One Month Before the Birth of Buddy

Over Memorial Day weekend in 2008, I was nearing the end of my pregnancy. I got really sick over the weekend (throwing-up and diarrhea.) (Sorry about being graphic.) I had my weekly prenatal check-up the following Tuesday, and I was measuring alarmingly small. As I recall, I think I had lost a couple of inches since my last visit the week previous. My doctor recommended that I go to IMC and have a stress test done and a test done were they measure the four quadrants of your uterus and check the amniotic fluid level, AFI amniotic fluid index test.

I went to IMC that Thursday, and they did the stress test (this is a test that sees how the baby’s heart rate is affected by stress, i.e. contractions, usually.) first, and Buddy was doing well. The second test was the AFI. I was measuring very low. They said I had Oligohydramnios, having too little amniotic fluid. They had a Perinatologist come in, look at the results, confer with my doctor, and speak to me about being admitted that day and delivering Buddy right then. I didn’t want to. I was not ready yet. I asked if we could delay until I was closer to my due date. I was nervous about Buddy not being fully developed and not having enough weight to thrive outside of the womb. I didn’t want him stuck in NICU if I could keep him inside longer for him to finish cooking. They said I could, but I would have to come in twice a week to do the Stress and AFI tests to make sure Buddy was still doing okay, and I had to be on bed rest for the weekend. I was also supposed to do fetal kick counts ten times a day. (Not to worry, Buddy danced in my womb all day long. I always knew he was alright. If he didn’t move for a while and I got paranoid about it, I would just poke him to wake him up and there he would be jabbing and kicking me again to his heart’s content.)

I went home and for two more weeks, I anxiously did what was asked of me hoping everything was going to be okay. I had two big fears in the back of my mind. My aunt had recently lost her last child two days before her due date. She had just stopped moving one day. My aunt delivered a still born. I was also worried because I had put a lot of time and effort into Buddy and I loved him already. I was not ready to say goodbye before ever meeting him face to face. I was hoping I had made the right decision to wait and that Buddy would be okay until it was closer to his due date. I didn’t want to lose him days before delivery like my aunt did with her baby.

Two weeks before my due date, my doctor recommended that she strip my membranes. Stripping the membranes is when the doctor inserts their fingers between the amniotic sac and your uterine wall and breaks the adhesion between them. She said that this is a “natural” way to get labor started. She said that usually within two days of stripping the membranes you give birth. I think there was some sort of miscommunication, because she thought I had agreed to this, and I thought I had said no and would just keep doing what I had been doing until Buddy and my body were ready to be born/give birth. She stripped the membranes. It totally shocked me. I thought she was just checking to see how far along I was, 1cm and 0% effaced (not ready to give birth,) when she did it. It hurt so badly, and I let out a loud scream and tried to scramble to get away. She was shocked too. She thought I had said yes. She didn’t expect me to scream and move away. It was embarrassing because I wasn’t prepared and I really screamed loud. I bet most of the doctor’s office heard and were wondering what was going on.

What was done was done. Stripping the membranes causes major cramps and bleeding. I called in sick to work for two days. Nothing happened. I went back to work and back to my twice a week tests at IMC.

At my next doctor’s visit, a week later, she asked to strip the membranes again, I was a little reluctant, but I was only a week away from my due date and seeing as how the first time bared no results, I consented. Yes, it still hurt badly, but I was better prepared this time and didn’t scream at the top of my lungs, scaring the whole doctor’s office, the doctor, and embarrassing myself.

Again, cramping and bleeding and calling in sick to work. But later that day…..