Happy 3rd birthday Sophie!

In January 2006, Theo & I decided that we wanted to have another baby. So I had my IUD yanked out & we started trying to get pregnant in February. No luck that month, & we decided we should skip trying in March so the baby wouldn't be born at Christmas time. We planned to resume trying in April, but instead found out we were pregnant in April ~ oops! I had several pregnancy tests with faint lines on them, so we weren't for sure at first. I needed to stop taking my Effexor if I was pregnant (by the way DO NOT stop taking Effexor cold turkey!), so my dr drew a blood test that showed I was indeed pregnant! HOORAY! The kids were so excited to have a little sister or brother. We thought it would be cool to have a boy so that we could have 2 of each gender, but would be happy either way!

This pregnancy started out quickly to be the least fun! I was in my 30s now as opposed to my 20s like I was with my other pregnancies. I had extreme morning sickness & couldn't eat so I was very weak. I went to the dr for an ultrasound to make sure the pregnancy was right on track, she prescribed transdermal Phenergan, & took some blood to check my Progesterone levels. The Phenergan helped some so I was able to eat enough to get by on. My progesterone levels were low, so I had to do a suppository every day ~ this was very unpleasant but since it helped my stay pregnant it was definitely worth it.

Happily the 2nd trimester came along, so no more suppositories - HOORAY! My nausea did not go away completely, but it got a little better. The baby started moving & occasionally the kids could feel. A little after 20 weeks we had an ultrasound. Everything looked great & we found out we were having another girl!! We surprised the kids with gifts when they got home from school, Zoe & Kalli were excited, but Tad was a little disappointed it was not going to be a boy :(.
On to the 3rd trimester: still had some nausea, but it was bearable. Had lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions, especially at work. My friend SuAnn was opening her business Stork Vision, so I was super lucky to have a couple of ultrasounds done there to help in the training process. The whole family got to come in and watch!
Around 34 weeks I began feeling really worn down, turned out my blood pressure was getting high. We watched it for a week and it got worse, so I was put on bed rest ~PRAISE THE LORD! I was having a hard time at work so I was very happy to get to rest. As much bed rest as you can get with 3 other children & Christmas coming up! But I definitely felt better! My blood pressure did not get much better though, so Dr. H decided she needed to induce me at 38 weeks which was Friday, Dec 22. Dr. H really wanted to move it up a day, so when a space opened up, we changed it to Thursday, Dec 21. I was dilated to 3cm already, so it should be pretty easy & quick! The kids got the flu the week of the induction, so they had to miss some school & we were worried about them being able to see the baby.

The big day arrived ~ Thursday December 21. The kids stayed at Nana & Papa's house, Tad & Kalli were well so they went to school, Zoe was still running slight fever so she had to stay home. We got to the hospital around 4am so they could start my Penicillin since I am GBS+. They started my pitocin at 6am. My blood pressures were high on my back, so I had to stay on my side to get good readings. Things moved a little more slowly with this induction than with Kalli, but that is OK because the pain came on more slowly. Theo had relaxing music playing on his laptop to help me breathe. Dr. H broke my water after 8am & my contractions got a little more uncomfortable and since I was now 4cm I got my epidural. I thought I would deliver about the time I delivered Kalli which was 1015, but that time passed on by. This little girl was not going to make her entrance into this world until she was darn good and ready! A little before noon I started to feel pressure, so my nurse checked & I was complete, but Dr. H was doing another delivery. Being a L&D nurse I could hear the baby's heartbeat dropping. The nurse was in the room turning me, putting oxygen on, and checking me. She called for Dr. H to come in ASAP. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Dr. H arrived. The nurse lowered the bottom of the bed to put me in stirrups, but I guess miss Sophie was now darn good and ready to be born now, so she started coming out before Dr. H could hardly get her gloves on!

Sophia Noelle Nackos was born on December 21, 2006 at 12:06pm. She weighed 6#8oz. She had gorgeous dark blue eyes and a little brown hair. She was absolutely perfect! The kids got to come see her after a little bit, but poor Zoe had to wear a mask because she still had fever. At last our family was complete!

Now at age 3 & the baby of the family, Sophie runs the house. What she wants, she gets. We just can't resist that sweet smile, & crazy curls! She can be a lot to deal with at time, but it's definitely worth it! She has us all wrapped around her little finger!