Andrew's Birth Story

On Wednesday, August 17th, I went to m y 39 week appointment desperately hoping for any signs that my body was getting ready for labor. However, I was checked and still had not dilated or had any effacement. So I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I would be overdue and most likely have to be induced again. Andrew (and my body) had other plans.

I had gone to my parents' house that night for dinner and nearly everyone that was there commented on the size of my ankles. They were absolutely HUGE! I chalked it up to typical pregnancy swelling though and spent most of the evening with my feet up. The next day, my ankles were still pretty swollen and my left one was significantly larger than my right. So me being me, I took a picture on my phone and sent it to my mom with the caption of "holy cankles." She had me call my doctor. 

So after waiting around all day, I finally got a call back from the nurse who ordered me into labor and deliver for monitoring. I was NOT expecting that at all. I figured they would tell me to keep my feet up and drink more water. So Ryan and I packed the last few things in our hospital bag and dropped Sarah off at my in-laws' house. Off to the maternity ward we went. We were there for three hours and I had tons of blood drawn and my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes. Finally, I was told I could decide to go home or be induced that night. So, since I hadn't eaten in over 9 hours, I opted to go home and eat and get everything situated for Andrew's impending arrival. But it was mostly food that motivated my decision.

Friday I went into the office for a blood pressure check and was sent back to labor and delivery. This time I didn't leave until after Andrew's birth.  I had another blood draw and we waited on those results before they started Cervadil. Just like with Sarah, it had to be in place for 12 hours before they could start Pitocin. So at 3:30 pm they started Cervadil and I contracted all night from it! That did not happen with Sarah and I was totally unprepared for it. Sometime past midnight, after about 7 hours of fairly strong contractions, I started crying and then I felt pretty bad about it. But luckily I was able to get some pain meds (Stadol again) to help me sleep. Since I didn't open my eyes, I pretty much avoided feeling woozy from it. 

Finally at 5:30 am they started Pitocin and I got my epidural around 7:00! I felt worlds better and was so ready to be done with the labor process at that point. Unfortunately for me, my epidural began wearing off on my left side right before it was time to push. Around 10:30 am or so. It wasn't unbearable pain, but enough to be uncomfortable again. I was really hoping to get it fixed before I had to push, but there wasn't time. I pushed for 17 minutes and then at 10:54 am, Andrew made his appearance in the world. He was in a bit of shock because he was born so quickly. He had a bit of respiratory distress, but nothing as severe as Sarah's. He did have to be taken for observation like she was though. But he passed all of his APGAR tests and was one healthy, big boy!

I had a minor tear and was just waiting for the epidural to wear all the way off so I could get up and shower and clean up! I felt a million times better after Andrew's birth. I'm thinking it was because this was my second baby and it happened so quickly after my first! But the whole process went fairly smoothly and while it was a surprise, I am really glad that everything turned out the way it did. We have a healthy new addition to our family and avoided a possibly dangerous situation with my blood pressure.

And here is the last bump picture and the post baby bump picture!