Three years ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a bang!…that fizzled.
Two weeks prior to Thanksgiving 2008, I went in for my 32-gestational-week appointment on a Friday morning and there it was discovered that I was having contractions without my feeling it. Odd, isn’t it? Most people probably associate excruciating pain with contractions. If what I was experiencing was a contraction, I thought, this should be a walk in the park then!
I spoke too soon, of course. 32 weeks is still early for delivery and my doctor preferred that I reach at least 35 weeks, even 34 weeks. So she ordered me to drive straight to the hospital which was just a block away, thankfully, and get that contraction slowed down. It’s not time yet, little baby boy Ballast, my doctor said.
There were wires hooked up all over me and there was the magic drip drip drip of medicine that was meant to slow down the contraction, which, at this point, was happening every five to ten minutes. Hubby never left my side, never mind that we didn’t bring our delivery bag that was supposed to have already been packed and stowed away in the trunk for emergency situations such as that one. Anyways…the nurses would come in to check on me and each time, they’d say, “Do you feel that?” “Nope!,” came my response. Even Hubby got on it too…”You just had another one. Did you feel that?” “Nope!,” me again.
By Friday evening, the contractions had slowed down significantly to an hour interval. We were told to plan on staying until Saturday. After that, it’s up to my doctor whether to release or keep me for who knows how long. Saturday came and by that afternoon, I was contraction-free! Yeay! I was released but with a very stern warning to keep off my feet. (Funny…the night before the appointment, I was on my knees, scrubbing our new one-month-old oven from the chicken grease we had for dinner that night…those crazy hormones!)
So…since my Mother-in-law was planning on being present for the delivery of our baby boy Ballast, we called her up in the Philippines to let her know that we had an almost delivery that weekend but that baby boy Ballast cooperated and for the time being, is kept happy in his Mommy’s womb. Concerned that baby boy Ballast might act up again and decide to come before his Lola got there, my MIL changed her arrival to a week ahead of scheduled flight. She arrived the week of Thanksgiving and we were actually thrilled to have had her with us for Thanksgiving, though sad that my Father-in-law was by himself (he did celebrate Thanksgiving with Hubby’s older brother and his family who lived nearby). Up until Thanksgiving day, I was very careful not to over exert myself. I was on the couch a lot, watching every cooking, travel, and craft shows on public television. And Sunday football!
Thanksgiving came rolling…my MIL and Hubby were in charge of food. Feeling more energetic and less concerned about popping the baby out since I’ve reached 34 weeks, I decided to take on the Christmas bedecking of our house…you know, make myself useful. By dinner time, the house was starting to look a lot like Christmas, the smell in the house was insanely delicious, and the food was set for some festive eating. The menu consisted of rosemary lamb roast, double baked marshmallow stuffed sweet potatoes, and roasted asparagus. Sounds too gourmet, ya? Well, to say it was delicious is an understatement. And I was eating for two so I had every reason to indulge. Of course, at about that time, I really can’t eat too much anymore…I generally felt bloated all the time. Nonetheless, I enjoyed every bit of that dinner. Until…
An hour later, I felt a pain in my back and shrugged it off but thought this may be the day we get to meet baby boy Ballast! And the pain just got worst every ten minutes. Excruciating! Exactly how I thought contractions should feel. So off we went to the hospital. They admitted us at the triage and within five minutes of getting all hooked up and settled, I felt sweaty, the pain in my back was at its all time worst, and I couldn’t figure out whether to cry or scream first. Then I said, “I think I feel my dinner coming back up!” My poor MIL – only a nurse’s heart like hers would put up with a DIL (is that daughter-in-law in text terms?) who pukes out her Thanksgiving dinner she’s worked hard to prepare. But hey, I was pregnant; besides, I could actually be delivering soon. NOT! False alarm, the nurses said, as they monitored me for another hour and no other contraction occurred. All that – the pain, the puking, c’mon! Nope, baby boy Ballast was being tricky. He had to wait another two weeks after Thanksgiving before finally finally deciding to come out. (Not that it was up to him, really. At least, I think not. Anywho…)
So yeah…it’s been awhile since I had lamb roast. I know I will still enjoy it because I like its flavor and I miss it.
I hope at this point you already had your Thanksgiving dinner…if not, I apologize, and if (1) you’re pregnant and about to pop, (2) you’re about to eat Thanksgiving dinner, and (3) you’re feeling squeamish doing so, please do give me a call or write me a note and I will promise to make you a dinner to make up for what you might have missed today.
Happy Thanksgiving 2011!
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – I Thessalonians 5:18