I should prolly Start from the beginning, so all of you readers out there don't get lost... so, the following comes from a journal that I began on The Parenthood Web.

HOW WE FIRST FOUND OUT

Unbenounced to many people, Derek (my hubby) and I had decided we wanted a child way early on in our relationship. We haven't been together for that long, and I know most of you out there don't believe me when I say this, but it was love at first sight with us. We tried and tried for a month or so and I even had what seemed to be valid signs of pregnancy, but each test came back with a big negative sign. We then decided to stop trying and let what ever was going to happen, happen!...Then came december.

I was a few days late in getting my period, but I didn't think anything of it becuz I've had a history of struggle wtih an eating disorder, which often threw off the balance of my period 3 days or so. I began peeing a lot, and I thought it might be my old bladder infection reoccuring, so I whipped out my old medication for it, and it said not to take it if you were preggo.... by then I was already a week late. I decided to take a test before taking the medication, becuz there was this ever-nagging feeling that it was the right thing to do.

SO.....

I phoned Derek at work and told him to stop off and pick me up a HPT. Luckily the pack came in 2... I read the directions, peed on the stick. After waiting the alotted time, I nervuosly went into the bathroom and peered at the test... my hands were shaking as i beheld a slightly faded second line. I went over and showed the test to Derek who simply said "Oh, you're pregnant." I think he was at that time, in shock. I took the second test just to be sure, and that also came out positive, but I was still not convinced that there could be a little miracle brewing within MY body, so we went to the local clinic, and had one administered there. When that one also came back with the same results, is when I believe it truly hit Derek. he then kept saying "It's a baby, I can't believe it!"

I had my first appointment on 1/25/00. Having never had a pelvic exam before in my life, I must say, it is the most uncomfortable thing that I have EVER experienced!! Other than that, everything seems to be going well, the baby's heartbeat was 140.

My second doctor visit was 2/22/00 (the day after my 20th b-day!) all Dr. Taber really did was check my pulse and then the baby's heartbeat, which was 155... it sounded really fast!!!

I get to find out the sex at 24 weeks, Derek and I can't wait.

Here we are now... according to my LMP, I'm about 17 weeks along. For most people, time seems to be going by fast in their pregnancy, but not for me!! I'm just so anxious to meet my little baby. I haven't even seen it yet and already I love it more than anything!!!

My belly is showing more now, I'm so proud! Derek and I decided that the theme for the baby would be teddy bears, becuz it's unisex, cheap, and easy to find things in teddy bear form. I was complaining to Derek that we hadn't bought anything yet, so he took me to walmart and I picked up a cute little teddy blanky and a pack of onezie's.

A week ago Derek did the sweetest thing! He sneeked out while I was resting and went to Babies R Us and bought an adorable little teddy lamp!!

One last note before I go today: I think I can feel the baby move now. Sometimes when I lay down, I feel little bubbles, but they aren't like indegestion bubbles!!!

Well, I went to the doc for another appointment today, it was basically ot see if it is safe for me to travel to texas with Derek when he goes to see Tiler. Everything turned out ok, and it is pretty much safe for me to go... the baby's heartbeat was up to 160 again... nice and strong! The only down news was that I get to be tested early for gestational diabetes becuz my vision is much more blurry then usual, I'm not looking forward to that! I am however, looking forward to seeing Tiler in person, he is oooo soooo adorable!! the splitting image of Derek!

I woke up yesterday having a lot of back pain and pain in my tummy, I felt as tho I had a massive hangover! I thought it would be ok if I just went to sleep for a bit... I ended up sleeping the whole day, waking from time to time to eat little bits and the puke it all up. I wasn't even holding down liquid. Come 9 PM, I gathered the strength to force myself to eat some chicken soup, but that didn't last long. I ended up keeling over in my living room floor in pain. My friend shanon dialed up our other friend Marjie and asked her to take us to the ER. We arrived there at 9:40 PM, when Derek met us. I spent HOURS in the waiting room! It turns out that I have a bad UTI and was dehydrated, so they pumped 2 bags of IV fluid in me and gave me meds for the UTI. The baby's heartbeat was lower than usual, but it seemed ok, it kept running away from the dopler everytime the nurse tried to time the heartbeat! The Doc said the vomiting was from morning sickness, but I know it must be the flu just becuz of how my body is feeling, I'm having a follow up appt. from the ER with doctor Taber, so hopefully he can at least give me something for my cough.

Welp. Here we are, 18 weeks til popping time! I'm so exited (and scared)! A lot has been going on since I've last written, so this should be a fairly long entry. I'll try to sum everything up as short as possible tho so as not to bore you!

I didn't get to go to Texas. Instead, I got to be admitted to the hospital-- when I went in for my appointment (the one I explained in last entry) it was obvious that I was not OK. I could barely walk or open my eyes, and I was still vomiting like mad. Once in the hospital, I was pumped full of IV fluid...for 2 days straight. On the third day, I was moved up to a liquid diet. I got to eat broth and Jello (ICK!), but on the fourth I moved up to solids and was out on day five.

I now take a medication for vomiting, so that I don't have to ever go through that again!

We went to visit my dad and grandma (they live 2 hours away) and my gram said that she and my other grandma were going to pay for all of the baby things... I have no arguement there, it'll help out a lot.

I woke up this morning, and I thought I was going to die! I was cramping BAD! I wasnt' bleeding or anything tho so I took a bath and that ssothed the cramping. I'm hoping they are just Braxton Hicks contractions.... I haven't felt any kicking, but my tummy does feel bubbly-ish. I'm so worried, but I'm going to wait til Derek gets home and get his opinion.

My next Doc appointment is 5/1/00

The baby's fine! Derek got me this cool new thing called Bebe Sounds by Unisar. It's sorta like a doppler, but not as strong. You can listen to the baby's heartbeat, kicks, and hiccups. I love it! I got to hear it's heart, so I know it's doing perfectly fine, that, and I feel it moving up a storm in there!

I've started talking and singing more to the baby too, so does Derek..... I don't get too much of a reaction, I think the baby just calms down to the sound of my voice, but when Derek starts talking to it, it gets so active! I can't wait til it's born!

I went to see doctor Taber today. I had to sit in the friggin' waiting room for an entire hour before finally being seen. I thought I was going to die from overheating (or at least puke my brains out). He told me at my last visit that I'd more than likely be able to have the ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby at this visit....

and the result was---

It's a BABY

I didn't get my ultrasound. He doesn't think I'll even get it becuz I got one at 11 weeks when I had a bad fall, and he doesn't think Medi-Cal looks too kindly on "un-needed" ultrasounds!

I'm so depressed. He had my hopes up all this time. I don't understand how he could have just strung me along and let me think I was finally going to get to see my baby. I wanted so much to know what it is just becuz everyone else around me knows what they are having, and more importantly, I don't like reffering to my baby as "it". I was looking forward to being able to label the baby He or She....

Oh well, I've suffered worse fates, we love it no matter what!

I can't believe it, I'm 28 weeks already, practically 29!! Everything has gone by so fast since we first found out we were pregnant, but the closer it gets, the longer it drags on and on! I was told it would drag, but I had no idea I'd feel so blah. I think it's just the increasing hot weather! I'm only in the very beggining of my 3rd trimester, and I want it out! LOL!

Anyway.... My 2 Gramma's came down from Monterey, and brought us a lot of baby clothes. Some even came from my relatives in Korea! They're so pretty!!

we got a stroller too. That came from Target. I wanted to get the cheapy one, but my one gramma (mom's mom) said no, go for saftey and don't worry about the price. I let Derek pick becuz I'd never shopped for a baby before, and he had with Tiler. He chose the Eddie Bower one. It was a good deal for the price. It's 4 in 1 so it comes with the carseat too, and even a rain/wind guard to protect the baby's face!

Speaking of the baby, it's doing great. It hasn't been moving as much as it normally does these past few days, but Derek says it's normal for that to happen. I mean, I feel kicks, but they're tinier than before, I'm sure it's fine. My guess is it just doesn't have enough room to kick hard. :o)

In other news.. my belly button has officially popped out!! You can see it through the dresses I wear, it looks weird as anything! Sometimes my dress even pops up from kicking, LoL! :o)

my next appointment is June 2nd, I'll write after that!

The Appointment, a short entry, week 30--6/5/00

I went to the doc, and everything is perfectly normal. The heartbeat was 140, or 150 I don't remember cuz I was trying not to pee on the table cuz the doc was pushing on my bladder. I go every 2 weeks now, and I'll write more after the 12th.

CONTINUATION OF LAST ENTRY....6/10/00

I know I said I'd write after the 12th but there has been a lot going on and I thought I should update you all.

The same night after my last entry (6/5/00), I had Derek take me to the ER becuz my back was just absolutely killing me and I had to be checked out for a UTI. When I got to the ER, the immediently sent me to labor and delivery, becuz that's hospital policy once you pass the 20 week mark I guess.

Once I got there, they took a urine sample and then hooked me up to the machine that monitors contractions and the baby's heartbeat at the same time. I was in labor!! I guess I didn't recognize it becuz I'd always thought labor was within only the tummy area, but I learned that night that you can also have labor pains in your back!

They sent up the doctor on call, and he did a lot of painful things to me-- He opened me up with a speculum, and took samples from inside me to run tests on, THEN, he ordered a cathider (sp?), becuz the UTI test came back negative and he wanted urine fresh from inside my bladder... That, by far, was the worst pain! next to seeing if I was dialated (I wasn't tho).

They gave me a medicine to stop the contractions, and kept me overnight. Everything was pretty much hazy due to the med! By morning, I was still contracting, but they were pretty spaced apart, so they sent me home. I never got to see my own doctor tho, I think they just showed him the sheet from the monitor, and he released me on that. I got a perscription for a Flagyl, it kills excess bacteria that they found inside me.

it's not over tho...

I went back almost the next night cuz the contractions had become unbearable again, and I was also sick to death from the Flagyl. Again, I was hooked to the monitor, and given medication to stop the contractions.

The nurse assigned to me was quite an unpleasant thing for me. She was repremanding me for being so dehydrated! I tried to explain to her that the reason was becuz I had been knocked out all day becuz of the flagyl, but she insisted it did not make you drousy. (I looked on the bottle when I got home and it said right on it that it made you drousy!). She also repremanded me becuz I said the baby liked Britney Spears. It truly pissed me off!! It's not my fault. I've tried classical, and country, britney is the one that it responds to. I wanted so much to tell her to fuck off!

Anyway, I actually got to see my own doctor, and got sent home that night. I was told the contractions were caused by dehydration, but I don't think so. I've been drinking constantly for the past 2 days, and when I'm not drinking water, i'm sucking on a popsicle, and I'm still feeling the pains, mostly in my back. My friend says that my doctor is stupid and should keep me under observation in the hospital... I don't know.

All I do know is, this child is not going to wait the full 40 weeks!

Tired, Just Tired: Week 32--6/23/00

Here I am, 8 weeks to go, and counting. There's nothing really of interesti going on lately tho. I started my lamaze classes on the 21st. The instructor is really a sweethart, she seems to care about everybody a lot. Tho, the class did seem a bit tedious. It was 3 friggin' hours long!! I will say that I did learn from it tho, and I did meet many nice people. Someone even had the same due date as me (Aug. 17th), but she looked a lot younger.

After lamaze, I went to the labor/delivery unit becuz Derek was so convinced I was contracting again cuz I had a lot of pain within my back and the sides of my tummy. I told him he was being paranoid, but I went anyway and did the whole monitor thing again...*sigh*. I was having one every hour or so, and I'd already had brethene running through my system (my doc gave me a prescription, its the generec brand of trebutaline), so they didnt give me anymore or even check to see if I was dialated. I kept trying to explain to the on-call doctor that these pains were not normal to me and did not feel like stretching muscles... but it went thru one ear and out the other. I also told him I've been having diarhea (sp?) for like 5 days, but he insisted that was Ok. I dont think it is.... am I wrong?? I think I might have developed a yeast infection too, but that I discovered last night. I'm not sure, it's that or just itchiness from hormones! I get a lot of that. :o) I have an appointment on the 29th with my own doctor, so I'll talk to him about that then.

I'm so paranoid, I know!!

Derek thinks that a lot of my discomforts lately are becuz the baby is getting ready to come... I'm not sure, if any of you had unusual symptoms right before the onset of labor, let me know!!!

Our guess is the baby'll be here in late or mid July!

Visit to the doc....7/4/00--week: 33

I went to the doctor on the 29th... Everything was well. It's heartbeat was 130, which is the normal for this baby. He felt around my tummy but couldn't get a good feel of the head becuz my abdominal muscles are tighter than most people's, so he scheduled an ultrasound. He said the baby felt tinier than it was supposed ot for its age.

He Also said I have more swelling than usual, so he's watching me carefully cuz my BP was up a bit too.

I went back yesterday on the 3rd for my ultrasound, and to get checked out cuz the swelling was so painful...

Derek and I had a lil bet going to see who could guess the sex of the baby.... he was swearing up and down it was a boy...

He was WRONG!!!!!

She's doing great! She weighs in at 4 lbs 13 oz right now.... my lil piggy! Her heart rate was 135. She's so beautiful! I was so excited, it was like opening gifts on christmas morning, and discovering you got the one thing you really wanted!

Derek's face nearly dropped. He keeps whining about make up and bra's and tampons, and NO bikini's .. *lol*!

It's so cute. He went to tuck me in last night, and was like, "good night my girls."

I cannot wait! I go back to the doc on July 17th, exactly a month before my due date!

8/4/00

I just wanted to let all my readers know... THE BABY WAS BORN!!! You can go to the page I have dedicated to her in order to find out the entire story.... the link is located below. Also, I'm closing the baby name poll...

Here were the final stats:

• Derek Alan Madsen: 38%
• Elijah Alan Madsen: 32%
• Anthony Isaac Madsen: 12%
• Ryan Anthony Madsen: 19%

• Nya Lynn Madsen: 16%
• Mariah Rose Madsen: 28%
• Hailee Anne Madsen:31%
• KateLynne Rose Madsen: 25%

in case you all are wondering what name we've chosen, it's Novalee Ann. I know, I know, it's not on the poll, but we came across it and loved it!! (the Novalee part, Ann was after my mother.)

Thank you all for reading and sharing this experience with me!!