In the wee small hours of the morning of March 13, 2011, I was awake. The mess of pollen outside had fully clogged all of my airways and I found it easier just to be sitting up in a chair reading "Shape" magazine (yes, at nine months pregnant--I like to torture myself??) and blowing my nose instead of trying to lay down and finding all breathing impossible. While reading my magazine, I found myself kind of bored and decided I was going to write a post entitled, "Super Freak" on this blogspot.
"Super Freak" was going to be about how much I truly, really, honestly LOVED being pregnant and how much I loved having a new little precious life growing inside of me. At my doctor's appointment the prior Monday, March 7, Doc Haskins walked in and said, "So, you're ready to have this baby by now, aren't you? How about Wednesday?" I begged and pleaded for at least another week with her inside me before we induced because I was NOT miserable, anxious, scared, or going out of my mind waiting for the bambino to arrive. I was savoring every moment of having her inside of me and cherishing every single kick, hiccup, and sudden appearance of a knee or elbow gliding across my belly. Baby Girl was still soooo active and happy where she was. Haskins looked at my husband and asked if he was aware of how "odd" I was to want to stay pregnant at 38 weeks. Said that women are normally begging him to take the baby by then. . . but not me.
I guess because this pregnancy was so unexpected and so much of a miracle and a gift, I wanted to cherish every single moment of it. And I did. It was by far the easiest of my pregnancies, despite it being my biggest weight gain and my being "advanced" in maternal age. I never had that exhaustion and crazy emotion I had with Luke's pregnancy, or hours of nausea every night of the first trimester I had with Lilly Grace. The only recurring symptoms of this pregnancy were my colds and stuffed noses, and I probably would have had that with seasonal allergy stuff anyway. Because I had been through labor twice before, I didn't have much anxiety about it and I didn't find myself reading four to five different pregnancy books on a weekly basis making sure I was doing everything "right." This pregnancy was a God thing, and I let Him run the show while I tried to be grateful for it.
So, I was reflecting on all of that and what words I would and could choose to convey my total adoration of the pregnant state when I had to blow my nose yet again. Mind you, all day on Saturday the 12th, I had been having contractions on and off, but there was nothing consistent. Kevin, Luke, Lilly Grace and I had an awesome day eating daddy's pancakes for breakfast, going to the zoo, eating a late lunch on the patio at Crown, and just hanging out enjoying family time. As I went to blow my nose yet again in the wee small hours of the morning on the 13th, I suddenly starting peeing on myself, or so I thought, and I could NOT stop. I went running to the bathroom in a rawther graceful fashion with kleenex between my legs trying to make it stop when it hit me: I wasn't peeing. This was not voluntary. What was happening to me?? It was 4:50 a.m. at this point.
Because I had the forethought to bring my beloved iPhone to the hall bath with me, I immediately started goggling "signs of labor" "how to know when my water is broken" "is my water broken" "what should I do if my water breaks?" I could find no definitive answers, but as I sat there on the potty with liquid continually flowing, I concluded by 5:10 a.m. that my water had indeed broken, and by darn, I had better start working on maintenance and packing up for the hospital. As I walked to the shower, Kevin asked what I was doing and I told him, "My water broke. I'm getting in the shower. You can sleep about half-hour or so, but then we'll need to go to the hospital. I'm not waiting for contractions." Of course, he jumped out of bed immediately.
I tried to stay calm and leisurely get ready for the fun impending labor. The fact that I had absolutely no contractions at all helped significantly in that effort. I packed my toiletries, blew my hair dry, made sure my makeup was perfectly applied, and then called Mom and Dad at 5:38. Told them I thought my water had broken and that they needed to come and be at the house when Luke and Lilly Grace woke up in the morning. They came quickly, took pictures for posterity's sake, and off we went. The fabulous shots we captured that morning are at the top of this blog because I can't figure out how to move them. They are super fab!
The labor and delivery story of my precious, amazing baby girl is to be continued . . . she is waking up from a nap and I don't want to spend one waking moment away from her side!
