For those of you who were following along with my pregnancy, we ended at this post at 37 weeks...a week before Maria decided to join us. We left off with me ready for her to come! I had finally given her the eviction notice but she wasn't ready. That week I spent walking almost every day and generally trying to move things along. I wasn't able to do much and mainly I would get the contractions going but once I took a shower, relaxed, and sat down they would slow and usually go back to just braxton hicks.
The week of March 25th was Spring Break for all my sisters(yes they are all teachers here) and many of them were planning to travel. My sister G was flying out to Colorado Monday afternoon to drive back with her daughter, and my sister Fleasbyte was planning to leave Tuesday morning to drive around FL to check out colleges for her daughter. These were the 2 that had jobs to do...so I did some stressing about what if this baby comes while they are both gone! Aunt G's job was Carmen while I was in labor...but I was mostly concerned about Fleasbyte being gone since she is pretty much my doula...and a great doula at that! She was there with Special K and I during Carmen's birth and she was such a great support for both of us.
The weekend started with one goal...get this baby out before Monday or she was going to have to stay put until Friday when they would all return. I had the ok to move things along from my doctor, however, as with Carmen the most I was willing to do was walk her out. Operation Waddle This baby out was in full effect, yet it was not successful in the way I had hoped. I would waddle around the lake by my house and get home and be contracting and in lots of pain for several hours but it wouldn't push me into labor. I would end up very sore and exhausted but with no baby. After trying to keep labor at bay for 2 weeks I was ready yet she wasn't.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;...Prov 3:5-Prov 3:6
I knew in my heart God had a plan for this baby and knew her birth day was already planned but I had to have faith in his timing not mine. This has been the theme for Maria's whole exists for me really. Even before we got pregnant, I was praying for her and wanting to know when we'd get pregnant but I had to rely on God's plan in my life and wait as patiently as I could for him to show it to me. So, here we were again...God teaching me a lesson in persistent, patience and trusting in his plan.
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD....Psalms 27:14
That Monday March 25th came and I decided since labor had not started that I had to just let it go and get some rest. I was exhausted from the 2 weeks I'd been contracting and in pain and I knew that if this baby was coming soon or not for another 2 week I had to give my body a real break and rest. The plan for Monday was to lay around, knit, and try to get some sleep. It started out pretty well. As it had been routine, daddy got up with Carmen and they said their good byes to me as I slept in and tried to sleep as late as my body would allow. My sister G called and asked if I wanted to go to Walmart with her just for a quick trip to get out of the house.
It was a short trip and we didn't walk around too much. We were in, got what we needed and got out of there. However, at this point I looked like a freak show that was about to POP so everyone had to either look at me strangely or say something. It was interesting because people would look at me waddling around and you could tell they either wanted to say something or would blurt out the first thing that came to mind and then feel bad for saying something. I don't know how many times I was asked how far along I was and looked at in amazement when I said not due for another 2 weeks. I understood their need to say something...it looked like Maria was about to fall off my body! I was a freak show!
At around 3:30pm, I dragged my large body off the couch and went to pick up my girl Carmen from daycare. I brought her home and we hung out while waiting for her daddy. He arrived and we ate dinner and during dinner my contractions started back up. He told me to go lay down and again as it had become the usual, he did bath, books, and bedtime with Carmen. As I laid on the couch, the contractions kept coming. I was concerned because they had come on after doing no activity. They were about 4-5 mins apart at this point, which wasn't unusual but always concerning, and so I decided lets take a shower and see if they slow or hurt less, which had been doing the trick to make them go away. They didn't slow or change at all but started to intensify. I texted Fleasbyte, who lives across the street, and said "You are going to think I'm joking but I think we might have to go in to the hospital tonight...going to lay down and we'll make the call in 45 mins" She replied with she's jumping in the shower and going to be ready.
I then laid back down on my spot on the couch and the contractions started to intensify even more! I was having to really breath through them and I was timing them and they were on average 4 mins apart. Special K as usual was giving me space and just kept checking on me. After about 30 mins, I knew it was time to get going and called him back in from the 3rd bedroom where he had set up shop and texted my sister "let's go NOW!!" I remember standing with Special K and laboring through a really bad contraction and my sister walking in. I saw the concern on their faces and they knew it was go time to!
We had decided during our first labor scare that Special K would stay behind with Carmen until I was admitted and then he'd start the process of getting my niece Surfer Girl, originally my sister G, over to the house to stay with Carmen and he'd join us. Only one person was allowed with me in triage and Fleasbyte is better at the waiting game than my husband so she won out as the person to hang with me until they admitted me.
After saying my good bye to Special K and getting a bit teary eyed...which I knew was another sign this was it. We waited until another contraction was over and then we rushed me out the door and into the car and on our way to HOPEFULLY have this baby!
...the next part of this story can be found here.
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