My Plus Size Pregnancy

I’m a Mom. That’s right, a mom. I always thought I’d be one of those people who enjoyed other people’s kids and never my own. One, because I really hate hospitals, and two, I really hate people poking and prodding me.

Well, during the pandemic my now husband and I were blessed with a small gift. I was pregnant! I hadn't planned on getting pregnant, at the time my husband was still my fiance and both of us were still figuring out our jobs.

We were nervous to be parents; of course, but we were both on the same team and ready to be the responsible and loving parents our baby needed.

My pregnancy was full of ups and downs. I had horrible nausea the entire time and I could no longer work. My sense of smell was heightened, (common in pregnancy) but double that with nausea and it was a bad mix. Not to mention I was overweight from my previous back surgery in 2019. Because of my weight, I was considered high risk. Pre-pregnancy I weighed 289 but by my ten-week check up I was already 300 pounds. I think that’s when reality hit me.

I was nervous about gaining more weight. I’d been bedridden in 2019 with a bulging disc before I got surgery in October 2019- and I was working hard to lose the weight I’d gained. Now being pregnant would that task even more difficult.

My doctor gave me instructions not to go over 320- I planned on never seeing that number. Ever. Throughout my pregnancy, I managed to float between 311-315 lbs and maintained a low sodium diet to control my teasingly high blood pressure.

I took low-dose aspirin every day to lower my blood pressure too. When I got to 37 weeks Maternal-Fetal Medicine advised that it would be wise to induce at 39 weeks to avoid any pre-eclampsia complications. I was at risk because my mom had it with both me and my brother.

I was nervous. Reality hits that soon you’ll have another little person to care for. Less sleep, and exhaustion. You already know that you're bringing a small miracle into the world but it never really sets in until you are in the hospital waiting for the next steps towards induction.

We arrived at 7:30 am at the hospital to begin.

I was 1cm dilated and 30% effaced which isn’t a whole lot so they started me on Cervidil to help move things along. I made it to 2cm after 12 hours. At 3cm my water broke on its own and they started me on Pitocin. I hadn’t gotten the epidural yet and the contractions were getting gnarly after 12 more hours. A few hours later I had maxed out at 20mg and the baby wasn't handling contractions very well. With his heart rate dropping at each contraction my doctor started getting nervous. Not only that but we were 28 hours in and I hadn't progressed much farther. Around 7 pm (almost 30 hours of labor later) I finally decided to get the epidural. Around 8:00 pm my doctor informs me that a c-section is looking like our only option. I am of course scared, mostly because I've never had a c-section before and this being my first child I was literally heading into the unknown. My anesthesiologist was very friendly and he made the experience not so terrifying.

My poor husband was nervous too but he held my hand and sat by my head giving me encouraging words. I have never felt such intense happiness like I did when I saw my little boy. He was all bundled up in a swaddle and had his eyes closed. He wasn't screaming; just peaceful and warm. I held him for a few minutes but the epidural and surgery caused me to shake really bad and I got nervous to hold onto him. In a C-Section, you are completely flat on your back and it was hard to hold him. I snuggled him up close in recovery and nursed him for the first time.

We had our baby, our son and he was happy, healthy, and beautiful. My recovery from the c-section was really good. Minimal pain, no swelling and I never dealt with infections or anything.

It was a scary experience but it was completely worth it.