I was fully convinced that I was going to go early with Abby. I thought by the end of 2017 we would have a newborn. Everything in our house was ready by December 1st (with her due date being January 20th) and we were ready too! I didn’t hate being pregnant with my first baby, but this pregnancy was really hard and I was ready to not be pregnant anymore. Boy was I wrong about when she would come! Baby Abigail came a day PAST her due date. January 21st, 2018.
On her due date I got my nails done, went to the park with the family, and made dinner (delicious cauliflower and pancetta mac n cheese). I felt a lot of pressure and some braxton hicks, but nothing telling me I was in active labor. I went to sleep that night as normal. Around 4am (the morning of the 21st) I woke up with some real contractions. I laid in bed for a while to make sure they were continuing to come and they were. So I got in the shower. Around 5:30am I woke Cam up and told him I thought it was finally time! We left for the hospital around 6am because my contractions were strong enough to be a little painful.
We checked in and they sent me to see how much I was dilated. Funny thing was I was scheduled for an induction the following morning at 6am because I was 2cm at my last doctors appointment. So I was praying I was further along and my body was going into labor naturally. She checked me and I was 4.5cm.. they were keeping me and we were having our second baby!
I walked the halls for another hour to progress things further which was great. I loved walking through contractions instead of being stuck in a bed. I even did 10 squats at the end of each hallway to get things going more! Once the contractions were 3 minutes a part and pretty painful I checked into my labor room. By the time I got there it was a little after 8am. I told her I wanted my epidural right away and I got all hooked up with my IV, ect. I was 6.5cm dilated around then and didn’t want to miss my shot at an epidural. Well of course anesthesiology was busy that morning so it was after 9am by the time he cam to put it in. I was pretty close to 8cm at that point!
He got the epidural in and it took a little bit to kick in, but once it did, my right side felt a lot better! However, my left side I could still fully feel. So I asked Cam to get the nurse and she tilted me to my left side to try and get the medicine to run to that side. About 10:15am now and I was still feeling everything on the left side and I was almost crying from the contractions. I told Cam 2 things in between contractions which were super close together by this point.. 1) Get the nurse because I need anesthesiology to come back (she had called for them to come back earlier, but again, they were super busy that morning!) and 2) I think I need to push!
Another nurse came in to check me and all she saw was baby hair.. it was time to push! No turning back now!
The doctor and my nurse flew in and got everything ready and at 10:40am I was pushing! The doctor pushed me really hard but he could tell how much pain I was in and also how close Abby was so I was glad he did. 3 rounds of contractions, 9 pushes total, about 13 minutes, and she was out! 10:53am she was here! I did 3 good pushes during each contraction and it was hard and tiring but made her come sooner so I was grateful for that. What a relief to finally hold our baby girl! She weighed 8 pounds even and was 20.5 inches long. A fast and furious delivery.. once she finally decided to come she was ready!
We were able to stay in the delivery room for 2 more hours which was great for family to visit because those rooms are huge! Basically all I could think about was water, chapstick, and a turkey sandwich once she came. The water and chapstick I got right away.. the sandwich I had to wait till 1:30! I devoured that once it came.
Abby did a great job with nursing and barely cried in her first day of life! Callie was able to meet her that afternoon and was a little apprehensive at first, but loved looking at her little hands and toes. She also thought it was hilarious whenever Abby grunted and she would laugh hysterically at that. Cam and I only stayed one night in the hospital.. I was recovering great, Abby was healthy, and we were ready to be home with our Callie girl! Once again we loved our experience at GBMC and are so thankful to have another beautiful, healthy, baby girl.
In the end I ended up having a half natural birth, which was not a part of my “plan” 😀 I know each woman has a “plan” for how they will deliver their baby (#followyourbliss Ashley & Lexy 😉 but I think it’s important to remember that a lot of times it won’t go according to plan because the birthing experience is so complex and intense and it’s OKAY if it doesn’t go to plan. I think adapting for how your body is handling labor and what is safe for you and your baby is the most important thing! Medicine or no medicine, vaginal or c section, no matter how your baby comes out, each and every woman is a super hero for how they do it. You are not “weak” for choosing to have pain management and you are not “stronger” for choosing to go without medicine. All women rock and you should be so stinking proud of bringing another human life into the world. Hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done for sure!
