I thought it might be fun to do a side by side comparison of me preggers with both girls at 40 weeks...and in the same shirt too! Two days after taking the pic on the right...
I woke up around 5:00am the morning of May 10th having contractions. I had downloaded a contractions timer on my phone so I started timing them. They were about 13 minutes a part, but consistent and stronger than the Braxton Hicks I had been having. It was very noticable when one was starting and stopping and I couldn't always tell with Braxton Hicks. I woke up Mark and told him what was going on. We laid around for a while longer and then started taking our time getting ready. As the next hour or two went by they got closer; like 8 minutes a part. I was sort of getting nervous because I had heard several of my friends say their second labor went much quicker than their first. However, I didn't want to get to the hospital too early as I wanted to attempt to deliver without an epideral and thought the further I could get before going to the hospital the better.
We called the doctor to let them know what was happening and they scheduled a doctor appointment for us to come in at 9:10am. I was kind of freaking out like "are we going to make it to the hospital in time?!" thinking these people are crazy. Well it actually worked out nicely because by the time we were ready and dropped Kaitlyn off at Mark's parent's house it was perfect timing. The contractions were painful, but bearable. When we got to the doctor they checked me and I was 3 cm dilated. So he said we could head to the hospital!!! Since I wasn't in a rush to get an epideral and Mark was starving we asked if we had some time before heading to the hospital and the doctor said "Oh yeah". So, naturally, we headed to Cracker Barrel. Mark got to eat and I nibbled on some things here and there. It felt funny being out acting like everything was normal when I was having contractons. But they still weren't very bad at that point; I would maybe make a face during them and that was all.
We weren't at Cracker Barrel long before we headed to the hospital! Remember, I was still worried things were going to progress quickly like I had heard it did for others. We got all checked-in and in our room around 11:00am. It wasn't long after that the doctor came in and checked me. I was a 4. Which, I was kind of surprised since it has almost been two hours since they checked and I was a 3. But they said that was normal. I told them I wanted to try without an epideral at that point and asked if I could walk around or if I had to stay in bed. They said I could most certainly walk around, but because I tested positive for Group B strep they wanted to get antibiotics in me as soon as possible and ideally before my water broke. So they had me in bed while I was getting the first dose through my I.V.
After the antibiotic was done, they unhooked me from the I.V. and I was free to roam the halls. Mark and I walked around a couple times. The nurse thought it was helping because when she hooked me back up to the monitors to check on the baby my contractions were closer together; like 5-7 minutes a part. And then later even closer; like 5 minutes a part. Oh and the contractions were getting stronger too! Not my favorite part, lol. Close to 4:00pm the midwife and nurse came back in to discuss the plan. I hadn't been checked in several hours (they were avoiding checking me because of the risk of infection). They asked me what I wanted to do and had left the ball in my court all day (which I was really happy about). I told them I wasn't sure and it depended on how I was progressing and I wanted them to check me. And basically if I was a 5 (5 hours later), then I would probably want the epideral. But if I was an 8 I may want to try and stick it out. Well, they checked and I was only a 5!!! I couldn't believe it. But they said that was still pretty normal. So since my contractions were getting to the VERY painful point and I had been in labor almost 12 hours I opted for the epideral. I wasn't really upset or anything. It just seemed to be the right decision for me.
They told me to sit tight and the anesthesiologist would be there in 30 minutes. Well people, I don't know if it was mental, but those contractions were EXCRUCIATING during that 30 minutes lol! Needless to say, I was very happy with my decision at that point. Once I got the epideral I was feeling much better (besides some nasty heartburn that they couldn't do anything about). They also started me on Pitocin, which I was not crazy about. I had a bad experience with Kaitlyn (her heartrate slowed) and wanted to avoid it this time. They told me they would start it low so that made me feel better. I had also heard how epiderals and pitocin can slow labor. And let's face it - I definitely did not want to be slowing anything down at this point! But at least I was no longer in pain. But to everyone's surprise not even 2 hours later I was a 10 and ready to push!! Craziness. The nurse and Midwife think I finally relaxed and let my body do what it was supposed to do. They (and I) think I was fighting the contractions. I tried breathing through them, but honestly all I wanted to do (and could feel myself doing sometimes) was tense up until they stopped. Everyone was also shocked at how quickly I had progressed with such a low dose of pitocin. I think it was a 2 (with Kaitlyn it went up to 20 and that's when she had the bad reaction).
Oh let me back-up for a minute...right after I got the epideral I was laying there and I felt something happen...I was like "Did I just have the baby?". So the nurse came in and checked me...she said I had delivered my water!!! She said it was so rare she wanted to take a picture, lol (but didn't). I think that was part of the reason things weren't progressing very quickly...my water hadn't broken. And they didn't want to break it because of the risk of infection with the Group B strep. But with Kaitlyn I had the same thing and my water broke before and then I went to the hospital. So I don't know what the answer is, I guess I just trusted the doctors on that one.
Ok back to baby time!! It was a little scary because when they looked at my bag o' water they saw meconium (the baby's first stools) in it. So they play it safe and have a team of people come in and make sure the baby doesn't inhale any right after they are born. So all these people came in the room (with Kaitlyn it was just 3 of us; me, Mark, and the Midwife). Interesting fact: The same Midwife delivered Kaitlyn and Presley! And she's about to retire, it was meant to be! It was a little nerve racking having all of those people in the room, but better safe than sorry. I started pushing around 6:40pm, I believe. I guess I did good, but it was challenging because I really couldn't feel much since I waited longer to get the epideral (with Kaitlyn my epideral had pretty much worn off by then). The Midwife told Mark to yell out if it's a boy or girl! So at 7:05pm Mark said "It's a girl!". It was so overwhelming...they put her on my chest and I heard Mark say what she was and I got all teary eyed! Then they took her away...she was crying when they put her on me so it was kind of a blur. But when they got her all cleaned up and brought her back to me she was so sweet and calm. I just stared at her and kept saying "She's so cute!". I fell in love with her and those big cheeks right away!
It was a 14 hour labor; only 2 hours shy of my first labor. But it really wasn't so bad and didn't feel as long as it sounds. And, of course, it was totally worth it!!! But to those of you who said it was going to go quick all I have to say is...LIARS!!!;-) Only kidding. Everyone is different. All in all, I'm happy with how things went and we are so blessed to be a family of 4! We love you Miss Presley!!!
