It’s been a whirlwind since I gave birth Monday (June 10) morning. Here is a pic of me taking a nice stroll (after an entire night of on/off contractions – oh man!) right before hubby and I took an Uber to the hospital.
I’m going to skip week 39 and all it entails because it’s pretty irrelevant at the moment. I’m writing down my birth story so I will always remember. Here goes:
HOW IT BEGAN
My final prenatal appointment was when I was 39 weeks and one day preggers which happened to be on Friday, June 7. My sister, TC, was planning on flying in for the birth, and I had planned to take her to SoundBath Meditation, to eat all the good eats in my Adams Morgan, D.C. neighborhood…and the like. Because…nothing seemed to be changing in my body, and it just felt like I was going to be pregnant forever. In fact, I did my last workout just a few days shy of week 40!
Why Midwives Are the Best
The midwives appointment went well, they were happy that I was full term, they reassured me all was well, and most importantly: they were completely calm while I was not. They encouraged me to “keep doing what I was doing” and that if nothing started to happen, they would “sweep my membranes” at my 40th week, which was exactly one week later. That means they were going to separate my amniotic sac from my uterus, and hopefully jumpstart the whole birthing process. Through this whole pregnancy process the midwives kept me sane. I’m so thankful I decided to go the midwives route!
No Need for Sweeping the Membranes!
I think a part of me knew. After my appointment, I went to Union Station and had a bunch of junk food. It felt like something was changing in my body, although I wasn’t sure what. I know junk food wasn’t what my body needed, but it’s what my emotions needed! I was feeling out of sorts and scared, and needed to indulge a bit to take my mind off.
That evening I went home and hubby came home from work like always and we had a great evening watching a movie, etc. The next day I didn’t go to the gym like I planned, because the evening before I was feeling all sorts of weird: extremely crampy, things shifting down there, just…out of sorts. I spent most of the evening on my yoga ball trying to relax while hubby cracked jokes and made me a bowl of fruit.
This Was the night It All Changed…
The next day was Saturday. It’s usually my me-time day where I workout, go to meditation, and walk a ton. I skipped all of those activities, and even cancelled a much-needed haircut. I just needed a completely chill day. I laid low and had lunch with two friends (who also happen to be my badass gym coaches!) after letting them know I “felt weird.” The weird feeling was knowing there was something impending and “everything changing.” I wasn’t ready! I mean, I really wanted to meet the baby, but being pregnant meant I could still live my life like it was my old life, with the baby safely tucked inside of me, sleeping when I wanted, not worrying about a little something who would soon need all my energy, love, and everything else! I knew something transformative and overwhelming was about to happen. And little did I know how soon it was all about to change…
Leave a Reply