Start at: Baby KC’s Birth Story – Part 1
And we waited.. Our doctor thought there was no way we would make it through the weekend, let alone to our next appointment, but we did. At that appointment, I was still 3cm dilated and 90% effaced so we set our next appointment for March 15th and scheduled an induction date for March 22nd in case he wasn’t here yet.
Then, March 15th came around. I took Brooke to school like normal and I went into the office that day (I started going into the office a few days a week once I reached 37 weeks). Our doctor appointment was at 3pm so I worked until then and headed to the doctor. Kevin met me at the doctors office, because he was at work as well. We waited like normal in the waiting room, and I was complaining about being hungry. We went through the beginning of our appointment as normal and then our doctor came in the room to start the doppler, measure me, and check me.
We heard Baby Kev Kev on the doppler and she said “oh, you’re having a contraction”. I told her it wasn’t a painful one, that it felt just like they had been feeling the past few months. She then started to check me and said “Woah. You are 6cm dilated and fully thinned out”. She asked me if I was pain and I told her no that I felt the same. She suggested that we go to the hospital. Kevin and I were both really hesitant. We had been to the hospital so many times and we didn’t want to go again unless it was go time. We argued with her slightly and she said, “No, you’re not understanding”. She told us that I was too far along for her to feel comfortable sending us home and that if we went to the hospital and one contraction registered on the computer, then she would break my water.
As soon as she said that, I said ohhh… okay. That was a completely different story. I was positive the contractions would show up and I finally got excited. She told us to head to Labor & Delivery and that she would finish up at the office and come see us. We immediately called and texted our parents to get on the road ASAP. Then we called our friends to take care of Brooke. We did all of this as we were walking out of the office and heading to our cars. By the time we got to our cars, I started really feeling the contractions get stronger. I drove very carefully through contractions (luckily the hospital is only about 3 minutes from her office). We arrived to Labor and Delivery about 4:30pm and got situated in a room.
My contractions started to intensify and I got my epidural at 5:56pm at 7cm dilated. The epidural process was completely different this time around and went so smooth. Last time, it was the most painful part for me, so I was very nervous. Once the epidural set in, I had a minor complication of my blood pressure dropping. I briefly thought I was going to be sick and pass out, but my nurse gave me a quick shot that boosted my blood pressure back up.
Then, we waited, and we hoped our parents would make it in time. At 8:30pm, my doctor came in and broke my water. I was also thankful that this time I had my epidural when she broke my water. Last time, she broke my water before the epidural and that was the second most painful part. I highly suggest getting your epidural beforehand. Around this time, she also gave me a very small dose of pitocin, because I was still 7cm. Our parents arrived and now we were really ready for him to make his appearance.
I would say this time I was virtually in no pain throughout the process; however, I was very uncomfortable. My legs felt like they were 400lbs and were tingly. Also, my body was shaking a lot from the epidural. I started to actually get sleepy when the nurse came in to check me. I was sure that I was still going to be at a 7 because the contractions weren’t very close on the monitor and I was really falling asleep. But, she said I was a 10 and it was go time! I was shocked but so ready.
The dads left the room, my doctor came in and I started to push. I only pushed for about 5 minutes and he arrived at 11:19pm. He was 7lbs, 2oz and 20 1/2 in long. We got to hold him immediately and it was such a great experience. With Brooke, there were so many NICU doctors in the room and we barely got to hold her before they took her away.
After about an hour, they took him to the nursery for his evaluations. We got moved to another room and I was starting to wonder when we would get him back. Then, we got bad news. A NICU nurse came in our room and told us they were taking him for closer testing that he was making a grunting noise and didn’t seem to be breathing completely normal. She said they suspected that he had TTN which is basically fluid on his lungs from delivery. They explained that it wasn’t serious and should clear up quickly.
Needless to say I was devastated. Every shot, every contraction, every pill, every day of bed rest was to keep him out of the NICU. That was my goal. I wanted a “normal” experience so badly, and in a second, it was gone. Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely thankful that it wasn’t serious and that he was finally here, but I struggled through my expectations for a few days. Thankfully, his TTN did cleared up quickly and we were released from the hospital on Saturday night after a 2 day NICU and 1 day room in stay.
It is true what they say, every baby, every pregnancy and every delivery truly is different. I am thankful for two healthy deliveries and healthy babies. Brooke loves being a big sister and we are adjusting to being a family of four! We are so overjoyed and excited. My heart is so extremely full.