“Labor and Delivery! Why Labor and Delivery?” I shouted as we swiftly moved through the dark hallway in the hospital through the Labor and Delivery doors. My fears seemed to of fallen on deaf ears as no one seemed to want to answer my questions, “Why Labor and Delivery? Am I having this baby?” Fear swelled inside me as I rode along realizing it was too early. The baby could not survive yet. The medical staff moved quickly to test the liquid that soaked my pants. It became clear they also did not know why I was wet and my baby’s life depended on finding out quickly. After several very stressful minutes, the results came back negative for amniotic fluid. I just wet my pants, which was embarrassing, but I have never been so thankful. However, they could not find the baby’s heartbeat, so the fear never completely lifted. They told us it was not uncommon to have trouble finding a heartbeat after a traumatic experience, but that was not as comforting as they had hoped.
The shape of the steering wheel started to show up on my chest as a red and purple bruise. The seat belt did not stop me from hitting the steering wheel, but it did keep me inside the car. After x-raying my neck, with nothing broken, just a little bruising, aches, and pain, even though they never found the baby’s heartbeat, they sent me home with a neck brace and advised me not to pick up anything over five pounds. Defeated and concerned, my family and I walked out of Labor and Delivery doors and through the maze of dark hallways until we reached an outside door. As we stepped out into the cool crisp night with nowhere to go and no car to go there, we sat down on the stairs and Tod said, “Now what?”
Stay tuned for the next installment.