the birth story, part 1. better late than never, right?

as we approach our son's half year on this earth (in 2 weeks), it's about time i wrote about his arrival, no?

seriously, time/priorities/life has changed so blogging got bumped down the list quite a bit. ...ok, a lot. when i looked back at my 37 week picture, i didn't even remember my baby bump being that big! and at the time, i didn't think it was big. haha.

so. birth story. when i was pregnant, i remember searching the internet for various birth stories, especially from moms with type 1 diabetes. they helped me a lot! i like being prepared and knowing every possible scenario, that way i don't freak out if things don't go as i thought they would. i wanted to share mine for any other pregnant mommy who might be looking and i want to be able to look back at this myself in case i don't remember all the details someday. here's part 1 of the story.


friday, december 12. i went to work as usual. i was feeling super uncomfortable, i knew i was waddling (because everyone felt the need to tell me, as if i couldn't feel myself walk/swaying) and moving at a much slower pace. nothing major was happening that day, i actually took the time to clean out my inbox and organize the maternity leave folder on my computer. i think my subconscious knew he was about to make his debut.

that afternoon, my cousin invited us to dinner with my parents, my aunt and other cousins. devon and i met them right after work. i felt extra tired, just drained. but again, i was pregnant, so didn't think anything of it. i had been having what i THOUGHT were braxton hicks contractions all day. i had never experienced contractions, so i didn't know what to expect. my mom mentioned that it looked like he had REALLY dropped (after hearing that from various people for a few weeks).

at dinner, my cousin was babysitting for our other cousin's 3 month old. the baby's mom called and asked if someone could keep her longer that evening, and i said if i wasn't almost 38 weeks pregnant i would. my cousin said into her phone, 'she could have her baby, like, at any moment.' and of course, i laughed it off because i knew we had a week until i was induced.

when we got home, devon and i went in the basement to have our first holiday viewing of Christmas Vacation. we were going to relax and enjoy our last weekend as a family of two. the movie ended right before 10 pm, and back upstairs we went. i laid down on the couch in the living room while devon did a few quick things.

i took the picture below and posted it on instagram, joking that our cat bella knew that the baby was coming soon because she had been at my side (literally) since we got home. wherever i was, she was. this was taken about 5 minutes before my water broke.

as devon came over to the couch to sit down, i had the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. (mom speak: i had to potty.) i jumped up from the couch and ran to the bathroom. i thought i had lost control of my bladder, thinking that must have been a symptom that i missed. awesome. 'do you have to go that bad?' was devon's reaction ... he hadn't seen my pregnant butt run anywhere for months.

without the details you don't want to hear ... i was pretty sure my water had broken. i yelled, 'so, i think my water broke.' he was immediately googling symptoms of water breaking. i told him i had to call the doctor, even if this wasn't my water breaking, she was surely going to make me go to the hospital.

i text my best friend. 'i think my water broke.'  'YOU BETTER NOT BE JOKING!' 'nope, i'm serious.'

i was told the doctor would call back within 30 minutes, and 29 minutes later, she called (of course i remember how long that wait was!). all i got out was a brief description of why i thought my water broke and she said, 'yes. your water broke. come to the hospital now.'

while we were waiting for the return call, we had added our last minute things to our hospital bags, so we were pretty much ready to go. i whined about not being able to take a shower before we left - even though i had one that morning, i didn't know when i'd get to have one again! - and i got in the car. in the driver's seat. yes, i drove us to the hospital. i wasn't having contractions and it felt better to drive so i didn't sit in the passenger seat and freak out that it was really happening.

i remember every time i went to an appointment at my OB's office (connected to the hospital) that soon we'd get to park in the 'labor and delivery patients' parking spot ... well, when you get to the hospital at 11 pm on a friday, there's plenty of parking. so instead, we parked right next to that spot.

when we got inside, i was taken right into a room and changed into a gown while i was asked a bunch of questions. it was only a few minutes before we realized this wasn't a false alarm. the nurse asked me to describe what i thought were braxton hicks. she told me those were contractions, that they are different for every woman, and what i was feeling (tightness all over my belly) were my contractions ... good to know, i had been randomly having them all day. but nothing consistent.

devon called his parents while i called mine and my sister. we told them we'd let them know when something exciting was happening; we were just going to get some sleep (hahaha, yeah right) and wait.

Holy Crap This is Really Happening smile

we were in it for the long haul. the VERY long haul...