& Then There Were 3! My Absolutely WILD Child Birthing Story

A surprise at the doctor’s office, A national IV shortage, A new baby!!

Oct 24, 2024

Friday, I went to my doctor’s office for my 36 week prenatal check up.

It should have been a routine visit - in & out.

My husband, Truman, comes with me to every appointment, but this week I was solo due to a work conflict. I told him not to worry - we wouldn’t hear anything new this week.

My appointment goes as usual: Check-in, take my vitals, get lathered in cold ultra sound jelly, look at black & white pictures of the baby on the TV screen, and then wait for the doctor to come in and say, “everything looks good; see you next week.”

At 36 weeks, I felt pretty good. It’s my first pregnancy and it came as a surprise.

I had just celebrated my baby shower 4 weeks ago.

I already set up the bassinet, put together the baby swing, washed the baby clothes, and read the first 27 pages of the Mom’s on Call book.

With 4 weeks remaining until my due date, we still had time to write our birth plan, install the car seat, wash & sterilize the bottles, pack our hospital bags, and tie up any other loose ends before baby arrives.

We’re currently renovating a 100 year old house and crashing in my parents basement.

The renovation is really coming together quickly, and there’s a chance we get into the house before our due date in November.

It would be SOOO nice to have all our things in one place and be “home” as a little family of three when she’s here!

I have visions of a perfectly organized diaper drawer, symmetrically folded baby clothes, and efficiently structured bottle making station.

Choosing paint colors, appliances arriving, and getting mail (!!!)

As I’m waiting for the doctor, I’m mentally ranking the remaining items on my to-do list and planning which days to tackle which items.

We have plenty of time. It will all come together in the end, I thought.

Then, my doctor enters:

“Yeah, so, you gotta have the baby today,” He says bluntly.
“You’re joking,” I say.
“No, I’m not. You’ve got no amniotic fluid. The baby is healthy. At 36 weeks, it’s safer to deliver now than it is to wait for 4 more weeks. Each day you wait, the risk of fetal death increases. You’ll go to the hospital now and you’ll have the baby in your arms by the afternoon.”

I’m sorry, fetal DEATH?! That didn’t seem like a great option…so, still in shock, I say:

“Ok, so I literally just… go to the hospital and have the baby?”
“Yep, I called over there and they are expecting you. You can either go now alone… OR, go home, pack a bag, get your husband, and go straight to the hospital.”

Still not grasping, I say:

“Ok, so I literally just… go home, get my husband, go to the hospital, and say ‘I’m Jessie, I’m here to have a baby’ and they’ll do the rest?”
“Yep, It’s almost 9AM now, you should be out of surgery with the baby in your arms by this afternoon. I’ll let them know you’re on your way”

Ok.

I look down at my phone.

It’s 8:57AM.

A text from my husband comes in like clock work:

“About to get on my call. How’d the appointment go? Any new news?”

I don’t want to blow up his call, so I write back a vague

“Went well, I’ll be home soon!”

In the car, panic ensues. I do my best to remain calm because I don’t want to stress the baby.

I call my parents.

I call my sister in law.

I send voice notes to my friends.

I feel a little bad that my husband will be the last to know the baby is coming TODAY, but I am literally exploding with emotion. Happiness, anxiousness, nervousness, all at once.

Then, I start to spiral:

Did he say the baby is healthy?
Is this technically an emergency C-Section? Is this an emergency? Should I be scared?
Were the nurses looking at me with sad faces when I walked out?
Why didn’t I ask more questions about what they saw on the ultra sound?
Is the baby healthy or did I imagine him saying that?

30 minutes later, I pull up to my parents house.

I swing open the door, ready to spill my guts out to Truman, and I immediately hear...

Oh my god, he’s still on the Zoom!!! WTF!

I RUN (pregnant lady style) to our bedroom in the basement.

I frantically pull up

Kate Eskuri, DNP

hospital packing list and start throwing stuff in my bag:

3 pairs of pajamas, shower shoes, toiletries, sound machine, coming home outfit, my robe, fuzzy socks…

Our baby items are strewn about the basement, middle floor, and upstairs.

I’m looking like a mad woman for the breast pump, the car seat, and the instructions to use these things.

I waddle-run upstairs then downstairs, upstairs, & back downstairs, gathering items one at a time.

All the while, Truman is still presenting on his call.

My thoughts are racing:

Did the doctor say the baby is healthy or did I make that up?
Is this an emergency C-section?
Why didn’t I order a monogrammed coming home outfit?

I run upstairs then downstairs.

Upstairs then downstairs.

My phone rings. In the midst of the chaos, it’s my mom is calling to ask if I’ve notified my grandma of the news. NOT NOW MOM!

Finally, I hear Truman, “It was pleasure speaking with you all, I’ll be in touch next week. Thank you, Goodbye.”

Not one second later, I BUST through the door with the force of an NFL player taking the field:

“IT’S TIME!!!” I say!!!
“Wait, WHAT?!” He says!

My adrenaline is at an all time high. I’m sweating from the trips up and down the stairs. I have a crazy look in my eye.

“IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME! It’s time to HAVE THE BABY!”
“Oh my god!!!”

I explain what I remember from the doctors office, which is all a blur now. He packs his bag, I quickly shower, and we race out the door to the hospital.

As advertised, my doctors were waiting for us there, they confirm the baby is healthy (thank god!!) and within a few hours, our sweet baby Rosie Rae is in our arms! She’s a libra!

As all the baby bliss is setting in, so is an insane amount of nausea, shaking, trembling, itchiness, and dizziness. I start to black out.

The good news: I’m totally fine (so I’m told) I’m just having a bad reaction to the anesthetic.

The bad news: There’s a national IV shortage, so they won’t be able to give me an IV to flush it out. I’ll have to let the anesthetic pass on its own - this could take 10-20 hours.

For about 16 hours, I’m on another planet - completely out of it, while Truman learns to swaddle, bottle feed, and change a diaper for the very first time with NONE of my help. It’s like I’m not even there.

Truman handles it like an absolute pro - running between me and Rosie checking on us both.

When the medicine finally wears off and I’m able to enjoy sweet Rosie Rae!! She’s our little 4 week early miracle. Or, as Truman says “Our October Surprise.”

Truman taking care of business 🥹 And me when I finally woke up.

I write a lot about mindset on Substack, and October 11th gave me a masterclass in flexibility.

If I had my choice between: a C-section with pain medicine OR an all natural water birth under the full moon with crystals and tarot cards, I’d choose the latter.

I didn’t have time to mourn how I expected things to go versus how they actually went.

Instead, I had to let go of my birth plan and my preferences in real time, and do the best I could with the hand I was dealt.

It was hard, but in the end, it all worked out as it was meant to. I’ll show Rosie the crystals and tarot cards NEXT full moon, but for now I’m just glad she’s here and she’s healthy.

It also pays to have a great teammate 😉. Love you Tru.

Thank you so much to my husband, my doctors, and my care team for the sweetest gift of all, a healthy and happy baby, sweet Rosie Rae.