From L.A. to LA: November 2016

There's so many things I want to catch up on from the past few months. Of course the most important of all is Bear's birth story. It's already been over a month since he was born, and I know I've forgotten details, so I want to make sure to get this written down now before I forget anything else!

28 Weeks - The Last Bump Photo from Our Old HouseWith Elley I didn't dilate until I went into labor, which happened on my due date, so I assumed things would be similar this time. At my 39 week appointment, not too surprisingly, I still hadn't dilated at all. They scheduled an induction for when I'd be 41 weeks and 4 days, but I was sure I wouldn't get anywhere near that.

We got to my due date, and I was pretty sure I'd go into labor, but it didn't happen. I'd feel contractions randomly, especially at night, but nothing consistent. Each night I'd feel contractions before bed and think maybe I'll be woken up in the middle of the night. But instead, somewhat depressingly, each morning I'd wake up and realize I was heading into work.

I went to my 41 weeks appointment and again, still no progress. At this point I was still really hoping I'd go into labor over the weekend. I absolutely loved my birth with Elley and was really afraid of what would happen with an induction. I was sure my labor would be long and hard, that I'd need an epidural to cope with the pain, that I wouldn't progress, and I'd wind up needing a c-section. Talk about thinking the worst possible outcome!

Of course my induction date arrived without me going into labor. We called the hospital at 2am to make sure they had room and then left the house to arrive at 3am. (Elley stayed with my mother and father-in-law since we knew we'd be leaving in the middle of the night.)

One Last Bump Shot Before Heading to the HospitalFunny enough when we got to the hospital the guy at the security check-in desk was one of the boy's former students. Then as we walked back to our room we ran into one of the boy's baseball teammates. We made it to our room and they went through all their questions, started an iv, and of course checked me. I still wasn't dilated at all, so it seemed like we were in for a long day. My doctor was planning on coming by between 7 and 8 to break my water, so we guessed the baby would arrive around early afternoon.

Around 4 or 4:30, the nurse came in to start the pitocin. She also realized that she hadn't positioned my monitor correctly, so the machine wasn't tracking contractions. Once that was repositioned she realized that even without the pitocin in my system I was already contracting fairly regularly. She came back to once or twice more, each time contractions were getting closer together. At one point I remember her saying they were around 5 minutes apart.

Around 6:30 I had two nurses rush in fairly concerned since the baby's heart rate had dropped. They checked me again, and I was already 4 centimeters. Almost halfway there in barely two hours! They asked me how quickly my delivery went with Elley, and hearing that along with how quickly things had already gone they seemed, not quite concerned, but definitely surprised at how quickly things were developing.

Around 20 minutes later, around 6:50, they came in again. They asked me to let them know when I started feeling the urge to push and they'd check me again. I didn't want them to check me and be disappointed by my progress, but before they left again, I thought it might be better if they checked. Good thing too since I was at a 9, with a bulging bag of water.

They called my doctor to let her know she needed to be there know. She was a little confused at first at who they were calling about. After all, I arrived at 3am, not dilated at all, and now not even 4 hours later I was practically ready to go. She told them she was getting dressed and would be there shortly, and the nurses turned the pitocin off since clearly I didn't really need anymore.

You could tell at this point the nurses started getting worried. They started getting everything set up and the baby nurses arrived. At one point the nurse in charge told the other that if the baby started coming to call a certain code and everyone would rush to the room. They told me not too push, which I did my best at, but wasn't the easiest. It was one of those times while trying not to push that I felt my water break. The nurses called my doctor again, who said she'd be there shortly.

Around 7:20 my doctor made it to the room. They already had everything set up and ready to go, so she basically walked over to me and told me to start pushing. Barely 10 minutes later at 7:30, Bear made his way into the world! (Coincidentally Elley was born at 7:42 in the morning, almost the exact same time.)

Everything is little blurry from this point on. I do remember the doctor holding him up asking me to check the gender. While I was holding him I remember asking the doctor if I could see my placenta. I was a little disappointed I never got to see it with Elley, and wanted to be sure that didn't happen this time.

It's funny after Elley's birth, I was sure that another could never be nearly as picture perfect, but once again I had a pretty amazing birth experience, so much so that I can't call one better, they were equally amazing. I managed to deliver without an epidural each time, which I'm really proud about. With Elley I did receive a stadol, a narcotic, so while I didn't have an epidural I felt like I couldn't quite say I delivered naturally as silly as it may sound. But now I can officially say I did deliver naturally, which I think is pretty awesome.

For anyone who did manage to make it through this far, here's your reward with a few more photos from our hospital stay.