Christian's Birth Story - Chapter 7 ... Growing a Baby

It wasn't long after finding out that they were expecting Baby Foote come May 2013 that the young girl started to feel very sick. She was very confused how this "morning sickness" seemed to last ALL day nearly EVERY day! How sneaky to make her think it would only be in the morning....

It wasn't long before the young girl realized that she should always carry a "puke bag" with her as her nausea could come on out of the blue! She even found herself throwing up in the parking lot at a work event where everyone could see her. "This baby is going to get the guilt trip someday!" the young girl thought. 

The nausea lasted until the young girl was about 22 weeks pregnant. Even after that she often felt sick, but the vomiting had at least ended. The young man felt very bad for how sick the young girl was, but at least she never had to be hospitalized. She did often find herself hunched over the toilet bowl, though. One morning, as the girl was leaving for work, she actually gave the young man a kiss good bye and his morning breath sent her running for the toilet! 

Even with taking medication to help make her feel better, the young girl found herself very sick. Many smells bothered her...from the smell of the young man to raw meat and chinese food. They all made her want to cry because they made her feel so sick! She would often get very upset with the young man when he would wear cologne or bring home chinese food...ESPECIALLY when he would make chicken speidis or reheat them in the microwave!

The young girl had now been working at her job as an Employment Counselor for just over a year. The young couple knew that once their little bundle of joy arrived, the young girl would become a stay at home mom. However, they decided for the girl to start staying home much sooner. 

Managing around 100 clients who relied on the young girl for their childcare and several other support services, the young girl found her job to be quite stressful, which only added to her nausea. Every Sunday night, the young girl would have a panic attack hoping that she could make it through the upcoming work week without needing to take a sick day. Finally, the young girl's doctor recommended she stop working if the couple did not need the extra income. With much debate, the young girl stopped working at 15 weeks pregnant. What a relief! 

Around this same time, the couple learned about Intelligender Gender Prediction testing and decided to take a test at home! They were eager to find out if they were having a boy or girl. The test claimed to be 90% accurate if taken with the first mornings urine, but they still weren't going to be positive until their gender ultrasound. 

At this point, the young girl had had several dreams about having a baby girl, so she was certain she was having a girl! The young man still was rooting for a boy! They both just really prayed for a healthy baby, though. When the Intelligender Test revealed that they were having a boy, the young girl didn't believe it. 

A few weeks after taking the Intelligender Test, the young couple flew to New York to spend Christmas with the young man's family. Since they had just gotten engaged in New York City the year before, the couple had planned a "Baby Moon"to New York City on their way to upstate New York. They would finally get to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and would go ice skating again! 

The young man had a few tricks up his sleeve yet again! Once they were on the plane to New York City, he gave the young girl a card with a riddle in it! After a few guesses, the girl learned that they would be having a gender ultrasound done in New York City that night!!! The young man had planned for them to visit GoldenView Ultrasound for a quick gender scan, have the baby's gender written on a Rockefeller Center post card, and for the couple to then go to the ice rink to reveal the gender!

The young girl was in tears! How special! But she also became immediately nervous! This would only be the beginning of nervousness over ultrasounds! She always worried that they would find something wrong with their precious baby. 

Seeing their baby on the ultrasound screen made everything seem so real! The cute little baby even sucked his thumb through most of the session. So precious! While baby was being a little shy at first and crossing "its" legs, it later become extremely obvious to the ultrasound tech as to what the baby's sex was. She wrote it on our post card and printed several pictures for us, even noting on a few how she knew the sex. 

The couple then headed off to the ice rink in eager anticipation! As they walked to the rink, they chatted about what they thought they saw. The young boy was certain that Baby Foote was a boy and the young girl thought that's what she saw too, but also thought it may have looked like a girl...she wasn't as positive as the young boy. 

As soon as the young couple arrived to the rink, they found a spot with a great view of the rink and the tree and pulled out the postcard....

They were having a BOY!

Up until this point, the couple had decided that if they would have a boy they would name him Levi. However, after confirming they were indeed having a boy, the young girl decided she wasn't so sure about this name, but instead loved the name Christian. The young man agreed....Christian was it! 

The New York trip and special ultrasound surprise were amazing and made for the best Christmas ever! The young girl was super exhausted and had sore joints and feet from all of the walking, but it was definitely worth it! 

Right after New Year's, the couple had their anatomy scan at their doctor's office and it was again confirmed that they were having a boy. However, at this scan the couple also found out that the young girl had a low lying placenta. Her doctor later told her that this was not much of a concern, as it often moves up by 28-32 weeks so they would just do another ultrasound then to be sure. Otherwise, if it doesn't move, the girl would need to have a c-section. Not really a huge deal. 

In February the young couple took a trip to Chicago for the young girl's great aunt's funeral. She had come to the end of a long battle with cancer and would be greatly missed. While they were in Chicago, however, the young man had found another GoldenView Ultrasound location and the couple decided to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done and they were so glad that they did! Again, it became even more real to them that they were having a baby as they saw his sweet face on the screen! 

At the second medical ultrasound a few weeks later, the girl's placenta had moved up. However, they now were concerned that the baby boy had too much fluid on his kidneys which could be a soft marker for down's syndrome. The young girl became very nervous, but knew that their baby was in God's hands and they would love him no matter what. They were very blessed to find out at their third ultrasound, though, that the fluid levels were normal! Baby boy was strong and healthy! Praise the Lord! 

The young girl continued on with a normal, healthy pregnancy, although her swelling continued to increase. At her 38 Week appointment her swelling had really gone up and her blood pressure had also increased so her doctor was worried she might be developing pre-eclampsia and sent the couple for a biophysical profile ultrasound and told them she might be sent to be induced right away! The young girl was extremely nervous! She wasn't prepared to have the baby yet! She wasn't due for 2 more weeks! Luckily, baby was strong and healthy at the ultrasound and left to cook a little bit longer. 

The young girl was very patient and not any too eager for baby boy to come too soon. She wanted him to be good and ready, and to be honest, she was pretty nervous so in no hurry! However, after all the talk of inducing early, she started to get more anxious for the day to just come! 

With her due date approaching, and the young man's birthday approaching too, it was time to start trying to get this baby out! The young man was very hopeful that he might get to share his birthday with his son...but his birthday came and went...and no baby :( 

The young man, who isn't much of a walker, started taking the young girl on LOOOOONG walks. She would have some mild contractions but they would always stop when they stopped walking. Eventually, the young girl's due date came and went...still no baby...

And the story continues....