Her Birth Story and A Damn Plastic Cup: Part I

A close friend of mine told me to watch for my nose to swell as I approached the last weeks of my pregnancy, a sure sign the baby was coming. So I watched, and ignored. And my Mom called me and told me to be active. So I was. And then we had a baby the next morning. The end.

Just kidding, I know you want the details. And lucky for you, there's a Part II on the way.

So yeah, my Mom did call me the morning of April 28th and asked what I was up to. She had been calling more and more, checking up on me as I neared the end of my pregnancy like any good Mom would do. We had many conversations about what to expect and what to look for, especially since earlier that week I had some light spotting. We figured it was just from the doctors appointment where they checked my cervix to see if I was dilated. I'm sure that was partly it, and because I was only 38 weeks along with a minimum of two weeks left, I just carried on like normal. Plus, the day before was the last official day I needed to be on campus before finals began at the college I was teaching at. This bit will make more sense in Part II. But basically, I was done teaching for the semester and could just focus on nesting. So during the conversation with my Mom, she asked what I was going to do that day. I told her Zach and I were planning to do some yard work but I would be careful not to overdo it. She reminded me that being active was not a bad thing, especially at this stage when the baby could come at any moment. Mom's do know best, right?

After we talked, I rolled out of bed, quite literally, and waddled to the bathroom. I don't remember my face getting that puffy at any point in my pregnancy, and if it did, no one had the guts to tell me. THANK YOU. But that morning, my nose did look slightly swollen, which was something my friend Barbie told me to watch for during the last weeks. Again, thinking I had at least two weeks left I didn't let it phase me and kept getting ready. I felt really good that morning and had brunch plans with my friend Alex and a visiting artist for Project 1612, an alternative gallery space I run at my house. So I put on a high-waisted midi skirt that fit perfectly over my pregnant belly and a tank top that was too tight and had to be made into a faux crop top to fit over my pregnant belly. And since I was feeling good, and liked my outfit and messy hair, I decided to take some pictures of myself in the nursery before heading over for brunch. I'm so glad I did.

After eating my fair share of pancakes, no shame, I headed back home and changed into some work clothes. Again, Zach and I figured we only had two weeks left. Unknowingly, we attempted to finish some of the projects we had started before the baby came. We worked outside all afternoon. He was fixing the sunporch and staining the new lattice. I painted a table for the sunporch, mowed the lawn with our reel mower (something I will talk about in another post) and was relocating some paver stones from one area of the yard to another. Yeah...I know what you are thinking...why was she doing all that manual labor 38 weeks pregnant? Well, remember, my mom told me to. Plus, I don't really work out. Ever. So I make sure I am moving a lot throughout my day, pregnant or not. We were having a nice day working around the house and then we started to bicker about a damn plastic cup. We had just started practicing zero/low waste and Zach brought home a plastic cup he got at the movies that morning. Side note, my husband loves movies and often goes solo because I can't stand movie theaters.

Anyway, I was irritated that he used a plastic cup instead of just taking his own. So inside we went to bicker about that damn plastic cup and a few minutes into this ridiculous and unnecessary argument my water broke. WATER EVERYWHERE.

To be continued.