During the summer of 2000, around the 4th of July, I met my future husband, Brian, through his sister, Amanda, and his mother, Amy. Brian had recently ended a three year relationship, and Amy, with Amanda and I in tow, would pick him up to going swimming with us, so he wouldn't be so lonely. He didn't really talk to me, but one one day I wore a self-made shirt that *ahem* happened to grab his attention. He happens to be rather modest, and I made him blush *grin*. On the way back from the lake that day Amanda asked me to sing, so I sang a few of the ballads I had learned for chrous. Apparently I sang them pretty well, because Brian complimented me and I was told (by Ama) that this was an extremely rare event.

A day or two after that we were all at Angela's (Ama's cousin that I went to high school with) celebrating Mary's (Brian's older and only full sister) visit and the 4th of July. It was the night before the holiday and I went for a walk with Amanda and Brian. Later that night I couldn't sleep and bugged him to stay up with me. We sat on the porch and talked. And then we kissed. And then it was dawn, so we snuck back in the house.

The next night we layed under a big tree along Angela's driveway and talked and held each other all night. He told me he loved me and wanted to give me everything in the world. Then it was morning again.

I went back to Amanda and Amy's house and spent another night (I hadn't been home practically since graduation). I went with just Amy to go swimming (Ama didn't feel like going) and when I saw Brian we kept sneaking looks and kisses and and hugs, but we were caught pretty quickly. On the ride home Amy said "Maybe I'm just imagining things, but is there something going on between you and Brian?" I blushed and confessed, and she was happy for us. Hey, I was eighteen, an adult perfectly capable of making her own descisions...though my dad didn't think so...

Brian and I stayed with Amy for about a week because Brian's ex had broken in and taken the bed and most of the furniture. We stayed in his old room in the basement, though we didn't sleep much... He proposed to me and I said yes, we went and got the marriage license the next day. We moved back into his place with some furniture borrowed from his mom. When I went to get my furniture dad flew into a purple rage and freaked out...but he eventually apologized and I got my stuff.

We got married on August 14th and Mary came down from Colombus to attend, the ceremony was held in Rev. Donnie Parrett's front yard with Amy, Amanda, Angela, her parents: Doug & Lillian, Mary, and Ama's friend Jess in attendence. We hadn't told dad. He did find out, of course, and decided he'd rather have a daughter and a son in law instead of no daughter at all. It was about this time that my younger brother moved in with my Aunt and Uncle in California.

Brian and I lived together in wedded bliss for about a month, cooking for each other, watching movies together, ect. Anyway, Brian, Amy and myself were on our way to Berea (where I had formerly lived) to visit Ang and her family, when I got really sick, Amy dropped me off at the hospital, and I told the doctor I thought I had a bladder infection, but I wasn't sure. So they took a few bodily fluids, tested them, and told me I was pregnant. I got very dizzy and light headed. I somehow made it to the lobby to call Brian and tell him to come get me. When he got there, I told him and he turned white, went outside and proceded to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in about 2 minutes, then he hugged me.

I signed up for a medical card and started seeing my OB, Dr. Azizpour at 10 weeks. It was a pretty normal pregnancy (except for morning, afternoon, and evening sickness up until the fifth month) they told my my blood pressure was a little high, but that happens a lot to younger moms.

Then, around my 32nd week, my blood pressure skyrocketed in the middle of the night, my head throbbed violently and I cried on the way to the hospital. Brian had been drinking (not something he does very often) and did his best to get me to the ER and explain to the doctors what was happening. He must have at least conveyed that I was pregnant, because they wheeled me up to labor and delivery. I don't really remember getting up there, but I remember lying on my side, hooked up to a bunch of monitors. Brian later told my blood pressure was 180/165 (anything higher than 140/90 is considered dangerous for a pregnant woman). I stayed at Marymount Medical Center for about three days, but they were unable to stabilize my blood pressure, so I was transferred to University of Kentucky Hospital because, should I have to deliver, they had a neonatal ICU. I was there for about two weeks, before they decided to realase me on the condition that I stay on bedrest and come back twice a week to be monitored. I was so homesick, but because I had been bed-ridden so long, I got sciatia in my left thigh and could barely walk. But I was NOT staying in that hospital one day longer, so I very slowly made it to the wheelchair, was wheeled to the car and very slowly got in and went home. I kept going to the appointments as promised, and shared dog stories with my nurse (she has labrador retrievers)

My team of obstetricians (Dr. Lewis, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Fontenot, & Dr. Evans) told me that it was a bad idea to carry a baby past 39 weeks with toxemia, because the uterus starts to deteriorate. So I was to be induced on Monday, April 30th. Amanda drove Brian & I to hospital that morning. I was put in the birthing suite (very nice) and they waited to see if I would go into labor naturally. I didn't, so they started a pitocin drip at 6:30 that night (Ama had left by then). I progessed rather slowly, but my contractions did get much stronger and I was given an epidural. (Brian almost fainted, I'm glad I couldn't see it) By 8am Ian had still not be born, so they began trying to deliver him with forceps, and some other things I actually heard clank together inside of me. This didn't work and sometime around 10 they said I was going to have to have a C-section, and at this point I just it to be over with.

Brian wasn't allowed in the OR, so I was pretty scared and lonely, and I didn't really know was was wrong and I was afraid Ian would be stillborn, and nobody would tell me what was happening. The surgery took about 2 hours, and I was awake for most of it because they couldn't give me any more anethesia because of the epidural. I did hear a *pop* and a tiny wailing cry (Tuesday, May 1st, 11:26 am, 7lbs 2.6 oz, 21 in) and I almost cried. It hurt, and I was having trouble breathing throught the oxygen mask and I was getting sick...and then they gave me more sedatives and I woke up in recovery a few hours later.

Brian and Amy were there and Brian told me he had seen the baby, and he looked just like his father, O'dell. I was moved to a postpartum room, and shown how to work the epidural control button (hehe, I think I wore it out...) The nurse kept asking me if I wanted to hold Ian, but I was still really groggy and shaky and very unsure of my ability to hold a newborn. Brian held him though, and showed him to me. He was very very tiny and pink but he was still very cute.

We had to stay in the hospital until friday, but it worked out because the nurses showed me how to feed and diaper him, ect. He got his first Hep B shot, was circumsized (he cried and cried and cried for about 24 hours straight after that, he cried himself hoarse and could only squeak pitifully for the next few days) had a hearing test and a PKU screening done.

The entire time I was in the hospital (before baby and after) Brian stayed away from me only two nights, the rest of the time he slept in really uncomfortable chairs so I wouldn't have to sleep alone. He is a wonderful Daddy and husband, and hey, I'm learning :)