March 25, 2015. Forty weeks pregnant.
I'm not sure I would ever ask an OB to induce me for any reason. But I really wanted to anyway. (I didn't, I didn't!)
Originally I had planned on just running to my quick 10 min OB appt by myself (with B in tow) but last minute, R decided to get someone to cover his last class so he could go too. That ended up being a good thing.
I wasn't planning on having a baby that day but we were a little hopeful and put everything in the car just in case….
2:00 pm. During the appointment my blood pressure (which had been low all but once the entire pregnancy) was high and I had signs of preeclampsia. I was dilated 2 and my contractions were 5 minutes apart (though still nothing I could say for certain were the real deal). The OB sends me to the hospital for a medically indicated induction. She tells me they are expecting me and with my preeclampsia symptoms I need to get there right away. We agreed and headed to Jethros for an early dinner. ;)
3:15 pm. We finished up the 'last meal' and my friend Erin met us to pick up B (thanks again for being a life saver!).
3:45 pm. We get checked into Birthing Suite 3003 and gowned up. Then wait. And wait. We hang out with several nurses between births while we wait to see who we will get. I begged each one to let me walk the halls but each bp check worked against me and I was stuck (they aren't big fans of pregnant mamas having seizures while walking the halls I guess). Contractions were getting closer together but still not strong enough to text home about.
5:30 pm. Three nurses and four pokes later and I have an IV in my arm. (They blamed my ridiculous blood pressure.) I feel like a pin cushion.
6:00 pm. Dilated 3. Contractions 3 minutes apart.
6:30 pm. Start a little pitocin (that I'm not sure I got my monies worth out of because there was barely any out of the bag when it was all said and done- I'm totally not complaining though!).
8:30 pm. Water broke.
8:45 pm. FaceTime with B. He had made his way to grandma's via Erin and Hillary and we were excited to 'see' him and visit before he went to bed. Little sister must have been excited to hear his voice because as soon as he was on the line the pressure on my pelvic bone became unbearable. She was ready to get out of there!
At this point my contractions still weren't bad. I never had really bad ones with B either so this wasn't a surprise but I did make a comment about how it was weird my IV pokes hurt stronger than my contractions. The nurses said that was pretty common with people that have had endometriosis because you're comparing the pain to that. It made complete sense and validated my fear of not wanting to depend on the strength of my contractions to know when to head to the hospital. I was even more thankful we were sent in from the OB office.
That said. Don't hate me too much. That pelvic pain I felt was unbearable. There was very little I could do for it and very little anyone could help me with. This part of the story gets hard and I've only attempted to tell it once so far. (I started crying that time and never finished.) I'm not sure if I'll ever share that part here but emotionally, this was my hard spot. R was rock solid for me. The nursing team was amazing. We decided the best thing for me to do at that point was the epidural. (I had no strong feelings about it either way so this wasn't a disappointment to me.)
10:00 pm. Epidural guy joins us and tells us all about his upcoming trip to Hawaii. (And possibly does the epidural but it's hard to know.) R gives the photographer the all clear to come.
10:30 pm. Fully effaced. 6 cm. I had been having some chills but otherwise nothing bad. There was still pelvic bone pressure but emotionally I was doing better. At some point between here and pushing, the super talented Tessa from Studio T Photography arrives in time to capture the birth.
11:15 pm. I tell them I need to push. I hadn't appeared to go through transition yet (minus the chills) so I'm not sure anyone believed me. They checked me anyway and sure enough- decided they better get the OB. I get a practice push in and apparently it was a good one because they had me stop right away to wait for the OB. I try but it's so hard not to push when your body is telling you it's time.
11:30 pm. The nurse announces baby A will be born today. I whole heartedly disagree- it did take three hours of pushing with B after all. OB arrives and they let me push. I was completely and fully aware (physically and emotionally) this time. With B I don't remember much of the actual birth part. I definitely don't remember feeling the fullness of it as he was born. I feel every bit of this (again- it's hard to know how much of an epidural I actually got… I make a note to self to tell the anesthesiologist he might not want to count on a paycheck from me to fund his Hawaii trip). I remember thinking pushing this time was so peaceful. Which I know makes absolutely no sense. I hope someday soon I'll be able to put it into words.
11:45 pm. After a short and easy 15 minutes of pushing only when I felt like it (again- don't hate me- remember I pushed 3+ hours for B?), Arley Evelyn is welcomed into the world. She reaches her long fingers up towards mine and grabs ahold as if to say 'nice to meet you.' My heart explodes. Tears flow from my eyes as we embrace and she snuggles into my chest. I can hardly believe my little girl is here.
She scores a 9 and a 9. She's weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz (she was later measured downstairs at 20 1/2" long).
12:50 am. We snuggle in for skin time and I'm surprised when she quickly (and very strongly) latches on. She nursed for quite awhile on both sides and before we left the birthing unit I even had colostrum coming in for her (again- completely different from my experience with B!). Our sweet nurse comments that we're pros and don't even need her. It was sweet of them to say but I was surprised when everyone actually left and we were left to hang out with our new baby girl. It was a sweet moment. We cheers in celebration.
2:00 am. We pass all our post delivery checks and hop in the wheel chair and head out. We go over the same bump into the same elevator that made B cry and she also isn't a fan. I comfort her with my hands and voice as I hold her close and another sweet baby is mine. Another sweet baby has a place in my heart. Another sweet baby teaches me it is possible to love beyond anything I knew the heart was capable of.
My heart is so full.
(Some images by myself or R but most images by Tessa from Studio T Imagery. We were so blessed to have her there to capture these moments for us.)
Other things I don't want to forget-
-Our nurse was a former Creston student (in fact R was her health teacher and she still wanted to be a nurse)- how crazy is that?!
-With B, we had a room full but this time it was just R & myself. I loved it.
-The chocolates were because once I hit the date I thought she would be born I started doing everything I could to make things like they were before B was born. He had chocolates so we made her some too. The sparkling pink lemonade and basket were gifts from friends and I loved feeling a little fancy celebration for our girl.
-I'll add more here but we are so ready fro bed right now…. ;)
