Anna Arrives ... Part I ... Friday the 13th

** Fair warning, this is a long post ... hence why I'm breaking it up into multiple pieces ... read as much or as little as you wish and I promise I won't get super-graphic ... that said, for your expectant mothers reading, I'm happy to go into the details I deem important for your upcoming labor as you wish : ) **

Let's start at the beginning.  Well, the beginning of our little Anna's birth story at least. 

Friday the 13th. 

I honestly hadn't even realized it was Friday the 13th until earlier in the week when I'd called to book an appointment to have our carpets cleaned (of course after Tuesday's appointment, I had that pushed to Thursday ... heaven forbid we have dirty carpets when our little one arrived, ha).  In talking to a few close friends and letting them know there was a chance for induction that day a few asked "are you OK if Baby Kelly is born on Friday the 13th?"  At that point I would have been fine if Baby Kelly was born on the Moon ... I was at a pretty uncomfortable point and just waned a healthy baby to arrive sometime in the near future. 

Thursday was one of two official days of maternity leave before my due date (my firm gives us two weeks) and I intended to use it as best I could.  I cleaned up the house a bit, blogged, treated myself to a manicure / pedicure, bought a few last minute nursery items, made a Target run and napped.  Mike mowed the grass after work and then we went out for dinner at our favorite little Mexican place.  Nothing like shrimp fajitas to celebrate what could have been our last night as DINKS ("dual income, no kids" as the financial world thinks of us).

Almost 38 weeks and before our "last dinner"

Friday morning went to the OB's office together and after the usual weight, urine and BP checks we were shown to a room and I was set up for a Non-Stress Test (NST).  I sat with a monitor strapped to my humongous belly and pretended I was answering the Daily Double on Jeopardy each time I felt a kick.  Unfortunately, Baby Kelly wasn't a morning person and never had been.  Over 20 minutes and even stimulated with some juice, I only felt 4 kicks, 3 clustered together.  They assured me it was fine and the heart rate was steady, so no concerns.  The doctor came in, went over my stats and checked me (1 cm dilated).  Although my stats were still elevated, they hadn't gotten any worse and we decided the best place for Baby Kelly was in the womb for the time being.  I was to return on Monday for another NST. And, in the meantime I was to rest and take it easy ... sounded like something I could manage. 

Mike and I went to lunch after my appointment and then he went to work.   I headed for a few errands and a nap and then really settled into the fact that I'd likely have a few days to enjoy my pre-baby maternity leave.  I thought up grand plans.  I was going to make one freezer dish each day over the weekend ... Saturday was a nice bolognese sauce for pasta, Sunday was butternut squash soup and Monday was minestrone soup ... I even made a detailed grocery list for Mike.  I was going to watch a few chick flicks and episodes of Glee.  And nap. 

Because I wasn't being induced, my Mother and future SIL were coming to stay with us overnight.  They were going wedding dress shopping the next day in Cincinnati and decided to avoid and early morning drive and visit with us that evening.  They arrived after dinnertime and we had fun catching up.  I was pretty uncomfortable and remember getting up and just standing a few times while we were chatting and watching TV.  A few minutes before we all went up to bed my Mom (who I could tell had been a *wee bit* disappointed when I called earlier that day with the news of no induction) said, "Wouldn't it be exciting if you went into labor tonight while I'm up here?!?!"  I just laughed it off and scolded her for potentially jinxing us. 

Little did I know. 

Mike and I laid down to sleep around 11pm.  We had been keeping the cats out of our room at night (for a few reasons, including the fact that we planned on keeping Baby Kelly in the room with us after birth), but somehow Milo had snuck in and neither of us had the energy to kick him out.  So, we settled in, Milo in my nook, and chatted for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep to a rerun of How I Met Your Mother on TV. 

About an hour later, right at midnight, I woke up with a strong urge to use the restroom ... not uncommon at all ... but this felt different, like I had to get to the toilet RIGHT THEN.  I scared the crap out of Milo as I got up in record speed (well, for a pregnant woman) and then realized as I stood up that my underwear were already a little wet.  I knew I hadn't peed my pants and I remember thinking "no way could this be my water breaking.  NO. FREAKING. WAY.  I JUST came to terms with the fact that I'm NOT having a baby this weekend"  As I stood there for a split second, fluid started to leak onto the floor (we have hard wood upstairs, thank goodness) and I knew the universe was answering with "YES WAY." 

I yelled at Mike to wake up as I ran to the toilet.  He was dazed and at first didn't understand why I was so frantic; after all this was sure to be one of about twelve trips to the restroom I'd make that night if history repeated itself.  As I got to the toilet there was a HUGE gush.  Yup, my water had broken and I yelled out as such  (you may remember from reading here that my ultrasound a week prior revealed I had A LOT of fluid).  For some reason I thought the initial gush was all there would be and after a few minutes got up to share the news with my Mom and call my doctor.  Of course I dribbled all the way there and the way back (again, thank goodness we have hard wood) and was still in shock.  Mike brought me my phone and I called the OB's office. 

And, within a matter of minutes we were grabbing bags, checking a few last minute items and making our way to the hospital.