My mom and I were frequent visitors of Perkins during my
pregnancy, it allowed me to indulge in both sweet and savory food options. I
typically was able to squeeze a Target run after as well.
I woke up on the second with a text inviting me to Perkins
for some pancakes with my mom. As I was getting ready to leave I felt an
uncomfortable cramp that I brushed off. We ate our breakfast and headed to
Target to pick up some groceries. I was in the mood to cook dinner for Rob and
make a batch of brownies for him to take to work,. I was experiencing a surge of
energy. The more aisles I walked down at Target the more I became aware of the
uncomfortable cramping becoming more intense and more frequent.
During my pregnancy I read countless articles and blog posts
on labor and focused particularly on the symptoms. I was not confident I would
know when I was in labor. The articles and blogs drove the fact home that
I would know. I also obsessed over knowing when to go to the hospital and when
I would be admitted. I was terrified of being the pregnant girl who cried
labor. As my due date approached my gynecologist ended each visit with
instructions to call if I had a gush of fluid, began bleeding or experienced
contractions 5 minutes apart spanning an hour.
I was pulling the brownies out of the oven around nine when
a contraction caused me to grab the counter and breathe. At this point I was
still assuring myself I was not in labor and attempted to ignore the anxiety
that began creeping in.
I made myself a bowl of Kraft pumpkin macaroni and cheese I
had scored at Target that morning for lunch and chatted with my friend Kelly,
who had been searching the Internet for labor symptoms. Around eleven, I
figured I should probably tell Rob I was experiencing contractions. I assured
him he did not need to come home but I merely thought he deserved to know what
was going on. He promptly kicked out the passengers he was taking to lunch and
came home to time my contractions, he was ready to meet our sweet Olivia!
For one hour I took a shower, put on my make up, and did my
hair while deep breathing and grunting through increasingly painful
contractions. I would shout for Rob as each one came and he recorded the times.
As they got increasingly closer and more intense so did Rob’s anxiety. He paced
rapidly through the bedroom and bathroom frantically pleading with me to stop
doing my hair and get into the car. Unfortunately for Rob, I was not mentally
prepared to go into labor and stubbornly refused to leave the house without
making sure my hair was perfect; in my mind I was in no hurry to go to the be
hospital only to be sent home. I gave my hair one last once over, triple
checked to make sure we had everything and off we went. Rob sped through traffic
while repeatedly turning on the hazard lights each time I turned them off.
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| There is always time for photos to my sisters. |
I spent two hours in an uncomfortable triage bed writhing in
pain, listening to Rob chat away on the phone. Each time I was checked for
dilation progress and I remained the same I became panicked they were going to
send me home in so much pain. By the grace of God, my doctor was on call and
admitted me because my blood pressure getting increasingly higher with each
painful contraction. The rush of emotions that came over me while Dr. Chappel,
Rob and I chatted about the course of events ahead of us is indescribable. Joy,
sadness, anxiousness, fear and excitement rushed over me like a tidal wave all
at once, we were going to meet our baby girl.
Rob and I had spent the past 39 weeks and 3 days discussing
this moment. The moment we could see whose features she had, how tiny her toes
were, and the color of her hair. We would finally feel her warmth and kiss her
tiny head. We would feel pride looking at the life we created out of
unconditional love. We would meet our future, our new life and the best thing
that would ever happen to us. We were about to meet Livie.
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| Having Rob close made everything doable. |
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