When Calm Turns Into Crisis: The Night Everything Shifted

After being sent home the night before, I truly thought I’d bought myself a few more days. I was determined to avoid an induction—let alone a C-section. But as the day unfolded, things started to shift. And by nightfall, so did my instincts.

I was optimistic that wouldn’t happen. An induction wasn’t what I wanted—and a C-section was definitely the last thing I imagined. For years, I honestly believed I might never find a partner, let alone have a child. I knew I didn’t want my baby to grow up like I did.

I wanted them to have the kind of strong, present father I never really had.

Sorry, I digress.

We spent the entire day checking my blood pressure every 30 minutes, trying to stay calm and avoid any kind of stress—which, let’s be honest, with my family can be a little challenging.

Between 2 and 3 PM, my BP was still high but hovering in the 130s. Then around 4 PM, we saw our first 141/96. (We even switched arms, just to be sure.) That’s when my boyfriend told me, “Go sit down somewhere and relax”—very on brand for him. I’m always trying to do something instead of just resting.

Listen y’all, I’m not gonna lie—I’m hard-headed.

I’m so used to doing everything on my own, it’s hard to switch that off.

Yes—still, to this day!

Things looked okay again for a while. But then at 6:22 PM, the numbers climbed again: 144/98. By 7 PM, it dropped to 135/96, so I let myself believe we were in the clear. I mean, the contractions were still happening, but not consistent enough to mean active labor.

Then the night took a very scary turn.

I was in the living room playing The Sims 4, building a fake house (which is usually relaxing), sitting at the dining table.

(Yes, I had a dining table in the living room—don’t judge. It was a pretty big space for a one-bedroom.)

I was eating strawberries—or something fruity—something that always made babygirl move.

But this time, she didn’t.

I drank ice-cold water (because if it didn’t feel like Antarctica, it tasted disgusting during my pregnancy). Still, no movement.

That’s when the calm before the storm settled in.

I got eerily quiet.

I walked into the bedroom where my boyfriend was lying down and calmly said,

“I don’t feel the baby moving. Can you check?”

He started feeling around. Nothing.

I laid on my side. Still nothing.

We went to the kitchen and I grabbed my last ice cream as a last resort. Still no movement.

By now, it was around 8 PM. I checked my blood pressure again: 150/101.

Yikes.

For anyone who doesn’t know—those numbers aren’t great.

For a pregnant Black woman? That’s really not great.

Starting to get nervous

The high blood pressure mixed with the lack of fetal movement was a red flag. We called the Labor & Delivery unit at Mount Sinai. They contacted my OB, who called us back almost immediately and told us to come in.

We checked my BP one last time before leaving: 150/99.

I looked at my boyfriend as we gathered our things and said,

“I have a feeling I’m going to get a C-section.”

Remain calm