Teagan's Birth

Toward the end of my pregnancy my doctor said that the baby was getting pretty big and that I could be induced if I wanted to. He felt it would be best since the baby was getting so big. I decided that I wanted to and we set the date for the induction. I was induced right on my due date, January 21, 2008. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:00 am. I didn't get much sleep the night before. I was so excited to finally get to meet my baby boy. Darryl and I woke up, and got ready and left at about 5:30 am even though the hospital was pretty close. It was good that we left early. We woke up to several inches of snow and it kept snowing and snowing all day long. It took a while to get to the hospital, but we made it on time. 

Once we got there, did the paperwork, and got settled in our room, the nurse came in to set up my IV to start my labor. I was hooked up to machines to monitor my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. I started having contractions and it really wasn't that bad. They came in a few hours later and broke my water. That was unpleasant, but not terrible. The contractions started to become more intense after that. I wasn't in pain, but it was definitely more noticeable. 

Several hours later, the nurse told me I had progressed enough that if I wanted to get an epidural, I should get it now or never. I contemplated going natural, but something kept telling me to just get the epidural. I hadn't experienced any pain up til that point but I felt I should get it anyway. I got the epidural and Darryl held my hands as they put the needle into my spine. He started to get white-faced and queesy, and looked like he was going to pass out! The nurse made him sit down and drink some juice. It was funny that he got dizzy over that, but not anything else. The baby's heart rate when down for a bit and they gave me oxygen to help. I was a little concerned, but knew that everything would be ok.

Darryl making me laugh during my labor. 

Shortly after my epidural, the nurse said that I was about ready to start pushing and she would call the doctor to have him come. She came back in the room and told me that the doctor was right in the middle of delivering another baby at a different hospital and I could either wait for him or have on of the other doctors deliver my baby. I decided I was in no rush and I would go ahead and wait. He got stuck in the snow and didn't make it for 2 hours! It was ok though. Darryl and I played games, and talked and enjoyed our time together.

I was so glad to have Darryl with me the whole time. 

A little before six, the doctor arrived and I was ready to start pushing. I pushed and it made me so sick to my stomach I threw up. The nausea made pushing difficult, but I got through it and didn't have to push very long at all. When he was born, the Dr. Hansen went to suction out his nose and mouth and dropped the aspirator bulb. He said to the nurse "Suction! Suction!" She hurried and handed him another bulb and everything was fine. The baby was screaming the whole time and I was glad to hear it. I knew he could breath if he was screaming! It did make me panic just a little when he dropped the bulb, but everything was ok. Then Darryl cut the cord, and Dr. Hansen handed me my beautiful baby boy. He was bright purple and screaming like crazy. I was glad to finally meet him. 

Still on the phone calling to tell everyone about my beautiful baby boy!

We were having difficulty deciding on a name so we chose to wait to see what he looked like before naming him. We liked Ryland and Teagan. Darryl said he looked like a Teagan, so that's what we named him. I was so overwhelmed with joy. I couldn't wait for everyone to see my sweet baby boy. Darryl and I were both on the phone calling our families to tell them the good news. Devin and Amanda were the fastest and were his very first visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Young and Uncle Garrett were next. Cambria and Marissa and Ryan came too. It was fun to have my family there to see my little guy. I got to call Steph and Joe and tell them too. They were living in London and were awaiting my call. I was so glad to celebrate my baby's birth! We were glad to finally have him here with us.

Grandma couldn't hold her new grandson because she had a slight cold. It was torture for her.

One happy Grandpa

My Dad brought me flowers the morning after Teagan was born.

Lynn and Teagan

Grandma FernEtta and Teagan

Grandma Larsen meeting baby Teagan

Pregnancy

Lynn kept pestering me about having kids. He would say, "You having a baby, though Rachelle?"I would adamantly tell him that I was NOT having a baby. He would just insist that I was in fact going to have a baby, "I think you have a baby growin in your stomach." and then walk away if I disagreed with him. (which I did!) I was worried he was going to start telling people I was pregnant when I wasn't, so whenever he would bring it up, I would go on and on about how that wasn't happening and basically threaten his life if he kept saying that I was pregnant. This did not deter him . . .

About 2-3 weeks later, I started to wonder if I was actually pregnant! I was late, so I went and bought a test and it was POSITIVE!!! I was stunned. I was so overwhelmingly happy, I couldn't wait to tell Darryl and I called him right then (he was at work) and told him we were having a baby! He was so happy. Then I ran downstairs and my mom was on the phone. I showed her the actual pregnancy test and she couldn't believe it. She hung up the phone and was pretty excited. She was going to be a Grandma! We went shopping that day and since I didn't know the baby's gender or anything, we just bought some maternity clothes. They had some winter one's on sale since it was summer time, but I was due in January so it worked out well. I got some great things on sale and saved them for when I actually got big enough to wear them. 

My pregnancy went fairly well. No nausea, minor fatigue, but nothing of note. Then the day Marissa got married, I came home and had bled a lot. So much that I thought for sure I had lost the baby. I was crying and just devastated. I was only about 8 weeks along, so if I was bleeding, I knew this must mean a miscarriage. I called the doctor first thing in the morning and he got me right in for an ultrasound. Since I wasn't very far along, I had to have an intra-vaginal ultrasound which was invasive, and horrifying. I was so scared and uncomfortable. Darryl had to work, so my mom was with me. They found a heartbeat and my heart nearly burst. I was so glad to hear my tiny baby was alive. 

I was put on bedrest and wasn't allowed to do much of anything. I couldn't lift more than 10 pounds and I was to limit my physical activity. This was all right before our 3 week trip back east. I was worried about the baby and wanting to do what was best for him/her but I didn't want to miss this trip we had planned. My mom talked to the doctor and asked if I could come if we rented a wheelchair. The doctor thought this was a good idea. He said the trip should be relaxing and not strenuous, so he allowed me to go if I agreed to stay in the wheelchair. 

I hated being on bedrest. I didn't look or feel pregnant so it was easy to forget that I couldn't do things I normally do, like pick up Tilly, who is just over ten pounds. My mom certainly didn't forget! She would sharply reprimand me if I did anything that she thought might hurt the baby in anyway. This was especially true on the trip. You'd think I would have gotten star treatment getting pushed around in a wheelchair all over Washington D.C. It wasn't exactly the case. It really made me feel sorry for the disabled people who are stuck in a wheelchair permanently. If there was a set of stairs, the wheelchair access was WAY out of the way and not convenient at all. I felt banished and left out quite a bit of the time. Everyone is walking down the street having a nice conversation as they walk and I can't hear anything because I am sitting a few feet below them in the dang wheelchair!

My family really went out of their way to include me and make things fun. I can't complain too much. Afterall, it was for the good of the baby. Devin and Garrett were especially fun to have push me in the wheelchair. Devin would go crazy fast and nearly run people over and Garrett had sound effects and "gears" that he would "shift" into. It was funny. I was really grateful they were willing to do that. Big props to Devin for being the one to push the wheelchair during the worst part of the trip: the hills at Arlington Cemetery. It was miserably hot and humid and the hills were steep and long, and Devin pushed me in the wheelchair the whole day. 

After the trip, I went back to the doctor and everything was fine. I didn't have to be on bedrest anymore and I was glad to hear the baby was doing well and that we didn't have to worry anymore. My pregnancy continued without complication. I had morning sickness quite often and got used to puking anything I ate. That was a bit unpleasant, but not as bad as the horror stories I heard about my mom's pregnancies so I felt grateful. 

We finally made it to the 20 week appointment where we got to have the ultrasound to make sure the baby was healthy and to find out the gender. My mom got to tag along and as soon as the image appeared on the screen and we could see our little baby, we knew right away that it was a boy. We were so thrilled! Darryl couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He started talking about what sports he was going to teach him first. It was a great day. We got to see the baby and the doctor showed us different parts of his body and how they were functioning perfectly. His heart was beating and he was swallowing and other things like that. I was so glad to see that he was growing so well and just as perfect as could be. He loved putting his hand in front of his face. I guess that was comfortable, but we thought he was waving to us. :)

My pregnancy continued for what seemed like forever! Toward the end, my doctor said the baby was a lot bigger than he would like him to be so he didn't want me going past my due date. I was able to schedule an induction right on my due date. I was pretty excited to know there was an end in sight. Darryl was also really glad to have the pregnancy end so he could get his side of the bed back! I had a hard time sleeping toward the end of my pregnancy and would end up taking up most of the bed. Poor Darryl had a tiny corner of the bed and slept smashed up against the wall.