Blog - Mom & LEO Wife Life

Penelope Mary.

When we found out we were having a baby girl, we were shocked. But so excited to say the least. I couldn’t believe it. Mostly, because my husband comes from a family of boys. I think it took them a little bit to come around to the idea that they were going to have a granddaughter. Mine didn’t care what it was as long as the baby was healthy. The way we found out was through the blood test they do at 13 weeks. Once we found out it was a girl, all of the thoughts started rushing through my head…

“Will she be like me?”

“What will her interest be?”

“Will she be a daddy’s girl?”

Everything that you could think of was probably going through my head. I couldn’t wait to buy little dresses and outfits. Decorate the nursery with cute little baby girl things. It was all truly a dream. The fun part of choosing a name came upon us and we through around different ideas but nothing really stuck. Until my husband said the name “Penelope” and I instantly remembered that was the name I had fallen in love with as a little girl.

Fast forward to the last few weeks of my pregnancy. They were challenging, especially with the heart burn and not being able to get comfortable. Working full time was the cherry on top of everything though. Maternity leave was like a reward for all my hard work. I was off for about 2 weeks before the inevitable happened. The words “We would like to induce you” hit our ears and we went into pure shock and panic.

It was Monday of my 38th week of pregnancy. I had been having some leaking all day, and it happened before so I wasn’t very concerned the second time. But my husband talked with our Labor and Delivery nurse neighbor who said it was probably a good idea to get checked. I sat around for about an hour thinking about it before I caved. They told me to come in to be safe. Prior to this, my last 2 or 3 prenatal appointments they had to take my blood pressure twice because it was high the first reading.

While I was in L&D, low and behold, my blood pressure was high. So they recommended me getting induced. I cannot emphasize the panic that washed over me. Yes I knew having our baby was going to have to come at some point. Did I think it was going to be by induction? Absolutely not. I agreed to it out of concern for our baby, and myself. So we got admitted and all that fun stuff. Those next 24 hours would rock my world. Labor really started for me at about 12 pm the next day. Then they really hit me when my water broke.

Some things you don’t believe people on until they happen to you. This was one of those things. They tried to give me fentanyl and morphine. Neither of those touch an ounce of the pain I was feeling. After about 5 minutes of trying both, my nurse said it was time for an epidural. I will tell you that my leg twitched and I freaked out because of what can happen with getting an epidural. But after getting it, I felt so much better. I slept for the better half of the day. Probably until about 8 or 9 when I started to feel contractions again.

Now it was down to the wire, because I was 9 centimeters. But we couldn’t proceed very much, because Penelope was sunny side up. So for the next 3 hours, the nurses worked on getting her turned to the correct position for her to come out.

Once Penelope was ready for delivery, it was all or nothing. I started pushing at 1:00 am and she arrived at 2:02 am. The women that can push a baby out in 10 minutes or less, props to you. Those next hours in the hospital were all like a dream. Nothing seemed real. Thinking back to the moment of the nurses laying Penelope on my chest. It feels like it was just a blip in time.

Having a baby is unlike any life experience you could ever have. It is life changing. Family changes, things about you change, the way people see you changes. That baby becomes the center of your world and you do everything you can to protect it. By making sure no one ever wrongs your child and keeping them safe is your number one priority.

Finding out if you are pregnant or not can be daunting. Whether you are trying to conceive or if you are just wanting a baby but not sure when the right time will be. So you are just going through life with the “if it happens, it happens” mentality. From personal experience, it seems as though leaving it up to fate is the easiest way to do it….

It was August 17th. I was 3 days late for my period, but I still wanted to give it time. I know… 3 days?!? You’ve got to be pregnant. But after the first day, I thought to myself that maybe it’s just a coincidence. I’ll see if it comes tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and goes. Still nothing. So day 3 with no period arrives and I’m feeling a little nauseous. Didn’t really want to eat anything all day.

The end of my work day comes and I had made the decision that I am going to take a pregnancy test just to see if I’m pregnant. What are the odds its positive, right? I know I am in my late 20s and I have been with my then boyfriend for 6 years. But for some reason buying a pregnancy test still felt wrong. I ran in and out of Target with my pregnancy tests in less than 5 minutes. I was so afraid someone would see me doing something suspicious.

I was driving home and started to feel nauseous from what I had eaten, but again. What are the chances??? I drove home, and was going to wait to take the tests in the morning. But I was already 3 days late. It would show up if I’m pregnant. I’m home alone when I take the tests. After I take them, I flip them over so I can’t see what lies ahead in my future.

3 minutes pass and it’s time. I flip them over and shock washes over me. I am shaking. I am crying. I can’t believe my eyes. I am going to be a mom.

My boyfriend is gone, but it’s late so I don’t have time to go out and prepare something cute to tell him we’re pregnant. So I just set the tests on his night stand and let him find them. When he gets home, I’m in bed scrolling my phone. He walks in the room and immediately looks at his nightstand and says, “what’s that?”. He looks at the tests and he is the most excited I have ever seen him.

He always wanted to be a dad and he always joked if I felt off, he would say, “you’re pregnant”. But this time, it wasn’t a joke. It was actually true. He jumped for joy. Took pictures with the test. Talked to the growing baby in my belly. He couldn’t wait. Then I texted my best friend with a picture of my tests….

The message back still boggles my mind. She was pregnant too. And tested the exact same time I did. I think God planned it that way. So we could go through it together and have each other through the difficult times as well as the joys of pregnancy.

So after that, there were only 2 people in this whole world that knew our very special secret. We couldn’t wait to share it with the rest of the world. You’ll get to read that experience at a different time. I will say this though. Those tik tok videos you see of the women finding out they are pregnant, that feeling is indescribable. Sometimes, I miss it. I can’t wait to experience it again when have our 2nd baby. Call me crazy, but I would do it tomorrow if the opportunity presented itself. Does the scariness of it all ever go away? I’m not sure, but does the lifetime of joy stop? No.

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