36 weeks with Olivia: The events leading up to her birth (Part 1)

I had no idea Friday the 13th that this would be my last ultrasound. Seaweed was still sitting comfortably breech and put on a little show for my mom and me.

November 14th, we celebrated my sister’s birthday and I asked her to take some maternity shots. Little did I know, it would be the last pictures of my baby still inside me.

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November 17th I had my routine NST and OB appointment. Everything went well with the stress test and the baby was doing fantastic. My blood pressure was elevated significantly more than usual. 134/100 was the best we could get it to. He checked my reflexes in my knees and saw they were hyper-reflexive. He told me I was starting to show signs of preeclampsia and did a quick exam.

“I want you to make an appointment with me Thursday,” he told me. The cervical check showed I was 1 cm dilated. I made the followup appointment after getting my blood drawn and went home.

I informed Chris of what was happening and told some of my friends. “Pack your hospital bag,” one warned, “she could be coming sooner than you think.”

An hour later, I studied a piece of toilet paper, trying to decide if the disgusting thing I was looking at was in fact a piece of my mucous plug. (It was.)

So fast forward to that night. It was 9:30 pm and Chris and I were on the couch watching TV when my phone rang with the display, “Private Number.” I let it go to voicemail.

“Watch, it’s the doctor,” Chris joked. I shook my head.

“It’s not the doctor. He wouldn’t call this late.”

My voicemail icon lit up. It was the doctor.

He told me my lab work was consistent with preeclampsia and that if I was having symptoms I needed to get to the birth center tonight to be worked up and for possible delivery. If wasn’t having symptoms, I could wait until the morning and get in there. He would call me again if I wasn’t there at a reasonable time.

I called my mom. “I think they might deliver the baby tomorrow,” I told her. I was 36w4d.

We rushed around the house trying to pack our hospital bags. (Word of advice: pack your bag before 36 weeks.) I texted our birth photographer and put her on alert that we may be delivering tomorrow. I texted some friends.

This could very well be our last night before a baby. I wanted to live in that moment, but it was 10:30 at night, I was tired, and I was planning on waking early to shower to get to the hospital by 7:30 or 8:00 am. I wasn’t for sure if I was going to be able to sleep. Apparently, I was.

My water broke on its own at 4:25 am on Wednesday.