Abigail Virginia's Birth Story

"FOR YOU CREATED MY INMOST BEING; YOU KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB. I PRAISE YOU BECAUSE I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE."
PSALM 139:13-14

ME PREGNANT WITH ABBIE
SPRING 2005

ABIGAIL VIRGINIA
APRIL 19th 2005
With Daddy and Mommy

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BABY!

ZANE ENTHRALLED WITH HIS
BABY SISTER!

ZANE KISSES ABBIE ON HER
BIRTHDAY!

When Zane was 10 months old I became pregnant for the second time with a baby that I miscarried, at 8 weeks. It was a very hard time, and sometime I would like to write about that, but not now! After miscarrying we tried again, hoping to get pregnant fairly quickly and when Zane was 13 months, we did! :) We were still living in the single wide, and by January 2005, James was deployed to Iraq, and due home in March. I was due with the new baby on April 28th 2005.

I found a house to buy in LaFayette, KY in February, and when James returned from Iraq in March, we signed the papers and moved to a newer manufactured home (a double-wide) with 10 acres and lots of outbuildings. We moved in on March 13th. The rest of my pregnancy, I spent moving in, getting organized and doing some major nesting! We loved our new house and were so happy to be able to do what we wanted. Zane had a big backyard with a pool, sandbox and sometime later, his trampoline. He loved it there a lot!

This pregnancy was the best one out of the three. I was hardly sick at all and I didn't do much, so I was able to gain 31 pounds. James was in Iraq when I went in for my ultrasound, so he was not able to be there and "see" the news that we were possibly having a little girl, this time. The doctor said he was pretty sure it was a girl, but not 100%. I felt like it was a girl, but we never really knew for certain until she was born! :)

This time I had the same doctor the whole time! Another humongous baby boom had occurred on Ft. Campbell and many expectant mom's ended up being "farmed-out" to civilian hospitals, and I was one of them. I was very pleased with everything and had a wonderful and caring OB/GYN. Though it was a male, he did a good job! :)

While I was pregnant with Abigail, I couldn't stand to eat Yogurt, and to this day, I cannot finish a little carton, where I used to eat a whole one, before. Weird. She likes yogurt, though! My main craving was anything lemon! I loved and had to have lemon-water, and lemon cakes, muffins and pancakes. She does love lemon, and even eats Lemon-Heads and slices of Lemon, and doesn't make a face! :)

With Abigail, I woke up one morning, (the 18th of April) and as soon as I started the day I felt very hard, painless contractions, and more intense (though not painful) Braxton Hicks. I wasn't too sure if I was in labor since I wasn't due until the 28th, but decided that it very well could be and did the "flight of the honey bee" through the house, getting things ready and organized. When I lost my mucus plug in the middle of the day, we knew it was real labor and called my in-laws to come down, so Sherri could go with us to the hospital and Jim could watch Zane at the house, for us. We stayed around the house until the contractions were painful, which was not until midnight. We thought it was neat that it was very likely I would deliver on the 19th (the same day of the month that Zane was born).

So, off we went to Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville, TN. My contractions were very close together but definitely not as painful as with Zane (we think this is due to the "natural" labor occurrence, instead of what I experienced with Zane). We stopped at Dairy Queen (I think) to get me a vanilla milkshake....I don't know why, but that is what I wanted, even though it was not very healthy!

When the doctors checked me, I was already at 4 cm! I was ecstatic!...and thought to myself, that maybe I could have a natural birth this time! It didn't last long, and my contractions were so close together and so painful that I gave up yet again and got another epidural at 6 cm. My labor was very fast with Abigail. I got to the hospital at midnight and she was ready to be delivered at 5:00 am on the 19th. I stayed in the same room for my labor and delivery which was nice. When it came time to push, I think I pushed 4 or 5 times and she was out. I was so happy to hear her cry that I didn't even think about whether or not she was really a girl. I guess James was interested though, and since he had seen her come out but she was face down (like normal), he did not see whether it was a girl or not!...They had taken her to clean her off and do all they do, and so he went over there to see for himself if he had gotten his little girl! He came over to me and whispered in my ear, that it really was a girl! :) I was like..."oh, yeah.....I forgot about that!" And we were so happy. About a minute later, they brought her to us and she nursed on both sides for 15 min per side and I was the happiest mommy, ever! :) She eventually weaned at 17 months and has never had formula! I am big on breastfeeding, and always have this nagging worry that I will not make milk or the baby will not nurse, and she did wonderfully.

The name Abigail is Hebrew for "my father's joy", and that she was and still is! :) She is definitely a daddy's girl! She was born at 5:01 am and weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and was 19 inches long! She had a ton of dark brown hair and my awesome friend, LaNette brought barrettes for her hair when she came to visit us in the hospital.

When Zane came to see us, he was enthralled! He was 22 months old and was not talking very well at this point. But he was very adamant that this was "His BEE-BEE"! Oh, it was so cute to see his reactions when he held and kissed his new little sister! And she has worshiped him as her older brother, ever since! :) But not over her Daddy! :)