasound done to see what was going on. Little did I know at the time, but his boss, parents, Aunt and Uncle were all standing next to him when he received my call. We didn't want anyone to know that I was pregnant, just in case something were to happen. So he made his excuses and left.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, I was already in the ultrasound room and was getting prepped for the ultrasound. Then all of a sudden there were pictures on the screen that showed this little bean with a heart beating. It was the most glorious sight we had ever seen. I of course cried...I think Kevin was a little choked up too. The good news was we had a baby, it's heart was beating, it wasn't in my fallopian tubes....the concern was that my hormone levels needed to keep going up, that would tell us if this was a viable pregnancy.

Over the next few weeks I had to go to the hospital every other day to have my blood drawn and on those afternoons, I would be anxiously waiting at the office for a phone call from my Dr. telling me all was well.

We were so excited that everything seemed to be going better, my pain was slowly disappearing, my blood work was all normal....Life was going great.

I remember I was about 6 weeks along and we went out on the boat for the day with Kevin's family. Kevin decided to go tubing.....he thought he was still 16yrs old and had his Dad driving him all crazy....he fell off and got the wind knocked out of him. Later that night, he was in so much pain he couldn't move, he could barely breath, so I took him into the ER. While sitting there in the early morning hours I remember starting to feel queasy. I thought it was just the smells at the hospital...as soon as I got home, I would be better.

I was SOOOO WRONG!!!! It only got worse and worse... We couldn't keep my pregnancy from people because I was so sick. I missed a lot of work because I spent more time in the bathroom than I did doing my job. I remember hating to brush my teeth (I usually always got sick when I brushed them)...I had to stop eating cereal for breakfast and start eating foods that came up easily. It has only been in the last 6 months that I have been able to start eating Raisin Bran again (I just couldn't stomach it before). It was a really tough time for me.

Finally around 4/5 months along, with the help of a wonderful drug, I was free from the constant sickness that had plagued me. It was a beautiful time in our life. One that I will always cherish.

The rest of my pregnancy went very well, until I was 6 wks from my due date. I went into preterm labor and had to go to the hospital to try and stop it. Thankfully they were able to get my contractions under control, and let me go home, but was told to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible.

I was due Feb 14th, 2002 (Tyler's due date was exactly 2 years later :-) I worked that day, I remember some of my very favorite patients came in to see me, wondering if I had gone into labor yet. One of the old ladies had made a little yellow hat for the baby, it looked rather large, but I thanked her and told her I would let her know as soon as the baby arrived. It was a wonderful day that was finished off by my husband taking me out for our last Valentines day dinner (just the two of us). We got home settled into bed and went to sleep.

I was awaken just after 3am. I wasn't sure why, I went to the bathroom and went back to sleep. I was woke up again about 45min later. Again not sure why, maybe the baby kicked me. I went back too sleep. I again woke up...this time, I thought that something must be going on. I got out of bed and just started to walk round. It was shortly after 5am when I realized that I was in labor, and this time, there was no stopping it, I was going to have this baby. It is kind of like the feeling when you are on a roller coaster climbing up the first and biggest hill. You are excited, nervous, scared...then as you are reaching the crest of the hill you want to yell...."STOP THIS RIDE...I WANT OFF", but you know there is no turning back...you have to stay on the ride and see it through.

I woke Kevin up just after 6am and told him that neither of us were going to work today...we were going to go have a baby.

We arrived at the hospital at about 7:30am. They made sure I was in labor before they put me in my room.... I was starting to feel uncomfortable, they had us walking the halls. I remember having my arm around Kevin's and holding his hand. When a contraction came, I couldn't walk, I would have to stop and hold on the him so that I wouldn't fall down. I went for hours with out any pain meds. At one point they injected me with a pain med that made me get very sick. It was at that point that I decided to get an epidural.

Epidurals are great if they work.....it didn't work for me. They told me there was nothing they could do except try again, but the Anesthesiologist was in an emergency C-section and wouldn't be back for awhile, I had no choice but to go all natural....great.

Dr Bolan arrived around 3:30pm and I started pushing. And pushing. And pushing. I pushed for over an hour and a half...and I wasn't getting very far. Then the baby's heart rate started to decrease. I didn't realize what was going on at the time. I was just trying to manage the pain and the pushing. I remember Bolan giving some strict instructions (I will save you the details) I remember one of the nurses hitting the "red button" that is on the wall (which sends a message to all medical staff to come running). Next there was this weird looking instrument that the put on the babies head. It was a "vacuum", they tried it, but it popped right off the babies head. Bolan told Dr. Laura to get it back on and try it again....quickly... This time when she tugged the baby came out...Thank you Jesus, because I would hate to know what they would have done next.

They yelled "It's a boy" and rushed him off to the medical team waiting for him. I was crying and told Kevin to go to our baby. It felt like forever and then I heard his cry. I have no idea how long it really was, or what they were doing. I really don't want to know. At one point one of the nurses asked Bolan how big he thought the baby was....he guessed 8 lbs. Our little bean was 10 lbs 5 oz. He was a giant compared to all other babies in the nursery. You know that yellow hat, one of the patients gave me, that looked to big??? That's the hat that I had to use, because all the other baby hats were too small....She must have known I was going to have a big baby:-)

Dr. Bolan was amazed, he said, "no wonder he got stuck". He told me later it was a miracle that I didn't wind up having a C-section with a baby that size. He also said that I had to have had gestational diabetes to have a baby so big. Thinking back, I remember having my glucose tolerance test (a test that would show gestational diabetes)...without the glucose....no wonder I passed my test!

Looking back I can hardly believe that it was 7 years ago already. Time really does fly!

Blessings!