We welcomed our second son into our family this week.
Birth stories aren’t for everyone but ever since I was pregnant with my first, I’ve loved hearing and reading about others experiences. Give me all the details.
I’m also an open book about my first birth experience- you can read that birth story here.
I do think it’s important to know your audience when sharing these stories because not everyone is in a place to hear it. My first delivery was pretty traumatic so I’m careful with what I share with first time pregnant moms.
Giving birth this time around could not have been more different than my first experience.
Here’s the gist (of my last birth) if you don’t want to go back and read that original post or just need a little refresher…
I went past my due date and was scheduled for an induction, they inserted Cervidil to soften my cervix which came out a few hours later and had to be reinserted (cannot explain how painful this was). Then after laboring all day, I pushed for 4 hours, had a fever and eventually my baby was suctioned out by my doctor. He had the cord wrapped around his neck, didn’t come out crying, and was quickly taken to the nicu where he lived for a week because they were concerned about an infection in his lungs. I also had third degree tearing and lost a lot of blood. My physical recovery was rough (I was so sore i couldn’t even lift my arms to wash my hair) but my emotional recovery took a lot longer.
Now back to May 2024…
Starting around 3am Sunday night, I started feeling contractions and was pretty much awake the rest of the night from the pain. They would come and go but I convinced myself it was too early and they would just go away. I had possibly been feeling contractions one day the week before, and those quickly went away.
The next morning I got my 4 year old ready for the day, drove him to school, while still feeling the contractions (not fun when driving). I stopped at my doctor’s on the way to work to drop off some paperwork and then went to work.
I continued to have painful contractions but not really consistent. I went to the bathroom at work and (here’s where the TMI starts), I thought my fluids were leaking. The last few weeks my doctors were a little concerned about my fluid levels (I probably wasn’t drinking enough water). And they would ask if my fluids were leaking. I never thought they were but that morning when I saw what I assumed was ‘leaking fluids’ in my underwear I was pretty concerned.
After trying to work for about an hour and a half I decided to go home because I really wasn’t feeling well. When I would feel a contraction, I would just pace around in the back room. I couldn’t really focus on anything and was in a lot of pain so I left.
I called my OB’s office on the way home and explained the contractions and possible fluids leaking. She said it didn’t sound like my contractions were close enough together but suggested going to the hospital to check.
I stopped at home, packed some pajamas, sweatpants and a toiletry bag. I really did not expect to have my baby this early so I was fully unprepared and had nothing packed. We really thought they would check me and send me home.
When we got to the hospital they had us go to OB triage and explained a list of things that it usually is / can be when someone thinks their water broke. They explained they would check and if they still weren’t sure, there were tests they could send to the lab.
The hospital OB checked and immediately told me my water had broken. And I was already 3cm dilated.
Turns out I was ready to have a baby that day.
Apparently it was a popular day to be having a baby in Jupiter, FL because all of the delivery rooms were taken.
(They also told us that most people that were coming in had their water break that day. The hospital even called someone to reschedule her induction because they were so full. She said her water actually broke and she was already on her way).
They moved me from OB triage into a recovery room that can flex to be a delivery room so while I labored they brought in all sorts of equipment.
We met the nurse who would be taking care of me, and later ended up staying late to help delivery my baby. She asked if we were there for an induction and we both quickly snapped “no!” (I think we’re both still holding onto some trauma from last time).
My contractions started to happen more often and were getting more painful so I asked for an epidural as soon as possible.
My doctor came in and checked me and my labor was progressing pretty quickly. Of course after getting the epidural, things slowed down a little bit. My doctor suggested pitocin – which I learned the last time can make contractions feel more painful. But honestly after an epidural, I felt no pain.
Nurse shift changed at the hospital are at 7 AM and PM but with how busy and probably understaffed they were and with how close I was to delivering, the nurse that had been taking care of me that day said she was staying to help deliver and meet my baby.
My doctor was in and out checking on other patients while I got ready to start pushing.
With the epidural, I wasn’t really feeling my contractions but we did a few practice pushes and then my doctor was there talking me through every push.
I couldn’t tell you how long everything took but after only pushing through a few contractions my doctor said with the next contraction my baby would be here.
I closed my eyes to really focus on where I was pushing and to try to relax my face. A nurse told me to open my eyes and I immediately saw my baby.
They put him right on my chest and I got to hold him, talk to him and fall in love with him.
There is nothing better than holding your healthy baby for the first time.
(I always think of the moment I was finally leaving the hospital when my first son was born. An older lady looked at us and said it’s the closest you’ll ever be to God).
After delivering, I had some complications. I had third degree tearing (like last time) and retained placenta which caused a lot of blood loss. My doctor had to go in and scrape out the remaining placenta.
I got a little nervous when he mentioned possibly taking me to the OR (thankful we didn’t have to do that). But otherwise I wasn’t really bothered by anything going on *down there* because I was holding my baby (and I was medicated).
Last time I gave birth my baby was very quickly whisked away to the nicu. So while I had some similar and some other complications I was very focused on my own things because my baby was gone. This time I felt such a high from my holding my brand new baby for the first time that nothing else seemed to matter in the moment.
Our sweet baby boy was born at 8:09pm weighing 7lbs 3oz. He had a full head of dark brown hair.
A nurse cleaned him off, took his measurements, etc and then helped me get him to latch right away. (Again, complete opposite of my last experience where a nicu doctor yelled at me a few hours after giving birth because I hadn’t started pumping yet).
So much of this birth experience healed things from my first that I didn’t realize still needed healing.
Recommended posts;
Our Birth Story – Aaron Marcus
