Our Albuquerque Souvenir

We left Orem Utah on Wednesday morning August 13th to move to Tyler Texas. Our plan was to stay at Benjamin's brother Christian's house in Albuquerque New Mexico for a couple of days then to go on to Tyler. Then (according to the plan), we were going to unpack, get settled, put the nursery together and have our baby. But things don't always go according to plan.
As some of you know, I started having problems with my gall bladder on Memorial Day. I would have severe attacks that frequently landed me in the hospital. The surgeons agreed that I was too far along in my pregnancy to have surgery, but not close enough to my due date to have the baby. All the doctors said that I had to wait it out until I had the baby or until my condition turned into Pancreatitis and then they would have no other choice but to operate.
While at Christian's house I had another attack and ended up going to the hospital. The doctor's there were concerned that I might have Pancreatitis and PIH (Pregnancy Induced Hypertension). They decided that I needed to have our baby right then. So, around 11:30 am they induced me. A couple of hours later they broke my water. Then the contractions got a lot harder and faster. Later on that afternoon when my contractions were coming about 45 seconds apart and they were very strong, I got another gall bladder attack. Some people have asked me which pain was worse, the contractions or the gall bladder attacks. Honestly they are about the same.
I was planning on a natural birth, but with the attack I never got a break from the pain and from being in the hospital I didn't get any sleep the night before. So, exhausted and in terrible pain, I decided to get an epidural. Once they gave me the epidural I was finally able to get a couple of hours of much needed sleep. The nurses came in to check how far I was and were surprised to find out that I was ready to deliver. The doctor came in later and at 9:10 pm on August 15th, 2008 Sophia Claire Terry was born! Benjamin said that we had to give her my middle name because she looked so much like me. She weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz. and was 20 inches long. Not too bad for a baby who was born 3 weeks and 1 day early! She is so beautiful and so sweet! Everything with me ended up OK, but that is another story for another post.
We are so glad Sophie is here and is healthy. We are especially grateful to Christian and his wife Sara for all of their help and support during this wonderful and surprising time. Sara was thoughtful enough to make a video and to take pictures for us. We will put a few of the pictures on a future post for everyone to enjoy.
While we were in the hospital Benjamin joked that we should get a onesie that said, "My parents went to Albuquerque and all they got was me!” Since we didn't get much of a chance to see Albuquerque, Sophie remains our little Albuquerque souvenir.

-Malynda