I thought for sure my second baby was coming early. I was almost certain. My belly was huge, low, and very uncomfortable. Each weekly appointment would come and go with no new updates. At 37 weeks, they thought my fluid level looked low so they were going to monitor it. You’re suppose to have 10 cm of fluid and they found 8 cm at this appointment. At my 38 week I was back up to 11 cm. My first birth with McKenzie, they found that my fluid was low at my 40 week check up so I was induced. I had a bad experience the first time getting induced so I was concerned that I would have to go through that again once she told me my fluid looked low. Luckily, my fluid was back up and I wasn’t dilated so I had a feeling she would stay put for a bit.
At my 39 week appointment, I took my hospital bag with me just incase! I was dilated 1 cm and everything else looked great. I was even feeling great at this appointment so I still had a feeling she was staying put a little longer. I had some braxton hicks one night that I thought I was in labor but I was able to go to sleep and fight them so it was a false alarm. On Thursday, June 25th I had my 40 week check up. Again, I took my hospital bag to the appointment just in case. At this point I was very uncomfortable again so I was really hoping he was going to tell me I was at least dilated more. Nope, 1.5 cm dilated. They did a sonogram to check on the baby and she found that my fluid level was at 5 cm.
My appointment was at 9:30 so it was about 10:30 when we saw the Doctor again and he said we would be going to the hospital to have the baby. I was really nervous. I didn’t want to get induced again and have the same experience as the first time. The only thing that gave me a bit of hope was I had 3 friends that were also induced this year and they all had great experiences. We called my MIL who was at my house watching McKenzie to let her know we wouldn’t be coming back. Then I called my parents to let them know, and off to Target we went for snacks. It was probably 11:30 when we checked into the hospital, but it wasn’t until 4pm that I was finally admitted. This gave us time to have lunch, even though it was a sub par hospital sandwich it was still something (The first time I was induced I had only eaten breakfast because I didn’t know I was staying at the hospital..big mistake).
My first nurse was very sweet, I explained to her my concerns of getting induced because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have the same method done this time. She said the first time (at a different hospital) I had liquid cytotec and they don’t even offer that at this hospital. I was relieved that it wouldn’t be an option. She asked me my birth plan, I told her I would probably get an epidural but I wanted to try and labor by walking around and use an exercise ball. Around 5 PM, they decided to give my cytotec by placing it in my cervix. You have to lay down for 2 hours and then they would re-evaluate next steps after 3 hours. My contractions started to get stronger and more frequent after 3 hours. They were going to do another round of cytotec but my contractions were strong so they wanted to just wait and see what my body did. By 10pm my contractions were getting stronger and consistent, about 3 minutes apart. They didn’t want to do anything else since it seemed that my body was in labor, I was only 2 cm dilated at this point.
Around 12:30am I called the nurse in. I was really emotional and so exhausted at this point. My contractions were really strong and I wanted to power through without an epidural. I started crying asking her what next steps are (since they told me after the placed the cytotec they would evaluate next steps after 3 hours). She told me my body is doing exactly what it should and I’m in labor. I told her the contractions were starting to become unbearable. Both my nurse and Brian told me not to be a hero, get the epidural. Brian was really supportive during all of this. He could tell when I needed space, he could tell when I needed him, and when he couldn’t tell, he asked. He held my yoga ball as I bounced along, he rubbed my back during contractions, he rocked back and forth with me. 2 more hours later my epidural arrived.
I was in and out of sleep, but around 6:30 am they came in to check me again and I was only 3- 4 cm. So I made some progress! They also broke my water at this point. Around 8am they checked again and I was 4-5 cm. It was around 9:30 when I started to feel my contractions pretty strong again so they gave me more epidural. I also started to feel alot of pressure very low, but I didn’t say anything because I knew I didn’t advance that much and it seemed like everything was going pretty slow.
At 11:15 Brian decided to go get coffee. When he did this the first time with McKenzie I jumped from 4-8 cm while he was gone so he thought it would be good luck. The resident came in and said my Doctor called to have them check me again. I said “Oh good, I feel alot of pressure but I was scared to ask and not hear that I’m fully dilated.” She basically went to check and we like “Her head is right here you are 10 cm”. Brian came back in the room and I told him it was time! We were so excited.
They asked how I was feeling and I did feel so much pressure but I felt OK. My Doctor’s office was 30 minutes away and he was with a patient in his office. They told me I could use the Doctor that was at the hospital but they also told me if I waited for my Doctor that it would be easier to push the baby out. I decided to wait. At 12:15 one of the Doctors from my practice arrived and he prepped me on what I needed to do. I think he basically saw the baby’s head because he told me to do a test push and then told me to reach down to feel the baby’s head. He told me to push again and pull the baby out myself and that was just what I did. It was one of the most liberating feelings. I felt relieved, and grateful, and just so happy. I felt so present this time, it was really a surreal experience.
Madison was born at 12:22 PM on Friday, June 26th. She weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is so perfect and the last puzzle piece to our family. Due to Covid, we went home on Saturday around 4PM. We woke McKenzie up from her nap and introduced her to her new baby sister. It was an adorable moment where Maddie and Kenzie exchanged gifts with each other. I can’t wait to watch them grow up together!
The Redheaded Mom 