Here's a {long} run-down of how it all happened... my pregnancy was rough, very rough. I always felt some guilt complaining because I knew I should be incredibly grateful to get the gift of having children, but I think I sometimes let that guilt of "I need to be thankful and not complaining," overpower my need for support. The truth was that pregnancy was incredibly hard for me, I had a lot of symptoms and when I had them I felt like they were pretty extreme. From nausea that lasted 20 weeks, to headaches and migraines, to heartburn, to nerve pain, and at the end I had some pretty insane swelling {up to my thighs!}. It was just hard and at times really miserable. My empathy is deep and wide for all those who experience similar pregnancies!
At 36 weeks I went in for my first of my weekly appointments and I was told I was dilated to a 4 and I was 90% effaced. At this time I sorta freaked out because I wasn't expecting that at all! My doctor said I'd probably have the baby in December versus my original due date of January 15th. Then I started feeling like a ticking time bomb. It was around this time my swelling went from "yeah I have some" to "whoa, kankles!"
The next week at my appointment I was dilated and effaced at the exact same as I had been the week before. Also during that week I had learned of ladies who walked around dilated to a 4 for a month and had their baby past their due date... ugh. Major deflate for me. Sleeping was not good and swelling was increasing to calf level. I believe it was around this time I only started wearing sweats {yes, Caleb's sweats} and for work I had completely given up on dressing nice and was wearing my "maternity scrubs" aka - my maternity yoga pants. I was really just hoping my employer wouldn't ask so I wouldn't be forced to lie...
Week 38 appointment was on Wednesday the 31st of December... I was MIS-ER-A-BLE! Almost in tears at my appointment. I assumed that everyone who said "You look great!" was paid off by my husband. I was swollen up to my thighs... it was unreal. My lower legs had pitting edema {for all you medical people out there... I'd give it a solid 3+ pitting... gross, I know}. I was not sleeping much at all, I had horrible hip pain at night, and I almost just felt like I was sick without having the "sick" symptoms. At this appointment she said I was dilated to a 5 and she "couldn't believe I hadn't had the baby yet." She could see my misery... it was written all over my face... and my thighs. The scale that I stepped on to get weighed spelled out "Eww, Gary!" instead of a number... jk... It actually said "Here's an extra 10 lbs of water weight, go ahead and cry now."
Fast forward to Friday, the 2nd... that morning I called in to work because I couldn't fathom making it to work... and then actually working once I got there. I felt like I got hit by a semi rather than just slept 7 hours. And I also think an elf had come through the night and pumped me full of just a little more water... because the first 10 lbs just wasn't enough. Caleb was gone for some of the morning at basketball practice, I was at home barely moving. When I did decide to get up and move to the toilet, I had a suspicion that more than just #1 was coming out {to put it into nice toddler terms for you}. I went and grabbed some pH paper that we had "borrowed" from the OB's office and tested it... it turned blue, blue = amniotic fluid! I tested one more time just to be sure and got blue again! I called Caleb who was on his way home, and we packed up our things, made a necessary stop at Taco Bell, and then headed to the hospital!
We got to the hospital around 12:30 and a after getting checked in and settled and all hooked up to monitors, they decided to test me to see if they could detect any more amniotic fluid. I definitely was not having gushes of fluid coming out, but rather just a slow leak of sorts. Regardless of amount, as long as they can detect it too, it's go time. Test results came back and.... IT WAS NEGATIVE! "Noooooooooooo!" was what was screamed inside my head. Luckily, my doctor had been on the maternity unit when my nurse got this news, and my doctor must have had the flash back to my misery and thighs, because she told the nurse "Check her, and if she's anything more than a 5, keep her anyway!" So my nurse checked me, and boom! I was a 5.5 and luckily my gracious nurse rounds up so we called it a 6!
In the meantime my doctor had gone back to her office, but the plan was to break my water for realsies. So we sat and waited until she returned at 5:30 and broke my water. Pretty quickly I started feeling my contractions, previously I really hadn't felt much. At 7ish I was dilated to a 7 and asked for the epidural. The very nice doctor who put it in, informed me that even my back was swollen... awesome. At that point I didn't really care, I was just elated to be in labor. The epidural was awesome... I could still feel just enough to know when I was having contractions, and honestly, the procedure of getting it put in didn't bother me at all.
Now after labor the pains came back, in different ways... eh. But, luckily a week or so makes a world of difference there. And in about 7 or 8 days I got my ankles back! I couldn't believe how skinny my ankles and feet looked!
Caleb and Reid... my loves!
Growing like a Champ... pun intended.
Caleb and I are just so in love with him!
