Yep, just one more week until my baby boy is 9 years old! He will turn 9 at exactly 1:10pm on September 20th.
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In the next week I am sure to find myself flipping through baby albums, remembering just how little he was and feeling amazed that it's been 9 years! You see his actual due date was today, 9-13-2000, but he was a stubborn one and had to make me wait since I had told him he was grounded 10 weeks prior.
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At 24 weeks along I showed the first signs of trouble, spotting and bleeding that was not normal. Ultrasound showed possible placental abruption so I was placed on modified bedrest (meaning for every 20 minutes on my feet I had to have 20 minutes of sitting on my butt) Since I worked at Dunkin Donuts as a floor supervisor I called my boss on the way home from the doctors and quit on the spot. I had never done such a thing before, I would always give 2 weeks notice. This was the first thing Orion changed about me! Anyway, the boss understood that baby came first, said I could come back at anytime and told me to take care of myself and the baby.
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At 30 weeks I said good-bye to hubby as I sent him off to work and sat down in my glider chair to relax. That's when I started to feel contractions. I thought they were just braxton hicks, the fake ones you read about, your body preparing for labor, so I didn't worry and I didn't time them....only they didn't stop and they increased in length and pain level. After a bit I began to time them and realized they were only 5 minutes apart and they seemed to be getting intense, I immediately called my OB who told me to time them for another 1/2 hour and if they didn't slow down to go to labor and delivery. Being a first time mom, I didn't want to listen to her so I called hubby at work and told him to come home and get me and take me in, I felt I was in pre-term labor and I was scared. It was at this point that I told Orion he was grounded and there would be no coming out to play until I said so!
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According to the OB I did indeed have placental abruption and I was dialated to 4 cm. I was placed on strict bedrest until the end of my pregnancy. I was allowed to go home as long as I only was on my feet long enough to go from my bed to the couch in the morning and from the couch to the bathroom through the day. Hubby had to pack me a cooler that stayed by the couch every morning that included all the food and drink I would need for the day while he was at work. It was very boring (daytime TV bites) but my boy was worth it. Every week I went in for a non-stress test (NST) to check for contractions and heartbeat. I also had weekly ultrasounds to check Orion and the placenta. At one point they told me I needed to double my water intake because he was low on fluid and me drinking would help bring the amniotic fluid levels back up, the placenta kept pulling away a little at a time but stayed intact enough to sustain Orion so we left him in there . Every single week I heard the OB say "I don't know if you're going to make it to next weeks appointment, this baby seems to want out" Orion was head down and I was slowly continuing to dialate.
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At my 40 week appointment the ob congratulated me on making it all the way to the end of my pregnancy. She told me I could come off bedrest and I was free to have this baby anytime he wanted to come out but just incase we could make an appointment for the following week to be induced. She told me she thought she would see me before then since I was 5 cm dialated..... Orion opted to wait another week lol
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On September 20, 2000 at 7:30am I walked into labor and delivery. I was checked in and settled into a pretty little room. At 8am they started my pitocin drip, contractions started immediately. My mother-in-law came in shortly after they started the drip and was talking about how they had a pool going at her house as to what time the baby would be born..I informed her that I didn't know about time, just that it was going to take 5 hours and 10 minutes! She laughed, probably because most first babies take longer than that but I was sure that was how long it was going to take......I don't know about timing here, things kind of blend together when you're in labor but shortly after the contractions started the ob came in and looked at that little piece of paper coming out of the machine that showed my contractions, she asked me if I was feeling those and I told her of course...OMG they were intense! The nurse standing behind her laughed, so I thought maybe I was being a bit of a wimp and decided I was gonna be tough! I closed my eyes with every contraction, my wonderful mother-in-law rubbed my feet with every one of them (which seemed to dull the pain some) and I was determined to not be laughed at again! After awhile my husband asked the nurse if I could have something for the pain because HE couldn't stand to see me like that any longer! The nurse said she would get the doctor and I would have to be checked first...doc came in to check me and explained it was too late...I was already at 9 cm!
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At 8am they started my pitocin drip, exactly 5 hours and 10 minutes later (as predicted by me) at 1:10pm Orion entered this world! My life has never been the same since then and I can't imagine it any other way!
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