Hazel's Birth

And now the birth story for Hazel Fern Kohl.  I figure I better get it in writing soon before I forget the details.  I'm suffering from post-pregnancy memory loss and can't remember something from 2 minutes earlier!! :)  This is long but needs to be documented for family history sake! 

This pregnancy was by far the hardest thing I have ever done.  I know now more than ever that there is a reason why we have babies when we're young.  My 37 year old body sure didn't like being pregnant! 

 Here are some highlights of how this pregnancy went:

-Right from the beginning this pregnancy was different. It was discovered at my first doctors visit that my progesterone was too low.  I ended up taking progesterone for the first 13 weeks to make sure I didn't have a miscarriage.  Once I made it past 13 weeks I started to feel better (less sickness) and even had a little energy.

-Around November I started having leg pain and realized I had a bad varicose vein in my left leg.  I had to get the awful compression stockings which I wore the remainder of my pregnancy. (even on delivery day) :) I also somehow survived a road trip to Disneyland and Phoenix in November. I'm still not sure how I did it!

-I had 5 ultrasounds during this pregnancy.  I had never had more than one with my other kids.  My first ultrasound was in December and it was discovered that I was having a girl and everything looked good except my amniotic fluid was low so another ultrasound was scheduled for January and I was told to drink a ton of water.  Later that week I woke up with strong pain in my side and couldn't sleep because of it, so we ended up at the ER to figure out was it was.  It turned out to just be ligament pain but I did have my 2nd ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok.  We again got it verified that the baby was indeed a girl!  My 3rd ultrasound was in January to check the amniotic fluid again and everything was great! My 4th ultrasound came after my gestational diabetes diagnosis.  We had to find out the measurements of the baby so we could monitor her size.  I didn't want to deliver a 10lb baby! It was discovered during this ultrasound that she was breach. :(  Hence the reason for the 5th and final ultrasound.  The doctor couldn't tell from checking me if she was still breach as the delivery got closer so we did a final ultrasound to make sure she had turned.  Luckily for me (and her) she had turned and everything looked good! 

-The ER visit a week before Christmas was definitely a low light of the pregnancy.  I spent most of the night in the ER (and then labor and delivery) only to be told that my pain was probably just my ligaments stretching.  I was just relieved that the baby was okay and that it wasn't something like a kidney stone.  I also realized I was not ready to be at labor and delivery and didn't want to go back anytime soon! 

-It was early in February that I had to do the dreaded 1 hour glucose test.  I hate fasting and drinking the awful drink.  Once it was done I felt pretty yucky and wondered why.  Sure enough my results came back high so they sent me to do the 3 hour glucose test.  Now if I thought the 1 hour was bad, the 3 hour was complete torture.  I had to get my blood drawn 4 times and drink huge bottle of the nasty drink.  Luckily Nate was there with me and kept my mind off of how awful I felt.  I knew during the test that the results were going to come back bad.  I was so jittery and felt over sugared. When the diagnosis for gestational diabetes came I just sat down and bawled.  I met with a diabetic specialist and started a strict low carb diet and had to test my blood sugar 4 times a day.  It was really no fun at all.  It was an adjustment to only be able to eat 3 meals a day and 2 snacks with low carbs and no sugar.  The only thing positive about it all was I didn't gain too much weight! :)

-The actual birth went pretty well.  I was induced a week earlier than my due date which is what I have done with all my kids.  I was definitely ready, but my body was a little slow to be ready.  It took most of the day to get little Hazel here.  I had to be at the hospital at 6:30am.  Everything went smoothly except for a little issue with the epidural.  A few hours after getting the epidural I started feeling the contractions on my left side.  They were pretty painful.  The anesthesiologist tried turning me and had me push 'the button' for more medication but nothing worked.  He decided to give me a shot of lidocane which ended up completely numbing me and causing my already low blood pressure to drop.  This caused me to become light headed and feel like I was going to pass out.  After laying down and getting some oxygen I soon felt better.  The interesting thing is this is exactly what happened when I had Gavin, so it was no fun repeating it again. Around 3:45 I could feel the pressure during each contraction so I knew it was time to push.  We had to wait 5 minutes for the doctor to come and then I pushed 3 times and she was here!!  

Born at 3:57pm, wieghing 8lbs 5oz, and measuring 19 inches long. 

I decided on the name Hazel a few months before her birth.  I came across the name when searching through lists of girl names and decided I really liked it! (I did have to convince Nate though)  The best part is that her name flowed well with her middle name 'Fern' which is my Grandma Hess's first name.  I'm so grateful to have my 2 daughters who have my 2 grandmas first names as their middle names. 

I can't begin to describe the joy I felt knowing I had made it through the pregnancy and delivery and even more joy knowing that Hazel was healthy and perfect! I was blessed in so many ways in the last 9 months.  I have wonderful neighbors and friends who helped me with so many things before and after Hazel's birth.  I am writing this almost 7 weeks postpartum and am getting use to my new normal with a newborn.  Life is good!