It always seems to happen on a Saturday night…..
Many of you may have heard that I was scheduled to be induced on Sunday night, May 19th so I could deliver on Monday, May 20th. I had just completed a busy week at work feverishly trying to tie up loose ends and hand off projects so I could enjoy my time off. At home, William and I created a list of last minute things to do prior to Elliott’s arrival. The list included some household chores as well as baby preparations like installing the car seat bases, pre-washing the clothes, and most importantly, packing our hospital bags. Yes, these are all tasks that we completed a month in advance before Laurel’s birth. 🙂
We spent Saturday morning running our last minute errands and the afternoon I had a little bit of “Kyllan” time while William and Laurel attended a biology department reception for the seniors who were graduating the next day from the University of Dallas where William teaches. They had only been home for a short time and I was just pulling a load of Elliott’s clothes out of the dryer when I had one of those “what just happened ” moments. My shorts were suddenly wet and I was trying to figure out if I had just lost control of my bladder or if my water broke. I didn’t experience a “gush” like they always show on tv or in the movies, so I had no idea what to think. William was just about to head out to get my car washed and fill the gas tank so his mom who was scheduled to arrive the next day could use the car while she was here. I told him that I thought my water broke, but I wasn’t certain. I told him to go ahead to get the car washed, but while he was gone, it became very apparent that my water had indeed broke. I sent William a text message to let him know what was going on and called my OB. I then called my mom and sister since we needed someone to stay with Laurel while William and I went to the hospital. Let me just interject here that walking around the house while your water is breaking and trying to keep up with a toddler is not fun. Laurel decided to “wash her hands” with her Pedialyte (she was running a fever the night before). She decided the sofa made a nice place to wash her hands 🙂
But I digress…
Once my mom arrived at the house and was able to keep Laurel occupied, William and I began packing our hospital bags, which we had planned to do later that evening in preparation for checking in to the hospital the next day for induction. Between making sure we had everything situated with Laurel, everything we needed for the hospital, and trying to tidy up the house a bit, it took us about 2 hours before we actually left for the hospital.
We arrived to the hospital around 7:30pm. I still had not started having contractions yet and I was only 2cm dilated (the same as I had been at my OB appointment previously that week). My OB decided we would wait until 10pm to start the Pitocin, so I was able to get a quick meal in before the labor process started. Of all things, I had William go to Wendy’s to get a chicken sandwich and fries 🙂
At 10pm, we started the Pitocin. I started having contractions pretty quickly, but they were not strong nor painful at first. Every 30 minutes, the dose was increased and for several hours, but they still were not strong. A few hours later, maybe around 3am, the contractions finally got to the point where I was starting to feel uncomfortable and had to use my breathing techniques and go to my happy place to make it through the contractions. I requested the epidural and once that was in place, I was at 5 1/2cm and much more comfortable. It seemed like I quickly progressed to 10cm and we were ready to meet our son. My OB headed in to the hospital and a short time later, we began pushing.
I was pretty amazed how comfortable I was during the labor and delivery phase. The only time I was really in any pain was for about 2 hours when the contractions picked up and the epidural kicked in. This was much different than with Laurel when my epidural never really worked how I imagined it would and I was not in a lot of pain, but I certainly was not comfortable. The pushing process took a bit longer than I had hoped, but again, no pain. In fact, we ended up stopping the epidural so I could feel the contractions a bit better to help push out the baby. After about an hour of pushing, Elliott came out at 6:28am… sunny side up…. with his eyes wide open. 🙂 Generally babies are born with their face down, but Elliott had apparently rotated in the birth canal and was born face up, which apparently is not easy and can put baby and mom at risk, but fortunately everything worked out great and he came out without much fuss. We spent the first hour or so getting some good quality skin to skin time and time to nurse before the nurses came in to weigh, measure, bathe, and do all the routine exams and checks.
Laurel came later that day to meet her new baby brother. I think she was still a bit confused, but certainly intrigued. Fortunately, she has adjusted well to the new addition to the family. William’s mom has been here at the house, so that has certainly helped ensure she is getting lots of attention, so I think that has worked in our favor and helped tremendously with the transition. The true test will come next week when it’s just the 4 of us here at the house, but I am very hopeful that she will continue to adjust well. The burden will be on us to make sure we are still giving her ample “Laurel” time. She loves reading and going outside, so as long as we continue to make that a priority, I think we will be ok. She generally asks about Elliott when she comes home, but most times he is sleeping, so she goes to the bassinet to check on him, pats him and goes back to her usual routine.
So now we are a family of 4 with a son and a daughter and I certainly feel our family is complete and I have an abundance of joy when I look at Laurel and Elliott. I experienced a few health issues this pregnancy and it certainly seemed like it took a greater toll on my body than it did with Laurel, so after being blessed with a healthy girl and a healthy boy, we have decided our family is complete.
Now the fun begins… 🙂
