Brock's birth story: Part 1

Born: Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 @ 9:25am
Weight: 7lbs3oz
Length: 20 3/4in

On Tuesday I saw Dr. Bell for my 39 week appointment. I was 2cm and 70% effaced. I joked with him that he could check me really well hoping he might offer to strip my membranes. But he didn't. He said his usual, "see you next week." Then I handed him my birth plan and said goodbye.

After my appointment I headed to meet Scot and Avery for lunch. We ate at Joes Pizza Pasta and I made sure to order eggplant Parmesan. It's said that it can help to start labor but it has never worked for me. But it is my favorite item on the menu. I excused myself to the bathroom and had quite a bit of blood and mucous. I dismissed the idea that it could be a bloody show because I just had a pelvic exam. I had a few contractions during lunch but nothing out of the ordinary.

Avery went with me to Inscriptions to find a cute wreath or sign to hang on our hospital room door. We found a really cute sign that you can write on with a dry erase marker. I stopped by the grocery store and we headed home. Hannah was babysitting for me and I asked her if she was going to be on call for me in the middle of the night and talked about whether I should call her cell or her home. I also spoke with Marcy and asked if she would mind staying with the kids before Hannah came. Just feeling a great need to get all my ducks in a row.

I made breakfast bread for dinner and I was starting to feel really nauseous and cranky. Scot was taking everyone to VBS at Legacy. I told him I was going to go buy gifts for the kids to receive at the hospital from Brock. I got to Walmart and started to notice a lot of cramping. I couldn't believe how irritable and cranky I felt. I don't know who I was cranky at. The cart, the fact they didn't have anything I needed to get except wrapping paper, the person in the 20 items or less line with 60 items, or the internal struggle going on within. My body is telling me I'm in labor, my brain is saying no you're not. But in that express checkout line with 2 rolls of wrapping paper, all I knew was that I was not feeling well and I wanted to go home!

 I called my friend Michelle asking if she could go buy gifts for me and called Kim and asked if she could wrap gifts for me. Michelle met me at home. She asked if I was ok and kept saying, "you are in labor." I said, "I just feel like I need to take a bath or shower to get these contractions to stop. Once I got in the bath, I called Scot and asked him to come home. I just had a feeling that I didn't want to be alone.