First, I'd like to introduce my son, Joel Alexander, born May 21st at 6:10 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 19 inches of perfect baby goodness.
On Sunday the 19th, it became obvious that this baby was going to be born fairly soon. I was due on the 26th, but was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it. Brian and I had a BBQ/baby shower that night and decided that unless I started having really bad contractions that we might as well go. Sadly, the night came and went and contractions never started. I woke up the next morning, showered, got dressed...NOTHING. I decided to go to school since working was actually more relaxing than chasing a 3 year old around the house - plus, I wasn't in labor. There wasn't much point in me staying at home and burning up a sick day.
BUT, around 9:30 am, I started having contractions that were close enough together and painful enough that I decided to time them. They were about 15 minutes apart, so I sent an email to the school secretary to let her know that I might need someone to cover my last class of the day. My contractions were far enough apart and didn't really hurt, that I was fairly certain I could make it another few hours at school. The kids were giving presentations and I was sitting down the whole day. About 3 minutes after I sent the email, the principal (not an assistant principal - THE principal) and the school nurse showed up at my door. The principal was really concerned and wanted me to go home immediately. I wasn't totally sure these contractions wouldn't fizzle out, and there wasn't really any need for me to leave yet. The nurse (who had been a labor and delivery nurse in the past) agreed with me. I promised that if they contractions got closer together that I would go home. A few minutes later, I checked my email and the principal pretty much insisted that I leave and the secretary said someone would be coming in to cover my last class. My students were thrilled that they got out of giving their presentations! It was pretty exciting to tell them that I was leaving because I was in labor! I had assured them many times that the chances of me going into labor at school were probably slim - but they were sure it would happen - they were sure my water would break during class. Thankfully, that didn't happen!!! As it turned out, leaving school was probably a good decision. I hadn't really factored in how uncomfortable it would be to drive during contractions. I had two on the drive home and was glad they were pretty minor pain wise.
When I got home, contractions slowly started to pick up, so I gave the doctor a call, just to give her a heads up that I was in labor. She had me come into the office to check my progress (her office is about 5 minutes from my house, so it was quite convenient). My appointment was at 2:30 and after she checked me she told me I was 2 cm dilated (I had been a 1 for two weeks, so not much progress had been made). The dr. agreed that this was probably it, but just to go home and wait until the contractions got closer together before heading to the hospital. Contractions got more painful and a lot closer together. We decided to head to the hospital around 4:45 because we were afraid if we waited much longer, we would get stuck in rush hour traffic. My labor with Lauren was only 12 hours start to finish, and everyone kept telling me that labor with the 2nd kid usually goes much faster. Well, that was NOT the case for me.
We got to the hospital, I got into a gown, the nurse checked me, and I was still only 2cm. The nurse offered to let me walk the halls for an hour to see if I made any progress. We walked and walked. An hour later... 2cm. Sigh. She said I could walk again for another hour. I really didn't want to leave. My contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and they were painful enough that I couldn't talk through them. I couldn't imagine going home at this point. So, we walked some more. Got checked again...still 2 cm. I was ready to cry at this point, but my nurse decided to give my doctor a call. In that hour, the doctor became my hero. She agreed to come up to the hospital and break my water.
About an hour and a half later, I was comfortably resting with my epidural and was hoping to get some sleep as it was about 11:00 pm. I might have dozed for a few minutes here and there, but no real sleep ever happened. I was checked several times over the next few hours and was stuck at 5-6 cm for the next 5 hours. I was fairly disappointed as this labor was NOT going faster than my first, and my dad had to leave for the airport for a 5 day trip to Florida at 8:30 in the morning. I really wanted him to meet Joel before he had to leave! At 4:30 am, the nurse suggested that I try some pitocin. I was pretty nervous about doing that. I didn't want any interventions (other than breaking my water) because I was worried I'd end up with a c-section. For the next hour, any time I had a contraction, Joel's heart rate dropped. The nurses kept having me switch sides to see if it would help, but it wasn't doing much. Thankfully, after an hour, I started to feel REALLY intense pressure, and I wanted to push - so I called the nurse in and she said it was just about time to do so, and she would call the doctor to get her up to the room. My epidural was starting to wear off. I could feel all of my contractions, and they were painful. I was worried about how painful delivery was going to be if I could feel lots of pain from the contractions. From 5:30 to 5:50ish we waited...and I started to get even more worried about how much this was going to hurt. I also had an epidural with Lauren, and felt NOTHING. Once the doctor came in, she checked me and said that it wouldn't take long at all...the baby was really far down. I pushed my little peanut out in 3 contractions. He had his cord wrapped once around his neck (which was the cause of the heart decels), but was born after about 10 minutes of pushing. Surprisingly, pushing and delivery didn't hurt at all, but I felt everything. It was nice to know when to push this time around!
He was perfect!
We spent the next two days in the hospital getting to know our little man! Meeting him was really emotional for me. I had longed to hold another baby since February of 2012 and knew that I was only meeting Joel because I'd lost two others. He's just so perfect.
My doctor (and Joel's doctor) - who was there for me through both losses with such amazing care, tenderness and understanding. I was really excited to finally get to share a birth experience with her!
My BFF, Emily came to the hospital right away and took some pictures for us!
Lauren's been great with him so far - not too interested, but she's getting better every day! We absolutely couldn't have survived the first few weeks without my parents - especially my mom! She kept Lauren for an entire week so we could adjust. I'm not sure who had more fun! She loves my babies so well!
A few more pics...
My dad was able to make it - he had about 30 minutes at the hospital before he had to leave.
First family picture!
Check out all of his hair!
Baby snuggles are the BEST!
We've been home for a month! Time is FLYING by. He's gained 2 pounds and 5 ounces already... He's changing too quickly for me! Love this boy!!!
