A little background....
After a
not-so-fun labor & delivery experience with Carson, I was adamant about not being induced unless my doctor felt there was a real medical necessity. It seems like the majority of people I know (myself included the first time around) are induced or C-section these days. I feel like very few people just get go into labor on their own. I was definitely gung-ho to get induced with Carson since they thought he was going to be a big baby, and I really didn't want to end up with a C-Section. I had the "big baby" fear. We almost ended up in a C-section after a long and difficult labor, so I'll never know if waiting until he was ready would have made a difference. Anyways, that was in the past. In most cases, assuming everything is normal and low risk, I am now convinced that waiting until they are ready is generally the best option. Our bodies were made for this, right?? Plus, I always kind of wanted that "in the movies" experience of waking up and realizing you were in labor, timing contractions, etc. :-)
I certainly am no doctor and know that each pregnancy is different, so this is just my general opinion. We had a low risk pregnancy and everything had been normal to date, so I couldn't see any reason to induce other than out of convenience. I fully trust my doctor and if there was any concern and he thought we needed to induce, I would have gone along. I let him know early on that I really didn't want to induce again, and he was totally on board but gave me the option as we approached my due date. At the last minute (like, a week before my due date), I got curious and started doing some reading and talking with people who had more natural and pleasant birth experiences. Let's face it, so
many people's birth stories are pretty traumatic which creates a sense of fear about the whole thing. Fear and stress generally are not a good thing when you need to relax. It seemed that most of the people I know that had positive experiences either went into labor on their own or did the whole thing naturally (again, just a general observation from my limited peer group). After I finished my reading and talking with people, I didn't have that fear anymore (despite the baby measuring in a 8lbs 7oz 10 days before her due date) and was more relaxed about the whole thing. I had more confidence in my body and what it was designed to do. I knew more about breathing through the contractions. I just felt more prepared this time around. Plus, with the second baby, I'd heard it was almost always easier since the way had been paved, per se. Deep down, I really wanted to try to apply some of what I had learned in the last week and attempt to do everything naturally (i.e. go into labor when she was ready AND potentially without an epidural). However, I certainly was open to the epidural if it got bad. I'm not out to prove anything or be brave. Again, bad experience the first time around (had two... the first didn't take and I still had a hot spot with the 2nd). I hadn't had a chance to practice anything I learned, and Andrew didn't really know anything about it either, so I certainly had low expectations and was okay that things may not go the way I envisioned.
My last pregnancy picture (November 25th - 39w 4d) before we headed to our last appointment.
Last picture together as a family of three
When we went in last Monday the 25th (my birthday), I had only barely progressed from where I was at the prior two appointments. I was a whopping 1cm and about 80% effaced. She was still pretty high at a -2. I told him that just that morning I had started having contractions, but that they were still very bearable and not that regular. Here and there they'd be about 5 minutes apart, but it wasn't at all consistent, and like I said, they were very minor. I was pretty sure these weren't Braxton Hicks because they did hurt some, but I just figured it was very, very early labor. I joked that I thought we'd see him later again that day, but he didn't seem to think so. He said if I hadn't had the baby by Friday, he'd induce if I wanted to, or we'd just go ahead and schedule our normal weekly appointment. I was thinking, Friday???... seriously??? I had a feeling something would for sure happen in the next day or two for sure.
It became pretty apparent that I wasn't going to have the baby on my birthday, as not a lot changed during the day. The contractions were a little stronger by the evening, but again, still not at all regular. Then, things changed....
I woke up about 2:30am on Tuesday the 26th with pretty strong contractions. I knew these were the real deal. Andrew was supposed to work the hunt, so he was up too. Since they had just started, I really hadn't had a chance to time them too much yet. When I first started timing them on some little contraction timer app around 3:00am, they were about 6 to 9 minutes apart (mostly 7 to 8 minutes) , so I figured we still had a little time. Andrew said calmly said he would be home by noon, and I knew my mom could take me to the hospital if necessary since my parents had been at our house since Sunday. I'm actually shocked now that I let him go. I had never been in this kind of labor, so I had no idea how quickly things could change. By the time Andrew left for work, I warned him that I thought there was a good chance that she would have to take me to the hospital because they certainly seemed to be getting stronger and closer together. Yep, that's exactly what happened. By 4am, they were even stronger and now 4 to 5 minutes apart. I'm thinking I probably should have woken my mom up at this point, but I didn't wake her up until 4:45am. I texted Andrew at that point and said that I was packing and just woke my mom up. I had most of my bag packed {I thought}, but still needed a few things. Trying to get dressed was next to impossible because they were coming so frequently, like less than 3 minute apart, and were getting VERY strong. With each one, I just closed my eyes, breathed down and out through my nose, not mouth, and when my mom was in close proximity, had her push on my lower back.
My mom and I pulled out of the driveway at 5:22am. I was starting to think I was going to have this baby in the car on the way to the hospital because of how fast and strong the contractions were. My water hadn't broke yet, but I felt like it could at any moment. It was NASTY outside.... cold and rainy, just like it had been when I was born 32 years ago (and 1 day). I think my mom was nervous, not only for me potentially having a baby in the car, but just driving in that nasty weather. Apparently my brother was a fast and furious birth too, so she was WAY more aware of how quickly things could happen.
Luckily we aren't too far from the hospital (~15-20 min). As we were pulling into the ER entrance, some big truck was riding our tail end and his lights were going right in my mom's rear view mirror. She's probably one of the calmest people I know, but let me tell you, she was NOT happy about this jerk behind us. Well, that jerk ended up being Andrew. :-) I don't know how he got there the same time as we did, but I was SOOO glad to see him. I can't imagine if he had missed anything. He was in a camo rainsuit and looks like he's trying to be on Duck Dynasty too with his beard.... figures. :-)
They wheeled my up to the L&D triage area and checked me as soon as I got the gown on. I was an "8"!!! Holy moly!!! I couldn't believe that I was already so far along. They asked me if I wanted an epidural with the premise that I may or may not have time. It all depended on how quickly the anesthesiologist could get there. Anyone that really knows me knows that I am EXTREMELY indecisive. You would think I would have known what my answer would be to this question that pretty much every pregnant woman is faced with. I just didn't ever think I could get that far along without it. I also think if I had known how big she was going to be, I might have been more easily persuaded to take it. Knowing that I had made it this far certainly gave me a BIG boost of energy and confidence. I knew it would all be over soon... no laboring for 18 hours like I did with Carson. I ended up declining the epidural with the rationale that I was SO close and had made it this far without one. While not always that comfortable, I had been VERY calm. My mom couldn't believe how calm I was. I couldn't believe how calm I was. The breathing and closing my eyes to try to relax through each contraction really had been working. I'm not saying it didn't hurt like heck at some points, but I had done it. Miraculously, I had been extremely calm and focused on the end result.
They got me in a room and Dr. Bost showed up pretty quickly. I'm assuming he was the one who broke my water (I don't remember), which I didn't even feel this time (again, it was a horrible experience last time...had to try twice last time). It was probably hanging by a thread at this point. I had a handful of contractions more, the first few about on the same level as the previous ones, but then there were about 3 that had me wanting the epidural. Your sense of time is so skewed. What was probably only 3-4 minutes of pain over a 5-10 minute period, made me think I that this pain was going to last so much longer and that I couldn't do it. I think I was in tears and said I should have gotten it. It was too late for the anesthesiologist, but Dr. Bost is one of the few that will administer one and was willing to give it a try even though it was might have been too late. He got all the stuff out and was just about to give me the epidural when my body had other plans. My body involuntarily started having the natural expulsive reflex where it pushes whether you were planning on it or not. I remember reading about this too when you are breathing the baby down. I think I remember Dr. Bost saying, "Change of plans!" With that, it was pushing time! Unlike my experience with Carson, I could feel my body's urge to push and actually felt that it was productive. Mentally, this was a HUGE help. Also, unlike with Carson, the pushing process was less than 30 minutes versus 2 hours. Lastly, unlike with Carson, I wasn't completely and utterly exhausted. When you get induced, you generally don't get to eat after midnight. When your baby isn't born for another 24 hours, you have ZERO energy. I passed out after the first push with Carson and was on oxygen the whole time. I have always needed to eat regularly, so fasting doesn't set well with me. I had already discussed with Dr. Bost that IF I did end up inducing after my due date, I really needed to be allowed to eat a little something for breakfast, and he agreed that would be okay. I had eaten a big dinner and somehow managed to at least scarf down a piece of toast and juice on our way out the door. It wasn't much, but it was enough. I was amazed how much better I felt after delivery too. I still had energy, felt alert, and was able to feel and move my legs.
I delivered Elizabeth an hour and a half after we were admitted. I'm glad we didn't wait any longer, we certainly had WAY less time than any of us thought!
When Carson was born, Andrew was the only non-medical person in the room. It was very special to have those precious moments all to ourselves. I didn't plan on it either way, but my mom was in the room when I gave birth to Elizabeth. I think a lot of it was that it all just happened so fast. I was laboring and then all the sudden, I was pushing and then she was here. I didn't even really realize she was there, but was so thankful she was. I think I could just sense the additional support in the room, and I certainly needed it. She was able to take pictures, and I know it was a very emotional experience for her. She had never witnessed a birth, and I know parts were difficult to watch... no one wants to see someone they love in pain, but she was so proud of me. I'm so glad she got to be a part of it, especially since it was because of her that we made it to the hospital! I know this whole experience is one she'll never forget!
I nearly died when they told me she was 9lbs and 7oz. I barely got Carson out at 8lbs 8oz, but somehow was able to have a bigger baby with no epidural. I would absolutely take this entire birth experience again over Carson's any day. I don't know what effect it has on the baby too, but she has been so much calmer and seems to have made the transition from the womb much more easily than Carson did. Again, she was ready, and I don't think he was quite yet.
A little purple and full of fluid, but okay! She screamed right away!
First time to hold our baby girl
Big girl!
Love Dr. Bost!
Laurel was a great nurse! Pretty sure she helped when Carson was born too.
Sweet Angel!
Sweet newborn snuggles
Love our little family of FOUR!!!
Thankfully, she passed the bilirubin and blood sugar tests. Carson had jaundice pretty bad, and we had to bring him home with a biliblanket for a couple weeks, so we were thankful her numbers were great. She did fail the hearing test twice in one ear though. Normally they test again in a day when the fluid levels have gone down, but since it was Thanksgiving, they let us go home early. No one seemed concerned, and we go back next week to test again.
We headed home late Wednesday afternoon with our healthy baby girl! I laughed because our stay was so much shorter with Elizabeth. We were there around 6:00am on Tuesday and were gone by 4:00pm on Wednesday. I don't think I hardly used anything I brought with me... there was no time to "pass the time." All the stuff I needed was the stuff I forgot - clothes for Elizabeth to wear home and clothes for me to wear home.
We feel so thankful and blessed!
Small world... my last nurse is also an R+F consultant!
All Ready to Go!!!
Yep, left the infant support thingy at home too. The nurse made one for me.
We are so in love!!!
As expected, we're all adjusting to our "new normal" being a family of four with a newborn. Thankfully, also as I expected, it is SO much easier the second time around. There are definitely plenty of things that are harder, like logistics and juggling your time & energy between two kids, but the whole "what the heck do I do with this baby" feeling isn't there. To me, that was the hardest part of a new baby. Even though a lot of natural maternal instincts kick in, you still are just so overwhelmed the first time.
When we brought Carson home, I just remember being so overwhelmed, scared, nervous, clueless, etc. Every time he cried, I got anxious and would get so frustrated if I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I've definitely learned that sometimes there isn't anything really wrong and sometimes they are just going to cry no matter what you try. Crying doesn't bother me like it did with Carson. Of course, I don't like it and hate to see my baby upset, but I don't panic like I did with Carson. I also have a lot more things/moves to try the second time around. We've already gone through the trial and error period with Carson, so I at least have a lot of options when it comes to trying to calm a crying baby. Some work. Some don't. I've also learned that every baby is different. A lot of the things that we did with Carson don't work with Elizabeth. In general, I feel like I've been a lot more "chill" with her than I was with him. I think they sense those things too. 
Carson had really bad GERD (reflux) that was miserable for everyone. It took a while to figure out that's what it was since it was "silent" reflux. He wasn't spitting up much, but you could hear the acid coming back up in his chest. It also took trying a couple different prescription meds to finally get it under control. The first two months with him were challenging. He also ate like a horse. He wanted to nurse every 2-3 hours, each for a pretty long stretch of time. She often eats every 2-3 hours during the day too, but nurses for much shorter periods of time. 
So far, we haven't faced any GERD with Elizabeth, only really bad gas. It was pretty bad the first week or so, but seems to have gotten much better. Luckily, the OTC gas drops do seem to help a lot if I give them to her after each feeding. I also determined that if I splurge and have a Dr. Pepper, it doesn't seem to set well with her. Dang. Oh well. We are a fan of lots of flavor at our house, but I've been trying to avoid anything too spicy. We also eat LOTS of good veggies around here, again, most of which are known to cause gassiness. It seems like you are just as limited on what you can eat when you are breastfeeding as you are when you are pregnant.
So far, we seem to be pretty lucky in the sleeping department, especially at night. I've been doing some cluster feeding roughly at 6:00/8:00/10:00pm, give or take an hour each way. Again, that is a very rough schedule, and she's still dictating her feeding most of the time. I certainly don't want to jinx anything, but the last 5 days or so, she's gone a 5 hour stretch, followed by a 3-4 hour stretch. What does that mean for Mommy???....Usually only waking up once to feed in the middle of the night!! I usually am up a little earlier than normal to feed her again, but I'm usually able to lay back down for a little bit before everyone else is up. Most nights she goes back down almost instantly after she eats, so we're only up for about 15 minutes to eat and do a diaper change. This is completely the opposite of Carson!
Time still will tell, but Carson wasn't a big pacifier kid at all. After 2 months, he was done. Even before then, he really wasn't a big fan. He only would use the GumDrop pacifiers. She loves his WubbaNub giraffe (that he didn't use that much). I've tried the GumDrop and Soothies, but she clearly prefers that giraffe. I also bought another WubbaNub, and it's like she can tell a difference between the attached pacifiers. I think the giraffe is softer because it's been chewed on before. At first, she wasn't taking to it at all, but now she likes to use it to fall asleep. She uses her hands to keep it in place and is actually pretty good at getting it back in her mouth if it falls out (for a 2 week old). She'll root around and can often get it.
She's doing most all of her sleeping in her Rock & Play napper or swing. She likes sleeping in her swing even if it's not swinging. (Thank you again Jamie and Lauren for letting us borrow these things!). Like Carson, she's got to stay upright after eating for a while or else it all comes up. I've learned that the hard way a few times. When I say it all comes up, I mean it. There have been no little spit ups. They were all projectile-vomit-style. Unless she poops while I'm feeding her, all diaper changes are BEFORE I feed her now. She also seems to already have pretty good head control and can turn it from side to side while on her tummy.
Carson has been really good too. He always wants to know where his "Baby Sister" is. That's usually what he calls her. If you refer to her as just "Elizabeth", he will correct you and say that her name is "Elizabeth Jane." He likes to hold her but will quickly tell me she's too heavy and try to push her off. I will NOT leave him in the same room as her without supervision. He means well, but can be too rough without realizing it. He'll want to push her in her swing or rocker, but doesn't know how to push or rock it gently. He'll walk up and whack it. Kid doesn't know his own strength....
