A Baby Story: Part I

A few weeks ago, my brother sent me a great article discussing why pregnant women don't fall over. It's really fun to read, and talks about the evolution of the human spine compensating for the forward-heaviness of women during pregnancy, and is worth a read. Here's what I want to know: How does a forward-heavy pregnant woman carrying a 25lb toddler on her front topple over backwards?

This is what I did Friday, 10am. Down the stairs.

I'm a little shaken up, but not nearly as much as the two-year old who is completely unharmed and is merely responding to my loud shout as I went down...and down and down. I would probably have responded with much more hysteria if I hadn't had to calm her down first. I do get a nasty rugburn and am kind of sore, but other than that I can walk around and don't feel like anything is broken. Still, I feel I need to check with my doctor, who tells me to go to the hospital just to make sure everything is okay.

11am, at the hospital. They hook me up to a fetal monitor and the baby's heartbeat sounds great. That's a relief. But they won't let me eat lunch because they're waiting for the results of a blood test that would indicate if the placenta has abrupted from the uterus...which would be a serious problem. I have to have an empty stomach in case they do an emergency C-section. Woah! I was planning on doing laundry and making cookies and cleaning the kitchen today, not having a baby! They tell me they will keep me there for four hours while we wait for the test results.

1:00pm, A neighbor takes Leah for us, and my good husband stays by my side offering to get me anything I need. All I really want is lunch, and that's out of the question. So we wait.

5:00pm, The doctor checks in to say the test results are normal. I'm having contractions every 3-5 minutes, but they aren't painful. The doc didn't stop the contractions since I'm just about full-term anyway, and stopping the contractions could mask other problems if there were any. There's no risk that the baby is going to fall out...But the contractions could be a symptom of the trauma of falling down the stairs, so the doctor wants me to stay in the hospital overnight just to make sure there isn't any internal bleeding. I am glad that my doctor errs on the side of caution, since sending me home too early and having a problem 1/2 hour later is way worse than an uneventful 24 hour hospital stay. I ask Chris to bring me something to do, and he jokes that he'll bring back a basket of laundry...I'm glad someone has a sense of humor!

6:30pm, Chris brings me Subway and it is soooooo good. Then he leaves me for the night and I settle in to a night of boredom. I watch a movie and talk on the phone and when I go to bed, they give me a sleep aid. Alhtough I wake up a few times, I think I sleep fairly well and have enough pillows to call myself comfortable.

Rx: Rest and Relaxation
On one hand, I don't exactly have the luxury of a change of clothes, a toothbrush, unlimited mobility, and my trusty laptop, but I guess the beauty of the situtation is that I don't have to make or clean up dinner, I don't have to listen to the whines of a 2 year old, and I can sleep until I wake up, not until my two-year old wakes up. In that respect, I get to relax.

Saturday 8:00am, I wake up and eat breakfast, they steal some more blood.

10:30am, The blood test is normal, Chris and Leah come back to pick me up (after peeking at the babies in the nursery, of course), and they let me go home!

1:00 pm I'm at home. I'm showered and cleanly dressed, have finally brushed my teeth and we're hosting a Christmas party in 6 hours. I get a call from the doctor who says I might have to go back to the hospital for another Rhogam shot...he'll get back to me. (Isn't it great to be Rh Neg?)

I'm feeling pretty good and I'm still pregnant. So what do I do next? Go back to the hospital for another blood test? Lay on the couch and moan and make people bring me stuff? Make cookies? Clean the house?

Whatever I do, I'm not falling down the stiars.