Thursday January 20th was my due date. I was still feeling quite good, sleeping well and my only real "complaint" was that I had been having regular contractions off and on for several days. At times they were as close as 4 minutes apart for a few hours at a time, but I knew that third babies are notorious for false labor and made the decision to ignore them. I knew that the real thing would demand my attention.
I went to work on my due date and had contractions off and on at work. Mostly, I kept up with my policy of ignoring them, which wasn't difficult. I did notice that a few of them were starting to feel just the tiniest bit more “serious” than the contractions that I had been having. When I got home that evening I noted that the contractions were 10-15 minutes apart, not super regular and still just “uncomfortable.” Nothing notable. In previous evenings I had had contractions that were closer than that for a longer period of time that didn't yield a baby. Yet, something about them was just a bit different and I went ahead and told Jonathan that maybe this would be the night.
I went to bed at 10pm and slept well until 1am when I had a few contractions I just couldn’t sleep through. I got up and took a long hot shower, which felt great. It seemed that the contractions were still about 10-15 minutes apart, but more intense than they had been earlier. They all but melted away in the shower and I still wasn't convinced I was really in labor. After my shower Jonathan started to get nervous. He kept asking when we should call labor and delivery. I wanted to do most of my laboring at home and was feeling quite comfortable and in no rush at all. I told him that they would probably want my contractions to be a little closer together and more consistent. We decided to distract ourselves by watching "Modern Family" on Hulu. I sat on my yoga ball and occasionally got up to walk through the contractions.
At a little after 3am things picked up enough to sufficiently convince me I was in fact in labor and we would probably need to leave soon-ish. We called the friend that would be watching our girls and then we woke the girls up and told them that baby brother was on his way. They were so sweet and excited. We pulled coats on over jammies and I gave them kisses and hugs on their way out the door. I remember sitting and hugging Juliana at the bottom of the stairs for an extra long moment, knowing that this was my last time kissing her as my "baby". I knew how big she would seem after welcoming a tiny one. While Jonathan was gone with the girls I called our doula and then called L&D. The nurse asked me how far the contractions were apart and I told her they were still a little irregular, but for the most part they were about 2-6 minutes apart. She asked what number baby this was and I told her it was number three.
“Oh, so you know what you’re talking about then,” she said.
I laughed and replied, "Well, I hope I do!" The nurse must’ve thought I sounded like I was in pretty good spirits and she casually asked when I thought I would come in. I told her we would leave in maybe 20 minutes or so and it would take another 20 to 30 to get there. She said “Sure, we’ll be ready for you whenever you arrive.” Jonathan returned from dropping the girls off and drank coppius amounts of coffee in an effort to stay awake. I decided to lay down and try to rest for a few minutes before we left.
This lovely mugshot (and final belly photo) was taken at 4:01am. Baby Reed was born 1 hour and 20 minutes later...
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