DeWareWolfe

On Friday July 19, around 7 or 8 pm, I started thinking something was weird. I was 39 weeks, I wasn't having contractions, and hadn't had an obvious water break, but I thought there might be a slow leak going on. So I called the doctor and she said to come on in and get checked out. I called Oliver, who was at kung fu class, and started packing my bag just in case. Fortunately my mom had arrived the day before and could stay home with Julian. We'd just put him to bed but with all the excitement, he asked to stay up a little, and so he helped us load the car and saw us off.

When we got to the hospital, I walked in - no wheelchair this time - and we settled in to one of the labor & delivery rooms. The nurse checked me, the doctor checked me, and lo and behold, my water had indeed broken! But since I thought it might have started at 7 am that day, we didn't have a lot of time left (usually they like you to deliver within 24 hours of your water breaking to avoid infection). So, they started setting me up for some labor-inducing drugs. I had an IV and they started me on a low dose of Pitocin. I immediately felt a little contraction, but they had to ramp it up a few times before they became strong and regular. Still, it was manageable, and we passed the time by watching "Spinal Tap," which was a good distraction. By the end of the movie, though, things were getting unpleasant. I had already tried a dose of IV Fentanyl, which just made me really woozy and wore off very quickly. Time to get an epidural. (Pitocin-provoked contractions are apparently more intense than the natural kind, and it's rare for anyone to get through them without drugs.)

Here was yet another way that this labor was different from Julian's: the epidural worked the first time! Yay! Near instant relief. For those who haven't had one, it wasn't totally numb, but it felt like the lower half of my body was asleep, and the contractions were mild pressure instead of horrible cramps. So I happily passed out for the rest of the night (that being about 2-6 AM). First thing in the morning, the doctor came in and checked me. I was terrified she was going to say I was only 5 cm dilated and needed a C-section, but no! She said, "You're ready to push! You're complete!" Which was just about the best news I've ever heard.

They say second births are easier, especially the pushing. With Julian, I pushed for three hours. With Annabel, I pushed for about 15-20 minutes total, including a break because the doctors were all delivering other babies - it was a busy morning in L&D. I think there were maybe less than 10 contractions' worth of pushing. And there she was! She started crying right away, and spent a few minutes resting on me before being checked out by pediatrics while the doctor finished fixing me up. She was 7 lbs., 7 oz, 20" long, Apgar 9, born at 7:24 AM. I had to stay in bed with the IV for a little while longer, but eventually they disconnected everything and found us a room in the maternity wing. Oliver went to collect Julian and my mom, and we all walked over to the recovery room together.

We came home the next day, and everything is going well!