Birth Story...

*Warning: TMI, long and probably a lot of mistakes!*

After our doctors appt on Tuesday March 25th and learning of the mild shoulder dystocia with Jacob, we decided to go ahead with the induction. I had gone back and forth on the whole inducing thing, but ultimately we just wanted a healthy baby and this looked like our best option. We were scheduled to go in the following morning at 7am. We returned home, cleaned up and packed and then spent the night at the parents house. We thought this would be the easiest transition for Jacob and would allow him to sleep in the next morning. Aaron slept surprisingly well, but I didn’t sleep too good with the sore throat, uncomfortable body and nerves. 6am finally came around and we got up and made our way to the hospital. The doctor told me to eat a light breakfast and we just decided to head through the BK drive through, although I was worried I would regret that decision later. I wanted to eat something though, because with Jacob I was placed on clear fluids restriction, so I thought it might be the last time I get something to eat for awhile. So we arrived at the hospital and were checked into our room. When they told us the room number, 1113, Aaron and I immediately looked at each other and smiled, both remembering that was the same room we had Jacob in. I think most people wouldn’t appreciate room 13, but it has been a pretty good number for Aaron and I… after all we did meet on September 13th! It was a pretty slow process at first. Getting a bracelet, getting hooked up to the monitors. Finally, at 8:30am my doctor arrived and did a quick check. At my doctors appt the previous day I was 1cm dilated and 0% effaced. This time I was 1-2cm, 50% effaced and a -2 station. Aaron was excited about having already made progress, but the doctor kind of shot that down stating that she may have just been able to check me better because of the angle of the table, etc. At this time she also inserted cytotec to soften the cervix and start things and told me she would see me in about 4hrs. We had to be hooked up to the monitors for an hour immediately after insertion and then they just listened to the baby every hour after that. Aaron and I walked the halls over and over again, trying to encourage things along. Unfortunately, we had to remain in the Maternity area (because the rest of the hospital is more likely to be ‘germy’) so it was pretty monotonous. Although a change of scenery would have been nice, I was in a hospital gown and had this big pregnant belly and well… I don’t think I would have wanted to walk the rest of the hospital anyways with everyone staring at you with their stupid “you’re gonna have a baby” grin. So we walked and walked and walked, listened to the baby and walked some more. My stomach was rock hard and I kept thinking “is this a contraction?“ hoping for some thing to get things moving along. We kept passing the same nurses, who would frown when they saw that I was still smiling and say “nothing yet?“ Nope, nothing yet. Then we ate lunch… to my surprise the doctor ok’d a full diet until I was in active labor - yeah!! After lunch, Aaron took a cat nap and I watched tv. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until I sat down that I started having contractions. It was then that I remembered what a real contraction was like! Although there was no doubt that they were real contractions, they were still bearable and I could talk and walk through them. Aaron woke up around 12:30 and we continued to walk the halls until my doctor arrived at 1:30. I had been contracting on my own for at least an hour so I was hoping to have progress when she checked me. The next step was either pitocin or another dose of cytotec. Initially I was bummed when she said that I was still only 1-2cm, but then she said that I had effaced to 60-70% - just enough that she could break my water. Based on my u/s I had polyhydramnios (excessive amniotic fluid) and everyone was prepared for a huge gush, but it was just a leak of clear fluid (ya - no meconium!) The doctor said that I was officially not leaving the hospital pregnant and told me she would check me again in a few hours. We were hooked up again to the monitors which showed I was contracting every 2-3 minutes - the contractions that were initially bearable became instantly painful after my water breaking. Brody was doing beautifully according the his heart rate on the monitors, so they unhooked me and told me to walk some more. This time, I definitely had a slower pace, had to stop for contractions, and felt like a wet mess with every one! Oh, and the smile was no longer present on my face… although I was excited that things were going. We walked almost an hour until the nurse tracked me down and said that Iv therapy was there to place my iv. Upon arriving to the hospital, I warned the nurse that they had a difficult time last time placing my iv, so she didn’t even attempt it and called iv therapy. Unfortunately, iv therapy wasn’t any better at placing the iv and made several attempts before succeeding. The worst part of it was that my contractions were extremely painful at this point and it was not easy sitting there still while she poked and prodded me. Aaron was by my side getting queasy to the point where the nurse suggested he sit down! He is just fine with blood, birth, etc. but not with needles! Finally the iv was in and in came the anesthesiologist! My relief was coming soon! Unfortunately, not soon enough, the anesthesiologist ALSO had a difficult time getting it into the right spot and had to make several attempts. The good part was that I only felt the initial numbing medicine, after that I didn’t notice the various pokes. The bad part was that although I didn’t notice the pokes, my contractions were killing me and holding still in the slouched position for the epidural placement was torture. On top of that, my water was gushing like crazy, I just pictured everyone standing in like 2 inches of water, but I just kept my eyes closed because I didn’t even care at that point, I just wanted some relief. Finally he got the darn thing in the right spot and ten minutes later (3:30), I was much relieved. I was hooked up to the monitors that showed that Brody was continuing to do just fine, which was much of a relief because Jacob did not tolerate the epidural well and during his birth I needed an oxygen mask and had to keep changing positions to keep Jacob happy. While I was generally feeling pretty good, I could still feel contractions like a fist under my boob and in my lower stomach. Around 5pm the nurse suggested I order a dinner to place in the refrigerator, so that I have a meal ready after baby comes (food service is closed from 7pm to 7am), so Aaron and I ordered our meals, mine was placed in the fridge and Aaron attempted to eat his once it arrived (around 5:45pm). I continued to lay there happy until 5:30 when the doctor called in and asked the nurse to check me. The nurse then checked me and said “did they tell you your cervix is posterior? Because I’m having a hard time reaching it” “Unless you are complete…” She then called Dr. Myers and said she really couldn’t tell where I was and that this was the first time in her years and years as an ob nurse that she was stumped. I then got up to go to the bathroom and by the time I got back in bed (5:50pm) I was feeling a lot of pressure and Dr. Myers was there. She checked me and said “oh yeah, she’s complete, the head is right there”. At this point I was crying and shaking uncontrollably. I told her that although I felt a lot of pressure, it didn’t feel the same like when I was pushing with Jacob. With Jacob, I just had this overwhelming urge to push and like my body would do it anyways if I helped or not. So she said let’s do one practice push and she told me to push and I gave it a go and she said “We’re having this baby”. They pulled the bed apart (the bottom half comes completely off), brought the overhead lights down and prepared all the extras. My contractions seemed kind of far apart so I was just hanging out in the meantime, feeling no pain until a contraction came, but still shaking and super nervous. Finally, another contraction came and I was able to bring Brody all the way down and the doctor told me to stop pushing - she wanted me to wait until the next contraction so that I had enough steam to get the head AND shoulders out. The pain was so intense I told her I wasn’t sure if I would be able to tell if I was having another contraction and she said they will let me know. It seemed like forever in between contractions, but I knew it was important to wait and listen for the doctors cues because I wanted to avoid any possible complications with shoulder dystocia that I could possibly help or control, so I put my childbirth preparation class knowledge to good use and focused on short slow pants. Finally the nurse said “Go” and I happily agreed and out came his head! Dr. Myers told me to take another deep breath and then we delivered the baby with my next breath at 6:11 p.m. Brody was then placed on my belly and Aaron and I got to snuggle him. Aaron then cut the cord that Dr. Myers described as “short and thick” and we continued snuggling him like crazy. Just like with Jacob, I had a 2nd degree tear that runs exactly where I tore with Jacob. I definitely surprised everyone, including my husband, that I was ready to deliver so quickly, poor guy didn‘t get to finish his dinner! And, since it was still before 7pm, I was able to order a hot meal and did not have to worry about reheating mine! Dr. Myers was very impressed with the how well Brody and I both did through everything and how perfect he was she said that we need to have lots more babies! Giving birth is definitely a huge sense of accomplishment. I really am in awe of what your body can do, it’s just amazing. I am also amazed at how your heart can have such capacity to love so much.

The biggest surprise to me was how different labor went with Brody than it did Jacob. The best difference was that Brody was never in distress like Jacob was… he handled it like a champ and his baseline heart rate always remained the same. Which also meant that I did not need an oxygen mask! Yeah - no dry mouth when trying to push!! The other difference was that I never noticed a mucus plug or bloody show with Brody… not sure what that was about? Another big relief this time around? No catheter!! There were a few other things, but not that I can remember right now.

So now we are home and Brody is 11 days old. Everyone, including most of the nurses, warned me that even though you are only adding 1 child, it will be much more work than just double. I must say though, so far things are going quite well, but I am pretty nervous even thinking about trying to go our of the house with both of them alone. But for now, being at home is great. I love my boys :)