Xander's Arrival Story Pt. 2

Part of why I scheduled an induction for Xander on his due date was because I wanted to give him the chance to arrive both naturally and in his own time (without passing his due date).  As I mentioned, it was a hard decision when faced with the likelihood of a C-section no matter what we tried.  I went home, put my feet up until my afternoon work shift, and texted Chad.  He agreed with my choice, which made me feel a little more secure.  I went into work at 1 and said goodbye to my coworkers for a time, since I would begin my maternity leave on Monday... giving me a chance to rest for a few days before delivery.

Or so I planned!

That evening, Chad picked up a couple movies from a Redbox and dinner from Macaroni Grill.  I chose Eggplant Parmesan since there are urban legends about that dish inducing labor, even making one restaurant famous for their Eggplant Parmigiana Babies!  I ate half of it, put the other away, and relaxed on the couch... propped up on cushions with my feet as high as I could get them comfortably.

But, when you're as big as a whale, nothing is very comfortable for long.  I shifted repeatedly, which was honestly quite an effort.  At one point a struggled to shift my weight and move my legs... and something suddenly didn't feel the same.  I heaved myself off the couch and hobbled to the bathroom, and I knew by the time I closed the door that my water had broken.

I used the restroom, tried to calm myself down.  I was nervous as hell, and a little scared.  As soon as I felt I could hobble to the door without flooding the floor, I did so.  I opened it and said, "Ummmm.  My water just broke!"

Chad answered with something like, "Are you serious?!" and appeared at the bathroom door with wide eyes and half-eaten ice cream bar in his hands.  I really wished I had a camera to capture that!

So I directed him to the list of things that still needed to go in my overnight bag, called the labor and delivery department to confirm that water breaking means I had to come in immediately (I'd hoped to labor at home for a while if not induced), called my mother, got a couple little things myself while also managing my broken water mess, and soon we were on our way... and driving through a mild thunderstorm.

After getting checked in, in a gown, and set up on monitors in bed, I had Chad bring me my bag of diabetes supplies so I could refill my insulin cartridge.  I probably had enough, considering they don't let you eat anything during labor at that hospital, but I wanted to be positive.  I also reduced my basal rate by half... and there were several times when I took it down to 25% or even 0.  I really managed my own blood sugar and was never bothered by a nurse about it.  Quite different than what some other mothers with diabetes have reported!  It really went pretty well as long as I labored without any interventions.  I sometimes went low, but was allowed to eat popsicles to bring it back up.  That worked just fine.  It really wasn't until interventions came into play that I couldn't handle it 100% on my own.  But for that first night, I was fine and happy that Xander's time was approaching based on him and my body being ready, not based on a deadline... whatever the end result might be.



To be continued...