{Cooper. Part I}

 
Cooper. Part I 

At 4am I heard my mom & dad pull out of the drive way. My mom was taking my father to the airport. He had a business trip to take. I rolled over to where Rod sleeps, to find he was not there. I had forgotten he had worked a night shift at the hospital. I laid there awake in my quite room. The children were still asleep. I tried to fall back into a dream, but I was feeling sick to my stomach & was cramping. I thought it was nothing. More unexplained pain. Just a few weeks earlier I started experiencing unusual bilateral pain across my lower abdomen. Oh my heck it was awful. It would last 4 minutes or so and take my breath away.  Now, I know what you are thinking. Oh Jen, it was probably braxton hicks. But TRUST ME! I have had 8 pregnancies and 4 births to that point and N-E-V-E-R had I felt such a need to get to the hospital quickly before term. It was scary & painful. In the end baby looked good, placenta looked good, all was okay..sort-a. 
Fast forward to that morning in bed again. 
The cramping worsened and I started to think I may be making a return trip to the hospital. So I showered, curled my hair,  folded laundry & waited for my Mom to return from the airport. The kids began to wake up one by one. I sprinkled cinnamon on toast and poured juice, signed school papers, all while taking a break every 5 minutes to get through the "cramping." (you see where this is going?) I took the big boys to school & Tre picked up on the fact that something was going on. He asked if the baby was coming today. I told him I thought so & that Omah would pick him up from school.  My Mom returned home & knew right away that I was in labor. I am hard to convince when its "time" I usually labor at home for 6 or so hours first. Finish some housework, maybe make a meal, one time i even ran on the treadmill before showering and putting on a dress. I am pretty tough when it comes to labor. She asked if I wanted to call Rod. I decided to wait till he arrived home. I was still not sure what was going on & I did not want to have a false alarm. After all, babe had 3 weeks and some days worth of cooking to do. I laid on the couch watching Max & Ruby with the children. Maddox and I held hands. I started to squeeze his tiny fingers when it hurt, but stopped myself & told him I thought we should snuggle instead. (not really wanting to break his hand.Im a good mom like that.)  
Funny part of this is just the night before my mom & I went to pick up the last odds and ends on my list. Nursing supplies, baby mits, baby soaps & oils, baby socks, a toiletry bag. & on a whim I had packed up my bag and made my list of what to add to the bag. Inspiration? Id like to think so. 
Rod arrived home after a night of no sleep. I urged him to go take a nap. I did not want to tell him until he slept for at least 2 hours. He got suspicious when I was persistent that he go to bed NOW. So I let the cat out of the bag that I was feeling like I was in labor. His face lit up. He was excited & refused to sleep.  I was not as excited. I still had 2 things on my list to get, & I felt it was too soon. I was overwhelmed. Rod grabbed my bag, my jacket & we put the last few items i needed in my diaper bag.  As we drove out of the neighborhood I was feeling very glad that we were leaving when we were. contractions were coming fast & hard. the silent tears started to come, the hand squeezing and breathing was needed in route. I started to worry that we would not get there on time.