Birth Story of my little fellow - 1

My world changed when my little one arrived on May 7th last year. He chose to arrive quite early (6 weeks before expected date!) We had no time to think or react to the happenings. I had read a lot of birth stories before. Mine was different.

My in-laws were visiting us then. They wanted to be around when the baby arrived. My parents were planning to visit just before the delivery. Thinking there was still a lot of time, we were putting off the baby shopping. Finally, one fine weekend S made some time. We headed all the way to Buffalo to buy baby stuff. The shopping was never ending. I picked up anything and everything that I liked! We stopped by Niagara falls and the casino, while on the way back. After a eventful saturday, sunday was relaxing. In the evening S and me took a long walk, talking about how our lives would be changing because of a little someone. Little did we know, that we would meet this special one the very next day! After the walk, I retired to bed early as I had to go to office the next day.

Sleeping gets difficult during late months. Turning and changing sides used to be so hard. At around 4:30 AM, I tried changing sides and felt something. I froze for a while to realize what was happening. My water broke. I didn't know what to do. Panic hit me. It was not even close to my EDD. I finally mustered some strength and put my hand on S to wake him up. All I could say was 'water'! S thought I was asking for water to drink! He woke up casually and started walking out to get some water. I yelled at him and said that my water broke! He switched on the lights and took a while to grasp the situation. He ran to my MIL and brought her in. She asked me not to panic and held my hand. Let alone the hospital bag, I didn't even have the emergency phone number handy! My mind was blank and so was S's. He finally got hold of the number and called them. The hospital staff asked us to come in right away. I was scared to even stand. Somehow managed to walk down the stairs and to the car. My MIL and FIL quickly got in. S drove the car to the hospital which was 5 minutes away.

He dropped us outside the hospital and went to park the car. I was wheeled in to the labor assessment area. The lady at the counter failed to notice my worried face. She must have been dealing with such cases everyday, I suppose. She coolly asked me for my health card. Darn! I wasn't carrying it with me. So, S had to go back home again and get my wallet.

Meanwhile, they put me in a room and started monitoring the baby's heartrate. The baby was fine and kicking much to our relief. They confirmed that the water had broken. We waited for the doctor to show up which took a good 3 hours. The nurses kept dropping by inbetween assuring us that it was going to be okay. One of the nurses really motivated us a lot. I can't remember her name but she made us feel safe. Thanks to her. She mentioned that they had delivered babies as early as 27 weeks and that the babies are all hale and healthy.

The doctor arrived at around 8 AM and examined all the reports. The baby was doing fine. I wasn't even having any pain or anything. She said that there was no going home now. She was optimistic that we could wait atleast 2-3 days before the labor kicked in. She asked me to go for an ultrasound. She said something that greatly relieved me of my guilt. That the baby decides to come out whenever it wants to. Physical activities like walking seldom induce a labor. All the while, I was blaming myself that I over strained myself and so my water broke :(

I was moved to the maternity ward at around 8:20 AM and given a private room. The ultrasound was scheduled in the afternoon. They did not check my dilation as they feared infection. So, I was put on IV and left to relax in the room.