Reflections

School started today. It got me thinking about what I was doing this time last year. For those of you who know me, you know I didn't have a very good pregnancy. The last 9 weeks were the hardest thing I think I've ever been through. It all started going swiftly down hill a year ago tonight.

I remember it well. I had put in my first day back at school after the Christmas break. I went to bed early (around 9ish, I think). At around midnight, I awoke to make my usual trip to the washroom. I went in the dark but as I wiped I could feel something not right. I turned on the light to find lots of blood. I was 27 weeks pregnant.

I immediately woke Del up. I didn't want to freak him out too bad, plus, I had had trouble throughout my pregnancy up to this point. But I knew this was different. I just told him that we needed to go to the hospital. He came in and looked and with a terrified look on his face, went into our bedroom and got dressed. I remember praying and talking to my baby and saying, "hold on Birdie, you're okay. You need to stay in a little longer, okay?"

Del and I made the quiet trip into emergency. I remember thinking, "when the real labour starts, I wonder if it too will be in the middle of the night?" We were immediately shooed up to labour and delivery. I was admitted, they checked for a heart beat, put me on an IV and monitors and checked to see if I was dilated. The heart beat was strong and the same as it always was and I wasn't dilating. They wanted me to stay on the monitor and came in and checked me a lot. I was waiting for a room in mom and baby ward as it wasn't apparent that I was in labour. However, there was a lady next to me, with only a curtain dividing us, who was 29 weeks and in full labour. I just kept listening to her. She sounded really calm about it all. She mentioned to the nurse that her first was just as early and was now thriving. I really admired her attitude and just kept thinking that my baby could be okay if it needed to be born now. I still think about her and wonder how everything turned out.

To make a long story short, I had an ultrasound the next morning that showed everything was just fine. There, to this day, is no explanation as to why I bled so much throughout the pregnancy. I was sent home on bed rest for 2 weeks. Reid was born 9 weeks later. Healthy and strong.

Tonight I enjoyed watching my son play with a mini-stick and ball, rock on his cow and yell "Da, da, da" every time I asked him to say "Mom, mom, mom". What a delight. And what a difference a year makes!