My pregnancy was pretty rough. I had a lot of morning sickness, back pain, migraines, etc. I had about 2 weeks total that I felt okay and I began to think that I was in over my head. I could barely handle being pregnant with our fourth, how was it going to be when the baby was born???
On July 31st, I was 41 weeks pregnant, went to the doctor to find out that I was making no real progress, and set an induction date. I did not want to be induced, but I was in so much pain (I had such bad back pain that I was on crutches for 5 weeks) that all I could really think about was not being pregnant! Even though my doctor said I wasn’t making much progress, I was having horrible constant cramping all day long and for the first time ever, called my husband home from work an hour early. I went to lay down after dinner and still felt horrible. Right around 8pm though, the contractions started! Pretty quickly the contractions were every 4 minutes long, so we headed to the hospital.
The labor and birth ended up being the only easy part of the pregnancy and at 6:16am, our sweet baby boy was born! It was amazing! Although he cried initially, he calmed down immediately, and had a sense of peace about him. To this day, our little Matthew is the sweetest, easiest, happiest baby I have ever seen.
This little newborn eased my mind in so many ways. Immediately, I knew I could handle having four kids...and not only handle, but love, nurture, and raise them how I had hoped. Also, in meeting the kids, he was so calm, which, in turn, gave them a wonderful experience of adding a sibling to the family. There was no jealousy or fear, just love. As crazy as my life is, it is exactly how it is supposed to be.
