- Tues, Aug 16th: Doctor's appt - everything looks great, come back in 2 weeks
- Mon, Aug 22nd: Baby Care Basics class at Long Beach Memorial - really good class, glad we went
- Tues, Aug 23rd: Maternity pictures with Kristy Geithman
- Thurs-Sun, Aug 25th-28th: Babymoon to San Diego
- Mon, Aug 29th: Becoming A Parent class at Long Beach Memorial - also really good class about what to expect in the first month or so
- Tues, Aug 30th: Supposed to start childbirth classes but the instructor doesn't show :(
- Wed, Aug 31st: Doctor's appt - everything looks great, come back in 2 weeks
- Wed, Aug 31st: Unpack suitcase from Babymoon and repack it for hospital
- Baby's due date = October 6th
Thursday, September 1st we got up and went to work just like any other day. I'd been feeling more and more tired and uncomfortable but that's par for the course when you're just under 8 months pregnant. I told my mom though that lately I had felt so big it felt like I was about to bust out of my clothes sometimes. I wasn't sure how much longer I would last at work. In fact, that day I chit chatted with our onsite nurse and had decided to work through the next week and then take off. After work, I went home and John went to Taco Thursday at our friend Jim's house in Torrance. I wanted to get some errands done and relax. I went to David's Bridal and ordered my bridesmaid's dress for Deanna's wedding and then went to Walmart for my usual cart-full of stuff. On the way home I picked up dinner.
At 7:45 I was sitting at our dining room table eating dinner when all of the sudden I felt this big gush of warm liquid. Immediately I thought I'd pee'd on myself, but then in the next second I remembered that I'd just been to the bathroom. Upon that realization, I totally started freaking out. I ran to the bathroom and discovered that the liquid was clear and not yellow. Cue total meltdown. I would have been much happier if I'd just pee'd but I knew that clear liquid meant amniotic fluid and it wasn't time for the baby yet! I was a complete mess. The fluid kept coming so I stayed in the bathroom and just sobbed. Nala had run in with me and had no idea what was going on. She kept coming up next to me and wagging her tail so I would pet her.
After a few minutes I got myself together enough to think that I needed to make some phone calls. I ran out to the table to get my cellphone and then ran back to the bathroom. I tried calling John a couple of times but he didn't answer his phone. My brother was with John at Taco Thursday so I called him and told him they needed to leave immediately. I didn't want to be alone so I called my Mom and told her what happened. She hopped in the car and headed over. Then I called the doctor's message service to check in with whoever was on call. While I was waiting for the doctor to call me back, my mom arrived. We both assumed we'd be heading for the hospital so I got up and got changed while she fed Nala. (Nala was too confused to even consider stopping to eat. She was happy to see my mom but didn't know why I kept crying.) Then my mom grabbed my packed suitcase and we threw in the last of the items I'd need. When the doctor called back he said I'd at least need to go to the hospital to get checked out. He told me to go to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center instead of Los Alamitos (where I'd planned to deliver) because if the baby was really on his way, Long Beach was better equipped to handle any issues. Otherwise he might have to be transported there while I stayed at Los Alamitos. Luckily John and I had just taken the baby prep classes at Long Beach so I knew how to get there. We threw my stuff in my mom's car and headed over. John, my brother, Renee, and Taylor were going to meet us there since they were coming from Torrance. I had sort of gotten myself back together by then but there were still a lot of tears. I was really scared. I hadn't felt the baby move so I was imagining all sorts of horrible things.
John was at the hospital when we got there. We walked into labor and delivery and filled out some paperwork. Then I was shocked when they told us to go wait in the waiting room!!! I figured they would have rushed me back to check on the baby ... I wanted them to rush me back to check on the baby!! We sat in the waiting area for a little bit when they called us back to a triage room. After asking a million questions and doing a test to verify the liquid was amniotic fluid, we were told that I was in labor and going to be admitted. Quite frankly, all I really cared about at that point was that they had put a monitor on me and we heard the baby's heartbeating. What a relief that was!! Everything felt really surreal. One of the nurses put in an IV. She's a rockstar because I didn't even feel it!! I've always been terrified of getting an IV and it didn't even faze me.
Once my room was ready in labor and delivery we headed over there. Neither John nor I remember how I got there though (wheelchair maybe?). Haha!
Next up - labor and delivery
No comments:
Post a Comment