We did it! We're pregnant! I'll never forget the look on Larry's face when I told him the good news on October 23, 1998. He was smiling from ear to ear. I was 5 weeks pregnant and so happy. The pregnancy was almost flawless. I say "almost" flawless because I started to measure smaller than average at my 20 week appointment, so Dr. G. ordered an ultrasound. The ultrasound was on February 15, 1999, at 21 weeks and 3 days gestation. The results were great and our baby was right on target, growing perfectly...due date was June 25, 1999. Larry and I were also hoping to find out if this beautiful baby growing inside me was a boy or a girl, but of course, Sydney did not want us to know. She wanted her sex to be a surprise, and it was !
During the second half of the pregnancy, my measurements continued to be consecutively smaller than the average pregnant woman. There seemed to be no real concern since the ultrasound had great growth results and the small measurements were consecutively 3 cm shorter than average, not dropping any smaller, so that meant to us that our baby was still growing perfect with the dates. Sydney was so active inside of me and always had a good strong heartbeat that I felt no threat of danger at all. I mean, "My baby won't die or have a birth defect. That stuff only happens to other people...not me!" so I went on naively just as if nothing was going to go wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong.
At my 37 week 4 day checkup on June 8th, 1999, effacement was taking place but no dilation. Dr. G. thought that if dilation would have been present at my next appointment that labor would most likely have followed that week...between 38 and 39 weeks. I also measured much smaller than I was before, so another ultrasound was ordered, scheduled for June 14, 1999, at 1:00 pm...IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Retardation) was suspected. I'll never forget that specific appointment because I will always wonder if the turn she made while Dr. G. and I were listening to her heartbeat was the one that started our nightmare. Sydney was so active that she moved herself from one side of my womb completely to the other side and Dr. G. had to relocate her heartbeat on the other side of my belly...almost like she was trying to say, "Hey, get that thing off of me!" Questions that I will always have are: Was the cord already around her neck or was that the turn that wrapped the cord around her neck? If the cord was already around her neck, then could that have been the turn that doubled it around or was that the turn that started to tighten it like a rubber band? I will never know the answers to any of these questions, but I will always wonder if that was the start of the end of the active life that Sydney lived inside my womb.
After that appointment I tried to get as much finished in Sydney's room as I could. It still wasn't completed but it was almost there, just a few minor details left to complete.
We strongly felt that we should enroll Kendall in a Sibling Class since she was the only child in our home and was almost 4 years old by the last month of my pregnancy. Kendall was more prepared than I thought to have a little brother or sister at home. The class was a great resource for all of us. Being a "Big Sister" was going to be a "big" responsibility for Kendall, and she was ready for the job.
While at work the morning of June 14th, just 6 days after my last check-up, I started having mild contractions around 8:20 am. I was already planning on leaving early for the ultrasound at 1:00 pm. The contractions never grew stronger, they stayed steady at every 5-7 minutes, lasting 30-45 seconds long, but I decided to leave work even earlier. I left around 11:15 am and came home to decide if I would call Dr. G or just wait and go to the ultrasound. I ended up calling him and he said that if I wanted I could come in and he would check me. Of course I went in and I arrived about 11:45 am...just before lunch. I didn't call Larry at work yet because I wanted to make sure that this wasn't false labor first. I wish that I would have called him anyway so I wouldn't have been there alone. As soon as I walked in the office, Dr. G. saw me right away and I was anxious to know if I was in real labor or false labor. The contractions were definitely doing their thing. I was dilated between 3-4 cm. YIPPEE!! Our baby was going to be born in a matter of hours. I couldn't have been more excited at the time.
Then, next, a heart rate check. This horrible nightmare begins...
