The last weeks of my pregnancy went by as if I was underwater. Each day dragged on and with every hour that passed without so much as a Braxton Hicks I became more uncomfortable. I tried hard not to be impatient, though I suspected (and was right) that I would go pretty far past my 'guess date'. Friends and family sent messages daily enquiring about the whereabouts of the baby, which I appreciated but found also made me anxious. I felt open to whatever birth experience was coming my way—I just didn't want to be induced.
On June 30th, 8 days past my due date with no signs that I was anywhere close to going into labour, we went to BC Women's early in the morning for a routine check-up they give to women who go past 41 weeks. I first had an ultrasound to check fluid levels and everything looked good. We went down the hall to have an NST done. They got me all hooked up and within 5 minutes things started happening. The nurses started to look concerned and were having me move from my right to my left side. Out of nowhere someone slapped an oxygen mask over my face and they started to wheel me away down the hall. I really didn't know what was going on but this strange sense of calm came over me. I could feel him kicking away as normal so I wasn't very alarmed. Andy chased after us and they explained that his heartbeat had decelerated way down and didn't come back up to totally "normal" range. There was mention of a c-section then. It was a little shocking. We didn't have anything packed because we thought we'd be in and out in an hour and back home waiting another week for him to show up. They wheeled me into the labour & delivery triage and decided to monitor me for a few more hours because he hadn't had any more big decelerations. Over those hours he did continue to drop down into the 90s but would come back up right away and they didn't seem that concerned. His heart rate was a little slower than what's considered 'normal' but after a few hours they realized that was normal for him. They weren't happy to leave it any longer, and so, I was induced. Of course.
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