Liams arrival story - part 2. Healthy Mom, Healthy Babe

(Happy One Month Liam, I'm finally finishing your birth story!) 
We were pre-registered so check in was really quick.  I got assigned a room and a nurse and she hooked me up to all my monitors and my IV in no time.  Then she was drawing my lab work and hooking up a bag of oxytocin.  I was rather surprised when I started feeling contractions 5 minutes apart about 10 minutes after 1pm.  I thought it would take longer to get started, but my body really was ripe for labor...apparently (Miriam was born in 4.5 hours)   The contractions got a bit stronger as the hour progressed.  At first they were not showing up on the monitor, which concerned me because...hello...if this isn't even REGISTERING what is this going to feel like in an hour.  I had to quit paying any attention to that.  And Bill says eventually they started appearing - a moderate peak. 

Around 2 all my labs had come back and we were just waiting for the anesthesiologist.  Things were starting to hurt!  My OB came over the second time to break my water.  (The first time I was still getting set up I think)  I really did not want things to go faster or get any stronger so I said "No."  She told me she couldn't keep coming back...other patients and all, but I didn't care.  Bill and I knew the labor would probably go a lot quicker then any of them realized.  

I liked the anesthesiologist.  He seemed friendly enough and just kept telling me what was happening/going to happen.  It felt easy to work with him and do what he asked.  It's not really fun getting the epidural, but the worst part was the first injection to numb up the area a bit.  It stung.  We got it done and laid me flat.  I did NOT want to lay like that.  It felt better to have my legs bent, but he said everything would work a bit better lying flat, so I did.  20 minutes to take full effect...so honestly I started watching the clock again.
In my labor with Miriam I had a "hot spot" - an area I could still feel with the epidural.  It was the little area of my lower right abdomen.  I got another hot spot with this labor that was considerably bigger.  After some of my 20 minutes ticked away, I started hitting the "gimme more please" button for an area on my right side.  The pain on that side began to get worse as he moved down.  I had to breathe through the contractions again.
  
They told me to let them know if I started feeling a lot of pressure.  Since the right side of my birth canal was basically not numb, I totally felt the pressure of him moving down.  We got a few nurses in, they had instructions to start pushing with me.  My OB made it back just in time for my water to break and to work on pushing baby Liam out.  That pushing stuff is hard work!  People say second births are "easier" - less pushing etc.  I suppose that probably was true, but I still felt like a pushed a while, and it wasn't easy!  I've also heard - from those natural birth people - that pushing is a relief because you can finally work with the contractions.  Eh - having feeling one side was plenty enough for me, and it still just hurt!  Relief came when he came out!  

Bill told me later that Liam's umbilical cord was wrapped twice around his neck, but my OB took care of that quickly. And then we were done!  He looked pretty good and didn't cry at first.   He got weighed and measured and brought back to us.  Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby!  Sadly, we had forgotten our camera in all our rushing around :( so I don't have the pictures for right after his birth.  It's okay, I have lots of chances to get pictures now!

Liam's arrival story - part 1

So - don't forget - this is a birth story, meaning you will be hearing some details about well - birth

The day before I hit 37 weeks pregnant is when the contractions really started.  They were on and off for a week.  The day of my 37 week appointment I got "checked" for dilation (about 2 cm that day), and then REALLY had contractions all evening.  I kept wondering if I was going to go into labor.  But I was somewhat freaked out of going into labor.  I kept "relaxing" and trying not to go into labor yet.  I was so ready to be done being pregnant - but not.  I actually asked my husband to give me a priesthood blessing because of the anxiety.  The only thing I remember now is that he told me when the time came, I would be ready.  Oh and also that I would be able to get some rest that night.  Which I did :)

I made some decisions that week that ended up being fortuitous.  I decided to stop working on Wednesdays, I had intended to work through the first week of October.

My 38 week appointment rolled around the morning of September 28.  My blood pressure had been climbing a bit (136/90 the week before).   The day before I asked if my husband would come to the appointment.  I was pretty sure, if my blood pressure was high, we would be talking induction.  The night before my hands/feet/ankles were VERY swollen.  I'd been doing things all week like eating more fruits and veggies and even CELERY (not kidding) to try and combat what I saw as blood pressure as a result of bad habits.  My blood pressure was higher - 146/90.   So yes, my OB wanted to talk induction.  In fact, the first words out of her mouth were – “Did you talk about induction with Dr McIntosh last week?”  She checked me again - 3 to 4 cm dilated.  We had a small discussion about why induction.  She, of course, said her main concerns were a healthy mommy and baby... and may have mentioned a few scary things that can happen with (basically) pre-eclampsia.  Bill asked "So when are we talking about?"

"As soon as you get over the the hospital."

 I cried.  The closer I had gotten to the end the more freaked out I had gotten about labor.  So I cried, because of all the "awful" things I'd heard about being induced with pitocin. My poor husband.  And doctor.  Like, you know this baby was coming eventually right?  I thought to myself - yes, I'm just a stinking basket case!  Maybe I was upset because this was becoming such a different birth experience from my first, and I didn't think I WANTED IV's and continuous monitoring and PITOCIN dang it! I'm not sure I was keeping the "healthy mom, healthy baby" mantra in my sights very well. 

We left the office to go pick up our hospital bag, take care of our daughter and head to the hospital.  I called my sister in law, who has been induced twice.  I told her I was freaked out and she talked to me for a while about her experiences, why she preferred induction and about other things.  She said - they'll be watching you really closely to make sure everything goes well.  Let your nurses know up front what you want.  Tell them you don't want to be a hero and that you want that epidural when you can get it (in case that sounds bad to you, we had already discussed this.  Yes, I wanted an epidural.  AFRAID of the pitocin I was.).  Anyhoo, our conversation was really fabulous.  And besides, she has two beautiful, healthy daughters.  What is a better testimonial then that?  She was a really great support to me - even all the way across the country.

About 12pm we had arrived at the hospital and started getting checked in...