Caution Speed Bump Ahead

The doc and what seemed like an army of nurses rushed into my room around 12:10am on Sunday, January 5. Mind you, I had had an epidural in my back and could not feel /move anything below my belly button. I had also just been woken from a nap! With urgency the doctor came to my bedside and tried to move the fetal monitor. He was saying they could not hear Andrew's heart beat for nearly 4 minutes. Since I could not move they literally flipped me several times like a pancake trying to find the heart beat.  Now let me put you in the room with us. My mom is sitting in the chair in the corner, also just woken up and did not catch the comment about the heart beat. She sees me being flipped around and then is asked to leave the room due to an emergency surgery. My mom is forced to leave and has no idea what is going on. My husband Scott was sitting in the chair next to me in the same shocked state but he is given a set of scrubs to change into. I on the other hand have not said anything...

It all started January 3. Mind you the 2nd was my birthday and I had gone to bed early because I was so tired. Family was also in town and Scott had to work... So as I woke up at 10am on January 3 I had a nice intense pain like a cramp. I laid in bed, changed positions, went to the bathroom, took a shower, walked around the house and the pain wouldn't stop. So I started to panic in my head, more so because I was home alone. I called my mom and she told be that's what a contraction feels like however mine was constant not a come-and-go feeling like it was supposed to be. I called my doula and she told me the same thing about contractions not supposed to be constant. She suggested if it was intense enough I could go to the hospital. So I went.  Mom drove and we arrived around 11:30am on Saturday. We were in fairly quickly and seeing a triage nurse. I was still dilated only about a centimeter but was starting to efface. They had me walk around for nearly an hour but in the end it ...

 Thinking back, I read an article on this and thought to myself how true it was but I never expected it to happen to me. Friends and family make comments that they feel are harmless or take it as a joke... But remember in the last month of pregnancy a woman has so many hormones going through her it's difficult not to take things personally. I became irritable but my way of handling it was to ignore the comments or keep them bottled up... However it did not mean I was not listening and overthinking it!  Please refrain from saying comments such as these even if you mean no harm...  - When are you going to pop? - You're still pregnant?! - mentioning the size of the stomach whether big or small - some people told me I looked like I was 7 or 8 months when I was nearly 40 weeks and Andrew was 8 pounds! But I felt like something was wrong with me - You look like you're going to pop - You look uncomfortable. (Really...) or You look tired... ( to be honest my close family were th...

December came along and yes... It was the longest month ever. My suggestion... Stop reading so many blogs and articles about going into labor...  Remember.. My due date is Jan 4 (the 40 week mark) however all of these sites are saying anytime after 37 weeks is free game for labor. So here was my December... I was working/teaching until December 19 and it was miserable! My feet and hands were swollen, I barely slept, and my motivation had flown out the door. On top of the pregnancy, I was also the schools science fair coordinator! Needless to say I earned my winter break ;). Being so far along I was constantly irritable (though I think I hid it well lol). I was definitely on my last straw with some of my kids (my students) and even some fellow teachers. I know I wanted to check out but it wasn't time. Each week I also continued to go to the doctor for the check up. Sadly I looked forward to leaving school early for these!  But it was always a disappointment. One week I had no d...