Okay, so it's June 7th and Charlie was born on March 30. I know it's a little late to be writing my birth story and you've probably already heard it 50 million times. But I haven't actually written it down anywhere and I'd like to do that before I completely forget how it happened. I've decided to write it in phases and I'm beginning with the period ending with the realization....I'm in labor.
It's was Monday, March 29, technically my due date. I had been working from home for about 2 weeks due to preeclampysia (PE). My blood pressure was hovering around 140/90 (the threshold for PE), my feet and lower legs were swelling unless they were elevated (and then even so), and my "output" was showing signs of toxic levels. Not to mention my amniotic fluid levels were low...6.9 units out of 10. We were going to the doctor at least twice a week for unltrasounds, monitoring and testing and I had already been warned that if anything out of the ordinary occurred to go straight to the hospital. In fact, I had a DR's appt. at 3:30pm that day.
At 10am, I joined a conference call at work and about 30 minutes later, I followed that up with a call to a co-worker. As I hung up the phone, I had a sensation as if I had maybe gone to the bathroom a little. Since my bladder had ever increasing pressure as the end of my pregnancy approached, I chalked it up to an accident. At about 1130am, it happened again. This time I was walking down the hall so I again chalked it up to an accident but just in case, I called Rocky to tell him. He and his Dad were at our family lakehouse in Salisbury dropping off a mattress and boxspring. It's about 45 minutes away if you drive the speed limit (keep this in mind later).
At 1pm, it happened again. By now, I knew something was up. But since I wasn't feeling any contractions, I didn't even stop to think it could be my water breaking. See, in natural childbirth class, we learnd that your water almost always breaks first...when a woman goes into labor in TV land. In the real world, you start feeling contractions first and the doctor breaks your water at the hospital. So I did a little research to see if it could be anything else. I didn't find any other reason for feeling like you were having accidents so I came to the conclusion that I was just leaking amnio fluid. Something must be happening! And what does a girl do when she's about to go to the hospital...she takes a bath. Yep, I think my water is leaking and I decide now would be a good time to take a bath and put on my makeup in case I'm admitted into the hospital. I know what you're thinking...not your typicaly response. I know. Susan (our birth instructor) even warned us that "some women" feel the need to get all primped up before going to the hospital. I to admit I was one of them. The idea that at THAT moment I was focused on getting all dolled up just makes me want to gag. But alas, that's what happened. So I jumped into the shower and as I was drying off, it happened again. It suddenly hit me...my water was breaking and we were going to have a baby!
...to be continued
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