Bailey’s Birth

Bailey’s labor and birth was a stark contrast to Brooklyn’s.  I labored for 31 hours with Brooklyn.  At 37 weeks this time I had 20+ hours of contractions consistently 6 minutes apart.  I went in, I was 1 cm, and they stopped.  Boo for false labor.  This happened another 2-3 times in the two weeks following.  I was SURE I’d have another marathon labor, thinking that’s just how my body rolls.  A week ago, at exactly 39 weeks, I woke up and felt “off.”  I took a nap at 7:00 am.  I got up and was super nauseated.  I took another nap.  Got up again and felt HORRIBLE.  I actually cried I was so nauseated (this was my first inkling….the crying).  I decided I NEEDED to get out and do something.  So, we grocery shopping, and to dinner, and then to buy Brooklyn a new winter jacket.  Around 5:00 pm I started having contractions.  They were really sporadic…12 minutes, 15 minutes, 18 minutes, 11 minutes…they bounced all over.  I called my cousin who lives around the corner “just in case" (for the 4th time) but the jury was still out on whether this was the real deal or not.  I went to sleep at 10:00.  About an hour later I woke up having contractions that seemed fairly consistent.  I got on the computer and started timing them.  They bounced around from 8-10 minutes apart for awhile.  Then 7….then 6….and then around midnight they started being 2.5-3 minutes apart.  I woke Gavin up.  I called my cousin to come over…and we headed to the hospital. 

They were intense, I was having to focus on breathing through them.  One of them completely stopped me in my tracks just outside L&D triage, so much so that the nurses offered to bring me a wheelchair.  LOL, it was like 20 feet!  We got checked in.  I’ll interject here and say that I “waited” to go into labor on Sunday night because I KNEW my midwife would be on-call at that time.  They hooked me up to the monitors and told me she was in a delivery and would come see me as soon as she could.  The nurse checked me and I was 2 cm.  Knowing that they will not admit you until you’re 4 cm I seriously cried…I had been 2 cm at my appointment four days earlier.  And, I was admittedly in a lot of pain.  So, they left me on the monitors.  Triage is SO uncomfortable.  I was having back labor again and laying in a bed is not conducive to pain control.  Gavin was watching the monitors and I was still having contractions every 3 minutes.  BUT, the intensity of these contractions was insane.  Literally every single one was off the scale….I’m pretty sure I made a lot of noise, that was not entirely voluntary at that point.  Eventually I said forget this laying in bed and got up and sat on the doctor’s stool backwards.  This helped some, but it seemed to make the contractions even more intense. 

About an hour after we got there my midwife walked in.  I was shocked that she was admitting me without checking me again.  The nurse started my IV line.  We discussed pain management.  Honestly, at this point I wanted the epidural.  I really wasn’t getting any break between contractions and the back pain was of course awful.  They wheeled me to the delivery room.  We got there, they helped get me on the monitors.  L checked me and I was 8cm.  A few minutes later my water broke.  I vaguely remember the nurse calling my midwife and saying she needed to get back in there ASAP.  The anesthesiologist came in and L advised me that it was unlikely we’d have time for the epidural.  In my state of mind, I was still imagining Brooklyn’s 2.5 hours of pushing and thinking there was NO way I could do that.  She checked me and I was 10 cm….go time whether I wanted to or not.  I might have panicked just a bit.  I might be the only woman in the history of women who clamped my legs together and refused to push for several minutes.  Eventually, I HAD to push.  L kept saying it would feel better when I pushed…I didn’t believe her.  I should have, lol.  With the first push her head was out.  I pushed with the next contraction and there she was!  Amazing!   And, instant relief!  She looked so tiny!  She did very well on her apgars and had the sweetest little cry.  I was really shaky but I felt great!  I am SO glad I didn’t end up getting the epidural.  My recovery has been so much easier and faster than with Brooklyn.  They cleaned her up, and she surprised EVERYONE by weighing 7 lbs 5 oz.  The nurse thought for sure she’d be in the low 6’s.  She is just  a lot like Brooklyn and has very petite little features.  I still can't believe how fast it was.  From the time we got to the hospital, and the time she was born was less than 2 hours.  I think I was in delivery for a whopping 15-20 minutes before she was delivered!

It’s crazy how similar they look, and how different they already are in personality.  She looks super alert in the photos, and she IS when she is awake, but she has nothing on Brooklyn!   She is super sleepy…I just happened to catch her for the 10 minutes she woke up the other day, lol.  I love these two girls so much!  I'm so happy to have both of them here and healthy!