My Doctor had scheduled an induction for my due date of November 23rd. She doesn’t like her patients to go past their due date and also the fact that the holiday was approaching she scheduled me for the day before Thanksgiving. She called the hospital to reserve a room for 6am.
The evening of the 22nd Brian surprised me and arrived at the house early. We were able to enjoy dinner together and Addison was beyond excited that Daddy was home. That night neither Brian nor I slept. We were anxious, excited and nervous. I set the alarm for 4:30a just in case but I was out of bed at 4am getting ready and packing my hospital bag. I was incredibly sad leaving the house that morning knowing Addison would wake up, be looking for us and we wouldn’t be there but I knew Papa would take good care of her.
On the way to the hospital Brian and I talked about our drive to the hospital when I was in labor with Addison and how much different it was.
We arrived at the hospital right at 6a, got registered, and then were escorted to our room in the labor and delivery ward. The nurse had me change into a gown, do a urinalysis and they started my IV. Since I have such a phobia of needles I asked for Lidocaine before the IV (I remembered when I had Addison that the IV hurt worse than the epidural). Thankfully the nurse did the Lidocaine and I didn’t feel a thing. When they started to take blood out of the IV to send to the lab I started to get lightheaded. The nurse brought me ice and a washcloth for my forehead. After the lightheadedness passed the nurse commented that I had turned white and looked like I was about to pass out.
When I arrived the nurses were surprised to find out that I was already 3.5cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was having some contractions before we arrived but they were sporadic.
The Doctor arrived shortly after 7a and broke my water. About 40 minutes after that the nurses started my Pitocin. They asked if I wanted an epidural at that point but I told them I wanted to wait and get several strong contractions before the epidural.
At 8a my contractions were 7 minutes apart but weren’t strong. They increased the Pitocin.
At 9a my contractions were 3 minutes apart and getting strong.
At 9:15a the nurse informed us that the urine culture I gave upon admission showed I had a UTI and they started me on an IV antibiotic.
At 9:30a 6cm dilated. I received the epidural. It took two tries. The first time I could feel the pressure of her finger as she was guiding the line up my spine. She then stopped, gave me another numbing shot and tried again. Thankfully the second try worked!
10a – Noon: Brian and I slept and watched TV.
At 12:20p I was 8-9cm dilated. Bloody show emerged. The nurse predicted I would be pushing soon.
At 12:40p I called the nurse into the room due to the amount of pressure I was feeling. She said I wasn’t a 10 yet but was feeling the pressure from the baby “dropping.”
At 1p I called the nurse back in and told her I had to push. She calls the Doctor and the Doctor told her to have me start pushing and she’d be there in 10 minutes. The nurse stated “There’s no way I’m having you do practice pushes because he’s right there and you will definitely get him pushed out before the Doctor arrives.”
At 1:09p The Doctor arrives and I begin pushing.
At 1:19p Enzo Anthony is born weighing 8lbs 15oz and 20 inches.
As soon as his head came out the Doctor commented “This one is going to be a football player. It looks like we have a big baby in there.” The Doctor as well as the nurses commented on how healthy and thick the umbilical cord was. They stated they haven’t seen a cord that healthy in a long time and that he was being well nourished. My Doctor was wonderful and took a few minutes before she left to congratulate me, give me a hug and ask about any concerns or questions. I could genuinely feel her concern/warmth. Our nurse was also wonderful and I was so thankful to have her.
They bathed him in the room as well as all the testing. It was nice that they don’t immediately take the baby to the nursery. The only time he went to the nursery was that night so I could get some sleep. I tried to breastfeed him but he wouldn’t latch on. I tried and he cried for the first 3 hours as he was hungry but not latching. The nurses suspected he wasn’t latching due to his badly bruised face (bruised due to coming down the birthing canal so quickly.) 4 hours after the birth the nurses stated we would have to try supplementing with formula because due to his large size and the fact he hadn’t eaten yet his blood sugar levels were dropping.
As for me after delivery I was having lots of pain in my pelvic bones (due to the large size baby) and having bad cramping from the uterus contracting back down. I had heard somewhere that the cramping of the uterus is worse with the 2nd child but I could never have imagined how painful it was. I was in tears a couple times because the cramps were more painful than the contractions during labor.
We were discharged the following day just 24 hours after his birth.
It was such a calm and peaceful experience. The entire morning that I was laboring, Brian and I watched TV, I was texting friends and we both slept. I didn’t feel like I was there to have a baby.
My favorite quote of the day was after Enzo arrived and Brian said “Childbirth is a lot easier than people make it out to be” The nurse quickly put him in his place and said “No, it’s really not. Your wife just makes it look easy!” Kudos to our nurse…lol!!
