We went to the doctor for an ultrasound on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. Everything looked great. The doctor didn’t see any reason why I wouldn’t carry Gabriel another two months. The next afternoon I lost my mucus plug (but wasn’t completely sure that was it) but felt perfect, so I was just going to call the doctor the next day to tell her about it. In my mind, I thought I might just run over after work on Thursday to get checked out. As I left the house at 7:00 AM to go to work on Thursday morning, I felt only a very little pressure, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t felt occasionally anyway. I told Skyler on my way out that I would just take a half day and we’d go to the doc when I got home. I went to get my purse off the kitchen counter and had to sit down for about 30 seconds until a new wave of pressure subsided. So, I walked right back into the bedroom to inform him that I was just going to run over to the school to get things settled “just in case” and I’d be right back to go to the doctor.
When I got home at 7:45 AM, he was doing laundry (this takes him a while because he doesn’t have much practice. ha! I tried to wait for him. The pressure was getting closer together and more intense, which I thought was weird because I knew they weren’t contractions, (What did I know? It was my first baby!) and I knew he wasn’t in the birth canal (wrong!) because the sonogram two days earlier showed his little legs just kicking away.
Anyway, I finally got to the point where I said I couldn’t wait any longer. Skyler wanted to time the contractions on the way over. I didn’t want him to know how close they were, so after he got the time on the first one, I breathed very quietly to hide the next one from him. We got over to my doctor’s office at St. Mary’s at 10:30 (I packed a bag just in case, but I told Skyler I felt stupid doing so because I thought I was making the whole thing up). She wanted to check for a heartbeat, but I couldn’t sit still through the pain long enough, so she checked me and I was fully dilated and she could feel my baby's feet! He could have fallen out in the car! I was supposed to deliver at Deaconess because of insurance, but at that point, it was too late to drive over there, so I stayed at St. Mary’s.
I went upstairs and I was in a lot of pain every two minutes, but they were still able to give me an epidural. Then, the doctor felt his legs in the birth canal. I wanted to wait to give birth, though, because nobody was there except for Skyler and me. My sister was three hours away. I waited for her. The doctor said it depended on how much pain I could stand. I lied and said I was fine. When she walked into the room at 2:15 PM, it was one of those unforgettable moments in life. I told them I was ready, and Gabriel was born in less than 10 minutes. . . . .alive, tossed up on my belly in that amazing birth moment every mommy dreams about.
Gabriel made precious little cries, stuck out his tongue, wrapped his tiny hand around Daddy’s big thumb, and made funny faces. It was the most precious time of our lives. He did all this for about 45 minutes. Then, he started to fall asleep as his heart rate dropped. It was okay, though. Very peaceful. He took his first and his last breath in my arms. I got to keep him with me and hold him all night long. I even got up, walked the floor with him, and sang to him at midnight for our first and our last time. It was all so precious and we are so thankful to God for every big and little miracle that was brought to us through our little Gabriel Nicolas.
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