One year ago right now

One year ago right now I was sitting in front of my computer in our apartment in Virginia Beach. I was 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant and it had been a stressful day. I worked in the morning and was so happy that I had made it to my required last day of work. I knew throughout my pregnancy that if I made it to July 31st I would qualify for 18 weeks of maternity leave. It was very unique situation...I started work on September 11, 2006 and only qualified for 6 weeks of medical leave since I hadn't worked for 1 year yet. BUT those 6 weeks would take me to September 11, 2007 and I would then qualify for 12 additional weeks of maternity leave. So that was my goal, to make it to July 31st so that I could keep all of my options open. Of course I ended up not going back anyway but thats a different story. So I worked in the morning and was scheduled for my last doctors appointment that afternoon. They didn't want my to go past my due date (august 3rd) and I wanted to be induced on August 1st because my doctor would be there but they were booked on the 1st so I was scheduled for an induction with a doctor who was not my doctor. They told us they would let us know if something opened up for the 1st but I hadn't heard anything in a week or so, so I assumed I was still on for the 2nd. So when we got to the office that afternoon the nurse said, you know you are scheduled for tomorrow, the 1st right? And we said, no noone had told us. Somehow it was changed but we were not notified. We were torn because we wanted to have my doctor but we also wanted to make sure our parents were all able to get there by the next day. It was all very overwhelming...Mark's dad had a trial set for the next day and wouldn't be able to be there in the morning. All of our parents just told us to make a decision so we did, I was going to be induced the next day, August 1st at 7:00! During that appointment my doctor checked me and said "Why are you not in labor yet?", she said the induction would not be a problem because I was so "ready to go" We left the office feeling excited and anxious. I actually cried on the way home because it was just so overwhelming thought I was going to have a whole day to not work and just prepare myself. Its all kind of a blur now but I just remember my parents were like "we can't find a hotel and a place for the dog" and I was like "I dont care I am having a baby tomorrow, find a way to get here!" So they got in the car and were headed to VA Beach a few hours later, Marks mom was going to wait until the morning to come.

That night I showered, straightened my hair, and we ordered pizza and ate around 8. It was the wierdest feeling knowing I was going to have the baby the next day. I was thinking about when I was going to take my tylenol pm (my doctor told me I could take it that night). I called the hospital to make sure I had the right number to call in the morning. They told me I should call again at 6 am to make sure there was still a room available. I hung up and was ready for my last night without a baby. So back to sitting in front of the computer...

I was on "thenest" chatboard telling the other girls how I was so nervous for the next day. All of a sudden I felt a little pop. I got up and knew something was happening but I wasn't positive. I said to Mark "I think my water just broke" After going to the bathroom and walking around the apartment a little bit, I was pretty sure this was it. I called my mom who was already in the car on the way there and told her what was happening. Mark was screaming at me from the other room "WHY ARE YOU ON THE PHONE WITH YOUR MOTHER, CALL THE HOSPITAL!!" So I did. I called the same number I had called just shortly before and said "Hi I just called and asked about my induction tomorrow but I think my water just broke" They told me the only way to know for sure is to come in. So we got our bag and headed to the hospital. On the way there I started feeling contractions and realized that I had been feeling them all day but was just too excited to notice what they were. Now they were really starting to hurt.

We got there and checked in, it seemed to take forever for someone to come in to check me. They asked me a million questions that I had already answered once on the form that they gave us at our hospital tour. When she finally checked me I was 4 cm! I couldn't believe I was in labor just hours before my scheduled induction. Mark called his mom to let her know and she was on her way. We were moved to our room and the contractions were getting more and more painful. The nurses were encouraging me to get the epidural. They said if I knew I was going to get one I might as well just get it right then since I was already dilated and my water had broken. I got it around 11 and it was amazing. My parents and Mark's mom got there around midnight. So thats all that I can say for one year ago today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the rest of the story :)

Here I am right after we learned I was definitely in labor:

And after we got into our room: