A Scary Event

Wednesday evening seemed to be an evening like many others. The kids and I had run errands that afternoon before we went to their choir practice at our church (it's a homeschool choir, ages 4-6). Dan met us there after work so I could go to confession before the early evening Mass. When we got home we heated up and ate leftovers. After dinner, the kids all got cleaned off and then I went back to our bedroom for something before I finished cleaning up the kitchen. The kids were all excited because Dan had told them he had a surprise for them, and they all went down to the basement to wait.

Without warning, I suddenly felt an excruciating pain in my abdomen and I could barely make it over to our bed. I lay there, thinking this is a weird spasm, but then it did not go away! It felt like the worst part of the worst contraction I have ever had, except continuous. My belly was as hard as a rock, I couldn't move, and could hardly talk or even breathe. I was sweating like crazy. The minutes slowly ticked by without any relief and finally I told Dan he'd better call 911. I was terrified that something awful was happening, like a placental abruption (where it tears away from the uterine wall) or a uterine rupture.

Then, everything went into kind of a slow motion. All the local first responders showed up and then the ambulance and it seemed to take forever to get into the ambulance. It was the longest, bumpiest ride ever (30 min.)! The pain started to ease a little on the way and my belly got softer, but every time we hit a bump, ouch! I did not feel the baby move the whole way there and I was praying like mad. I knew if something catastrophic had happened in my uterus, it would be too late for the baby by the time we got there. Dan, who rode in the front of the ambulance, said all he could do was say one Hail Mary after another because he was worried that something would happen to both of us since I had just gone to confession!

Finally we got to the hospital and up to the OB floor. By this point I was able to walk the few steps from the stretcher to the bed. Then, the nurse hooked me up to the monitor. And oh, what a glorious sound! We heard the baby's heartbeat and it was strong and steady and normal! You cannot imagine how relieved and thankful we were. Then the baby proceeded to put on a show of wonderful, non-stop movement.

Then, it was a thousand questions, and this test and that test, and a sono and much monitoring. I was having contractions every 7-10 minutes, but the pain kept getting better. And every test came back normal! Even the sonogram did not show anything amiss. Eventually I was able to go home. Dan's brother picked us up and drove us home. Meanwhile his wife had taken wonderful care of the kids, put them to bed, and cleaned up the kitchen better than I would have! Were the kids freaked out? Not really, because they had no idea what was going on. Catherine told me later that they thought all those people were bringing in their surprise (the surprise was actually a Charlie Brown movie).

So what happened? The doctors couldn't say and I have no idea, but what I do know is that it was a scary event. It was the first time either of us had ever called 911. I was tired yesterday and my uterus was a little sore, but nothing further happened. I took it easy and enjoyed every movement the baby made. And I hope that never happens again!

Thank you, God!