William Roger Beardshall

Well, it happened again...I held Steve's hand long enough to get pregnant and have another kido. And what a kido he is! I am totally smitten with this little guy. It is totally crazy to think that I actually know what I am doing this time around, because I still don't really have it all in the bag. But I do feel much more confident on what to do if he get's fussy or needs something from me.

We brought Katy home from the hospital and she cried all night....little did we know that she was not getting anything to eat and had lost about a pound (which for someone who was only 6 lbs 8 ozs that is saying a lot)! We looked at each other trying not to freak out wondering "what have we done?"

Now we are looking at each other saying "we made that", or "how cool is he?"....not to say that we weren't thinking the same thing with Katy but it's hard to think those things when you are trying not to cry wondering if you will always be a horrible mother not knowing what your kido needs!

Through this whole pregnancy they were not sure about my due date. I never had a period after my miscarriage so they were having a hard time gaging it. Originally I was put at April 23rd, but after my first US they called me and changed it to May 4th. ***Not a good idea to call a pregnant lady and tell her that you are pushing the date back!!!*** That was a bummer, but it seemed so meaningless when we were called a few days later asking us to come back for a follow up US to check his kidney. I was completely by myself wondering what it could be and what it would all mean.

We had 3 ultrasounds with specialists at IMC to which their findings changed every single time.
1st US - Cyst on his right Kidney
2nd US - Two ureters were found on his right kidney
3rd US - Multiple cysts on both kidneys
My OB was more of the mind set "plan for the worst, hope for the best" but our pediatrician was more of the mind set "let's get him here and we'll figure it all out". Talking to Dr. Schmidt made me feel much better. We spoke with him at Katy's 3 year check up and he said that more often than not they will change their minds several times. He was right.

So we were pretty anxious to get this guy here to see what was all going no there.
I had an appointment on the 24th. The first time I was checked I was dilated to a 1, not much going on. The next week I was a 3 and 80% effaced...not too shabby for the progress. The next week not much had changed, she said she could strip my membranes if I wanted. I told her to go for it, so she did. We asked her what it all meant and she said about 50% of the time it works to put people into labor. I called my sister Britney because she had that with her last child and she said she started to feel contractions right away and had to go back in later that evening. I was a bit discouraged because I still was feeling pretty grand up through most of the night. We even went to my moms house and watched the Jazz game with her. Poor Katy didn't get to be that night until about midnight!

All through the night I was woken up about every hour with a contraction. I didn't think much of it until about 4:30 they were coming more regularly. I was reading on the internet in the wee hours of the morning when to go in. I finally woke up Steve when they were about 6-7 minutes apart. I was still thinking that I would have to wait until they were closer so I told Steve maybe I would take a shower to get my mind off of things. As I was telling him this I was having a contraction and had to stop talking for a minute because I was really starting to feel it. Steve of course said that we were going to the hospital right now....and why would I think a shower would be a good idea. We woke up poor Katy at about 5:30 and headed over. Oh and don't worry we forgot to buckle her seat belt! Nice...she said on the way over "I don't need my seatbelt on?" We were feeling like great parents at that point. Luckily the hospital is less than 5 minutes from our house and we were there by the time she said anything! Poor kid!

When we got there it was CRAZY busy the night before I guess, and there was "no room in the inn", so they said they would have to monitor me for a bit to make sure I was progressing like I was supposed to. We hung out for a while, then Steve took Katy down to get "breakfast" of a doughnut and strawberry milk. By this point I was having a hard time getting through the contractions. I think if they weren't so short staffed and they would have checked me sooner we could have gotten the party started! When they got back Steve said it was ok to cry if I was having a hard time. That was all I needed to hear I lost it and was crying because I was in so much pain. I felt like I wanted to be the crazy lady in the movies that was screaming things like "you did this to me" or "give me the juice now!" but I didn't. But I was sure thinking it! They finally came to check me over an hour later...to which I was told "Oh my, you are a 6+ lets get you hooked up and ready". I laugh now (because I would not have expected them to wheel me down there on the bed or in a wheelchair) but they made me walk down the hall to the delivery room...I had to topple over in pain a few times as I was contracting!

When we got in the room they got me all hooked up. Bless the nurse who gave me my IV because she was having a hard time with that one. I could feel it the whole time and asked her if it was supposed to be burning still about 15 minutes later. They hooked me up to saline and said I had to drain a hole bag before I could get my epidural. In the meantime Aunt Robyn had come to pick up Katy (thank you to all of Steve's sisters for their help that day!!!). Steve came over to the side of the bed and started to squeeze the bag. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he did it all the time with the firefighters at work. I didn't really care...whatever would get it in there faster was all I cared about.

Steve kept telling the nurses that I was scared to DEATH to come so fast that I was not able to get an epidural, as was the case for my sisters last pregnancy. (remember I don't even have my ears pierced I'm so wussy!) They kept reassuring me that I would get one and not to worry.

As you can imagine being the wuss that I am I was having a hard time with the contractions. Not to be one to complain I didn't want to make such a big deal of things but I was really worried. I even felt at one point that I was going to pass out. I told Steve that I seriously felt like everything was starting to go dark, my ears were ringing and I was sweating buckets!!!!! Finally they said I could have an epidural and I got one, but I was about an 8 at this point!!!! Ouch!

Thank goodness for the wonderful anesthesiologist who made me feel all better! I would say less than an hour after that it was go time. I seriously pushed about 5 times...they had to tell me to stop a few times...and he was here. I would say in less than 5 minutes of pushing he was here. It was GREAT. And to top that all off no stitches for me.

A much different experience than when Katy was born. Harder labor, but easier delivery...where she was easier labor, but harder delivery. I do remember telling Steve several times during labor that this was, in fact, our last kid. But now that he is here....that was such a SMALL thing to go through to get to have him as our own.

Back to the kidney issues...
Well they did another US on Will himself that night. We then had a Fluoroscopy done on Monday. That was horrible to watch because they had to put a little catheter in him and he was not a happy camper, I was having a hard time not crying because I felt so bad!
Steve talked to Dr. Schmidt and he followed up with us. At this point it is looking like he does have 2 ureters but they are not positive. We are actually going to see the specialist tomorrow to see what it all means. In a nutshell you have your kidney, the tube that leads to your bladder (the ureter) and your bladder. He has 2 on the right side and it is causing some reflux, or urine, to go back up into his kidney. We don't really know what this all means but have been told that whatever it is it's fixable. I'm still hoping that this little guy won't have to have surgery but I guess well figure it all out tomorrow.

We will keep you posted. Positive attitude and modern medicine are a great combo. Will is a champ and we are keeping a positive attitude so we will see what they have to say about it all tomorrow...until then.