March 30, 2008

As we approach Nolan's first birthday, I really wanted to jot down the events that led up to his rather dramatic arrival. Mostly because I find I'm starting to forget the details. Of course, there are many things I don't remember happening at all!

As most of you know, my pregnancy with Nolan came as a huge surprise. I wasn't opposed to a third child, but I did question the timing. Sam wasn't sleeping well at all (on a good night, he'd only get me up twice), and I found out I was pregnant the week we moved out of our house on Pendleton. However, after recovering from the initial shock, I was able to enjoy what was by far my easiest pregnancy. No morning sickness, not as much swelling, and I had my mom living upstairs from me to assist with TJ and Sam. Plus, with the help of our chiropractor, we were slowly able to get Sam's tummy issues under control.

March 30, 2008 was a Sunday. It started out as a totally normal day. We all went to church in the morning and then had Sunday dinner upstairs with my parents and my sister Amanda. After lunch, Bill headed over to our house. I think he was tiling the shower at this point. My mom went over with him to help clean up various messes in the house. Amanda had to catch a flight back to Georgia, where she was finishing up her last year of teaching there. Before she left, I promised I would do my best to stay pregnant until she got back (she was coming home about 10 days after my due date). I then headed downstairs to take my Sunday afternoon nap.

I woke up from my nap and I just felt weird. It felt as if I was coming down with the flu, which I had just had a few weeks before. I tried to shake it off, but as the afternoon wore on, I felt increasingly worse. I called Bill and explained there was no way I could work on tiling the kitchen backsplash. I even asked him to send my mom home as I was having trouble taking care of TJ and Sam. Around dinnertime, a horrible pain hit me in the back. I've had kidney stones twice before, and was sure that I had another stone. Bill came back for dinner, and tried to convince me to go the E.R., but I wanted to tough it out at home. I kept hoping the stone would move so I could function again.

Around 9 p.m., I started feeling a little better. I made myself waffles (which I rarely eat, but they sounded good), and I wanted the first half of Sense and Sensibility on PBS. Then I sent a few e-mails to friends and went to bed. I was sure the stone had moved to a point where it wouldn't bother me anymore.

Boy was I ever wrong....