Let's go back to early May. I was still getting along with the best of them, but I was really large...I felt larger than I looked...and there was at least one day where I had a really bad headache in the afternoon where I needed Kevin's help to take care of Coralie so I could rest (potential foreshadowing?). But Coralie and I were still trucking along with "home school". We learned about camping. Read books about it. Watched a Daniel Tiger episode about backyard camping. Drew pictures of campsites. And we even got out her fishing pole and went searching for some water to fish in. That ended badly when a very excited Coralie tripped on the way to the pond and bloodied up her knees. I had to carry her most of the way home until Kevin came to save us! Thank goodness for s'mores to save the day on that one!
Sunday evening of Mother's Day, I stayed up WAY too late. I must have been looking at Instagram or something else, but I didn't get to bed until almost 1am. This was a VERY poor decision because I felt tired all Monday. Even so, I did my normal activities with Coralie that day. We opened her new Kiwi Crate and played with that. 
My dentist's office had just opened up after being closed for awhile because of Corona and I had called to try and get an appointment. I had missed my cleaning in April and knew if I didn't go before the baby was set to arrive on June 1, that I probably wouldn't make it for a LONG time. They had an appointment that same afternoon, Monday, May 11, so I went in. Our dentist takes blood pressure readings before each visit and mine seemed to be high. The hygienist took it again, but when it was still in the high range (138/91), she said not to worry, we'd take it at the end of the visit after I'd been sitting for awhile. This seemed fine to me. I had been rushing to get there and it was hot outside. I had turned the car off and waited in the heat to get the text that it was "Covid safe" to enter the building, so I had no doubt my BP was high. I had my cleaning and completely forgot about checking it again. I got up and went to check out and then remembered, so I went back to sit down and have it taken again and it was 146/93. Why would it have been lower when I missed the "rest" window? Oh well.
I left there and picked up dinner from Bonefish Grill (they had had too many orders on Mother's Day and wouldn't allow us to order, so this was our consolation) and went home to eat. I don't remember anything to note about that evening, but I didn't get in bed until 11pm (late again) and I was up in the middle of the night worrying about my blood pressure, looking up preeclampsia and concerned about the seriousness of it and stressing about if it could lead to having a c-section, because that seemed like the worse case scenario.
So, not much sleep Monday night and Tuesday morning Coralie was able to go back to school for the first time in 7 weeks. We packed her up and got her off and I had a list of things I needed to do including packing a bag for the hospital, getting oils together for a friend, cooking dinner for a friend who had a newborn and TAKING A NAP. This was most important, but couldn't happen until the other things did. I wasn't feeling "right", but I'm sure a lot of that was lack of sleep and anxiety about what was going on with my body and this deadline of needing to get everything done. I wasn't super hungry for lunch and I went to the bathroom a few times...almost as if my system was clearing itself out. I was pretty sure the baby was coming soon. I got a glorious nap, thanks to Kevin cooking the meal for our friends and when I woke up, I had a scheduled tele-health appointment with a midwife. I hopped on that call as Kevin was leaving to get Coralie from preschool.
The midwife I was scheduled with happened to be an acquaintance from college (God wink) and we had been in a wedding together post-college, so I knew her...at least better than any of the other midwives. She was the first to bring up my blood pressure. She was concerned because at my last in-person appointment, it had been slightly elevated (135/82). Honestly, if she hadn't brought it up and if she had been any of the other midwives, I might not have shared any of my concerns. As it was, I opened up to her about my readings at the dentist and we went over all of the symptoms of preeclampsia (horrible headache, pain under your right breast where your liver is, extreme swelling or unusual swelling, vision changes, protein in the urine, etc.). I didn't have any symptom except the high blood pressure. Because she knew me, she leveled with me. She wanted me to come into the birth center that evening to have my blood pressure taken there and if it was high, I was going to have to go to UNC to be induced. She encouraged me to pack a bag. I could decide if I wanted to be induced that evening or the following morning, but I needed to go get my blood pressure checked that day. All of this was happening as Kevin was coming in the house with Coralie, so I had to fill him in on everything. It didn't make sense to drive all the way to Chapel Hill for a BP reading and then come home just to potentially drive back in the morning to be induced. Regardless of what my readings would be, we needed to prepare then to go to the hospital. We were both in a daze. It didn't seem like time, it didn't seem real. We put on Little Baby Bum for Coralie and Kevin finished up some work while I called our doula and our birth photographer and "packed". Because of the Covid guidelines, if we ended up in the hospital, neither of them would be able to come. They needed to be notified (in case I happened to birth at the birthing center-which silly me still thought was an option) of the hiccup. Both ended the call telling me they would be praying for me...man did I need that in that moment!
After packing for myself and throwing some stuff in a bag for Coralie, Kevin had to pack. Seriously things were moving in slow motion. It seemed like I didn't know what to do next. Nothing made sense. We got a call from the midwife on duty at some point asking us if we were on the way. I don't even think we had left the house yet, but we gave her an estimated time of arrival. I think I called my mom to fill her in and my sister, who was going to watch Coralie.
The original plan had been: birth at the birth center. I could only be there for a max of 12 hours, so at most Coralie would be with my sister for 12 hours, but after the baby was born, Kevin would get Coralie and bring her over to meet her new sibling. Since I didn't know what my future had in store, I didn't know how to plan for another scenario. The birth center plan was the only one I had accepted.
We packed the car and off we went to Chapel Hill, but first we swung by our friend's house to drop off their dinner. It was my biggest concern. I couldn't have a baby without getting them the food we promised them. Mamas with newborns need to eat! So, after swinging by Apex, we arrived in Chapel Hill. Coralie screamed and cried from the moment we left our house until we got to Apex. Thank goodness I wasn't in active labor (God wink) because that would have tipped me over the edge! She knew something was up! As we were getting closer we decided to drop her at my sister's so she would be taken care of. We had originally planned to take her with us to the Birth Center and get my BP taken and then take her to my sister's on the way to the hospital (if we had to go). We were in serious denial that the hospital was an option. At the last minute, we decided to drop her off first. She was thrilled because her cousin was there to play with her. I don't think she minded us leaving her at all.
When we arrived at the Birth Center, I was taken to a 4th birthing room (that I didn't know about) and was asked to get comfy sitting on the bed.
I think I went to pee in a cup before my blood pressure was taken, but then I moved to a couch with my feet up on a stool for my first BP reading. It was high- 160/100. I guess to humor us all, the nurse left the room and asked me to rest and they'd take it again. The second time, 15 minutes later, it was just as high 158/97. The midwife on call instructed us to head on over to UNC, don't stop for a bite to eat, nothing. From my lips to you...if you're ever asked to do this, stop for the cheeseburger. Seriously! It would be a LONG time before I could eat again.
I left there and picked up dinner from Bonefish Grill (they had had too many orders on Mother's Day and wouldn't allow us to order, so this was our consolation) and went home to eat. I don't remember anything to note about that evening, but I didn't get in bed until 11pm (late again) and I was up in the middle of the night worrying about my blood pressure, looking up preeclampsia and concerned about the seriousness of it and stressing about if it could lead to having a c-section, because that seemed like the worse case scenario.
So, not much sleep Monday night and Tuesday morning Coralie was able to go back to school for the first time in 7 weeks. We packed her up and got her off and I had a list of things I needed to do including packing a bag for the hospital, getting oils together for a friend, cooking dinner for a friend who had a newborn and TAKING A NAP. This was most important, but couldn't happen until the other things did. I wasn't feeling "right", but I'm sure a lot of that was lack of sleep and anxiety about what was going on with my body and this deadline of needing to get everything done. I wasn't super hungry for lunch and I went to the bathroom a few times...almost as if my system was clearing itself out. I was pretty sure the baby was coming soon. I got a glorious nap, thanks to Kevin cooking the meal for our friends and when I woke up, I had a scheduled tele-health appointment with a midwife. I hopped on that call as Kevin was leaving to get Coralie from preschool.
The midwife I was scheduled with happened to be an acquaintance from college (God wink) and we had been in a wedding together post-college, so I knew her...at least better than any of the other midwives. She was the first to bring up my blood pressure. She was concerned because at my last in-person appointment, it had been slightly elevated (135/82). Honestly, if she hadn't brought it up and if she had been any of the other midwives, I might not have shared any of my concerns. As it was, I opened up to her about my readings at the dentist and we went over all of the symptoms of preeclampsia (horrible headache, pain under your right breast where your liver is, extreme swelling or unusual swelling, vision changes, protein in the urine, etc.). I didn't have any symptom except the high blood pressure. Because she knew me, she leveled with me. She wanted me to come into the birth center that evening to have my blood pressure taken there and if it was high, I was going to have to go to UNC to be induced. She encouraged me to pack a bag. I could decide if I wanted to be induced that evening or the following morning, but I needed to go get my blood pressure checked that day. All of this was happening as Kevin was coming in the house with Coralie, so I had to fill him in on everything. It didn't make sense to drive all the way to Chapel Hill for a BP reading and then come home just to potentially drive back in the morning to be induced. Regardless of what my readings would be, we needed to prepare then to go to the hospital. We were both in a daze. It didn't seem like time, it didn't seem real. We put on Little Baby Bum for Coralie and Kevin finished up some work while I called our doula and our birth photographer and "packed". Because of the Covid guidelines, if we ended up in the hospital, neither of them would be able to come. They needed to be notified (in case I happened to birth at the birthing center-which silly me still thought was an option) of the hiccup. Both ended the call telling me they would be praying for me...man did I need that in that moment!
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| Pictures we found on Kevin's phone days later. Coralie was busy while we were planning logistics. |
The original plan had been: birth at the birth center. I could only be there for a max of 12 hours, so at most Coralie would be with my sister for 12 hours, but after the baby was born, Kevin would get Coralie and bring her over to meet her new sibling. Since I didn't know what my future had in store, I didn't know how to plan for another scenario. The birth center plan was the only one I had accepted.
We packed the car and off we went to Chapel Hill, but first we swung by our friend's house to drop off their dinner. It was my biggest concern. I couldn't have a baby without getting them the food we promised them. Mamas with newborns need to eat! So, after swinging by Apex, we arrived in Chapel Hill. Coralie screamed and cried from the moment we left our house until we got to Apex. Thank goodness I wasn't in active labor (God wink) because that would have tipped me over the edge! She knew something was up! As we were getting closer we decided to drop her at my sister's so she would be taken care of. We had originally planned to take her with us to the Birth Center and get my BP taken and then take her to my sister's on the way to the hospital (if we had to go). We were in serious denial that the hospital was an option. At the last minute, we decided to drop her off first. She was thrilled because her cousin was there to play with her. I don't think she minded us leaving her at all.
When we arrived at the Birth Center, I was taken to a 4th birthing room (that I didn't know about) and was asked to get comfy sitting on the bed.
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