She's Already Here?

Today J is one week old! Yesterday was also her due date. And let me tell you, I would have never in a million years imagined that I would have an "on-time" delivery, much less an early one! My maternal grandmother carried six children to forty-two weeks, my mom carried four children to forty-two weeks and so did her sister. My first probably would have loved to stay in until forty-two weeks but my doctor at the time only let me go to forty-one.

This second pregnancy went by much quicker than my first and was overall a pleasant experience. I had the usual tiredness throughout and some mild morning sickness but other than that it flew by until around thirty five weeks. At that point, after consistently measuring on the small side, my OB sent me in for an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth. While it was fun to see the baby so much bigger than fifteen weeks before, I couldn't help but be anxious. I finally got the call back.

"Hi, your doctor said the baby is growing normally and everything looks fine. The amniotic fluid was just a little low, so make sure you're staying hydrated!" 

Okay great, I thought, that's a relief. I was already constantly drinking water but at that point I became more intentional about ounces, electrolytes and I cut out caffeine and anything else that would contribute to dehydration. 

Fast forward several weeks. Husband got home from the ship, we put packing and cleaning into high gear to move out, and we also surprisingly (and very quickly) found and bought a house to move into! We made it through all that and got up to our new house on the 20th of June! We had my family to help us move our stuff in and things were going as smooth as moving can be. Unpacking is a long process but we managed to get the important stuff done, we even painted a wall! It was becoming our home and we loved it. 

I was one day short of being 39 weeks when I went to meet my new doctor for the first time and talk about the birth plan and such. The meeting went well and she was completely open to letting me go to forty-two weeks, and understood my history of women carrying late in my family. I was feeling confident and then she had me lay down to listen to the heartbeat and measure my belly. The heartbeat was strong and loud, but yet again I was measuring small. Dr. H. frowned and said that she wanted me to get an ultrasound that same day. Thankfully there was a slot available in the next five minutes so they called me down and I got another peak at my baby. 

I don't know if ultrasound techs are allowed to say anything but this woman was clearly experienced and let me know that the baby was a little on the small side for this age and that the amniotic fluid was pretty low as well. I didn't know the implications of that but next thing I know, the doctor has called me back into the room and is telling me some alarming news.

"I'm sorry kiddo, I know you wanted to wait longer but I'm going to have you come back in tomorrow for an ultrasound. At this gestation, the fact that the fluid is so low is really not a good sign and tomorrow if the amniotic fluid is still so low we will have to schedule induction."

"Oh okay," I said, "would that be within the next week then?"

"Well no, I'd send you to the hospital that same day."

"OH. Wow, well I'd better pack my hospital bag then." She agreed and explained that this was called oligohydramnios and that meant there was probably a decrease of function in the placenta and of course that was not good for the baby. I left and reported everything to my husband, who was also just as prepared to NOT meet his baby for another three weeks. 

"Well, maybe tomorrow it'll be back up, she said to just chug water all day," he said "we'll just make sure you're extra hydrated." I agreed but had a feeling it would not be. How much more water could I drink than what I was already drinking?! I told my husband that I was pretty sure that it would be the same and that we were probably going to be having a baby in the next two days. We came home from that appointment and worked and worked to get the house back together and semi-tidy. While my husband unpacked the bassinet and found newborn diapers, I packed our hospital bags and made sure I had everything I needed for what I assumed would be a 48 hour endeavor. The next morning's appointment confirmed what I suspected and my doctor scheduled my induction for the following morning, July 1st, at five o'clock in the morning. 

We quickly had to arrange for our two year old to stay with my parents. We called my in-laws and let them know too. It was very surreal for me, and I knew I wasn't really processing the whole thing very well, I just wanted my baby to be safe. I never felt very anxious and the verse "Peace that surpasses all understanding" ran through my mind multiple times that day. 

We dropped off our kid and came home that evening. We packed our bags and tried to get to sleep at a decent time since we had such an early morning, and LONG day, ahead of us. 

Around 2:30 AM on the 1st I woke up to some mild, yet very noticeable, contractions. I was surprised and expected them to go away since, in my mind again, there was NO WAY that I would go into labor by myself. To my surprise every thirty minutes I was still having them and they persisted when it was time to go to the hospital. We got checked in, we got into the room and tried to settle in. Contractions were mild, but there and still a little sporadic. The nurses were very encouraging that I was having contractions. 

What proceeded next has really burned me on having babies in the hospital. First of all, while the sweet nurses do their best to NOT make you feel like just another pregnant woman having a baby, there are things that simply just are automatic there. Like automatically getting an IV picc-line because you MIGHT need fluids, or you MIGHT need a blood transfusion, or in my case I was probably going to need pitocin to really get my labor started. You also have to get your blood drawn to get typed in case of a blood transfusion. I was poked and prodded a lot within the first 40 minutes of my being in my room. I'm becoming increasingly agitated about all of it. Another thing was that since this is during the whole corona virus situation, they are testing the patients being admitted. I had to get tested but not my husband (makes sense, right?) There was also no warning about which method of testing they would be administering to an in-labor pregnant woman. Unlucky for me it was the nasal swab kind. The nurse who administered it briefly said "it goes pretty far up there, it might make you tear up" and I thought okay, that's not horrible. I'm pretty sure I'd had the flu swab and it does tickle and make my eyes water. 

THIS was NOTHING compared to that. When they say it goes up pretty far they mean SIX INCHES into your nasal cavity and what feels like your brain. I don't consider myself a wimp but it hurt so bad and it was so intrusive and stupid that I wept for a solid thirty minutes after it had been done. I was so angry and it is such an arbitrary system. I asked how long until the test results and my nurse told me that the results took at least 24 hours. 24 hours?! I will have had my baby and transmitted COVID to her by then if I actually had it, much less my husband not needing to be tested. I had several choice words run through my mind. And the nurses were fairly apathetic about the whole thing too. So, not a great start to that day. 

Thankfully after that, the nurses just left me alone to be in labor. My contractions were picking up and I was sure that everything was progressing as it should. I altered between walking around and sitting on the yoga ball. Chris coached me to breath correctly and was perfectly affectionate and sweet. By lunch, I had been given two doses of cytotec to help my cervix get ready, but things had stalled a bit. My doctor came in to check on me and we decided to break my water. After an hour things really picked up and by five PM I was in active labor and it HURT. I asked to be checked and unfortunately I had remained dilated at a four, but I was 80% effaced. Knowing that this same thing had happened with A, and that her labor had lasted for several more hours after being stalled at a four I decided to get an epidural. I still felt the contractions on one side, which was actually nice in a way because I could really feel my body working to get the baby down and I was still breathing through them. At that point I had the shakes and it was difficult to get my body to relax. Only two and a half hours later I was feeling a LOT of pressure and I called my nurse in to check on me. Things had sped up, and she told me that she could feel the baby's head being brought down with each contraction and in probably another half hour I would be fully effaced and dilated. I was shocked. Again, I had been expecting a long labor like A's, and perhaps even another three hours of pushing like with her, so the fact that things had progressed so quickly was very alarming to me. At 8:17, the doctor on call came in (she was amazing) and after a few contractions and six pushes later J was born at 8:29. She was so small! And all that hair! They put her on my chest right away and she cried immediately and was so healthy and perfect. We only stayed that one night in the hospital and got to go home the very next evening after all sorts of tests to make sure we were both spick and span. 

All of a sudden there were four of us. In the course of a day our hearts expanded, and I'm still processing that I have a newborn again. 

I am up every three hours during the night, and trying to take naps during the day. Since my parents are so close I've seen my mom almost every day and she has been the life-saver that I knew she would be. It's very different bringing a baby home to a house that has a two year old. A is doing really well considering she now has to share attention, and absolutely dotes on her baby sister. I make time to read her books and cuddle her and be silly with her, but there are several hours in a day where I am trapped on the couch for an hour nursing and feeding and burping the new baby. She helps to give her a bottle and burp her and loves it. She gets quite worried when she doesn't know where "baby goon 'ister" is, and often does drive by kisses when J is napping. We are all adjusting, and we have a lot to adjust to! A new state, town, house and now a new baby! God is good and I have never seen His hand move in my life the way it has the past several weeks. I'm constantly in awe of the continuous provision and blessings. Thanks for reading!