Our First Baby

The day I found out I was pregnant, I was in complete shock. I laughed, I cried, and then I told my boss I had to leave work early. I called my sister and told her the exciting news...I also swore her to secrecy. After getting off the phone with her I started thinking about how I was going to tell Derek.
I called Derek and asked him of there was any way he could come home from work early. I told him that my schedule had changed and that I would be working late every night for the rest of the week. He asked his boss and headed home.
I told Derek I was taking him out to eat since we hadn't really been able to celebrate his birthday properly. His birthday is at the end of May and Memorial Day plans often interfere. When we sat down to eat, I pulled out a "birthday card." As he started to read the outside he had an odd look on his face. The card I handed him was actually a Father's Day card. When he opened the card, he saw my pregnancy test (yes, I took proper measures to make sure it was sanitary). Under the test I had written, "We're pregnant!" He was in shock. So much so that he asked if I was kidding. I told him I was very serious. We were going to be parents! He jumped out of his chair, gave me a huge hug and kiss, and he had the biggest smile on his face.
We called his family to let them know and headed over to my parents house. Baby Johnson was the newest of topics.

After a few days, it finally set in. I was going to be a mom. Then the worry set in. What if I was a terrible mother? What if my child grew up hating me? What if the one thing I had wanted more than anything in life, was the one thing I didn't do well?


We found out we were having a boy on October 2, 2007. Derek was ecstatic. I never really cared whether we had a boy or girl...I just wanted a healthy baby. We decided to name him after Derek's dad. For the most part I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy. The last two months I swelled up a bunch, but it didn't really bother me. I was just waiting to meet my baby boy.

February 14th was the first day I hadn't felt the baby move as much. I walked around the block of couple of times and drank some juice. He moved a little, but still not as much. Derek and I headed to the Labor and Delivery triage at the hospital. They hooked me up to monitors and immediately got a strong heartbeat. That made me feel much better. The nurse told me that it felt like the baby was laying "caddywhompus." I assumed from the way she was feeling around on my belly, that meant he was diagonal. She told me it was no big deal. February 20, my due date, I went to my OB appointment in the morning. The doctor told me I hadn't dilated nor had I effaced at all. He didn't think the baby would be coming anytime soon. He reassured me that it was totally normal to go over your due date with your first pregnancy.

Boy was he wrong! After eating lunch and sending Derek off to work, my mother-in-law and I decided to go shopping. She walked into the store before me. As I took that first step through the door, my water broke. She turned and looked at me and I told her that I had either peed on myself or I needed to head to the hospital. We knew which one it was. So, we called Derek to head back, got into the car, and headed on over.

I labored for about 14 hours with no luck. I wasn't dilating, each time they tried pitocin the baby's heart rate would drop, and with my water broken we were both at risk for infection. My doctor walked into my room, and with tears in his eyes he told me that he thought it would be better if I went back for a c-section.

It's a little odd laying there, knowing you're being cut opened, and all you can feel is some slight tugging. It's terrifying when the doctor says he needs a NICU team immediately. My baby was stuck and a bubble was forming on the back of his head. My OB was trying to use a medical vacuum to get him out and it wasn't working. He decided that he had to make a vertical incisions, and use all hands on deck to get my baby out.

Scott Joseph Johnson was born at 3:26 a.m. on February 21, 2008 not breathing. It seemed like forever before I heard my baby cry. Tears filled my eyes and I thanked God for giving life to my precious baby boy.

"A wee bit of heaven drifted down from above-
A handful of happiness, a heart full of love."~ Unknown