Reese Elizabeth Blair
December 2, 2010
7 Pounds, 19 Inches Long
----------------------
I was originally due December 15, but all along had sort of hoped I could have the baby in the 38-39 week timeframe. Kate's delivery at 39 1/2 weeks was very rough and came very close to ending in a c-section. I figured since I made it that far with Kate's pregnancy, I'd no doubt make it to my induction scheduled for December 13. I also wanted to see what it was like to go into labor - to have the excitement of wondering if this is really it, alerting friends and family, and all that fun stuff.
I'd had very frequent Braxton Hicks contractions all along in this pregnancy, but I did notice them starting to ramp up in late November. I really had my heart set on a December baby, but also thought there's no way I'd go THAT early to go before 38 weeks in November! Nonetheless, once we hit December 1 (and 38 weeks), I decided to start trying some of the natural induction methods to see if I could coax the baby out before the induction date. I've always heard they won't work unless your body is ready to go into labor anyway, but I thought it couldn't hurt to start trying to get my body ready!
I'd had several friends tell me they'd both heard and used successfully the Wii Hula Hoop to get themselves to go into labor! So the last night of November, I did about 10 minutes. It sure sent me into an immediate contraction! Once I stopped, however, it stopped as well. My regular Braxton Hicks contractions continued the rest of the night and overnight.
Wednesday, December 1st
On December 1st I worked my normal work day, and around 4 pm I noticed my contractions were intensifying a little bit. I didn't time them, but I guessed they were about 6-7 minutes apart. Jeff came home about 7, and I told him that I'm not saying this is "it" but he'd better work on his hospital bag. The contractions were getting stronger but not painful. Shortly after that I went for a walk with my friend Kathy while Jeff gave Kate a bath. I had a few painful contractions where I had to stop and wait them out during the walk. I made sure to get home in time to put Kate down with Jeff, just in case it would be our last night as a family of 3. (It's a good thing I did!)
I sat down to finish my work for the day, and the contractions continued but didn't get any stronger. At this point I called my parents and sister once again not to say this is "it" but just FYI, and stay tuned. After I finished my work, I did several more rounds of Wii hula hooping before going to bed. The wii told me i was obese, thanks a lot! At 11:00 pm they were 4 minutes apart and felt crampy. I fell asleep alright but was up in the middle of the night for several hours, wide awake. The contractions were there, but not keeping me up.
Thursday, December 2
When I got up in the morning, the contractions picked up again but they were not as strong or as frequent as the night before. I did another 10 minutes of Wii hula hoop to see if it would increase the intensity of my contractions. I threw my hospital bags in the car, knowing it was completely wishful thinking, but I wanted to have them just in case. I headed out door for work, and couldn't decide whether to call the doctor because the contractions weren't as strong anymore. (At my appointment on Tuesday he had told me to call if I had regular contractions for 1 hour. At this point we were about 13 hours past that! I just didn't feel like I was in labor - I wasn't really in any pain to speak of.) At 7:30 or 8 am I talked to my mom, who encouraged me to call and tell him what's going on. On the 45 minute drive to my first work site, I timed my contractions at 5 minutes apart and decided I should call Dr Rovner at 9:50. I left a message on the nurses line, and they called less than 5 minutes later telling me I should come in to be checked. I asked them if I could wait a few hours to finish my work day and they said no, I better come right in. I was really surprised by this - once again I certainly didn't feel it was urgent!
I saw Dr. Rovner at 10:30 am at his office. At my appointment just two days prior, I was 2 cm dilated. He checked me and said I was at 3 cm but easily stretchable to 4. He said, "I think it's early..." (I thought he was going to tell me to go home and wait it out) but then said, "but I think it's time for you to head over to the hospital." My mind sort of went blank, and I exclaimed, "For WHAT??" He started laughing and said, "You did realize this pregnancy was going to result in a baby, right?" I laughed and said, "Well yes, but I wasn't expecting this, I didn't think I was in labor!" He said it was early in the process, but especially since it's a second baby, there was no point in sending me home. I drove myself over to the hospital in complete shock that it was my baby's birthday! I called my parents to alert them, but couldn't get a hold of Jeff. He called me back as I was pulling into the parking lot. I told him we were having a baby, and he said, "Uhhh, really?" Ha! It was one of the worst days of the year for him to miss work, go figure!
I went up to Labor & Delivery, and they put me in Room 2. For a second I was disappointed, I was hoping to be in Room 5 again where Kate was born, but then I realized it was sort of a fun coincidence that Kate was born in Room 5 on May 5th, and this baby would be born in Room 2 on December 2nd! My nurse's name was Heng and she got me started on the admission and IV process. She seemed a little surprised I was only at 3 cm, and I was afraid they'd send me home. Once they got me hooked up to the monitors, my contractions were coming 3-4 minutes apart, and she assured me that I was in labor and that I wasn't going anywhere. My doctor said he'd let me labor naturally for a while and see how it goes. Jeff arrived at 11 am, stayed a few minutes, and went home to eat and pick up some last minute items. He called me on his way home and said, "So, this is really happening, they're not going to send you home?" Haha - I think he was in as much shock as I was! My mom and dad arrived at 1:15 pm. My friend Kristin came at 2 and took some pictures. My Mom took a few pictures as well and some video.
My contractions were still regular, but I wasn't really progressing so we started pitocin at around 2, started out at level 2. We increased to 4, then to 6 by 3:15 or so. I labored almost the rest of the time at a 6. I was surprised at what a low dose it took to get things going. I think we went up to the 20's with Kate!
Dr Rovner came in at 4:10, checked me and I was at 5 cm and 60% effaced He said he had to deliver a baby, and then would be back to check me. He came back at 4:37, looked at my contractions, and asked if they were painful yet. At that point they were starting to get pretty crampy, so I said yes. He said, "You know what they say, if you want an omlette you've got to break some eggs!" He checked me and I was at 6 cm. He ordered my epidural so I wouldn't have to have any real post-water-breaking contractions. :) I love him. The baby had remained pretty active all day. I was making a mental note to enjoy the movement, because it wouldn't be there much longer!
The epidural was old hat. I wasn't scared this time because I remembered how easy it was last time! The anesthesiologist was great, and talked to us the whole time. Cracked a few jokes that made us laugh. After the epidural was in, Dr Rovner came in and broke my water. It was very different from Kate's - when my water was broken with her, water just came GUSHING out, I could hear it and everything! This time, I'd never have known it was broken. But it was pretty crazy to hear & feel the "pop" inside of you when your water breaks! At this point (around 5:30 pm) he guessed we might have a baby sometime around 8 pm. The baby was still very high and not wanting to descend. (Just like Kate!)
My parents went to grab dinner at 6, and Jeff's parents arrived shortly after. Doctor Rovner came back at 7 and checked me - I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. Baby hadn't budged, still at -2 station. I just knew there was no way the baby would be here by 8. I also got a new nurse at the shift change at 7 pm. She said the last 3 days in a row, her patient had her baby before 8:00, and that we were going to go for 4 in a row. I told her there was no way that was happening! He had me do a couple practice pushes to see what would happen to the cervix. He said it was stretching really well with my pushes. After he left, my epidural started to fail on my left side. I was feeling a decent amount of pain and kept pressing my epi booster button. They had me flip to my left side to help the epidural drip travel a bit more on that side.
Shortly after that, I was having intense pain, still mainly on my left side. I really had to concentrate and breathe through each contraction. I didn't know why my epidural wasn't working, but I wasn't happy! I got really quiet and just tried to focus on making it through. I had my nurse call the anesthesiologist to come back and check on what was wrong.
Dr Rovner came back and kicked everyone out at about 7:30 pm to check me. Someone joked to him, "The next time we see you, we'll have a baby, right?" I said, "HA! Don't we wish!" I was sure I'd still be at 7 or 8 cm. I told him we were waiting for the anesthesiologist to come fix my epidural and he said, "That's not going to happen, we're going to break down this bed and have a baby!" I was SO shocked! I couldn't believe it. The pain had actually faded by that point as well, so I guess the pain I had was transition and I never knew it! It felt nothing like transition with Kate. Interesting how different your experience can be! Jeff went out to the waiting room to tell everyone that I was about to push!
They got the room all set up for pushing, and I requested a mirror. They propped my legs up in the stirrups and I was surprised to see the baby's head already crowning, and we hadn't even started! I think my first push was a little after 7:45. I pushed once and saw the head starting to come out - then he told me I was starting to tear along my old episiotomy scar, so he wanted to cut just a little episiotomy to make it easier to repair. (I turned my head for that part!) I pushed again and watched the head come out - I immediately started crying. I couldn't believe I was so close to meeting my baby. He had me stop while they suctioned the mouth out, and the cord was wrapped loosely around the baby's neck. I pushed one more time and the baby was out! He held the bottom up for me to exclaim, "It's a girl!!!" I started bawling. Another sweet little girl, a dream come true. They put Reese up on my chest as they rubbed and cleaned her off. She was so little and so sweet. Through the tears I said, "Hi little Reese, I'm your Mommy and I love you so much!"
They took her over to the warmer and continued cleaning and monitoring her. I was nervous about this part as well because of the complications Kate had. I really wanted to be able to keep the baby with us. She was doing just great. Her APGARS were 8 and 9. I was anxious to see her weight, but they took forever to get around to it! I couldn't believe my tiny little peanut, weighing in at only 7 pounds! No wonder delivery was so easy! She was perfect. I enjoyed watching Jeff during this time, he was just beaming with pride. They brought her back to me and said she was doing just fine and would be staying with us! Jeff went out to the waiting room to tell the family she was here. I heard an exclamation come from the crowd - it was fun to hear their reaction. We let all our friends and family in to come meet little Reese. It was a fun time of celebration as I sat back and enjoyed the moment. My nurse brought me a celebration "cocktail" of orange juice, cranberry juice, apple juice, and Sprite. She said she brings it to all her new moms. It was wonderful!
When she was about an hour and a half old, we asked everyone to leave so I could breastfeed for the first time. (Another thing I didn't get to do with Kate until hours and hours later.) She did so well, and it was a wonderful experience. I was so relaxed and at ease having been through this all before, and I knew what I was doing this time. It was great.
Overall it was such an amazing experience! I got everything I wanted and had hoped for in this birth experience. Everything went so smoothly and all the complications I feared from Kate's delivery were non-existent this time. Reese is beautiful and perfect, I couldn't love her any more.
