Labor Story {part one}

Nothing that had happened that day pointed to labor. I was a week away from my due date and I actually felt good, really good. No shooting pains. No back cramps or nauseous feelings. I didn’t even complain much that day about how big I was getting or how none of my pregnant clothes were seeming to cover my belly anymore. I knew I could be in for the long haul since my midwife was willing to let me go till July 1st before inducing and I had no clue if I had even begun dilating or effacing {note: the midwives I saw don’t check patients until they are past their due date or if something seems wrong with the baby}. I had resolved to take each day as it came and enjoy tolerate the last few days of my pregnancy with a positive attitude. Thankfully, God had a different plan.

It was around 430 p.m. Thursday, June 10th when it happened. I was at work, sitting at my computer finishing some last minute charting before the last patient left the clinic. I remember feeling Elijah kick and then a few seconds later I heard and felt a pop that was followed by a warm, wet sensation. It took me half a second to think, “did my water break? Or is that just more discharge? Nope, that is water! And I better get off this chair…”

I quickly stood up and moved over to the… trash can near the desk. Water was gushing out of me like a busted fire hydrant and all I could think about was not getting it everywhere. The bathroom was a good distance from where I was sitting and I was NOT about to pee a little amniotic fluid trail all over the clinic for my co-workers to see.

But I did have some explaining to do as my co-workers (thankfully all female) noticed me sitting on the can. For a few moments they didn’t believe me when I told them my water had broken. I guess that is what I get for all the practical jokes I play. But once they were convinced, we all started laughing and then they started taking pictures of me with their phones {pictures that, unfortunately, I don’t have to share with you all}.

All I kept thinking was how great of a story this was going to be–I was yet to be in pain, labor had unmistakably begun and I conveniently work at the hospital where I was to deliver. There wasn’t much to stress about except…how was I going to get off that trash can and into the bathroom?