The Last Sophie-less Day

I woke up on May 10 and started feeling those pre-labor symptoms again. It was especially inconvenient because I had to pick up your Grama Schulz from the airport that afternoon. I managed to grab her and get her home, but we were pretty pathetic. Grama woke up with aching arms from her rheumatoid arthritis, so she wasn't feeling her best either. We both claimed a couch in the living room and tried our best to get comfortable. Grama passed out and started snoring... loudly!! And I laid there feeling slightly less miserable than I felt sitting up.

Your dad came home from work, made us dinner, served us dinner, picked up after us, commented on what a riot we both were (sarcastically, of course), visited a little, watched some TV, and finally gave up on us and went to bed. Grama ate, watched some TV, and slept off and on. I had two bites of food and took over the big couch because that's where I'd been sleeping for weeks.

Grama, tiny little thing that she is, took up half a cushion on the end of my "bed." I thought she was staying up to watch a movie, but then she leaned over on my butt and started to snore again... loudly! I was so exhausted, I was actually getting five or ten minutes of sleep here and there. So when the snoring reached an all-time high, I asked her if she wanted me to record the movie so she wouldn't miss it. She said she wasn't watching it, so I asked her why she didn't go to bed. She said she thought she would stay with me since I didn't feel good, so I had to tell her to take her sweet, snoring self up to bed or I'd never get any sleep, if any more sleep was even possible. We laughed at her, and she went upstairs to bed.

The next morning I still wasn't feeling the greatest, so when the nurse at the doctor's office called and told me there was a cancellation, I was so excited not to have to wait two more days to see the doc. It was not possible for me to make it there in 35 minutes for the canceled appointment, so I told her what I'd been experiencing and she made time for me later in the afternoon.

So there we are in the tiny room, me half naked sitting on the table and your dad in the corner threatening to fart. (A threat he made at every appointment since our first trip to St. Anne's for a sonogram. I think he really had to fart that first time, and we got giggling like children because he kept coming close to me, saying he was going to blame the stink on me. After that, we just kept the joke going because we're juvenile like that.) The doc finally comes in, checks things out, and there had been no progress. After three episodes of this pre-labor stuff, my body hadn't been doing a very good job at getting ready for anything. I was so upset!! However, because of those symptoms and my high blood pressure (which had never been high before), she had me take a stress test and said we would decide what to do after that. I was hoping she would decide to get things rolling since you and I weren't getting anywhere fast.

As always, you were quite the wiggle worm, and your dad had a hard time keeping up with you and your heartbeat during the stress test. It took FOREVER! We met again with the doc. She said everything seemed OK, and I was fighting a battle in my head. Of course I wanted everything to be OK, but I also wanted to get you out of there and you didn't seem to be in any hurry. I got the impression that she was not the kind of doctor to schedule a c-section if I decided I wanted you to be born on a certain day, so I knew that if things were OK, then I was about to be sent home with a "see ya next week" and a "hang in there, sweet pea." Then the doc suggested inducing, and I started to cry. The tears were rolling down my cheeks instantly--there was no controlling them. I was so relieved! She was concerned about my high blood pressure and protein in my urine and said that preeclampsia could get bad fast. You were full-term and she had no reason to believe there would be any complications from inducing. We waited while she called the hospital, and when she came back she said the oddest thing. She told us to be at the hospital at 8:00 p.m. Eight o'clock THAT night. That's when my relief turned to panic. I really didn't think it would be scheduled THAT night.

We had hours to wait. The doc told me to eat before I came because I wouldn't eat again until after you were born. So we ate and finished putting the last few items in The Bag. The bag that I had only started packing after I found out I was going to see the doc. Your dad thought I should pack it just in case they sent me right to the hospital. I didn't thing that would happen. I almost didn't do it. But I'm glad I listened to your dad, because I was so distracted that I'm not sure what would've ended up in that bag if I had waited.

We arrived at the check-in counter at 8:00 p.m. And in true Merryman Curse style, all the rooms at the inn were full. So we waited... and we halfheartedly watched American Idol... and we went back and forth between the waiting area and the check-in counter, giving information as needed... and then they called our name, and we were on our way. May 11, 2010, was our last Sophie-less day.