Becoming Caroline’s Mom

This is my husband Steven.

Carrie and Steven

We met in college a long long time ago. We always ran around in similar groups but had very little interaction with each other. In fact, we both have pictures of each other in college but neither of us are the main subject of the photos. Fast forward seven years after college. I was living in Houston and was sitting at a friend’s house on a Friday night. We were waiting on hurricane Ike to hit our area. I was under mandatory evacuations, so I had traveled slightly north to stay at a friend’s house that night. In a hurricane, you just sit and wait. You know it’s coming and everything shuts down hours before hand, so you’re literally just sitting around for hours waiting on it to hit. So I was on Facebook. I always tease Steven that I have no idea what HE was doing at home and on Facebook on a Friday night since he lived in OKC, but I’m glad he was. We reconnected and started chatting. When we were about to lose power, we exchanged numbers so he could make sure that nothing major happened to me during the storm. We ended up texting, talking and chatting for a year. After a year, we decided to hang out for the first time in SEVEN years! Our first date… he came down to Houston and went to a high school football game with me and the 16 girls that I coached for cheerleading. And let me tell you, those girls didn’t mess around. They immediately wanted to know what his intentions were and why he was there. We dated for two months before I decided I would think about moving to Oklahoma City. One month later, while camping, we talked about marriage. And exactly four months after our “first” meeting, Steven asked me to be his wife. We were married on a gorgeous beach in Hawaii with our closest friends and family. It was a fairy tale!

Wedding Collage

We were no spring chickens when we got married and discussed that we should probably start trying to have kids soon. I laugh because during the week we would talk about having kids, and on the weekends, as we were lying in bed at 9 AM, we would decide to wait a little bit longer.

God had plans for us though. In January of 2012, I was teaching school and one of my students asked me when I was going to have kids. My reply… “Not for a while, we’ve only been married one and a half years”. That night, after dinner, I realized that I hadn’t really felt great in the past few days. I told Steven that I thought I should take a pregnancy test. So I took one…it came up positive in about 5 seconds, I took another… positive, I took SIX more… all positive!!! I couldn’t believe it! I had always wanted kids (I would have 12 if I could) but we just hadn’t been planning on them yet. We lived in a TINY (and I mean TINY house) and I had no idea where we would even put a baby.

All Positive!!
All Positive!!

In a few months, our house was on the market and we were moving to a house that we ADORE!

We sold our house in 7 days!!
We sold our house in 7 days!!

My pregnancy wasn’t how I imagined it to be. I remember the first time I got a little sick on my way home from work. I called my mom and told her because I thought it was so cute. A week later when I was teaching and coaching cheerleading during basketball season (think buses, late night games, weekend tournaments, lots of McDonald’s and smelly smelly gyms) and carrying plastic bags with me everywhere I went, I didn’t think it was so cute. By the time I finally felt better, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. No late night sugar cravings for me. I got to take my blood sugar four times a day and towards the end, I went to two Non-Stress tests a week.

I had to be induced due to the Gestational Diabetes, so we scheduled our induction date for September 10th. We called both of our parents and asked them to be here the day before. They came the eve of our induction, and let me tell you, both grandmas were more nervous than I was! I was nervous for sure. I really really wanted to be able to have this baby with out an epidural. Not necessarily because of the drug aspect, but because I wanted to be able to get up and walk around after the baby was born, or even during labor. I knew that people had natural childbirth, and that if your labor doesn’t last too long, it’s painful, but it is pain that eventually ends. I knew that being induced somewhat changed all that.

Filling out paper work
Filling out paperwork

On Monday morning, we went to the hospital. As I was checking in, my doctor, who had been there delivering babies for a few hours already, asked me if I was having contractions yet. I wasn’t. They checked me into my room, and hooked me up to all the stuff. I started the Pitocin. I felt nothing for hours. I was having contractions, but I couldn’t feel them at all. A little after noon, my doctor came in and broke my water. Let me tell you, it’s a whole different ball game after your water breaks. I was in pain, PAIN for a good hour. Throwing up, moaning, the whole nine yards. I asked to be checked, I was at a 5. I knew I couldn’t handle this pain for hours upon hours. I asked for an epidural.

The anesthesiologist came in, gave me the epidural and left. Steven told me that he was going to go out and let our parents know what was happening and I asked him to only be gone for a minute or less. I remember him bouncing back in the room and happily saying “I was only gone for 1 minute and 12 seconds, I timed myself.” My response… “I need the nurse, I need to start pushing.” It always amazes me how I knew that, how my body just took over and told me what I was supposed to do rather than the other way around. Within seconds, there were what seemed like 1000 people in the room. I started pushing, they prepared for baby’s arrival. After awhile, and me asking several times, they called the doctor. They tried to see if they could up my epidural (which hadn’t taken effect yet). The anesthesiologist said “I can, but it’s not going to do any good since the baby is being born right now.” About 30 minutes after my epidural, Caroline was born.

She's here!
She’s here!

She was perfect. She was crying. And it was the cutest and most wonderful thing I had heard in my life. I held her. She was mine, and I was her mom.

Best day ever!
Best day ever!

I had wanted to be a mom from the day I got my first doll that I can remember and made a schedule of how my mom should care for her while I was at school. Although it didn’t happen as quickly as I had dreamed or planned on it happening, it happened at just the right time and couldn’t have been anymore perfect.

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Carrie Gould
Hi OKC! I'm Carrie! My husband, Steven, and I met in college but never dated. Many years later, we reconnected and fell in love. After a whirlwind romance and gorgeous wedding I gave up my Texan status and moved to Oklahoma (he was worth it!) He spends his days on the road travelling all over the state of Oklahoma. We are the proud parents of our adorable 2 year old, Caroline and precious baby Benjamin. There is very little sleeping going on at our house. I am a music lover and a wannabe crafter. I am very good at following directions but not so great at creating my own masterpieces. I was a math teacher for 6 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Before being a teacher, I worked in the actuarial field, which is what I am doing part-time now. As a family we work hard to live a simple life, create great memories, and love the Lord with all our heart. I am so excited to be sharing my family with all of you and connecting with other local moms!

2 COMMENTS

  1. I actually only took one this time around. They get to be pretty expensive 🙂 I still always expect to go to the doctor for my first appointment and them to look at me like I’m crazy and say “you’re not pregnant, weirdo!”

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