Last pregnancy, Emergency Surgery, First Baby Girl

After Levi and Micah, my first 2 babies, coming so close together and then the miscarriage we were content not trying to have another baby for a while. Eventually I leveled out hormone wise and things were rolling along. I had been planning a lot of weddings which I enjoyed very much. My mom, my sisters and me all joined forces and talents to start a cute little shop called "Felicity Flair." We were doing well and having so much fun with it, but we had our hands full in many, many ways and very young babies at home. Life outside of the shop had become very chaotic which made life with the shop very difficult, but we were pressing through. One lovely day I did a little calendar math and realized I needed to take a pregnancy test ....surprise! I had another baby on the way! I wasn't near as sick with this one and I had barely bled. It. Was. So. Exciting. I could still work and be pregnant and take care of my kids like normal pregnant people do everyday!!

....until one Friday afternoon.... I had to call my sister to come in to work for me because I felt really bad. Very tired and nauseous. I blamed it on typical pregnancy symptoms. I was 10 weeks it seemed normal. By that evening I began vomiting every few minutes for hours and hours. I blamed it on a virus. Then started some awful pain all over my belly it would barely let up and made it hard to rest. By Saturday afternoon I was clearly dehydrated and in a lot of pain and really just felt awful. So my husband and my mom took me to the closest ER. There they said I had a UTI and was just experiencing extreme pregnancy symptoms. I said this is my 3rd baby and I've had plenty of UTI's this doesn't feel like ANY of that. They said "Oh honey, it is. You'll be ok." They gave me fluids and an antibiotic and sent me home.

Sunday morning I was getting worse and started running a fever. Still couldn't eat and still in pain all over my belly. We called my dr who said come down to the hospital she was at which was an hour and a half away. They admitted me. By Sunday night and Monday my fever was getting higher and harder to keep down I had lost 15 lbs in 3 days and was in very bad shape. 11:00 pm the phone rings and it's my OB she said I think it's your appendix. They will come get you in a moment for a CT scan and if I am correct you will be in surgery with in the hour. Scary moment.

The surgeon came in after the CT and explained what was about to happen. Naturally it was a heavy moment as my husband and I listened. He explained as early as I was in the pregnancy it was very likely I would lose the baby after surgery. I was very upset and said "NO! I don't want it if that is what will happen." I can still hear his voice in my head like it was yesterday as he very sternly said "Ma'am if you don't have this surgery soon you won't make it. You are very early in this pregnancy and the infection has been spreading for days there are no guarantees the pregnancy will continue either way."

It was a very traumatic moment that for several years after would bring tears to my eyes when I would think about it. I didn't want to choose my life over my baby's. I didn't want to leave my 2 boys without a Mommy either and because it was so early it would have been both of us gone. I was so very weak and sick, it was the middle of the night, our parents were called to get out of bed to come up there. It was one of those scenes you just don't forget. My husband tried to stay strong in front of me, but lost it crying in the hallway outside my door where he didn't know I could see. At that moment I prayed the hardest I had ever prayed before.

We didn't know what we were having yet, a boy or a girl, but the name we were thinking if it was a girl was Annabelle which meant "favored with grace" and Victoria which meant "God has given the victory." I said "God I don't know if this is a girl or not, but if it is and this is why you gave us these names we really need to be favored with a whole lot of grace and victory right now so please just keep us safe." Within a few minutes we were moved to the OR.

They said surgery went fine and early the next morning my AMAZING ob/gyn comes into my room with an ultra-sound machine. She said I knew you'd be worried about that baby so lets check it out. That little heartbeat was the best sound ever! Everything was just fine I just had to heal up.

I was in the hospital for another week then I got to go home.... for 2 days....I was GREAT... then I wasn't. I started getting sick again. Very, very sick. I was on lots of antibiotics, but they weren't the strong ones I needed to be on because I was pregnant. Back to the hospital we go, another CT to confirm, I had an abscess the size of a softball....admitted again... they put an awful drain thing in to help get the infection out. More antibiotics another week in there and it was starting to look promising to finally get better for real this time.

I was 22 weeks before I felt like a normal pregnant person again and finally started gaining weight back. Between all the pain meds (which I took as few as tolerable), the radiation and antibiotics we weren't sure of the effects on the baby, but we hoped for the best and did what we could to be healthy.

One beautiful Saturday in May I went into labor. C-section #3 and she was perfect. She was totally healthy and now 7 years later that fighting spirit inside her is still strong. She is so smart and funny. Annabelle loves to take care of babies, real ones and her baby dolls. She is very motherly and loving with a really rough and tough side when she needs to be! Math is her favorite subject...she did not get that from me! She is learning to sew and loves to make all kinds of crafts that she plans to sell. The other day she said " Mama since I'm not rich can you help me make a website to sell my stuff on? I'll make some bracelets and potholders and sew little bags for adults and kids." I told her if she keeps thinking like that and works hard she will be rich someday for sure. Her life was a miracle and a gift even in the womb and she has continued to be just that every single day.