Two Years Ago - Part 1

Two years ago it was a Sunday. Kevin took my picture in the kitchen before church, which became a pregnancy tradition since I was all dressed up in cute maternity clothes every Sunday morning anyway. As we were leaving church, our pastor was asking about my due date. I was 10 days away. He said "I hate to tell you this, but the first baby doesn't usually come early. I think he'll be late."

The day before I had made stew for dinner - for lunch we just warmed up the leftovers. As we were sitting down to the table to eat, I ran to the bathroom thinking I had just peed my pants (a common occurrence for me in the last weeks of pregnancy. Sneezing, coughing, laughing... I had no control.) I changed and went back to eat. A few bites in it happened again. I went back to the bathroom to change AGAIN and yelled to my husband..."Hey, come smell this." He, of course, said no - but in our childbirth classes they said that amniotic fluid had a sweet smell to it. Neither of us was willing to smell, so I just changed and went back to lunch - until it happened AGAIN.

This time I called my parents, who were just getting home from church themselves, 8 hours away. I told my mom I thought I was "leaking" but did not have any gush of water...could that mean my water broke? When I called the hospital and told them they said come in immediately. So we did. Mom and Dad (and sister Brooke) hit the road to come out to W.V. as well. My brother had just gotten to Fairmont W.V. a few days before to help at Dayspring Camp. Perfect timing!

Before leaving my house, however - I did call our pastor to tell him he was wrong. My water broke and I'm having the baby early! I win!

I got into my hospital gown and during my exam to see if it was indeed amniotic fluid - GUSH! My nurse then yelled BINGO! So I guess that means it's baby time! At this point, I did not yet have any contractions.

When I got to my room, I told my nurse I had to use the potty. She gave me a bed-pan. I told her I was fine, in no pain, no contractions, just needed to pee real quick. She said I could not get out of bed. Once your water breaks, you are on bedrest until the baby comes. Oh great. My sweet, sweet husband got to man the bed-pan for me. He must really, REALLY love me.

We watched T.V., surfed on my laptop, called friends and family. Anything to pass the time. I was told that if I was not in labor my the next morning, I would be administered Pitocin to induce labor. My family made it to my house to crash for a few hours before my 4AM induction. In just a few hours, we'd have our baby boy!