Since Mom is a planner, she had my room almost ready for me. Dad, on the other hand, thinks plan is a four letter word. He wasn't going to start thinking about having a baby in the house until June 1. He decided that since Mom was late for everything else, the baby (that's me) wasn't coming on time.
Mom and Dad had finished three of the five Lamaze classes and had just started practicing on the breathing together. Mom sings in a Sweet Adeline Chorus, Vienna-Falls, and had spent Saturday, May 11 in an all-day coaching session. Chorus members kept telling Mom to take it easy. But the pregnancy had been very uneventful, with only an ultrasound done at 7 weeks to check heartbeat and dates. Mom felt great and was enjoying being pregnant. I hadn't dropped but she wasn't too uncomfortable. She was having quite a few Braxton's-Hicks contractions though. Her belly would become a basketball, which I didn't care too much for, so I usually kicked her at the same time. She didn't like that too much. (Mom and the doctors now question whether the contractions were Braxton-Hicks since they did have some pattern to them. Read about my Mom's pregnancy with my little sister for more information on this.)
Mom also was having a little problem whenever she sneezed or laughed. She would need to run to the restroom as fast as a pregnant lady can at just shy of 34 weeks.
Well, Mom got home after chorus and was relaxing on the couch. She decided it was time for bed and as she got off the couch, she wondered why she wet some. She hadn't sneezed or laughed. Maybe she just needed to go to the restroom.
So, she went upstairs and continued to leak just a little. Now, she started to question it all a bit more. Was it fluid? Should she call the doctor? It was 11 o'clock. Maybe she was wrong. Daddy was already asleep. Mommy remembered what the Lamaze instructor had said. Amniotic fluid is oilier and has a different smell to it. Well, by now Mom was fairly sure her water had broke. So she woke Dad. Not an easy task when he has just fallen asleep, I can assure you.
His response: "The baby isn't due til June. We can't have it yet. Go to sleep."
Well, when he awoke all of the way, Mom called the OB. The OB said Mom had three options. First was to go to the hospital and be checked and stay there. Second option was to go to the hospital, be checked and then go home again. Third option, was to stay home until Mom started having contractions. If she hadn't had contractions by morning, she was to call the doctor.
Mom and Dad chose to stay home. Dad remembered the danger of a prolapse cord, so he put a pillow under Mom's hips. Mom had only three contractions all night. So, in the morning after a reasonable amount of time, she called the doctor again. He was at a Mother's Day brunch with his wife and kids, and although Mom felt bad about disturbing it, she was about to have a baby.
So, they kept increasing the "pit" to get Mom going. Then, boy did it get going! I still hadn't dropped much though. The doctor started wondering if maybe I wasn't breech. This would mean a c-section for Mom since he didn't want to deliver a preemie breech. So he ordered an ultrasound. Mom and Dad got a little worried since they hadn't covered c-sections yet in Lamaze class. And Mom hadn't read anything on them either since she really didn't want one.
Well, the ultrasound relieved the worry. I was head down but I was very high up. (I wouldn't show my sex though.) Since I was so high up, the contractions hurt a lot without doing much. At 5:45 pm, the doctor asked Mom if she wanted an epidural which he strongly recommended since Mom was not answering questions and was having contractions camel-backed on each other lasting 2-3 minutes with a 30 second break and she was only 7 cm dilated. Whew!
So, Mom took his advise and got an epidural. She became chatty Kathy and was fully dilated in 1/2 hour and was ready to push. But the doctor was not there and was being paged. The nurses at this point were ready to deliver me themselves. But the doctor arrived, as did a neonatologist and three nurses just for me. Mom pushed three times and I was out. I cried immediately which relieved Mom to no end. Then Mom, whose instincts had told her I was a girl, looked to check on my sex. And her words were " It's a ... wrong equipment!" (I'm not kidding, she really said this.)
Well, I was born at 6:44pm and weighed 5lbs. 4oz. and 18 inches long. Mom and Dad got to hold me for a few minutes before I had to be taken to the NICU.
I stayed in the NICU for 16 days. I had an IV (in my head!) and supplemental oxygen for the first 24 hrs. I was under the "bili" lights three times for jaundice. I didn't eat real well at first and needed a NG tube. I also got infected ingrown fingernails so I had to be on IV antibiotics for 10 days. But it was a fairly easy stay, all things considered.
A little side funny: Grandma, who lives in California, but was visiting her sister in Michigan, (we live in Virginia) came in the delivery room minutes after Daddy and I were wheeled to the NICU. The doctor with his sense of humor, said "Well, if we knew you were that close to arrival, we could have waited for you." To which Mom responded "No way!"