False Alarm!

My husband commented last night that TV and movies have really messed with his head. He has this image of what it looks like to go into labor and our experiences so far have looked nothing like that. I figure there is no better place than the Mom Squad Blog to share the story of our false alarm, so here goes.

I woke up around 12:15am Monday (10 days til my due date of the 23rd) to go visit the little girls room. I've been doing that since I was born and think I have the whole peeing thing down pat, so when I woke my husband up to tell him that while I was in the bathroom my water broke, I was pretty darn confident. We called the doctor's office and the on-call nurse returned the call. I said with confidence, "My water broke." She asked if I'd had any contractions and I'd only had one. She said go ahead to the hospital. After our phone tree system totally broke down, my poor husband had to go next door and knock on the window of our 15 year old neighbor. He knocked and said, "Ashleigh! It's Josh. Don't freak out!" If you'd ever told me my 33 year old husband would be banging on a teenage girl's window in the middle of the night I would have had some serious questions to ask!

We headed to the hospital and arrive around 1am. Cutting to the chase, they did two different tests and reported back that my water had not broken. I think my reaction was, "Are you serious?" They sent me to get an ultrasound to measure the amount of amniotic fluid and there was plenty. The tech did say that since I hadn't had an ultrasound since my 20 week appointment he can't say if I'd LOST any fluid (no levels to compare it to) but that the amount he measured was perfect and baby looked fine. He also estimated that the little lad is already at 8lbs. Ouch.

While we were having the ultrasound, which took about 25 minutes I had three very strong contractions. I was almost squirming and I like to think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so even as he was saying, there's plenty of fluid and the other tests came back negative, I was still thinking that we were having this baby.

We head back to our other room and the painful contractions stop, although I'd been having mini ones since 12:15. The doctor said it was probably because I had to lay flat and my oxygen levels were down that the contractions got stronger.

At this point it's about 3:30am and my husband comments that our alarm is going off in an hour to get up for work. The doctor asks me what I do for a living and I say, "I work on the morning show at a radio station." She stares at me and just says, "You're Abby."

There are certain instances in life where an amount of anonymity is desired. This is one of them. She said, "I listen every morning!" I said, "You just saw my nether-region".  Awkward!

The doctor is ready to send us home except for the fact that my blood pressure is sky-high. She keeps asking me preeclampsia type questions and they turn down the lights so I can relax before getting one more reading on my BP. All ends up well and we get in the car to head home around 5am.

Honestly, I still don't believe it. You know the whole, "You know your body best" women's intuition thing. I still think it was my water breaking in some form. Not that I don't trust the doctors or their tests. I do! I just keep replaying that moment in my head and am so confused.

The other odd thing is how this is the complete opposite from what happened when Liam was born. My water broke and I had no idea. After about six hours I finally called the doctor and they told us to go in. No contractions. When I got there the test read positive, still no contractions. When the nurse said my water broke, I said, "So what does that mean?" Duh. It means you're having a baby today! This time, I was sure it was my water, and I had a few contractions and we got the boot!

The good news is that I have my 38 week appointment today and it's with the same doctor as the other night, so we don't have to do a recap, just cut right to the chase!

Anyone have a similar story? Of course I looked online and saw a woman's post that two tests came up negative and the fluid levels looked fine and they had the baby the next day. What's your crazy labor story? 

A Prize for MOM!

First things first, yes, you can nominate yourself. Voting is open now for our Momentous Mom contest. Listen to the calls here and help a mother out with your vote! For the rest of us, we have our Mother's Day Prayer bookmarks. Just email contest@spiritfm905.com with your name and address if you want one and we'll pop one in the mail.

And exclusive to the Mom Squad Blog is another sweet prize. I have a gift pack from iMOM.com (a t-shirt and copy of Susan Merrill's book, The Passionate Mom, Dare to Parent in Today's World) and a one hour massage from In His Hands Massage Therapy. The massage can be in-home or at the massage facility.

To enter to win the prize, just leave a comment below telling me your FAVORITE part of being a mom.

Bedtime is not an acceptable answer.

If I could win, my entry would say: The last five minutes before bed when we cuddle and hug and say our prayers. Liam is practicing making the sign of the cross which pretty much means he taps his shoulder and his chest, and then says "men" after I say "A". It's the best moment of my day!

Prayer Craps

I had a feeling that headline would get your attention. I'm referring to the dice game, craps, of course. I came across this idea and think it's awfully cute. I don't know what age is the right age to try this since the older kids might think it's lame, but who knows. Maybe you can put a spin on it that would make it more appealing to the "mature" crowd. If you have a brood of children you could also have a second cube (more authentic to the actual game of craps) and write a name on each side. Whichever name comes up is the spokesperson for the prayer time.

If you aren't Catholic and don't have the selection of written prayers (although I encourage you to check out  the "Guardian Angel" prayer and the "Glory Be" especially) you could have on one side, "Pray for a friend" and on another, "What are you thankful for today?". The sky is the limit! And it's a dice game where you'll be a winner every time!