Ms. Emma Marie
August 9th @ 6:20PM
7lbs 3ounces
20inches
My second pregnancy went by in a blur. Having a fun-loving, rambunctious toddler makes time go by quickly- too quickly. This pregnancy was much rougher than the first- primarily because I had a 37lb Toddler to contend with for 11 hours by myself each day. Looking back I wouldn’t change anything.
Not one.single.thing.
This time I was more aware of what my body was capable of- what would be changing-and at what rate. No alarming myself over the scale. I ate healthy with some scrumptious snacking at night. Water weight? Bring it. I knew it would be short-lived. Lack of sleep? Been there, done that. Oh- and the thought of looking “normal” right after birth? Yep- knew I would be in maternity clothes walking out of the hospital.
So let’s get back to Ms. Emma’s Birth.
My body does not seem to agree with being a full 40 weeks pregnant. Water weight tacks on, blood pressure soars, and sleep decreases to almost zero. I knew what to expect and this time I was just so dang thankful that I wasn’t put on bed rest for a month. I was told to take it easy- because at around 34 weeks with any strenuous exercise I would have strong AND painful contractions. I was really hoping to be able to continue to work out and stay active until the end-but it just wasn’t meant to be. Baby needed to cook for a bit longer- her health was more important than muscle tone. Easy choice.
So with my history of health problems- my OB and I decided that we would wait until I was in the middle of my 39th week to induce. Don’t get me wrong. I wanted to go naturally. I walked miles-MILES- every morning with the Toddler in the mall. Yes. I was one of ‘those’ mall walkers. Yet- when it is over 100 degrees at 8AM-who can blame me? Right?
I ate spicy food- bounced around- completed an entire renovation of our guest bathroom… I wanted more than anything to be able to call the Husband and say “It’s go time! My water broke!”.
Last pregnancy I made that call- but that was because my health failed so rapidly that they did an emergency induction on me after a routine appointment at the OB’s office. 10 days early we welcomed our little baby boy.
We went into a scheduled induction on August 9th at 10AM. I was ready for possibly another 26 hour labor-an epidural that didn’t work-and some tearing-what goes with the territory for inducing- at least for my body.
My mom came in the night before- I was feeling sick and even threw-up the night before that-so she changed her flight-thanks mom-and came in early.
We left around 9:30AM for the hospital. I had a minor panic attack about not being in any pictures or videos while playing with the Toddler and what if the worst happened? He wouldn’t have any “memories” of how I was as a mom. I started to bawl. Sobbing uncontrollably at perhaps the thought that I was being too selfish at wanting baby #2-a baby brother/sister for the Toddler.
That was Rough. With a capital R.
We arrived- were buzzed into the Labor and Delivery wing and got set readying our room. Making ourselves at home. My OB had not written down what she wanted to do to start so I was told that I got to eat lunch. The only thing that sounded good was chicken and mac and cheese. Fitting-as that was what I craved last time I was in the hospital.
Around noon my OB came and broke my water. I was not looking forward to this-seeing as I had not prepared myself for just starting with this step. I thought for sure we were going to try gel packs-a bag of pitocin-nope. Straight to breaking my water- which took minutes. MINUTES. How dang uncomfortable. I hate- HATE- getting checked and manually breaking your water? Close second.
Well apparently our baby girl was swimming around in an Olympic sized pool.
Over the next hour more water came and went and finally her head was in position. They started an IV on me and loaded me up with a large bag of pitocin.
Side note: I have great veins. At least that’s what they always tell me. And through my various stays in hospitals for births-surgeries-heart problems-I know a little bit about what they should feel like and what to expect. Our nurse-who I loved- burst two of my veins. I mean- there was blood- EVERYWHERE. I was really nervous that the Husband was going to pass out because needles and blood really aren’t his cup of tea. He just turned real pale and went into super Husband mode and brought out the iPad showing me funny pictures that I ALWAYS crack up at.
I had to have my bedding changed and gown changed. Blood- EVERYWHERE. And two weeks out? I still have large bruises on both arms. Note- it took four different veins to find a good spot. FOUR. I actually lost hearing in my ears- broke out in a cold sweat and started to pass out. Note: this is completely normal for me when I give blood- just give me an ice-pack and some crackers and I am good. I give blood regularly for the Red Cross- just need my ice pack.
I was already having contractions that were a minute long-ten minutes apart when I was checked into the hospital. Now they were coming five minutes apart and lasting two minutes. Pain? Yes- loads of pain.
Epidural? Sure- I would love to try to see if it works this time. Sign me up!
I was shaking uncontrollably when the epidural was going in. Our lovely nurse, Natalie, did her best to hold onto me, as we all blocked the view of the dreaded needle from the Husband. I did NOT need for him to pass out. I had two student nurses come in and perform small checks throughout the process and when the epidural was taking awhile to get put in-I decided that anyone in the room needed to chat about something-anything. A student nurse started to talk about Beyonce’s hair- I was just thankful someone was talking. Too much silence-too much over-thinking.
I warned the anesthesiologist that last time around the epidural worked for two hours and then completely wore off. And that last time- the anesthesiologist didn’t believe me. After my two inch tear was stitched up-I literally got off the table and walked to the bathroom-shocking the crap out of the nurses and my doctor who swore that I shouldn’t be able to. He said okay-that he would be around.
Two hours go by.
It is gone. The epidural is gone.
My nightmare has returned. Sure maybe if we weren’t on bag three of pitocin and my contractions were not off the charts this wouldn’t be a big deal. But it was a HUGE-FREAKING-BIG-DEAL. Inductions are no joke.
I asked for the anesthesiologist to come back. And to prove to him that I could feel everything I got up. Wiggled everything. He said he had only seen this happen twice. And that he only had given one of them more medicine. He said it could not really be explained by science. And to those of you out there? Just my luck-I was the one that he didn’t believe the first time. So when the other young mother had the same thing happen? Well, at least he believed her. He actually went to go check to see who did it last time…. yep, me.
Well he gave me three more doses. And we chatted about soccer for the next hour as the medicine had literally no affect on me whatsoever. Apparently I am a marvel. The last dose was for someone four times the size of me. FOUR. And there you have it folks. That is what finally worked.
I could still move my legs- wiggle my toes-BUT my hips and where it counts was nice and numb. BLISS. PURE BLISS.
My labor went relatively fast. In six hours we had our baby girl. Six! After the last dose of medicine worked they checked me again and I was at a seven. They notified my OB and we thought I had at least another two hours to go. Sure enough I called the nurse in minutes later saying that I thought her head was pushing down and that I was ready to push. She re-checked me and ran out of the room saying she was calling the Doctor.
Everything is a blur.
My OB came racing in-in her workout clothes no-less. The room was prepped and I started to push. Everyone started to look really concerned. The Husband was blocking my view of the monitors-probably a good thing- and I asked if she was okay. She was. I was not. After the first contraction push- her head was visible-but my heart rate had soared dangerously. My OB asked where my meds were-they were at home- I KNEW I WAS MISSING SOMETHING- and said it is okay- a nurse can run and get some so on the second round of pushing a minute later- the Husband called home and had my mom run to the medicine cabinet to read the label. After the third round they declared that if I couldn’t get her out in the next contraction they would have to vacuum and tear her out of me because my heart had started to fail. SCARED. All I could think about was, “Well then she is coming out this round.”
On the last part of the contraction- as they were prepping the scary vacuum and scalpels I got our little girl out.
She was BEAUTIFUL. I am so thankful that in only four contractions I was able to hold her. In mere minutes. At that moment I looked at my dear husband and said- okay I can do this again. Baby #3 it is. The nurses laughed. But I was dead serious.
Our sweet Emma was healthy and perfect. My heart was fine.
And then our little family-turned into a family of four!
We are so blessed to have two healthy little ones that call us Mom & Dad. Hoping that in the not-to-distant future that we will be able to add just one more little one to our family.
Thank you for all of the well wishes- the support and love we have felt the past two weeks has been boundless.
I am off to go snuggle my little baby girl-and to give a big ole smooch to my dear toddler.
Love,
HM
