Today is somewhat of a small milestone. My oldest, Layne, turned 5-years-old today.
It is strange to think back to when she came along and I was almost 30, working many hours as a certified vet tech at a mixed animal practice that was rarely regular hours of 8-5 and being open to see emergencies. The most unusual emergency I remember was removing a shower curtain from a springer spaniel at 1 a.m. in the morning. Radiographs had revealed material lodged in the stomach and we could see the magnet from the curtain. The dog’s owner was dealing with her ill father and did not know that her dog had separation anxiety so when she left to visit her father, the dog decided to chomp up a shower curtain. Crazy!
My little girl was in daycare until her sister came along. With the cost of two in daycare versus my wages and how little I personally felt I got to be with her, I decided to stay at home.
Learning of her pregnancy was such wonderful news. I went through a MC on Christmas in 2005 at 11 1/2 weeks of PG, had my gallbladder out Jan 2006 (found on HIDA scan that it wasn’t functioning properly- found in surgery it was due to a twisted bile duct so it was removed due to the problem and family history of problems w/gallbladder). It was nice to finally have an answer and removal because I had been dealing with problems for 6 months. I was being labeled as having GERD and having no other answers on labs, endoscopy, or ultrasound. The problems and needing to take meds like Prilosec and Prevaci all went away after my gallbladder was removed. The next month, pregnant again with little Layne.
I developed high blood pressure at the end of pregnancy and some edema at the end of my pregnancy with her. She was due on Nov. 4 and my Dr. tried to induce me on Nov. 2. Systems not all go with that attempt.
I was then in on the 8th for another attempt at induction. I hate hospitals to begin with and being in one all day did not set well with my nerves. I got to go home and wanted to take a walk with my husband. It was still a decent Nov. day in MN. I started having twinges in my lower abdomen as I walked that I had never experienced before. The walk was cut short and we went to bed. Boom! My water broke in bed shortly after we retired for the night. We went back to the hospital an hour after discharge. I got one Staydal injection for the pain and when that wore off, I was too far dilated for any other drugs. I ended up having her early the next morning. It was about a 6-7 hr labor for a first time mom, but it was not fun being so quick and intense.
Layne @ approximately 6 months
Layne today
Now my little girl is having fun learning her letters at the local school readiness (preschool) she attends part days a few days a week. She talks often about her friends. Before, her friends were her cousins and her sister. Now there are all these new little people coming into her life. Looking back, five years has gone by very quickly. I wouldn’t trade this sassy blessing for anything else in the world.
