Last Friday, August 28, marked the beginning of Brielle’s 30th week! I felt really bad that I hadn’t planned anything special for her this weekend, I mean it’s her 30th birthday! So David brought home cupcakes from Gigi’s (wedding cake, red velvet, strawberry shortcake, and bubblegum), and we threw her a small birthday party. We sang her happy birthday and blew party horns, because we didn’t have any candles. Mommy fail this weekend.

She really liked the bubblegum cupcake, but it was seriously awful. I tried so hard to eat it for her, but really I just couldn’t. So we had strawberry shortcake instead, she dealt with it. We went to Chattanooga this weekend and hung out with some of David’s friends and met his mom, Brielle’s BeBe, for dinner.

Sunday morning I woke up with terrible lower back and lower abdominal pain. I drank some water and laid down for a few more hours, hoping the pain would subside. It didn’t. So I called my midwife and she wanted to see me at the hospital. So Brielle, David, and I spent Sunday at the hospital. This is a big concern, because Brielle has polyhydramnios she is at risk of going into preterm labor (because my body thinks I’m around nine months along).

We were supposed to meet up with my doula Sunday at Starbucks, instead we met up at the hospital. It was wonderful to get to meet Lauren. She is so kind and I adore her. She is another anencephaly mom, so she is incredibly supportive and understanding during this time.

I had monitors all over me to capture Brielle’s heart rate and make sure I wasn’t having contractions. I had to stay very still, and in strange positions to get her heart rate at all. Little Brielle was determined not to be monitored and kept trying to kick it off or run away from it. At one point she kicked it so hard the nurse jumped back and said, “Whoa!”

David and I had fun listening to Brielle’s heart beat. I wanted to see her reaction when we played her music. So I played her Crystal Baller by Third Eye Blind. She liked that! She started dancing and her heart rate started climbing. I then played her another song, she slowed down and her heart rate started dropping, she wasn’t interested in that one. So then I played her Back in Black by AC/DC, she really liked that too, she started dancing and her heart rate went right back up.

I wanted to see how she responded to my voice, so I started talking and singing to her. It was cute. She moved differently, she wasn’t wild (like when she hears music), it felt like she was listening and squirming in happiness. It was much more gentle, her heart rate also began climbing like it did for the music we played her. David started speaking to her too and she moved differently for him too. She gets excited when she hears her daddy. She’s such a happy baby.

I eventually was discharged, I wasn’t having contractions and there wasn’t an infection. So we had dinner at Maggiano’s. I ordered her a strawberry melon soda, oh she loved that! And really what’s not to like? She’s so funny, she loves her fruity flavors.

I’m bummed that this was her 30th birthday celebration. So David and I have a lot of things planned for her 31st, this coming weekend. She only deserves the best of everything.