Giving Birth, Chapter 1

It was Sunday.  Church had been spiritually uplifting, but physically miserable.  Besides the fact that sitting for 3 hours on hard chairs would hard on any pregnant lady, our building was kept warm enough to overcompensate for the winter weather outside.  When we arrived home, I was swollen, sore, and hungry.  I kicked off my shoes and we had enough time to eat lunch before the contractions started.  At first, of course, they were nothing to worry about.  They were more intense than I'd felt before, and I paid attention to them, but I really didn't think they were anything strong enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.  We worked on dishes, thought about putting Schprid down for a nap, and generally settled in to enjoy a Sunday afternoon.

After 15 minutes or so, after Hubby had firmly put me down in a rocking chair and insisted on taking care of the chores for a while, the contractions picked up in intensity.  They were sharp enough that I noticed a change in my breathing.  Since the doctor had told me to go to the hospital with such contractions, I mentioned the possibility of that need to Hubby.  He immediately became a flurry of activity that almost surprised me.  After all, it was 3 weeks early.  The contractions weren't that bad.  Going to the hospital was more precautionary than anything.  Yet within minutes, the love of my life was on the phone to a friend who had offered to babysit our little girl for us.  He gathered up hospital bags, switched carseats, and pried the Schprid away from the keyboard where she was blithely playing "The Entertainer," completely oblivious of how her life was about to change. 

For that matter, I was a little oblivious myself.  During all this, I felt contractions, kept my feet up, and apologized as much as I felt I could for being such an inconvenience to everyone.

With the animals fed, Schprid packed off for the evening, and the house locked up, we made our way down the road to the hospital.  The contractions varied in intensity and length apart, further adding to my conviction that this would be a short stay at the hospital and I wasn't really done being pregnant, yet.