Emma's story

I am going to do my best to narrate Emma's arrival story into this world through the next number of posts. This may take a few days depending on how much down time I have. Some things may be too much information for some people to know, but for the sake of memory purposes, I am going to write it down... sorry in advance :p

On Friday, August 19, 2011, eleven days before my due date, my mucus plug is "unplugged." I did not know what it was at a time, and reality dawns on both B and myself - we don't have anything ready! We scramble around the house, finish packing and get as much as we can set up and out of the way. I go to the doctor that afternoon, and our thoughts are confirmed - it may be a day, it may be a week before Emma arrives. Either way, she is not going to make it to her due date.

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, ten days before her due date, I wake up with menstrual like contractions. I am having discharges, just like I did yesterday, but they are more. Has my water broken? Can these be contractions? We begin to time them. They are already 5 minutes apart, but not very strong. We call the hospital and tell them our situation. They tell us that unless they are strong, we should not worry about them.

So I rest for a little, but become restless eventually. I hit a few yard sales and then head over to the Morrises where I take lunch for B while he works on the crib. I hang out at their house for a few hours, visiting and working on my photo albums. The discharge continues, but not too much as to think that it may be my water breaking. I called the hospital again and tell them what's going on. They tell me that it's probably still the mucus plug, but to come in just to make sure that it's that and nothing else.

So I drive myself to the hospital, get checked, and well... my water has broken! Emma's head is probably preventing it from gushing out, but it's broken. I call B, and he is on his way.

In the meantime, I am checked into a room and get hooked up and plugged into all sorts of machines. I am sad that I am going through this all by myself. B eventually arrives and I break down crying. I am so relieved he is here, and a little nervous.

My contractions become stronger and more painful. I am given an epidural and things get so much better. I felt like such a wimp getting it, but I am so glad I did because I was able to relax during my contractions and had plenty of energy during the labor time.

After the epidural. Much happier :)

Emma's heart rate drops and so does my pressure. I get hooked up to all sorts of things to monitor everything and make sure it does not happen again.