The Wake-Up Call
It was a morning I’ll never forget. I was 39 weeks pregnant with my second child, and my contractions were coming on strong. I knew labor was imminent but didn’t expect it to be super fast, since my first labor had taken nearly 24 hours.
I asked my husband to drive me to the hospital with our daughter, who at the time was three. Of course, she was dragging her feet as three-year-olds do, having just woken up. None of her grandparents were answering their phones, despite their promises to take over childcare duty when the day arrived. Meanwhile, my pains were only intensifying.
If my husband and daughter couldn’t get out the door in time, then I was going to take matters into my own hands. I did what any smart, modern woman would do — I ordered an Uber.
The Race Against Time
As promised, the Uber arrived in less than 10 minutes. The driver was courteous and professional. I didn’t have the energy to engage with him so I kept to myself, not wanting to explain the urgency of the situation to him.
When the driver asked why I was going to the hospital, I told him I was pregnant and left it at that. I wondered how he had failed to notice my 39-week bump which was overtaking my entire frame.
I tried my best to conceal the agony I was in — listening to music and breathing deeply, my hands gripping onto the car’s grab handles every time the driver dared so much as increased the acceleration.
As we pulled up to the hospital, I thanked my driver and breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to now be in the hands of medical professionals.
When my husband met me at the hospital about an hour later, sans toddler, I was in active labor, in what felt like the longest and shortest period of my life. He said he could hear my screams and profanities as he walked up the hallway.
Smooth Sailing
It was smooth sailing from then on out. Right after my husband arrived, I managed to get an epidural (seeing how quickly my baby was coming, the nurse lobbied to help me cut the line for the anesthesiologist). The epidural kicked in just in time for me to start pushing.
And in the blink of an eye, my youngest daughter entered this world. True to her origins, she hasn’t stopped moving ever since.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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