It's been a while! Just got back from vacation in Florida.
Being Pregnant
Once I hit 13.5 weeks the morning sickness was gone and it was smooth sailing.... well sort of! I worked throughout the entire pregnancy and I was in love with the time off (midwinter recess, spring break, etc). During spring break I was 32 weeks pregnant, wasn't feeling great and felt the baby moving A LOT! I had read that this could be a sign of distress so I called the doctor. He called me back about 6 hours later and told me to go to his partner's office to be monitored. I drove all the way to the south shore to be monitored. After about 20 minutes the doctor walked in and said "did you feel that?" I had no idea what he was talking about. A few minutes later he said again "did you feel THAT?" I was getting a little nervous; what the hell was he talking about? What was I supposed to feel? Anyway turned out I was having pretty serious contractions 2-3 minutes apart. Soooooooo I drove totally out of my way to find out that I was in preterm labor and I had to go to the hospital (which is literally steps away from my house). I called Timothy and we went to the hospital. We really weren't ready for the baby to be born, but Timothy thought it would be great for him to be born that day - it was 4/20. I got a few shots to stop the contractions, spent the night being monitored and was sent home.
Bed rest?! Get the hell out of here!
At around 36 weeks the doctor wanted me to take it easy for a few days. I was looking forward to a few days off from work. I figured I'd lay in bed and sleep for 3 days straight. Boy was I wrong. On the first day I had 14 hours straight of contractions. When I had gone into preterm labor the first time, the doctor told me that once the contractions were unbearable, I should go to the hospital. The contractions were clearly not unbearable, because I continued to lay in bed for 14 hours. After about 12 hours I got nervous and called the doctor. He wasn't available so of course the nurse on duty told me to go to the hospital. At this point I was a regular at labor and delivery. I got to the hospital and the doctor that saw me first saw my contractions and said "nice pattern, great contractions, this is how babies are born!" A few minutes later they did a check and the doctor declared "Your cervix is completely closed". My thoughts: Uhmmmm WHAT?!! 14 hours of contractions did absolutely nothing?! How am I gonna get this baby out?!?!!?
Leaking...
At exactly 37 weeks my sister came over for a visit and to put the border up in Daniel's room. It was actually the day that the world was supposed to end 5/21. We were really busy all day with projects around the house. Her and Christopher left at around 11:30. I went to the bathroom and realized that I was leaking. I had no idea what it was. Did my water break? I called my sister and she came back. I made her read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and tell me what was going on. I refused to read that book - everything in it scared the shit out of me! Turned out it was "probably" not my water, so I went to sleep. Yeah, I could have gone to the hospital, but at this rate I was almost embarrassed to go. I continued "leaking" for the next 4 days. I honestly had no idea what it was, so I just figured I was peeing my pants. Yeah it was embarrassing, but in my head it was the only logical explanation. I read online that amniotic fluid is high in PH, so I sent my mom on a hunt to find PH strips on Tuesday night 5/24. She came back with some crazy diabetic test strips. The next day, 5/25, at work I asked one of the science teachers if they had PH strips in the lab. She came back a few minutes later with PH strips. I could finally figure out if my leaking was my water! I went into the bathroom and made my mom come in with me (She USED to work at the same school). I made her use a PH strip too. Nothing happened with either of our strips and my mom said "these are so old... they'd never even work". About an hour later I went to the bathroom, saw blood and it scared the crap out of me. I called the doctor - and yeah you guessed it - he sent me to the hospital. My mom and I both left work to go to labor and delivery. They did an exam and I was 2cm dilated, but the "leaking" was only cervical fluid. We only spent an hour at the hospital and I was fine so we went back to work.
Don't get dressed, just GET OVER HERE!!!!
The next morning, 5/26, I woke up to go to the bathroom at around 4:00. I felt something weird, but I figured it was just cervical fluid again. Timothy left for work at 4:40 and I went back to sleep. At 6:00 I got up for work and my pants were soaked. I though "whoa there cervical fluid..." Just for the hell of it I figured I'd use those old, useless PH strips to check the fluid on my pants. Wasn't I surprised - the PH strips changed all crazy colors. I called my mom and told her to get over to my place as soon as possible. My exact words "don't get dressed, just get over here!!" I waited (on a plastic folding chair) for 30 minutes for her to get to my place (she lives .5 miles away). As she walked in the door, I yelled "I told you not to get dressed!" I brought her to the bathroom to see all of the PH strips. At this point water was dripping down my leg. Today was the day!!!!
I guess I lied - the birth next time!
