At 37 weeks I went to work and was having a ton of contractions. That was not abnormal for me but it was enough that I wanted to be checked anyway. Even though I was done with the whole pregnancy thing, Noah wasn't - and my doctor said I was effaced but not dilated at all. Boo.
And honestly at that point I started thinking that if my body wasn't doing anything with that many contractions and I was able to carry the girls until they were each around 5 and a half pounds, Noah was going to stay in there until he was an 11 pound baby! But I was also so thankful that this pregnancy had not had any of the issues I had with the twins, like preterm labor, terbutaline pumps, bed rest, and preeclampsia. I decided I was going to be grateful for this wonderful gift and if he came at 67 weeks and was 15lbs I would be happy. :)
The following week I went to work like normal, and worked too hard like normal. I went to my discipleship group that Tuesday evening and was very uncomfortable, as most women 38 weeks pregnant are. I remember walking out to my car and having an painful crampy feeling and having to stop moving while i caught my breath. Not a contraction, just a pain. It went away and I didn't think much more of it.
About 10:30pm I talked to Matt, and expressed some concern. What if I can't tell the difference between a real contraction and these painful fake ones I've been having for weeks? My contractions with the girls never really bothered me. I was able to get my epidural early on and was already in the hospital. ha.
We went to bed late and I got up around 12:30am sick. Very sick. Throwing up and all other kinds of sick that is just miserable for anyone, let alone a very pregnant someone. I finally emerged from the bathroom long enough to tell Matt that I was either dying of a stomach bug which is a cruel joke or I was in labor. I was having some contractions, but was it because of severe dehydration at this point? I tried taking a bath.
At 2:30 I called the doctor on call. I told him what was going on and he asked if I had been dilated at any of my checkups. Well, no i hadn't, so he said call back if I could no longer handle the pain or come in the office in the am. Somehow I went to sleep around 4, but still would scream out frequently according to my husband.
Of course that morning I had planned on taking our oldest foster child to school for a field trip before I went to work. He had to be there at 515. Matt got up and had to take him, then came back to take the other two foster kids to their school. Hannah and Leah were supposed to go to mothers day out later. Having a baby is tough to not plan out with 5 kids in the house!
Matt headed on to work after dropping off all school aged kids, and I was at home with Hannah and Leah, still not feeling well and obviously not going to work. My plan was to go to the doctor at 8am and get checked then possibly just take the girls to mothers day out at 9. By 715 I could not keep my eyes open during the contractions and knew I would not be able to drive. Matt came on home and I quickly got myself ready, and hurting like crazy every 5 minutes or so. Poor Hannah was so worried.
Matt was also brilliant enough to pack our things - and I had just packed my bag 2 days before. Glad he thought to bring them with us!
On the way to the doctor, Hannah told me "I'm sorry mommy, we are going as fast as we can. We can't go any faster because there are cars in front of us". Good little mommy. I may have said that to her a few times when there is a potty emergency.
We all went to the doctors office, which at this point I could no longer walk through my contractions. However, I was still sick with the stomach stuff so I was very concerned that he was going to tell me I had an awful bug but wasn't progressing.
He checked me and jokingly said it was a bug! I nearly cried until i realized he was kidding. I was 3cm dilated and he wanted me to go to the hospital where they would immediately put in an epidural and break my water.
I was definitely knowing the difference between those fake and real contractions. We dropped off he girls at my inlaws and headed to the hospital.
Of course we went the wrong way in and I had to walk to the labor and delivery floor. I nearly got stuck in elevator because I had a contraction and couldn't walk forward off of it, but I made it to my room, where I continued to get sick and was just begging for the epidural. But, amidst all that I was so thankful that I was getting to experience labor unplanned and not brought on out of necessity but naturally. I may have forgotten that every 2-3 minutes or so, but it was what I wanted. And my epidural...
Matt snapped this picture of me right before i changed into my gown. Its pretty much my only belly picture. I wanted Noah to have proof that i did actually carry him. I just wasn't as cute with this pregnancy as i was with the girls :) I was faking that smile as I was so sick at that moment.
and then the fun began...
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