After leaving the doctor's office, I called my mom from the car, and we worked out a new plan for her arrival/our childcare needs. My mother-in-law, Barbara, was actually in town at the moment to help with childcare over the weekend for other plans we had, but she needed to head back to Tennessee on Sunday (before the new c-section date on Wednesday). Thankfully, while I had been working out scheduling at the doctor's office, Mom had been working out flights into Durham. That was a HUGE relief; I had felt kind of panicky over the change in schedule, primarily because of Claire, Lily, and Brynna.
When I got home, Brad and I started working out other details that we needed to deal with. I had so many things that I still needed/wanted to get done before the baby came that I couldn't quite figure out where to start. So, I started a load of laundry and got to work making breakfast burritos.
Yes. Breakfast burritos.
When I have gdm, I eat the exact same thing for breakfast every day; homemade breakfast burritos that are balanced perfectly for my blood sugar. I figured this out during my pregnancy with Lily and have stuck to it very devotedly while pregnant since then. I had run out of burritos that morning, so making burritos that evening made sense to me.
I also spent some time readjusting our lesson plans for the coming weeks, so I wouldn't feel too overwhelmed about Claire's schooling. With those two things checked off my list, I felt like I could figure out a game plan over the next few days.
We all headed to bed, and I slept TERRIBLY. I generally sleep poorly while pregnant, but this particular night was truly awful. I was up to use the bathroom every half hour and had so much hip/pelvic pain that I could not get comfortable. I remember thinking, during one of my bathroom trips, that I really needed to make a point to wash my hair every day between then and Delivery Day, just in case Hallie decided to come early.
Well well well.
At 4:00 am, I was getting up to go to the bathroom (again), and MY WATER BROKE.
This is notable for a few reasons, but the biggest reason was that I've never gone into labor on my own. With Claire, I went in for an induction because of pre-eclampsia. With both Lily and Brynna, I went in for scheduled c-sections. I've never, not once, gone into any form of labor spontaneously.
"Brad. BRAD."
"Hm?"
"My water just broke."
"Oh, did it?" said so calmly and not at all in the bewildered tone that I had...
"Yep. It wasn't supposed to do that!!"
We started hustling at that point. We checked in with the midwife on call, Brad started gathering things for the hospital, and I dealt with all that comes along with broken water. I'll spare you the details.
I called my parents to let them know. It was at this point I had the realization that: I didn't have a hospital bag packed, but I DID have a freezer full of burritos. So...there's that.
I got a shower, put a bunch of things in a bag for Hallie and me, and rushed to get the gifts that I had been acquiring for the big girls put in gift bags + write them a quick note before we headed out.
Brad woke up his mom and let her know the big news: she was now, with no warning, solely in charge of the older three. GOD BLESS HER HEART. She's a great sport and took it all in stride, and she has earned stars in her crown, for sure.
Now for one of my favorite parts of Hallie's birth story:
I had previously delivered two of my babies through this OB practice and at this hospital. Different doctors delivered each of those babies and were the right doctor for each situation. However, the doctor who delivered Brynna is my favorite doctor in the practice. We clicked from the very beginning, and I had such a great experience with her. I very much wanted her to deliver Hallie, but I knew that I didn't get to choose the provider; it would be whoever was the doctor on-call. With both of my c-section dates for Hallie, yet a third doctor (actually, two doctors; the high-risk nature of my pregnancy and delivery meant I had to have two doctors in on my surgery) was the one scheduled. I like her a lot, too, but even liking her, I still really wanted Dr. S.
While we were talking with the midwife on call and getting my instructions, she looked at the time and said, "Ok, by the time you get to the hospital and get checked in...who will be the doc on call? Let me see...Dr. S. Do you know her?"
I just looked at Brad and started crying happy tears. God answered a prayer that I hadn't even bothered to pray; I just assumed there was no reason to ask. But WON'T HE DO IT?
We got out of the house a little before 6:00 and made our way to the hospital, wherein we had to wait in line, six feet from the folks in front of and behind us, winding outside the building, while I continued the beginning stages of labor...just waiting to get our temperatures taken so we could actually get into the hospital.
Oh, COVID. How weird you have made our lives...
But before we move on in the story, let's do a quick "Answered Prayer Count:"
1. Childcare for children: CHECK
2. The exact doctor I wanted: CHECK
Neither of these were ever the original plan, and it blows my mind a bit!
3. Make it safely to 37 weeks before needing to deliver: CHECK. My water broke on the very day I reached 37 weeks.
This entire story is just riddled with prayers answered perfectly- and yet most of them were answered in ways I never thought to ask for.
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