In about 3 minutes flat, we scrambled out of the house and rushed off to Mercy Hospital's emergency department. During the short drive to the hospital I managed to call both my mom and dad, neither of which answered the phone. I then quickly called my brother and told him what had happened and asked him to get ahold of everyone to pray. Shortly after hanging up with him, we were pulling into the parking lot. I ran threw the doors looking like I had peed my pants and stood in the cram-packed waiting area looking for someone to help. A few seconds later, Royce came in and was on a mission to get me up to Labor and Delivery. He found a wheelchair and a nurse to wheel me right on up. We were both white as a ghost and we were terrified that something horrible had happened.
The nurses helped me get changed and settled into the triage room and immediately started looking for the heartbeat. It seemed like it took an eternity (in reality it was probably less than 60 seconds) and then there it was, the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. I think the color came back to our faces and we were able to breathe a sign of relief.
Over the next two hours, they started an IV on me, ran a few tests to confirm that my membranes had indeed ruptured, and then they gave me my first dose of steroids. Not only did I have two amazing nurses by my side but my doctor was there during my entire stay. She was simply amazing. She did a fantastic job at keeping us calm all while not giving us false hope or unrealistic expectations; she even said a prayer with us! Once they confirmed my water did break, they had to transport me via ambulance to Aultman Hospital because Mercy had recently downgraded their NICU which meant they were not longer able to take care of that early of a preemie if I did go into labor.
Once I arrived at Aultman, they got me settled in to a really nice, huge room on the antepartum floor. I was able to get comfy and relax listening to the sweet sound of Charlotte's heartbeat and hiccups. :)
--The Sigler House--
