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When I first found out that I was pregnant, one of my questions were, how would I know whether or not I was going into labor. There are of course a few signs of labor from contractions to your water breaking.

The thought of my water breaking was scary. I thought, it would be nice if I could just have the contractions instead of my water breaking because I didn't want my water breaking just incase I was out and about. I pictured water breaking to be a gush of water coming out all at once creating a puddle of amniotic fluid. I was also worried that my water would break while I was sleeping and our mattress would be ruined.

Of course most of us don't get to choose when or how our labor and delivery will come about. For some who are getting induced or a c-section performed, they usually get to set the date and time. Basically picking the baby's birth date.

I feared that I would not know when to go to the hospital to deliver my baby. I was scared that I would not have enough time to get to the hospital and would deliver at home or on the way to the hospital. It is common for pregnant women to fear about the labor and delivery.

I enrolled in a childbirth class where we went over the labor and delivery process, and we watched videos of women going through labor and delivery. After learning about false delivery in class, I started to fear that I would end up going to the hospital with a false alarm and would have to be sent home. I would hate to go back and forth to the hospital like one of the pregnant women in the videos that we watched.

In the early morning of December 13th, I noticed that my discharge was a little heavier than normal. I would wipe myself, but could never get it dried enough. My panty liner that I used was wetter than usual. But it was only five in the morning and I really didn't think much more of it and I went back to bed. That morning, around eight, I noticed the same amount of discharge. I thought it was a little more watery than usual, but I thought it may be nothing.

I called the doctor's office to see if they can check to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid and they told me to go to the hospital instead. I called my husband to tell him about us going to the hospital later and he asked why we couldn't just go to the doctor's office instead. I told him because if it is amniotic fluid, then we were having a baby.

After my husband came home, we got ready then ran a few errands before going to the hospital. By the time we reached the hospital, it was almost one in the afternoon. I felt the leak getting a little heavier as the hours went by. We didn't know exactly were to go, so we went to the emergency room and told them that I my water may be leaking. They told us to wait for someone to come get us. A few minutes later, someone came down with a wheelchair for me and took us upstairs to the labor and delivery room.

The nurse checked me in and then a different nurse came in to check for the amniotic fluid. They had a piece of test paper that would turn purple when it comes in contact with amniotic fluid. And after a few minutes we were able to get the test done and it came out positive. The nurse said that I was not going anywhere and that I was having my baby that day.

I cried with tears of joy and fear. I was excited to finally meet my baby, but fearful of what I was about to go through. I couldn't stop thinking about what was going to be happening in the next few hours. I was very happy about the leaking amniotic fluid because it wasn't a big mess and I didn't have to time my contractions, like we were told in the childbirth class.

I was transferred to the delivery room a few minutes later. And since I didn't bring my clothes with me, my husband went home to get it for me. Our place was only fifteen minutes away so he had plenty of time to get back.

Labor and Delivery