I don't know why, but one night when I was bored I started watching 16 and Pregnant. All of their labors seem to last under 6 hours, which is completely unfair! Ha! I was in labor with Alayna for 14 and a half hours and only 7 with Olivia. (Which I think is normal for second labors.) It's just so nostalgic watching that, because I remember what I went through with my girls. My pregnancy with Alayna was the worst, I gained 75lbs, I was diabetic, I was pre-eclampsic and had hypertension. I was in the hospital more than I was out of the hospital with my first pregnancy. The night I had Alayna I went into the hospital because I thought my water had broke, it didn't; but I was leaking fluid. They were going to try to keep me on bedrest until I was a little farther along but my blood pressure was record high and they decided to induce early instead of risking my having a seizure because of the high blood pressure. I remember how horrible it was since I also was GBS positive. I had to be put on several different IVs, pitocin, something for the GBS (I know it wasn't amoxicillin since I'm allergic) and the worst of them all, magnesium for the pre-eclampsia. The magnesium was the worst because of the withdrawal off of it. Horrible... Because of the magnesium, I wasn't allowed out of bed for 48 hours. That also meant I wasn't able to see Alayna for two days in the NICU. :( I also had a horrible reaction to the epidural, I believe they gave me too much... I couldn't feel anything at all below my waist. Hardly any contractions, I actually felt like I was paralyzed. Hey, at least I didn't feel any pain... (Oh, did I mention my mom fainted when they administered my epidural? Yeah, she did...)
Alayna was in the NICU because she was born 5.5 weeks early. Even though she was 8lbs 7oz (because of my diabetes) she didn't have the sucking reflex and had other digestive issues that went undiagnosed for weeks. She was considered a preemie, but the biggest preemie in the NICU. (That was pretty funny to see my Alayna in the NICU among these little teeny tiny babies.) She was there for two months because they could not diagnose exactly why she couldn't keep formula down. The only way they could feed her was through a gastro tube. Her being in the NICU was the worst experience of my life. I felt like she was never going to come home and my depression was the worst it ever was. I was at the hospital every single day for the two months she was there and I did my own research to try to find out what was wrong. Alayna's nurse was the absolute best and she would calm me down and explain to me that they would find out what was wrong. I would love to track that nurse down one day and write her a letter about how she helped me. She went above and beyond to make me feel better about everything.
Thankfully, Alayna is healthy now. She was on Acid Reflux medication for the first two years of her life and almost had to have surgery twice, but she's perfect now! (Just a skinny tall little thing!) They said her stomach is always going to be small, but she's perfect.
They never show the negative side of things on those shows, but these experiences do happen in real life. I went through hell and back again with that pregnancy and afterwards, but I wouldn't re-do it for anything. Alayna is perfect and my little princess. :) Even though everything seems perfect on those shows, they are very interesting. I definitely don't condone teen pregnancy or falling in love too quickly, getting engaged too quickly and making the stupid mistakes I did, but if I didn't make those mistakes I wouldn't have Alayna.
