NINE MONTHS OF BAKING + A YEAR IN THE MAKING

As long as I have known Lonnie I knew he would be an amazing dad. He has always been so great with kids, where I have been kind of shy to the idea. When we got married he said he wanted kids now and I said I would like to wait a year after getting married to start our family. Marrying Lonnie was the best thing I ever did. He is amazing in so many ways, God created him just for me. We celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary in Grassvalley, Ca. We went over night and stayed in the same hotel we did on our honeymoon and ate at one of our favorite places, Marias. We came home and kept planning our future. It was Saturday, September 10th and I was sick in bed. I remember thinking that I should be starting my lady time by Monday and when that didn't happen I thought, I'll just take a pregnancy test, why not.

I will never forget walking out of the bathroom, and around the corner to see Lonnie doing dishes and I said, "It says positive and i'm not joking" he said, "are you kidding?" I said, "no Lonnie, it's positive...look". It was after this once doing a little math that I realized we compromised and started our family 6 months after being married ;) We stared at the test for a few minutes before I grabbed my camera to document our story...

It was a few weeks later that we were able to tell everyone but we wanted to wait until a 1st trimester was over as I have had a miscarriage in the past and have PCOS. It was so exciting to share with everyone and start thinking of names. We both knew that if it was a girl we wanted her to have my moms name. My mom is the strongest, most loving person on earth and if our daughter could have any of her blood I know she will do amazing things in life. I had a few boy names picked out but for obvious reasons those were not supposed to work out.

After we hit these two mile stones we went on to plan for our little baby.

My pregnancy starting getting hard when we were about 7 months in. My blood pressure shot up and I was on the verge of preeclampsia, but they called it Hypertension. I had been in and out of the hospital the week of April 17th because my NST's weren't going well and I had not been feeling good but I made it to the next week! We were living week by week at that point because the longer Scarlett could bake the better. Well, it was Tuesday, April 25th and I woke up not feeling right. I went to write Dr. Kareti to tell her and my email to her was "oihadnsdk hsilsd gausjs" and when my vision came to I realized I was not okay. I slowly grabbed my phone to call my mom and was very surprised that I could speak clearly when I was on the phone. She came over and got me and I called Lonnie.

We made our way to the hospital where I was wheeled in and up to see all my favorite nurses. Instantly I felt better. They took such great care of me and got me on a new blood pressure medicine that was a game changer. I was able to go home that night. Our next appointment was 11am on April 28th which was also our baby shower!

I went into that appointment and could feel something wasn't as right as I wanted it to be. I was so tired and wanted to just go home and nap. Unfortunately even though my blood pressure was stable, my water was low so my Dr. was done with waiting. It was time to bring Scarlett into the world...HOLD ON. HOLD ONNNNNN. No. My baby shower hasn't happened yet! My mom and sister put so much time into everything, I had to go to my baby shower I could not be induced yet! Dr. Kareti was so sweet and told me to drink tons of fluids and to come in tonight after my shower to see where my levels were. I remember going to get Chipolte, laying on our bed and zoning out knowing I wouldn't be able to rest. In my heart I knew they would induce me but I was not ready.

We went to my baby shower and wow, what a beautiful display of love. Everything was such a blur and I really did not want to be around anyone. I wanted to cry in my bed but with Lonnie by my side I could do anything. He made sure I had my water next to me the whole time and I just tried to stay focused, not an easy task. We got through everything pretty quickly and we headed out after saying some good byes.

We went home, put the hospital bags in the car and I changed my clothes. I grabbed everything I could think of and Lonnie said a prayer before we left. I came in, they checked me and Rachel (my nurse) looked me in the eye and said that they are going to start the induction process and to sign this paperwork and change into this fancy fashionable gown. I asked her if I had a choice in the matter, as tears fell down my face, she said no. haha.

While we started the process Lonnie ran and got us double westerns from Carls and that was our last meal together before baby haha. It was a long night with no sleep but no pain yet. As Saturday evening approached I felt some cramping, and then at one point Saturday night it turned into a constant stabbin' of the lady parts. As the pain came and went it wasn't as bad as I had expected, what was bad was how consistent it was, which tires you out and in turn you go crazy. As the pain peaked I sat up and took off those belly monitor things which alerts a nurse that you have an escaped convict. So when Shelly walked in I told her how much pain I was in and she got me a ball to sit on. I was only at a 2 at this point yal, I wasn't even close to baby time and was in a good amount of pain. The ball was not working, so Rachel got me back in bed. It was then I peed the bed. I asked her if it's possible if my water just broke. She checked and yep, 100% it broke. "THANK YOU BALL!" . Rachel helped get me to 4 in her 12 hour shift and I am forever thankful because although the pain increased 10x after my water broke she brought in this angel of a woman who is a drug peddler. She put a needle in my back and made my legs all numb. It was glorious. It was smooth sailing from there. I was able to relax and enjoy the process as much as you can I guess. Sunday was a beautiful day and I was able to wash my face, put some makeup on and feel a little normal while sipping my chicken broth and cranberry juice.

It was around 5:45pm when Dr. Kareti came in and said that if we don't make progress in an hour I was going to go in for a c-section. I was 100% game with whatever my body was going to do. I had no preference. My nurse Tracy came in to check on me one last time and told me to not move as Scarlett's head was crowning. WHAT? How did I not feel that? Oh yea? The Angel Drug lord that saved me. So with in 15 minutes and kicking my mom out there was 6 strangers in scrubs in my room who I invited in for drinks, my doctor and hubby ready in there to catch this little human. I pushed 3 times, and 30 seconds later with no pain Scarlett was laid on my chest. This blue, pointy head, slimy little baby. I think I was more in shock. I often wonder, if I would have felt more, would I have been more connected to her right out of the gate? I do not know.

Scarlett was born to us weighing 5.10lbs and 20inches long. She was perfect.

We were given about two hours of breathe, pee, change your clothes and get out time. Then rolled over to the "after you give birth" portion of the hospital where the nurses were not as great as my Labor and Delivery nurses. I did not get any sleep that night, I just stared at the tv until 6am when I woke up to a lot of movement outside our door.

See, we made it to Fremont 2.5 days before they were closing for good. Scarlett was the very last baby to be born at Fremont Hospital! So before we were shuttled over a few of our favorite nurses came over to say hi! I love these women!

Scarlett and I were taken over by heavy security and ambulance to Rideout. I felt like a celebrity.

Our room at RideOut was beautiful! I was able to enjoy a 30 minute shower and a nap before everyone came to visit. Including the appeal democrat who wanted a picture of us because Scarlett was the last baby born at Fremont. We were also gifted a plant and a blanket with gift certificate to get her name stitched into it. So sweet!

Once we got everything good with Scarlett we were able to go home after two days! Thank goodness!

It was so crazy to come home and be a family now. I decided to do her newborn pictures myself and am in love with them.

Now a year has come and gone. It's crazy to me. I love this little human so much. The patience and the assertiveness I have developed is incredible. This little girl has brought our a different side of me. It has take a year but I am better for it. Look at how much she has changed.

As long as I can remember all of our birthday parties when we were kids were family parties. They were always put on so well by our moms. I wanted Scarlett's party to be no different. I invited all the family and cousins over for a Under the Sea party. Scarlett hadn't been feeling good but the party was still a success and she has so many new clothes and toys to play with + some money to put into savings for her future! I loved being surrounded by family and loving this little girl.

It has been a crazy two years. Get married, get pregnant, have a baby, buy a house and officially try to be adults. I feel so blessed to do life with Lonnie and to have created such a sweet, funny, bouncing baby girl! Happy Birthday Sweet Little Nugs. We love you so much and cannot wait to see where God will take you! Love you!