So I have had a lot of people messaging me wondering what happened, and why everyone was talking about the story of Annabelle's birth.. so I thought I would, in traditional Brittany style, write it down. Warning:: This isn't the nicely wrapped up TLC version of A Baby Story, but of course, with me writing it, would you ever think it would be? haha
Mike and I were pretty excited about our scheduled c-section date for our new baby. March 17th, St.Patty's day, seemed like an awesome day to have a birthday (hello Green beer.. of course NOT until she is 25). We had plans to come down on the Sunday night (the 15th) to Melfort, relax, go swimming with Ben, watch a movie and spend a little quality time before the baby was born. Then, on the 16th (Monday) Mike and Ben would head into Saskatoon to pick my mom up from the airport and I would go to my pre-op appointment and relax at the hotel because I had been feeling pretty crappy the last few days.
We got into Melfort on Sunday and on Monday morning, we woke up to a huge blizzard and heard through the small town grapevine that roads were getting closed all around Saskatoon. After lunch, Mike left by himself (who needs a potentially screaming toddler when the roads are slicker than the ice surface at the Saddledome) and Ben and I settled in to an afternoon of napping and relaxing.... or so we thought. I should have guessed that my water would break when Mike was the furthest away he could be, but although I have read many a self-help book on tapping into your psychic talents, I couldn't.
After a hundredth trip to the washroom that day, I had, what I can best describe as a movie moment. I took two steps and was suddenly acutely aware that my water had just broken, all over the shag carpeting in our 70's style hotel room. Great, just great I thought.. how the bleep am I going to clean THAT up. I wasn't too worried about the whole water breaking thing.. I had no contractions and I knew that it could be days before I actually went into labor. So I phoned Bonnie in Naicam, and asked her if she could come to Melfort, because despite the fact that I knew I wasn't in labor, I knew I had to be checked out. She said she'd be on her way to come and hang out with Ben while I went in. Ben woke up from his nap and I started getting him changed and organized and packed his toys until.. oh crap it happened again. My god, I thought, can there really be THAT much water in there.. oh well.. still no contractions, still no problems. Until it happened again, then again, and one more time before I thought, OK, screw the carpet, I think I should maybe hurry up and get myself to the hospital. I phoned Amy (Mike's sister and ER nurse) and she thought I should maybe get a move on it. I stared blankly around the room and did the math:
Mike is at least two hours away, Bonnie is about 30 minutes away, I am alone in a hotel room in Melfort, with a child I can't leave, and no car to transport us anywhere. Hmmm..
So I called Mike's buddy Ryan at the RCMP detachment in Melfort. He said to call if I needed anything, although I'm not sure he signed up for a woman in labor. Either way I called him and told him what happened and he said he was on his way. A few minutes later he showed up in an unmarked police car, to find me waddling out the front door with a towel not-so-discretely tucked between my legs, pulling a MCQueen suitcase on wheels holding Ben's hand and convincing him this was going to be SUPER fun! Off we went, on at 3:20 (my water broke at 3:00) I had my first contraction.
Everything started to get fuzzy right about then, when I realized, yep, this IS labor, and yep, Mike's nowhere close to being here. In fact, I still hadn't even called him. I figured I should get checked out first, and not worry him on the terrible roads until I had to. Not to mention my mom was now with him, and I wasn't sure her pacemaker could take the jolt.. let's just say mom isn't what you would describe as 'cool as a cucumber'. Anyways to make a labor story short, by the time I got in, got checked out, and was seen by a doctor, I was informed I was over 8 cm dilated and in no short time I would be pushing. This was only an hour after my water broke.. talk about rushing it!
Anyways to end this already long story, my mom and Mike made it at about 5:00,( I eventually called them.. I hear the drive back to Melfort was a wee bit faster than the speed limit) just as I was getting my epidural (Mike literally did an 180 degree turn and left.. we all know what happened last time! haha) and by 6:51pm I was holding my baby girl and still a little stunned by the whole thing. In the meantime, Ryan waited and kept Ben company until Bonnie got there. And once she arrived, Bonnie helped me through my labor until my mom and Mike got there (turns out you REALLY need a little moral support when you are in labor!!) and Ben was an all-star watching his DVD's in the next room and never complained once!
So that's the story.. thanks again to everyone for their wonderful congrats and wishes.. I really felt quite weepy actually reading everyone's comments (blame the post-natal hormones). It's nice to know people are so caring, and I cannot thank my wonderful Bonnie for being her awesome, calm, laid back self!!! (And getting stuck with a friend in labor!! haha)
Mike and I were pretty excited about our scheduled c-section date for our new baby. March 17th, St.Patty's day, seemed like an awesome day to have a birthday (hello Green beer.. of course NOT until she is 25). We had plans to come down on the Sunday night (the 15th) to Melfort, relax, go swimming with Ben, watch a movie and spend a little quality time before the baby was born. Then, on the 16th (Monday) Mike and Ben would head into Saskatoon to pick my mom up from the airport and I would go to my pre-op appointment and relax at the hotel because I had been feeling pretty crappy the last few days.
We got into Melfort on Sunday and on Monday morning, we woke up to a huge blizzard and heard through the small town grapevine that roads were getting closed all around Saskatoon. After lunch, Mike left by himself (who needs a potentially screaming toddler when the roads are slicker than the ice surface at the Saddledome) and Ben and I settled in to an afternoon of napping and relaxing.... or so we thought. I should have guessed that my water would break when Mike was the furthest away he could be, but although I have read many a self-help book on tapping into your psychic talents, I couldn't.
After a hundredth trip to the washroom that day, I had, what I can best describe as a movie moment. I took two steps and was suddenly acutely aware that my water had just broken, all over the shag carpeting in our 70's style hotel room. Great, just great I thought.. how the bleep am I going to clean THAT up. I wasn't too worried about the whole water breaking thing.. I had no contractions and I knew that it could be days before I actually went into labor. So I phoned Bonnie in Naicam, and asked her if she could come to Melfort, because despite the fact that I knew I wasn't in labor, I knew I had to be checked out. She said she'd be on her way to come and hang out with Ben while I went in. Ben woke up from his nap and I started getting him changed and organized and packed his toys until.. oh crap it happened again. My god, I thought, can there really be THAT much water in there.. oh well.. still no contractions, still no problems. Until it happened again, then again, and one more time before I thought, OK, screw the carpet, I think I should maybe hurry up and get myself to the hospital. I phoned Amy (Mike's sister and ER nurse) and she thought I should maybe get a move on it. I stared blankly around the room and did the math:
Mike is at least two hours away, Bonnie is about 30 minutes away, I am alone in a hotel room in Melfort, with a child I can't leave, and no car to transport us anywhere. Hmmm..
So I called Mike's buddy Ryan at the RCMP detachment in Melfort. He said to call if I needed anything, although I'm not sure he signed up for a woman in labor. Either way I called him and told him what happened and he said he was on his way. A few minutes later he showed up in an unmarked police car, to find me waddling out the front door with a towel not-so-discretely tucked between my legs, pulling a MCQueen suitcase on wheels holding Ben's hand and convincing him this was going to be SUPER fun! Off we went, on at 3:20 (my water broke at 3:00) I had my first contraction.
Everything started to get fuzzy right about then, when I realized, yep, this IS labor, and yep, Mike's nowhere close to being here. In fact, I still hadn't even called him. I figured I should get checked out first, and not worry him on the terrible roads until I had to. Not to mention my mom was now with him, and I wasn't sure her pacemaker could take the jolt.. let's just say mom isn't what you would describe as 'cool as a cucumber'. Anyways to make a labor story short, by the time I got in, got checked out, and was seen by a doctor, I was informed I was over 8 cm dilated and in no short time I would be pushing. This was only an hour after my water broke.. talk about rushing it!
Anyways to end this already long story, my mom and Mike made it at about 5:00,( I eventually called them.. I hear the drive back to Melfort was a wee bit faster than the speed limit) just as I was getting my epidural (Mike literally did an 180 degree turn and left.. we all know what happened last time! haha) and by 6:51pm I was holding my baby girl and still a little stunned by the whole thing. In the meantime, Ryan waited and kept Ben company until Bonnie got there. And once she arrived, Bonnie helped me through my labor until my mom and Mike got there (turns out you REALLY need a little moral support when you are in labor!!) and Ben was an all-star watching his DVD's in the next room and never complained once!
So that's the story.. thanks again to everyone for their wonderful congrats and wishes.. I really felt quite weepy actually reading everyone's comments (blame the post-natal hormones). It's nice to know people are so caring, and I cannot thank my wonderful Bonnie for being her awesome, calm, laid back self!!! (And getting stuck with a friend in labor!! haha)
