I'm Really Pregnant? I'm Having a Baby?

Been kind of in a lull as far as doctor visits, tracking tornadoes, and buying weather tracking equipment goes. We are incubating nicely though. We hit 14 weeks this Thursday and all is well. This blurb describes what's up this week:

Your baby is still only about 3-4 inches long (9-11cm) and weighs between 1-2 ounces. This week, its neck begins to lengthen a bit and the fine body hair called lanugo continues to grow on other parts of his body from now until birth. Your baby begins to urinate into the amniotic fluid and also practices "breathing" the fluid into her lungs. In this week of pregnancy, your baby can also begin to move its fingers and make a fist.

I keep getting asked if I am going to deliver the baby. I will if I have to, but I think I am going to give Emilee a break on this one and let the pro's do it. But all of the asking reminded me of the times I have dealt with women who were about to burst, and I thought I would tell a little story.

Most of you have heard stories from me. I consider some of the situations we run into in EMS as a perk. Emilee and I really got to talking to each other because of a psych patient. You never know what or who you are going to run into on a daily basis; especially at 3 o'clock in the morning in the low rent district. Yes Sandy Springs has those too.

So here I am with my partner (Eva) responding to an abdominal pain call. We walk into a sparsely furnished apartment. There is an air mattress in the middle of the main room and one lamp for light. As we walk into the apartment I am directed to a smallish peculiar looking woman who is sitting in the corner. I remember thinking to myself that "no wonder her stomach hurts, she about 13 months pregnant."

I mean you could see the kids foot prints in her belly as he tried to communicate to the outside world that it was show time. But here is where the story turns. Not as bad as the little kid warning you that the fat person is backing up when a pager is going off, but it turns. So as I am lifting her shirt to expose her belly I ask her in a very sarcastic way if there is a chance she's pregnant. I can already hear her telling me she is overdue when she answers in a tinny voice "No, I'm not pregnant."

Normally I handle unexpected answers pretty well, but this one stumped me. I turned to Eva who just shrugged her shoulders and started to laugh at me as she told me that this patient was all mine. So I start with my typical history of her current condition (BTW, this was in May). Questions like: when was your last period (late August), when was the last time you were sexually active (late last summer), what time did the pain start (about 7 AM), can you describe it to me (crampy, off and on, and it gets closer together).

I was lost. It had been a really long day and I was doubting myself. I counted on my fingers to do the last menstrual cycle math. I asked her about 10 times if there was any way she was pregnant, if she had felt weird "movements" in her stomach. She did say she spent about 6 weeks being very nauseated in the early fall, and that she felt really bloated lately. I even called Northside's ER to make sure that I had not missed something REALLY big. Then I broke the news to her.

"We're not going to the ER; we are going to the L&D part of the hospital because you are having a baby!" Her affect was completely flat as she asked "I'm really pregnant, I'm having a baby?" I told her yes and we ran into the L&D. The only response I got from the nurse I gave the report to was "you've got to be Sh..ing me!" Unfortunately I wasn't. But fortunately the baby was fine and ended up in a good home. I know because I ran the same patient six months later and she thanked me for telling her she was having a baby.


Stay Safe,

Rob