D's story - 1/3/13
D's story starts with sickness; not from me or D, but from Daddy. S got food poisoning on December 31st and was sick throughout the entire day. So we spent January 1st laying on our couch watching football, S recovering from the sickness and me, 38 weeks pregnant, just trying to rest. I wasn't due until January 11th and S was supposed to be back at work the next day, the 2nd. So when S asked me at 9 pm that night if I thought I was going to go into labor, I said, "No I don't think so." So he took an Ambien and I took a Benadryl so we could both get some rest.
Well at 12:15 am, only 3ish hours from taking sleeping pills, I woke up realizing that my water had broke. I called labor and delivery and asked them how much time I had before I had to go in so I could give both S and I a little bit of time to let the sleeping pills wear off. After about 2 hours we finally left the house, S making wide turns getting us to the hospital.
Once we were there, my contractions were irregular and I wasn't dilated at all, but I had to stay at the hospital because my water broke. Since it was about 2 in the morning, they didn't want to do much, so they asked us to sleep and rest until the morning when they would start Pitocin to help induce labor. So after off and on sleep for a few hours with inconsistent contractions, they started the pitocin. Still nothing happened after several hours, it was quite the waiting game. Even though the contractions weren't regular, they were still somewhat painful and D's heart rate would drop during each contraction, so they no longer allowed me out of the bed for the rest of the labor. It was tiring.
After about 16 hours of "labor" still no consistency, but the contractions were more painful. I didn't want an epidural because the thought of a needle going into my back terrified me. But at that point, I had no idea how much longer it would take and I decided to get it. I was hyperventilating and the nurse had to hold me while I was getting injected.
Unfortunately, still nothing changed in terms of dilation or consistency of contractions, so it was just a waiting game again. At around 22 hours, the midwife and doctor came in to see if I had progressed at all, because if I hadn't, I most likely would have to get the C-Section. Well thankfully I had progressed enough to get ready to push. I started pushing around 24.5 hours and it took 1.5 hours with an oxygen mask and then... he was here. My little D!
It took a total of 26 hours till D was born on 1/3/13 at 2:10 am. There was a lot of waiting and a lot of scary moments with D's heart rate constantly dropping, having to get the epidural and almost having to get a C-section. But I was thankful that D was healthy and I was fine and we worked on a long recovery afterwards.
J's story - 5/18/15
So, let's talk about a completely opposite story from his brother. I had Braxton Hick's contractions since the middle of my 2nd trimester and towards the end, I would keep getting BH but I knew they weren't real contractions. Well on Saturday 5/16 at 9:30 pm, the contractions were more painful than BH and about 5 minutes apart. This was it, I thought. We called my parents, they met us at the hospital to get D and we checked in.... and I was only 1 cm dilated :( they sent us home. The contractions got farther apart and by noon the next day they were gone. I was sad and tired.
I looked it up, these somewhat "false labor" pains and found out they are called Prodromal Labor pains that could take anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks till the baby came. We were sad, I was exhausted and we weren't sure what steps to make next. I rested throughout the day and D came home by the afternoon. We did our normal bed time routine and I started to feel moderate contractions when I got into bed at 10. It wasn't much rest as the contractions continued throughout the night. At around 5 am the contractions were stronger but about 45 minutes apart. I called labor and delivery at 7, contractions were strong but about 30 to 45 minutes apart at that time. They said I could come in if I wanted, but more than likely, since they contractions were still far apart, they would send me home. They said to take a warm bath and try to get some rest.
The pain was horrible, so I got into the bath. By the time I got out of the bathtub, the pain was so bad I could barely stand. By 8 am the contractions were at about 5 minutes apart. Within 1 hour, the contractions sped up so quickly, therefore we needed to act quickly. S called D's school and asked if he could do an extra day there since he wasn't scheduled to come in and we drove over there, about 10 minutes from our house. As we pulled out of the drive way I said to S, "I don't think they'll give me the epidural, it's too late. The whole way I was screaming out of the car window, D, not realizing what was happening, was laughing like crazy in the back of the car. I thought that I was going to give birth in the car. We dropped him off at school at 8:30 am.
S drove like a madman on the freeway to the hospital, 12 miles from the school. Praise the Lord we were going in the opposite direction as traffic. When we got to the roundabout in front of the hospital, I ran out of the car and ran into the lobby. The volunteer in the front asked if I needed a wheel chair and I said yes. Another volunteer took her sweet time getting me the wheelchair and I walked away towards the elevator. A volunteer caught up to me with a wheel chair and he wheeled me into the elevator, where another person was already there. The kind man let us by pass his floor so I could get up to Labor and Delivery. The volunteer wheeled me to labor and delivery and 4 nurses and the midwife rushed towards me when I got there. I was scared, in pain and scared! S caught up to me in the room, settling himself down on the couch, thinking that we were in for a long labor (remember D's story?). But the midwife checked, I was fully dilated and she could see his head; the baby was coming now.
Three pushes later, he was born. I remember not hearing him cry, but I was in so much pain I didn't quite realize it (no time for an epidural this time). He was born in the sac, a rather rare occurrence. The midwife said it's considered a blessing when babies are born that way. Our sweet little J in my arms at 8:55 am on 5/18/15. That's right, only 25 minutes after D was dropped off, 12 miles away, J was born. It was amazing, scary, fast, and painful. Our little speedster.
Some people have asked me which I would have rather chose, which birth was "better". Although D's took forever, I would much rather have that birth over again. Having medical professionals surround me and help through the labor is so important. I was scared, so so scared when I was in labor with J. I praise God that both boys were healthy and that I was fine both times, but man, it was so scary the second time around.
I love these two, these two gifts from God. And I'm glad they're here, safe and sound.
The pain was horrible, so I got into the bath. By the time I got out of the bathtub, the pain was so bad I could barely stand. By 8 am the contractions were at about 5 minutes apart. Within 1 hour, the contractions sped up so quickly, therefore we needed to act quickly. S called D's school and asked if he could do an extra day there since he wasn't scheduled to come in and we drove over there, about 10 minutes from our house. As we pulled out of the drive way I said to S, "I don't think they'll give me the epidural, it's too late. The whole way I was screaming out of the car window, D, not realizing what was happening, was laughing like crazy in the back of the car. I thought that I was going to give birth in the car. We dropped him off at school at 8:30 am.
S drove like a madman on the freeway to the hospital, 12 miles from the school. Praise the Lord we were going in the opposite direction as traffic. When we got to the roundabout in front of the hospital, I ran out of the car and ran into the lobby. The volunteer in the front asked if I needed a wheel chair and I said yes. Another volunteer took her sweet time getting me the wheelchair and I walked away towards the elevator. A volunteer caught up to me with a wheel chair and he wheeled me into the elevator, where another person was already there. The kind man let us by pass his floor so I could get up to Labor and Delivery. The volunteer wheeled me to labor and delivery and 4 nurses and the midwife rushed towards me when I got there. I was scared, in pain and scared! S caught up to me in the room, settling himself down on the couch, thinking that we were in for a long labor (remember D's story?). But the midwife checked, I was fully dilated and she could see his head; the baby was coming now.
Three pushes later, he was born. I remember not hearing him cry, but I was in so much pain I didn't quite realize it (no time for an epidural this time). He was born in the sac, a rather rare occurrence. The midwife said it's considered a blessing when babies are born that way. Our sweet little J in my arms at 8:55 am on 5/18/15. That's right, only 25 minutes after D was dropped off, 12 miles away, J was born. It was amazing, scary, fast, and painful. Our little speedster.
Some people have asked me which I would have rather chose, which birth was "better". Although D's took forever, I would much rather have that birth over again. Having medical professionals surround me and help through the labor is so important. I was scared, so so scared when I was in labor with J. I praise God that both boys were healthy and that I was fine both times, but man, it was so scary the second time around.
I love these two, these two gifts from God. And I'm glad they're here, safe and sound.
