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I’M FINE

The 5th of June did not start off like most days. Instead of sleeping in with my babies and drinking coffee to ease into the day, I was up, showered, and getting Ruby ready for her 9 month appointment. Daren had taken the morning off to go with us to this appointment. This was actually unusual, because, although Daren was always at my appointments, this was the first time since she was a newborn that he was able to go to one of Ruby’s appointments. I was grateful to have him with us. As we were leaving, I felt a small gush of fluid. Silas liked to hang out on my bladder, so this wasn’t completely abnormal. It felt different though, too uncontrollable. I ran to the bathroom. I’m only 29 weeks along. This can’t be amniotic fluid. I’m fine. I quickly cleaned up and headed to the car.

As we were driving to the pediatrician, I flippantly told Daren about the fluid. He insisted that I call my nurse and tell her about it. When I spoke to her, she didn’t seem too concerned, but made space for me to be seen immediately.  Just to be on the safe side. So after Ruby’s appointment, we all headed to my doctor. The receptionists were excited to see us, and I explained that Silas probably just kicked my bladder. Oh the joys of being pregnant, right? While we sat in the waiting room, Daren emailed the neonatologist. We have been praying about it and have decided to donate Silas’ heart valves. This was all starting to seem too real. But after being tested, my doctor confirmed that I was not leaking amniotic fluid. Classic bladder kick. You can go home. The rest of the day was normal. Daren went back to work, and Ruby, Silas, and I went back home.

That night was shaping up to be a pretty normal night too. Daren was ironing, and I was trying not to eat an entire frozen pizza by myself. As I watched television, I felt a gush of fluid again. This time it wasn’t a small amount, it was a lot. I went to the bathroom and cleaned up. I put a pad on and waited. I’m only 29 weeks along. This can’t be amniotic fluid. I’m fine. Then I felt another large gush. I called my older sister; she told me to call the doctor. I left a message with the nurse, who told me she would notify the on-call doctor. I’ll have Dr. Carrington call you right back. By the time the doctor called me, I had already soaked through two pads. He told me to come to the ER immediately. Sounds like your water broke, dear. I called my sister back and asked her if we could drop Ruby off. Yes! Of course. We quickly packed overnight bags and woke Ruby up from a deep sleep. She was disoriented, so was I. I’m only 29 weeks along. I have 11 more weeks with my Silas. As I stepped outside, the hot Texas night air seemed to slap me in the face, my mind cleared. We are going to have this baby tonight. I turned to lock the door behind us; I thought about the date. I knew that Silas would be born in the wee hours of the morning. I was going to have this baby on June 6th, my dad’s birthday.