Chance's Birth Story (Part 1)

Chance's due date was Wednesday, August 16.  As the date got closer and closer, I was showing no sign of going into labor.  John and I talked with my doctor and he recomended inducing me on my due date if Chance didn't make his appearance earlier. 
So at my 39 week appointment (8/11), everything seemed like I would be checking into the hospital bright and early on Wednesday the 17th to be induced.  Mom and Dad had arranged their flights to arrive on Tuesday so they would have a day to get settled in and would just hang out at the hospital on Wednesday to wait it out with us.  My last day of work was Friday, August 12.  It was such a weird feeling preparing my voicemail and email for maternity leave and knowing that the next time I saw my co-workers I would have a baby!!
I had one last doctor's visit scheduled for Monday 8/15.  I got up, walked to the doctor's office, and waited for my mid-morning appointment.  Everything looked fine with Chance, but my blood pressure was high.  This made me a little worried since this was the first time in my entire pregnancy for it to be high.  Dr. Mansour wasn't overly concerned, which did make me feel better.  He had me go to the ultrasound clinic for one last look at Chance.  He looked great and they estimated he would weigh around 7 pounds...which made me happy!  I was so worried I would have a 10 pounder!! So after my ultrasound I went back to my doctor.  He looked it over, checked my blood pressure one last time and gave me orders to go rest for the next two days until I arrived at the hospital for my induction.
I went home and pretty much sat in the chair and watched TV until John got home.  He brought us dinner and we sat around and took it easy that night.  Around 8:00 my back started hurting and I told John I felt a little weird.  Neither one of us thought much of it as I tend to be somewhat of a hypochondriac.  After my long day at doctor's appointments and the news of high blood pressure, I just thought I was creating symptoms in my head!  I did start watching the clock as I felt the pains in my lower back and noticed that about every 15 minutes I would feel them.  Once they became 10 minutes apart I told John I thought I was having contractions.  We both knew this didn't necesarily mean Chance was on his way but we did slowly start making some preparations just in case.  We both updated the playlists on our phones and charged the cameras.  I made sure I had everything together in my hospital bag and John threw a few things together for his.  I also downloaded a "contraction timer" on my iphone.  Anytime I felt one coming on I would click the timer and it kept up with how long they were and how far apart.  My contractions were slowly getting closer together.... 8 minutes, 7 minutes.... but they were somewhat irregular.  One would last a minute then the next would be 20-30 seconds.  I started to not feel well, so I took a long hot shower which really helped.  After this, John went to get our car (our car is parked about a mile from our apartment) so we could leave for the hospital whenever and didn't have to rely on a taxi! 
I called my doctor once my contractions were consistenly 5 minutes apart.  He said he thought I should go in to the hospital and that they would page him if I was admitted.  So, around 1:30 a.m. we grabbed our bags and headed to Brigham and Women's Hospital.