Three Pregnancies

As the days tick down to Alaina's due date, I keep mulling over my pregnancies. Every pregnancy is different. Certainly every birth is as well.

#1 - Lizzie was due 9/26/03. The main mishap with this "sort of unplanned" pregnancy was that I managed to burn my belly on a iron mid-way through. Otherwise, things went well. My main fears were that my water would break in public and our expected girl and would actually be a boy (I had already washed the girl clothing).

My water broke at 1 a.m., the day before my due date (I was up writing a paper). I called my nurse midwife and then abandoned the paper and went to sleep. I noticed the contractions when Andrew woke me up a couple hours later. I stayed home as long as I could stand the pain. When we got to the Georgetown Hospital (around 6 or 7 a.m.) I asked for an epidural as we were checking in and had to stop several times wait out the pain as I walked to my room at the absolute end of the hall. I absolutely loved the epidural when it came.

Liz was born around 10:30 a.m. (with the cord wrapped around her neck) after about 20 minutes of pushing which seemed like a long time to me. We stupidly forgot to bring our still camera, but remembered the video camera so fortunately we have some record of our time in the hospital. Liz was 8 pounds, 3 ounces, 20 inches long. We were completely smitten with her.

#2 - Jacob was due 11/26/07. We planned this one and it took us six months to get pregnant. My main fears this time around were that I would end up with a male doctor and a shared room at the hospital. Looking back, those fears seem so silly.

On 10/25 we learned that our baby had died in utero and were completely devastated. My doctor scheduled an induction for later that night. We arrived at Fairfax Hospital about 11:30 p.m. I got an epidural the minute I felt slight cramping. Jacob was born breach about 9:30 the next morning (exactly one month before his due date) after about 5/10 minutes of pushing. Actually he was part way out before the nurse and doctor even came in the room. This time around we remembered to bring our still camera but left the video camera at home. Still, we were too upset to take many pictures. Jake was 6 pounds, 2 ounces. We miss him still.

After Jacob died I had four agonizing weeks to wade through until his due date. I kept thinking "I should still be pregnant" and felt so sad.

#3 - Alaina was due 9/26/08. My main fear this time around was a miscarriage or another stillborn. This "sort of unplanned" pregnancy was pretty uneventful (aside from my extreme anxiety and "high risk" status) till I hit 32 weeks whereupon I started getting weekly non-stress tests.

At 34 weeks I was put on bed rest because I was dilated to three and unknowingly having contractions. Two days before I reached 37 weeks my water broke. We again headed to Fairfax hospital. The epidural was not as affective as with previous deliveries and I felt more pain/discomfort than I expected. Like Liz, Alaina was born with the cord wrapped around her neck. She weighted 7 pounds.

Since Lainey's birth I have had three sleep-deprived weeks. I keep thinking "I should still be pregnant" and I feel relief--relief that Laina's alive, relief that the pregnancy is over.