EH's Birth Story - Part 1 - My Water Broke!

Authors note: Some of the contents in this upcoming "birth story" series might fall into the category of "too much information," depending on who you are.  Just wanted to warn you.  It's not my nature to sugar coat things.


When I really stop and think about it, EH's birth story actually probably started a few days earlier than his birthday.  On the Tuesday before he was born, I noticed some light bleeding in the evening.  It wasn't enough to concern me in any way, and I didn't even tell DH about it.  I figured it was just a weird fluke, but now I realize that it was probably a sign that I had either lost my mucous plug or it was that wonderfully sounding "bloody show" that signifies the early stages of labor (both sound equally disgusting, so take your pick.)

At this point I was still more than two weeks away from my actual due date and operating under the information that everyone kept telling me over and over and over - first babies are always late so don't expect anything else.

So I filed the light bleeding in the back of my head and moved on with my evening.

The next day, which officially marked the 38 week point, I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned.  I would not recommend doing this at all.  The entire time I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out.  I kept having to sit up and drink water and I felt super strange for hours after that.

That evening I decided that since it was a fairly cool night, I would work on the much neglected garden.  I harvested all of the potatoes (which did NOT do well at all) and did some general weeding until my back started to hurt and then called it a night.

I slept great that night.  I only woke up twice and I fell asleep almost immediately afterwards.  I woke up feeling refreshed and even remember thinking to myself, "wow, that was a great night's sleep."  I went into the bathroom to start my morning routine, going to the bathroom and getting into the shower.  I felt a little strange in the shower, but didn't think much of it in the moment.  But then I start drying off, and I noticed that even though I had dried my legs, they kept getting wet.  I had the realization that it was possible that my water had broken but didn't quite believe it.

I dried off as much and as quickly as I could and went to the bathroom again. Since I had just went before the shower and didn't have to go again, I knew that the fluid could not possibly be urine. I processed all of this information, put on a pad to catch the liquid, and then quickly started doing things like brushing my teeth, putting on deodorant, etc.

I still hadn't told DH at this point.  Why? Well, part of me wasn't 100% certain that my water had actually broken (since the fluid was such a trickle, instead of the gush I was expecting) and because I was worried that he would rush me to the hospital and I would look like crap (seriously, this is what I was thinking.)

So I finished getting ready as much as I could, and put my shorts and t-shirt back on and then went into the bedroom, closed the door, and laid down on the bed.  I wanted to stop and process everything and try to determine whether or not this was real.  I wasn't having any labor pains at all, not even cramping, and that really threw me.  After a few minutes of laying down, I went back to the bathroom and confirmed that I was still leaking fluid.  Yep, this was real.

So I go to the office, where DH was on his computer, and said something like, "I'm not 100% sure, but I think my water broke while I was in the shower."  His eyes opened really wide and I don't even remember what he said.  I asked him if he thought I should call the doctor, and he told me only I knew what would be best.  For some reason, I was still in disbelief.  I waffled a few more minutes on the topic until I went ahead and called the answering service for my ob/gyn's office.  At this point, it was still before 7 a.m. so the office wasn't open.

The doctor promptly called me back, I explained my situation (schedule c-section on 8/18 due to breech baby, water just broke, etc.) and she told me to head to the hospital.  I told her ok and hung up the phone.

Crap.  Remember by 38 week post?  The one I posted the night before making fun of myself for not packing my hospital bag yet?  Yeah, that was coming back to bite me in the ass.  I told DH that we needed to go to the hospital and I started scrambling around to pack a bag.  Fortunately I had already written out a full list of the things that I wanted to pack, so it was relatively simple and we just needed to grab all of the things that were on the list. 

I was remarkably calm, probably because I wasn't in any sort of pain.  Or maybe it was because I still didn't quite believe that today was actually going to be "the day." After all, during our hospital tour, they talked a lot about the women who made multiple trips to the hospital thinking they were in labor before they actually had their babies.  Maybe I was one of those? (Unlikely, I know - my water had just broken! That pretty much seals the deal.)  

Anyway, before heading out the door, I insisted that DH take one last picture of my belly. I wanted a "this is as pregnant as I ever was" picture.

38 weeks and 1 day

We were rushed, and so it isn't the best picture ever because 1. I had just gotten out the shower, 2. I wasn't wearing any makeup, and 3. I'm standing at an angle so you don't get the full sense of how big my belly was.  

That's ok though, since I had just taken the 38 week pictures less than 12 hours before this one.  I think I look significantly bigger in these photos. 

And with that we were out the door!

If you hung in there this long, then stay tuned for Part 2!