First Born Child Survey

1. WAS YOUR FIRST BORN'S PREGNANCY PLANNED? For the most part.  We were able to conceive much easier than we anticipated, so we were a little "surprised" but were planning to have our angel as soon as we could.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes, almost two years.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? A little bit of shock but a lot of excitement.
4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 27
5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My friend said if I was that late I needed to take a test.  I recall telling Ben I was wasting money using a test but that I would take one the following morning.  I was SHOCKED that I saw that little line turn to a + sign!
6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? I started to text my girlfriend Erin, then thought better and went in the bedroom to tell Ben. :)
7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes
8. DUE DATE? 11/03/2009
9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? YESSSSSSSSSS!  My first trimester was quite miserable.
10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Dairy Queen Blizzards and Mexican food.
11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? No one I loved more or could irritate me more than my darling husband.
12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl
13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, I desperately wanted to have a baby girl first.  Thank heaven for little girls!
14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Let's not talk about that.  Let's just note that I lost them all and hope to never see them again
15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, I'm so blessed to have wonderful friends, family, and co-workers.  We ended up having 5 showers for this little lady, including a co-shower with my sister-in-law Jamie.
16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? Most of them I knew ahead of time except for a surprise breakfast at work and the surprise family shower for me and my sister-in-law.  The funny story there is I knew Jamie was having a surprise shower and brought her a gift, but didn't realize we were getting showered with love as well!
17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? We had a scare early on with a false positive nuchal test.  We had an increase risk for chromosomal disorder and chose to get an amniocentesis to check on everything.
18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia; the same place I was born!
19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Sunday afternoon/evening until Wednesday at 3:53 a.m.
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Ben the first time, Ben and my mom the last time.  We also learned of just how many potholes are between my house and Piedmont Hospital.
21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Ben
22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Heck yes!  Like switching on a light bulb.  Easy breezy from there.
24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs, 2.8 oz.
25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? October 28, 2009 at 3:53 a.m.
26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Abney Rae; Abney for her maternal grandmother (Melinda Abney Whitton) and Rae for her paternal grandmother (Marsha Rae Buerger)
27. HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER DELIVERY? Love.
28. WHO CAME TO THE HOSPITAL TO VISIT? We were blessed to have LOTS of wonderful visitors including: Nana, Sallie, Anne McNeil, G-Diddy and Sarah, Aunt Jo, Shyann, Scott, Chad & Meredith, Janki, Alyssa, Stacy, Kelly, and I think that is all at the hospital. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone because we were so thankful and so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family come to visit us.  It made us feel so very special.
29. HOW LONG WAS YOUR HOSPITAL STAY? We checked in Tuesday evening around 9:05 p.m. and got to check out on Friday.  The Tuesday night didn't "count" since we delivered Wednesday and they had us stay two nights postpartum.
30. WHO WAS AT HOME? My mom was there and Ben's parents arrived on Friday for the weekend with us.
31. DID YOU HAVE ANY HELP THE FIRST WEEK? We rotated between my mom and Ben's dad for the first few months. :)
32. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, & 1 day