A Short Birth Made Into A Long Story

Disclaimer: A lot of run on sentences and a never ending paragraph.

 If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that I was past my due date as of February 25th. I said when I got pregnant that I would be surprised if the baby came before March. I just know my body and I have always known that I would have babies late. I knew that one of the midwives I really like was going to be on duty on Saturday March 1st. So I decided that was going to be the day I would have the baby.

On Friday February 28 I went for about a 4 mile walk with my mom. We hit up every hill we could find. My back was hurting me all the time at the end of this pregnancy so by the end of the walk my back was so tight  and painful I was worried I was going to go into labor and be unable to walk into the birth center. We went out to eat Mexican food so I could eat something spicy. Around 10 p.m. I went to sleep. I woke up a little after midnight to go to the bathroom and realized I hadn't had any contractions so the likelihood of having the baby on Saturday was small. I went back to bed and fell asleep quickly. A little after 3 a.m. I woke up having a mild contraction. I kept having contractions and falling asleep in between until about 7 a.m. At that point they were about 15 minutes apart. I got up and ate some breakfast, messaged a few friends to let them know I was having contractions, and Skyped my mom to let her know that I was having contractions. My mom told me to take a walk and a shower. I took a shower and when I got out my mom and my sister were at my house. We went for a walk around the block. I had 3 contractions in the short time we walked. My mom told me we should probably go to the hospital. I was surprised. When I was in labor with Mia it seemed to last forever and it was so intense when I was getting close. To be honest I thought my mom was overreacting, but at 27 years old I still do what my mom tells me to. My mom and my sister left and I started getting ready to go to the hospital. I noticed there were a couple dishes on the sink. I didn't want to come home to dirty dishes, so I unloaded the dishwasher so I could put away 3(!) dishes.  My husband told me I was crazy.  We took a few minutes and hugged Mia. We tried to explain to her that this would be the last time it was just the three of us. Then we went to pick up my mom. We drove to some dear friends of ours to drop off Mia. I gave her a good long squeeze between contractions and then we were on our way. I have a huge fear of getting to the hospital and having them tell me I'm like 2cm dilated. With Mia I was relieved to be at 5cm. We got to the hospital at 10:30 a.m. and I was so nervous. I had a contraction I couldn't walk through right as we went through the doors. We went to the desk and the nurse checked us in. She asked if it was my first or second baby and when I told her it was my second she said, "Okay, let's get you into a room!" They took me to a tiny room to check my progress before they took me to a labor room. Then a different nurse came in to check me. My mom said we should call the birth tub people to have them get there as soon as possible. The nurse said "No, let's wait and see if she is even going to stay." The nurse was rude to say the least. I was pretty irritated with her. She checked me and I was 8cm. Fortunately my husband had gone in the hall to call the tub people, so they were on their way. I think the nurse got the idea that we weren't going to get along so she sent in a different nurse. She was amazing and the sweetest woman. I am so glad that she ended up being my nurse. They got me checked into a room and the tub lady arrived. She set up the tub and I just sat on the end of the bed waiting. I was having a lot of contractions, but I wasn't feeling the intensity that I did before I had Mia. My fear after getting to the hospital too early is pooping during labor. I have a huge fear of pooping while pushing (spoiler alert: I didn't poop). My mom told me to try to go to the bathroom before I got in the tub. I went in the bathroom and could barely sit down. My husband came in and told me I should get in the tub. I didn't think I was that close. He made me change into my "tub clothes". I got in the tub, it felt amazing. I sat down and got comfortable, just as I was relaxing and thinking I should have gotten in the tub earlier because it felt so amazing I felt a pop. It scared me pretty bad. The nurse said it was probably my water breaking. When I had Mia they had to break my water for me, so I had never felt my water breaking before. I immediately started to feel pressure. I said " I think I have to poop." My mom said something to the effect of: "That probably means it's time to have the baby." I didn't think it could be happening that quickly. The midwife looked and said "I can see the head." I couldn't believe it. I didn't even push. He just flew out on my next contraction. It was literally two minutes from the time I said "I think I have to poop." until he made his earthly debut. He came up in the water and he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. My midwife quickly unwrapped it and put him on my chest. As she lifted the baby up I saw his genitals! I said, "It's a boy!" I was both surprised and excited it was a boy. I had a feeling it was a boy, but I also really thought I was having a girl. It was 12:13 p.m. less than two hours from the time we arrived at the hospital (because you couldn't do that math for yourself). He weighed in at 8 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long.

Unfortunately I had to get a few stitches again this time. I was really hoping for no stitches, but he was almost 2 pounds bigger than Mia was and he came out so quickly it makes sense that I tore. My recovery has been so much easier this time around. After I had Mia I barely felt like I could walk. This time I have felt great. It is like my body just went into healing mode and I haven't felt the discomfort I did the first time.

On the blog we are going to call him Jack. He is the sweetest little guy. A totally different baby from Mia. He is mellow and so much easier. We are so lucky.

Also, people seem to think because we have a boy and a girl that we are done having babies, that is not the case. Gender has nothing to do with how many kids I want to have, we will see what happens, but I definitely want more kids at this point.

Now for a few pictures:


This was me about 5ish minutes before Jack made his way into this world. If you have ever considered a water birth I highly recommend it.

Oh, and look we have a baby! It looks like I am crying, but I am not.




Our little man

Comments

  1. I'm so happy for you and your entire family! Thank you for being so honest about your experience. The way you are able to demystify the process of giving birth makes it less scary. I can't wait to hear about your adventures as a four person family. Congrats and blessings! <3

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  2. Birth stories make me cry...and of course, yours had me in tears. Thank you for sharing with such transparency! I also tore when I had Lucy. My doctor said it's common when labors are fast (I pushed her out in fifteen minutes!) Thank you for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I think I pushed my first out in about 15-20 minutes. I love a good birth story too.

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