This post is long over due. 11 weeks to be exact. But, I took the last two months off of blogging so I could spend time with my wonderfully, perfectly made daughter! Her arrival was a huge surprise to us all and I’m excited to finally share her birth story with all of you.
I had gone to my 36 week check-up on Thursday morning on September 4. They did an ultrasound to ensure she was not still breach like she had been at my 20 week appointment. I remember being so excited to go into that ultrasound to get a glimpse of this little peanut that was taking up more and more room in my ever expanding belly. Well, we went in for the ultrasound and the tech told us everything looked great, but she couldn’t get a single picture because she was so tightly squeezed in there. We did see a tiny peak of her huge cheeks, which was satisfying enough. She was healthy and cozy in there, so that’s all we cared about.
Next, I went to see my DR for the 36 week check. We talked about hospital plans and everything that goes along with that. She told me she wasn’t going to check me since I was only 36 weeks along and that I had quite a bit of time (basically, that baby wasn’t going anywhere). So, my husband and I left for work and went about our days like we still had 4 weeks left. I should have known something was up though. There were little signs throughout the entire week that I noticed, but just shrugged off. For instance, I was sick and I never get sick. Also, I had a ton of work that I had to get done before maternity leave and I finished my biggest project way early (or so I thought) so that way I could have 4 weeks to train people on my team to do my job while I was away.
Anyway, we headed home from work that Thursday, hung out with some friends and then got into bed around 12:30 a.m. As usual, I got up around 2:30 a.m. to pee. This had become my typical routine over the past few months. So, I staggered out of bed, went to the bathroom and staggered back into bed. Right as I got into bed, I heard and felt a weird pop that I had never experienced before. Then, water started coming out in large quantities. I knew my water had broken, but I didn’t want to admit it for some reason. I actually contemplated just going back to bed. However, the steady stream of fluid didn’t allow for that. So, I Googled “what to do when water breaks” because I had completely blanked on everything I learned in my birthing class. After 20 minutes of that, and more fluid, I finally decided to wake my husband up. I gently shook him for about 5 minutes until he finally woke up and muttered the words, “Babe, I don’t want to make you panic, but I think my water broke.” He had the exact reaction I thought he would. He shot out of bed and said, “Ok, let’s do this. What do we do? Are you ok? Do you need anything?” I said, “I’m fine, but I don’t remember what we are supposed to do.” After deliberating for a few minutes, we decided to call the DR.
I then called the hospital to let them know my water broke and they told that they would have my DR call me back, but to also get to the hospital as soon as I could. My favorite part of the story (besides having Avalyn comes in now). My DR called me back within 5 minutes and when her weary, tired voice called, she said, “Are you just testing to see if my number works?” It made me laugh out loud and I gave her kudos for joking when I woke her up out of a dead sleep at 2:30 in the morning. She asked how I was and I filled her in. Then she told me she’d meet me at the hospital in an hour. So, it was time!
