What used to frighten me the most about having a baby was going into labor in a random place, say the grocery store, having your water break everywhere and feeling this sense of urgency to pack and get to the hospital. I'm not one for chaos and I like to have a plan (obviously this was not going to be one of those times!). I also didn't like the thought of having your water break at midnight and running around in the middle of the night trying to get ready to go on a few hours sleep (plus the whole water breaking thing sounds kind of gross). I didn't know it, but I was about to have the most awesome birth experience as far as staying calm, being fully rested and level headed, and just really enjoying the moment (yes it's possible!).
First off, I am so glad my school's secretary pulled me aside and pretty much gave me permission to take off a week before I was scheduled to. I was originally supposed to be working up until Friday, April 19 (which as you know was the day I was admitted into the hospital). I had this idea in my head that it would give me three full weeks, if not more, before little man arrived to get things ready, to rest, and relax. Luckily, she talked with me and convinced me to turn in my keys on Friday, April 12. After making this decision, I felt a wave of relief, and tried to make myself feel less of a slacker by telling myself it was an early birthday present and I should just enjoy this time off. After my birthday, things really kicked into gear and I experienced some serious nesting. I had a rough weekend and was feeling lots of pain and pressure and somehow just knew that there wouldn't be three to four weeks to get what I wanted to accomplished. I went into overdrive that whole week staying up until 11pm and even midnight working on the baby room, last minute organization, final thank you notes, and cleaning with the thought that my time was getting short. I even took some time to do a date night with Chris (which I'm so glad we did!) to go see Jurassic Park in 3D. Even though I was convinced my water was going to break during the movie! The hard part this week was conveying to Chris this sense of urgency who kept looking at me like I was crazy (which, to be honest, I really was!).
Thursday night, April 18 I was hounding him to get the car seat installed before the rain started which he was able to do just before the storm hit.
Friday morning, April 19 was like any other morning. Chris left for work, and I tried to get up with him since there was a list of things I still wanted to get done. To avoid TMI, let's just say that when I got out of bed even though I knew my water hadn't broke yet, I was still not convinced that I was in the clear. After doing some google-ing (what would I do without that website?), I read that what I was experiencing could very well be my water leaking- or it could be absolutely nothing. The only way to find out was by making an appointment to see the doctor. It being Friday, I had to make a decision quick because the office closed for the weekend at noon. I almost didn't call, but at the last minute changed my mind (seeing how I was home and everything with no real reason not to). I know for a fact had I been at work I would have just ignored things and carried on as usual which would have made things really interesting. I didn't want to worry Chris so I sent him a quick text saying I was going to check on things at the doctor's office and I would text him to let him know everything's okay or call him if the baby was on it's way joking.
Even at the doctor's office I was very apologetic and kept saying sorry for wasting their time, I would rather be safe then sorry, yada yada. It didn't register when the doctor checked me and said my water was leaking and I needed to go to the hospital. I felt excitement that I was going to meet my son, but of course disbelief because this was not how it was supposed to go at all! I called Chris who was almost scared to answer based on what I said before. He even answered the phone by saying, "You said you weren't going to call unless it was an emergency (questioningly)." I then told him the baby was coming and to meet me at the house ASAP to grab our stuff. I remember it was such a gorgeous day outside and feeling very calm and surreal in the remaining hours before arriving at the hospital. Thankfully, we both had a great night's sleep and were able to stay calm and enjoy our final hours together just the two of us. My only shoulda/coulda/woulda is that I would have thought to grab some food before leaving. In the moment, I couldn't think of eating anything at all, and I had only had egg whites to eat for breakfast because I was trying to eat healthy (pshhh!).
We arrived to the Winter Park hospital around 1 in the afternoon and little did we know had a long night ahead of waiting. As it turns out my water never completely broke so I was just kind of waiting around until the doctor broke it around 1am. I had my Buffy and the O.C. dvd's on hand, all the popsicles I could want, and of course labor to occupy my attention. After that, things moved really quickly. Before I knew it, it was 5am and the head nurse was paging the doctor because Nicholas was finally ready. Shortly after 5:30am I started pushing and at 5:58am Nicholas James Maitland entered the world weighing in at 7 lbs. 7oz. and 20 inches long!
Everything after that was a blur, but I do remember holding him for the first time and thinking how handsome he was (but I guess all moms think their babies are gorgeous and beautiful :) ).
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