For Stinker's birthday

Elaine did this as a first-born tag. I'm changing it a bit, so I can do it for each of my kids on their birthday. Since I already missed Stink's birthday, hers is a little late. I didn't want to wait until December to do it. I'm just not that patient. ;)

And this probably is not necessary to mention, since I don't think any guys read this, except for Lisa's friend who stopped in to say hi once and some family, but this has the story of her birth in it. Be warned. And skip #20 if you'd rather not know.

1. What's her birth order?
She is my third, first girl

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant?
We were so excited! It took us awhile to get her and it was pretty discouraging.

3. How old were you?
I was 3o when I had her.

4. How did you find out you were pregnant?
I could be off on this as my memory is awful, but my sister-in-law had just found out she was pregnant a week or two earlier. Our girls are 6 weeks apart. She knew we'd been trying so she brought over her left over tests.

5. Who did you tell first?
I think Brooke was there or came soon after...

6. Did you want to find out the sex?
I did, Brad didn't. I went and got an ultrasound while I was at my family reunion and Brad couldn't come. Unfortunately, someone announced it at a party, so I had to do some damage control and tell Brad before the word spread. But, I was really glad to find out I was having a girl, so I can't say I regret doing it. Plus, my mom, brother Travis, and SIL Resa were all there with me and that was great.

7. What was your due date?
Dec. 6th

8. Did you deliver early or late?
I had an awesome doctor who agreed to induce me on the 4th. They almost induced me a week early for high blood pressure, but it got better before they could start anything.

9. Did you have morning sickness?
I puked for all 9 months with all 3 of my kids. (((Shudder)))

10. What did you crave? I loved pickles. Oh, and jalapeno pepperjack burgers from Braum's. And ice cream. I love Braum's.

11. Who irritated you the most?
Um, no one really, so I'll go with the stupid anesthesiologist who couldn't do the epidural right.

12. What was your child's sex?
A girl

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout your pregnancy?
25 exactly

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
Not really a complication, but I got some serious depression. I was so tired of puking, I asked if they could just put me in a coma until December. They said no and put me on depression meds for some reason. ;) I think my biggest complication would have been that Brad was a 4th yr med student and had lots of out of state rotations and interviews. It wasn't easy being home alone with 2 boys and puking frequently. I guess it was good preparation for now though. Every time I want to complain about how hard this is having Brad in Philly, I remember how much worse it was while pregnant. hee hee

15. Where did you give birth?
Saint Francis, in Tulsa

16. How many hours were you in labor?
4

17. Who drove you to the hospital?
my mom

18. Who was in the delivery room?
Brad and my mom

19. natural or c-section?
Natural

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?
Oh, what a story that is! They broke my water at 8:30 or so that morning. I had an epidural at 10:30 or so, but it hurt like the dickens going in and it didn't even work. My doctor checked on me at 11:45, but I was still a 4 or 5, even though I was literally bawling from the pain. She said she was going to go have lunch and come back in an hour. 10 minutes later I told them the baby was coming now. They checked me and sure enough I was a 10 and she was coming. They called the doctor back up, I pushed all of once or twice and had her at 12:15. That was when the anesthesiologist came to fix the epidural. Very helpful indeed. Can I tell you how bad it hurts to go from a 4 to having a baby in half and hour? Ow. The epidural kicked in a few minutes before I started pushing, so I had all of the painful contractions, and none of the cool feel the baby thing. Not fair. But at least I didn't feel it when the placenta broke off inside me and she had to dig it out. :)

21. How much did your child weigh?
7 lb 13 oz

22. What did you name him/her?
Stinkerbell Mons. LOL! Her name comes from Brad's great great great great grandma. Brad's mom's family is Cherokee and the summer I was pregnant with her, he found it while working on genealogy. Her name means sugar or sweet in Cherokee. She doesn't have a middle name, because on my side of the family, the girls don't get middle names so that they can keep their last name. So, my name is Melisa Jones Mons now. And since our last name is pretty unique, we thought it would be nice for her to be able to keep it.

23. How old is your child today?
just turned 2 a month ago!