Sophie's Birth Story

TMI-childbirth is disgusting

On Christmas Eve i was on my feet cooking all day. I thought i felt a few very small contractions, but nothing to be concerned about. I went to the bathroom once that night and came out and was talking to Christine in the kitchen when i thought i felt my water brake (is that the past,past tense of broke in this situation?). Anyway, went the the bathroom to check and it was clear and more fluid than usual but not like the movies with a constant stream. I've read that it won't be like that, especially if you are standing (which i was) because the baby's head acts like a cork. Thanks, What to Expect When You're Expecting :) I called the dr and she told me i could either go in and get assessed or rest and see if i would soak a pad in an hour. Of course i decided the latter. I didn't, so it turns out that the fluid was just the beginning of losing my plug. When i was prego with Gracie i lost my plug on Thursday night and went into labor Friday night, so i knew she was coming soon. This terrified me so from that moment and all day on Christmas i didn't do much and felt great. Everyone says to make a baby come you keep moving, so i did the opposite. And normally i don't believe in old wives tales :)

On the 26th, Steven and i cleaned the house as much as we could getting ready. I had a few contrax during the day. In the afternoon they were getting strong enough to make me stop what i was doing, so we called Steven's sister to come get Gracie. They offered to take her Xmas night but i was either in denial or stubborn. Plus i kinda wanted to spend another night as a family of just 3. Contrax continued, but nothing became regular until about 6:30pm. At that time Steven started writing down the time and duration. When we started that, they were about 30 minutes apart. We were just sitting around waiting. We were actually watching Knocked Up which was kinda fitting :) They were pretty regular, but not nearly as painful as the ones i had with gracie. In fact, we both kept waiting for the intensity to increase. Some i had i didn't even write down because they were so "small." They also got closer alot quicker. It was an hour or so when they were 15 min apart. That's when i told Ally who was at Nina's party in Covington. C&A were on their way back.

I figured Sophie'd come faster (Old Wives Tale with second babies, you know) so i didn't want to wait the standard 5 minutes apart for 1 hour. I did that last time and was 6-7cm when i got to hospital. So, this time, i called when they were about 5 min apart and i only had a couple. Well, that's what i planned to do, but i kept saying "after the next one." I was just worried about being that girl who went in too early-was only 2 cm and ended up having a c section from an induction that didn't work. My laparotomy i had when i was prego with gracie wasn't even as bad as a section and i was bad off-couldn't even move-so i knew i couldn't have that with gracie to care for.

The dr took too long to call me back when i called on Xmas eve, so instead of waiting we left right after we called. I had Steven rub my lower back really hard whenever i was contracting and that helped ALOT. Ally rode with us and she rubbed when i had them in the car-so helpful. Anyone wanting to try natural childbirth i highly recommend the back rubs-and having someone else there to help you when your partner can't or gets tired. On the way to the hospital i was able to post on fb that we were headed there :) Gotta love technology.

When i went in with gracie, they made me go to the assessment center by myself. I was brought to an office and asked all kinds of questions until the nurse saw i was to uncomfortable. I guess this time they saw i was already too uncomfortable. They let steven come with me and got me straight to a bed to check me. When the nurse said i was 8 cm I was shocked and I was TERRIFIED! I knew this baby was coming soon and i needed drugs. I knew it wasn't too late to get them, what i was scared of was that they wouldnt kick in before she was ready to come out. From then on everything happened pretty fast and slow all at the same time.

The anesthesiologist took forever getting to the room. Steven was holding my hand and trying to talk me through the contrax, but they were BAD. The nurses in there were wonderful, too. Kept reminding me to breathe. At one point Steven said, "SHHHHHHHHHH, SHHHHH." I couldn't believe it! I said, "Did you just f*ckin shush me???" He explained that he's used to trying to calm and soothe Gracie that way, so it was habit :) I wasn't facing them at the time, but he said the nurses looked at him crazy, too. He actually did it again to but at that point it would have been comical if i wasn't hurting so bad. The drugs were taking so long i told steven to lie to me and tell me he was coming even if he wasn't.

Finally, the anesthesiologist made it. Thank God! But steven had to leave the room(good thing otherwise he wouldn't have had time to notify the photographer to come in:)). This was terrible :( But again the nurses were incredible. Letting me scream and hold their hands. So i got the epidural and keep waiting for relief and it doesn't seem to be coming. They kept pumping me full of stuff and still-painful contractions. I feel my water break and heavy pressure on my bottom and get so scared again. I'M GOING TO HAVE THIS BABY AND FEEL EVERYTHING :(. I told steven, "i can't do it" and "why aren't the drugs working?" They loaded me up and also have me something extra in my IV to help. I heard the dr say something like "this is the last one i can give her." Oh God! More fear. Then, relief came. When i finally relaxed i was over 9 cm. A few minutes later the dr (Whitaker) said, "ok, i'll be back in a minute. We'll break your water and have a baby." We said, "water already broke" and she says, "ok, then lets have a baby." After that she was out in a few pushes. It was amazing. Even easier than the 1st time. Steven didn't splash my face with cord blood this time :) We got to the hospital around midnight and she was born at 1:02am. A new personal record.

Steven said i was so close...i definitely could have done it without the drugs. I guess i probably could have, but for me it's not something i need to find out :) But-according to lamaze-the dilation is the hard part...which i got through. Supposedly the actual birth is just more like a pressure feeling. I bet they lie though :)

I couldn't believe she was mine when i saw her with all that black hair. I never thought i'd have a baby with so much hair. So many people asked me if i had heartburn it's funny. I guess this pregnancy/birth was just a walking stereotype. Nevermind the fact that i had heartburn before i was prego. They cleaned her a little and we tried to breastfeed. She latched on like a champ! That's what i was most nervous about. I mostly hated bfing w gracie. At least for a long time i did.

This time the after part was the slow part. It felt like forever when we finally got to our room. I made sure ally took a pic of the afterbirth this time. I know, that's disgusting, but i wouldn't have gotten to see it otherwise. No, i won't post the picture :) My recovery seemed to go alot faster this time. I don't know if it's because i wasn't so scared of everything like i was the 1st time. We even got out of the extra day at the hospital again. We were there a total of about 39 hours. Pretty sweet.

Sophie Rae was born Dec 27th at 1:02am. 6lbs, 15oz, 20.5 inches long.