I begged my husband to take me to the ER while I was in labor, but he called me dramatic and left for his mother’s birthday—two days later, he returned expecting his newborn, only to find military vehicles surrounding the house.

an inconvenience.

“Claire, stop being so dramatic.”

Those words cut almost as deeply as the pain itself. I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant, and our doctor had warned us several times that my blood pressure was dangerously unstable. She had told Ryan personally that if I experienced severe pain, dizziness, or bleeding, I needed immediate emergency treatment.continue reading …