Levi's Birth Story

Caution:  Lot of awesome words like dilated and effaced in this post.  Just the facts.

So... I've tried to start this a few times it seems and apparently I have forgotten most details.  That's not incredibly surprising since Levi will be 2 in February.  I'll give it my best shot and then run it by Andrew who normally doesn't out-remember me, but when it comes to the birth of our children he seems to recall more.

The week before Levi, or Baby B as you might remember, arrived I had an appointment and was told by my Doctor he didn't know if I'd make it back next week for my appointment.  This was super exciting as I was so late with Amelia and at this time I was a bit over 38 weeks along, 3 cm and 60% effaced.  Well... I made it, but when I went in the 24th I was dilated to a 5 and effaced either 80 or 90%... pretty exciting in the world of babies.  I asked my Doc if I'd make it back for my 40 week check up to which he quickly answered "No."

I was supposed to meet my good friend Maggie for some Chinese food that evening, but wasn't really feeling up for going out so I canceled on her.  Smart move as I started to have mild and inconsistent contractions in the evening.  So I did some resting and hanging out with my then only child and Andrew, got Amelia to bed and then returned a couple phone calls I'd been putting off.  I didn't really take the contractions all that seriously since they were so mild in pain compared to Amelia's so we even attempted to go to bed around midnight or so.  I think after about 10 minutes in bed I was telling Andrew perhaps we should call our friends Scott & Laura and take Amelia over there since I thought we might need to go to the hospital.  My contractions were really very bearable, but I'd tested positive for Group B Strep, which isn't a big deal, but it did mean that I'd need antibiotics prior to delivering to prevent Levi from getting it.

Andrew took Amelia to our friends' house while I 'rested' and then we gathered up our stuff and headed to the hospital.  It was somewhere around 1:30 or 2 a.m.  The scene was quite different from the first time around.  I walked up to L&D and when they asked how they could help me I calmly told them I thought I was going to have a baby soon.  Andrew said I was also foolishly smiling which may have attributed to the next part.  It was apparent that no one enters L&D this way by the look of skepticism on their faces.  So, I get a room and all checked in and find that I have not made any progress despite the evening of contractions.  The nurse hooks me up to an IV of Penicillin and cue dizzy spell number one: the room starts to spin and I can't keep my eyes open.  The nurse reclines my bed and I recover after a few minutes and we're left alone.  Sometime after, I continue to have contractions that make me nauseous enough to lose the minimal amount of food I ate during the evening.  After awhile of just laboring in my room I realize I'm transitioning to the not fun part of labor and decide I think it might be smart to ask for my epidural (since it took forever to get last time).

That's when my nurse tells me, "Well Dr. D (for slight anonymity) isn't really sure you're in labor, but I'll check you."  I highly doubt she was supposed to tell me that, but she did.
Really?  I'm having timeable, painful contractions and he didn't think I was in labor?
"Well,  you have dilated another centimeter.  I'll talk to him."
Why, thank you.  Six centimeters does seem awful close to ten for someone who is not in labor.
Epidural granted.  In and actually working this time, as soon as I get re-situated in bed episode number two of dizziness/blackout ensues.  This one was much worse and scary.  Blacking out, echoing voices and spinning head are things that are all new to me at this point.  I reoriented somehow and was just resting, but my blood pressure never did come back up (a side effect from epidural).  Once my diastolic BP got below 90 they said they had to give me something to raise it back up.  After all of that, things seemed to go pretty smoothly, or at this point that is how I remember it.  This was also when we decided on Levi's middle name (surprise).  Around 6:30 (keep in mind most of these times are guesstimates) Dr. D came in and said I was at a 9 and they would break my water and wait until my Doctor got there to deliver.  So, around 7 we had shift change and I got to meet my new nurse and they started rolling all kinds of stuff in.  I informed my nurse that it may take awhile since I pushed for an hour and half with my daughter.  She smiled and said, "Well it won't take very long this time."  There is music to a laboring mother's ears!  And she was right.  They even had me wait to push until my doctor showed up shortly before 8.  He walked in grinning and said, "I told you you wouldn't make it a week."  Not much time passed and Levi was born at 8:03 a.m.

 As soon as I saw him I thought he was so little.  My doctor insisted he was an 8 pounder though, and sure enough he weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 oz. and 21 inches long.  Amazing, after his sister was so little.  Speaking of Amelia, she was quite unimpressed with her new sibling at first.  Andrew's Mom came up to stay with her while we were at the hospital and brought her to visit that evening.  I think she had more fun trying to get into all the cabinets in the room than meeting her little brother.  She likes him now though, so it's okay. :)

Things seemed to go well even into the next day.  We even were in the process of putting an offer in on a house and actually did the paperwork at the hospital the next afternoon, but that's a whole different story.  I probably should have used that time to rest as later my BP spiked to concerning levels.  Apparently there was some miscommunication among the doctor on call and nursing staff about the issue.  The doctor thought I'd already received medication for the high BP, but the nurses hadn't given me anything.  So when she asked me how long it had been since I'd had the meds, she was quite upset and promptly left.  I actually felt kind of bad for my nurse(s) because I'm pretty sure that wasn't a pleasant conversation by the look on Dr. G's face when she left.  But the nurse came in and gave me some medicine with a smile on her face, so at least nobody was angry with me.  I got to stay on that awesome (so sarcastic) medication for 4 months postpartum for pregnancy induced hypertension.  We did get to head home the next day with our beautiful baby boy and have been loving being a family of four ever since.  But soon we will love being a family of five... stay tuned. :)