Slip N' Slide (But Not the Fun Kind) Part 2

This is part 2 to my last post. Read on....

As soon as we arrived at the emergency room we told the woman at the ER desk what had happened. Immediately they got me a wheelchair and made me get into it, apparently when you come in with issues during pregnancy they do not let you walk to the labor and delivery department. As soon as I sat down in it I started to cry. The mere thought of having to get into a wheelchair terrified me and here I was in one. Somehow it made the whole situation even more real than it was on the way there. Binderclips saw me starting to cry and began to comfort me - telling me everything was going to be ok. In my mind I thought 'But I'm in a wheelchair, they don't make people who are fine get into a wheelchair!!' However, when I looked up at him I knew that I was just making it a bigger deal than it actually was, at least I hoped that was the case.

We arrived up in the labor and delivery department shortly after. Once in our own room I got into a gown and the nurse hooked me up to the external fetal monitor. The monitor has 2 bands that go around your abdomen; 1) to measure the baby's heart rate and 2) to measure if you are having contractions. Aside from worrying about not hearing our little one's heart beat (since they usually turn the speakers up so you can hear the heart beating) I was not concerned about having contractions or being in labor.

Boy was I ever wrong, I WAS having contractions - regular contractions, about every 3 minutes apart. I didn't even realize that that's what they were honestly, but it helped me identify what contractions felt like. I have a high pain tolerance, so I didn't find them painful at all just felt like I had to go the bathroom really bad...like, every 3 minutes.

Anyways, at this point a calm came over me, I still wasn't worried about delivering the baby that day (for some reason the reality of the situation didn't hit me) - then, I looked at Binderclips' face. He was trying to remain calm on the exterior but I could tell inside he was freaking out. It was at that point that he was near tears and that I realized that I could have the baby that day. All of a sudden I was terrified, but I tried to remain calm myself. I focused on the sound of the baby's heart beat. It was beating regularly and it was very strong.

The nurse began talking to us and telling us that the hospital we were in did not have a neonatal intensive care unit, so if the contractions didn't stop we'd be shuttled to another hospital that did. I'm pretty sure, almost simultaneously, Binderclips and I both realized the baby might be coming that day.

All I could think was 'we are not ready for this baby yet, what are we going to do? We aren't even home and by our doctor.' I also started to worry as to if the baby would make it our not, I mean, I was only 28 weeks along. At this point to say I was terrified is an understatement.

They started an IV and began loading me up with fluids, sometimes (in fact, many times) loading up on fluids stops the contractions. The good news is that this was the case for me. After 2-3 hours the contractions stopped, thank goodness. We didn't end up having the baby that day and are very thankful for that.

What I can tell you is even with some scares we've had since that day, I cannot recall a scarier day in my life so far. The situation made me realize that there is no other person in this world that I would have wanted by my side other than Binderclips. Not to end on a sappy note, but it was sincerely a life changing experience.

Any who, I hope all is well with you guys. I'm sorry I haven't posted or read any blogs lately. I'm doing fine, just very, very tired and BIG (read: uncomfortable). The picture above is one of our maternity pictures, it's me at 32 weeks (I'll share some others soon). Right now I'm 37 weeks along and the time is going by soo quickly!!

The news I will share with you before going is that we are having a girl!!!! YAY!! (We would've been happy either way honestly.) I'll try to post again soon. Later gators!