My Husband Told Me to “Just Drive Yourself” While I Was in Labor — “You’ve Got Time, Don’t Be Dramatic,” He Said, But the Moment I Pulled Into That Empty Parking Lot Alone, I Realized Something I Could Never Unsee Again

The first contraction came at 9:37 p.m., subtle enough that I almost ignored it, standing in the kitchen with one hand resting on the counter while I tried to convince myself it was just another false alarm, just another moment of overthinking, because everyone had told me first pregnancies stretched endlessly, that real labor would be unmistakable, dramatic, impossible to question, and yet there I was questioning everything while my body quietly began something it wouldn’t stop.Continue reading…