A brief summary.

Instead of posting old journals, I think I'll just summarize my pregnancy. We found out at the end of July, the 31st I believe was the actual test from the clinic. It took me a bit to tell my family because Mom wouldn't answer her phone, and I knew she'd be jealous if I told my dad first and she heard it from someone else & not me, so I had to wait until she finally wanted to talk to me. She told me that she didn't answer the phone for a few days because a) she was busy & b) she had a feeling it was "something like that" and wanted to wait until the stress of whatever was going on at the time had passed. It didn't take too long for her to get excited though. My dad seemed pretty happy right away, though I still think he doesn't quite jive with her name. (He thinks it's "a boys name" though I've known both girls & boys with it, so hah!). My pregnancy was very uneventful. It did start off with a urinary tract infection at about 10wks, which led to a little spotting and me FREAKING OUT & going to the ER - which turned out to be a good thing, because I've read what untreated UTIs can do in a pregnancy, owch! That was the first time I got to see the little heartbeat on the screen. It was amazing! Jeremiah wasn't there, unfortunately, because he was at work. He was furious at me, too, for not getting pictures - though there really wasn't much to see at the time! And the ER isn't "supposed" to give you pics, anyhow.
At 12 weeks (September) (and some odd days, perhaps) we had our first appointment. I was 94lbs. Jeremiah got to see the ultrasound that time - & we both loved it. Skyler was bouncing & wiggling alllll over, Dr. M even said "you have a fun baby to watch!" All of my tests from this appointment came back fine - the antibiotics took out the UTI, all other screenings were great.

10/13/09 (16w3d) I had gained 4lbs. Heartbeat was between 140 & 150, just like usual. Everything checked out normal.
11/03/09 (19w3d) I weighed in at 100.something lbs, and did our gender ultrasound. We brought a video tape for recording. Though we both went into this hoping for a boy, we were not disappointed or sad when we found out we were having a girl. She was so CUTE! She was a little more quiet than the last 2 u/s, but she looked great. We even caught her sticking her fingers in her mouth.
12/1/09 (23w3d) I weighed 103.8 on this appointment. I found out I passed the 1HR glucose test, which really wasn't THAT bad. The Dr. I saw that day (mine was on mat. leave) could even see Skyler's little butt pressed up into my side - it was hilarious. This Dr. even told Jeremiah I could eat "whatever I wanted!" because my weight gain had been good so far.
12/29/09 (27w3d) I had now gained up to 108lbs. Skyler's heartbeat was great, as usual in the 140's. This is when I noticed I was measuring small - I only measured at 25cm this appointment, and I was 27 weeks. Dr. M didn't seem worried, though.
1/19/10 (30w3d) I was now up to 109.8 lbs but everything else was still great. No protein in my urine, blood pressure looked fine. I was a little concerned about the Braxton Hicks I had been noticing, but Dr. M said it was fine - as long as there weren't more than 6/hr. However, I measured at 27cm this appointment - so 3 weeks behind. I was starting to get worried, but I guess Dr. M wasn't. Skyler was head down at this point.
1/30/10 (32 weeks) I was sitting on the couch around 8something PM when my water started to leak. I didn't really know what it was at first so I waited until Jeremiah got home around 10 (then I played Sims for another 30mins) before I got up to check. I hadn't had any contractions or anything that I was noticing, but I definitely knew something was up when I went to the bathroom. We were out the door and on our way to the hospital by 10:45, arriving around 11:30ish. Walking through the ER parking lot, my water broke and I was soaked!! Neither of us was freaking out - we just had to go with the flow, what choice did we have! I was checked for dilation (I believe 1-2cm & 70% effaced). They hooked me up to all kinds of antibiotics, etc & sent me off to Columbia - our hospital was not equipped to handle a baby under 34 weeks. (I know this is short & not much info but I don't think it is necessary for this blog to post my entire labor & delivery story, really..) I got there, safe & sound, somewhere around, 3am? The contractions had gotten rather uncomfy in the ambulance ride (and the ride itself wasn't wonderful, but I tolerated it). The next couple of hours went by fast - falling in & out of sleep, getting penicillin, being 6cm, getting my epidural, being 8cm, Dr. telling me to alert them when I started to feel pressure, the look on his face when I happily let him check me & I was a 10, telling him I didn't feel anything! (Apparently I was all smiles - the epidural was very nice, for me & my situation). Next thing I knew, we were pushing. And after about 40mins (my contractions would come in spurts & then stop completely..) Skyler was born! At first she didn't make much of a sound, but once NICU got her and started to do whatever it is they did.. (they had a special little room connected to ours) she cried!! It was a wave of relief. She cried. It took us HOURS to see her. HOURSHOURS and HOURS. Apparently I started off a day of birth! I believe they said by about 2pm or so they had 4 or 5 births, one including twins that were also preemie & so once they got Skyler stabalized in NICU they were working on the twins, thus pushing time back for us to see her. I was afraid once I saw her I would freak out, all the tubes & wires, but actually, it is much more scary in the pics - because I could see how great she looked. Yes, the wires & tubes etc. did make her look so tiny & fragile but underneath it all was a fighter - a big, strong girl in a tiny little body. She was so awesome. So perfect. And now, when I look back on it, it does hurt to know I didn't hold her until after she was a day old (and only for about 2mins), and yes, I hate the fact that she wasn't given to me right after birth, and of course, leaving her my day of discharge was the hardest moment I've faced, but we have to look back and tell ourselves that this is where she needs to be, for now. Soon she will come home..
There is much more to tell, but for now, I will stop. I'm sure later I will be inspired to continue to tell Skyler's Story.