Here we go again, baby!

I was lucky to be able to start my maternity leave at 39 weeks this time around. I was still feeling really good, but work was slow & things at home were hectic (Christmas, baby, regular life!) so I took advantage of the time. It was also really nice to have the extra one on one time with Aleesia, not something her and I were ever really able to enjoy.

I had prodromal labor, again, for a week! This time though I was much less concerned with it and almost embraced it! I knew that I had been there, done this and that when it was ACTUALLY time I would know – that took the uneasiness I had last time away. I had an appointment on a Friday, 39w5d, and knew that I would have her strip my  membranes that day (I was at 4cm at my appt, I knew things were moving in the right direction!) which I did. Gianna spent the night with my parents and Aleesia and I had a date night at Target followed by dinner from Wendy’s, complete with a frosty!

I woke up on Saturday around 6am with contractions and I knew this was the real deal. I took the time to drink some coffee, bounce on my ball, and enjoy the quiet before Aleesia and Mike woke up. I knew this wasn’t going to happen too fast so I took my time! I ate breakfast, eventually packed my bag, called my midwife, had my sister come and get Aleesia, and we decided around 9:30 to head to the hospital because my mom was getting anxious!

 

The hospital was busy busy busy that day, of course, so it took awhile for us to get through triage and into a labor room – but there were no questions on whether they would keep me or not this time. I was having good contractions, bloody show, all the right signs!

 

I was getting questions from pretty much everyone about actually being in labor, just like last time, since I was talking, laughing, being totally normal during and between contractions. At this point I was 5/6cm. We got into a labor room around 12:30/1pm.

{{We were lucky to have Christine (Bella Rose Photography) with us to photograph the birth again. There are going to be some images that tell this story that are quite dynamic – you have been warned.}}

This is when things got a little strange – no one ever really checked me into the room, I had one rude nurse come in and say “I’m not taking her as my patient”, eventually someone came in and put my hep-lock in and got me some water. Our midwife came in (we went over my birth plan quickly), and then we were pretty much left to do what we wanted. I didn’t even change out of my clothes at this point!

We walked around for a little while.

Hung out in the room and goofed around between contractions and ice-chomping.

I got a labor ball and bounced. And had a popsicle snack.

Before I knew it was around 3 – my contractions were picking up in intensity but I was still relatively comfortable. I decided to go ahead and change into a gown and I had Theresa recheck me at this point and was disappointed when she said there wasn’t much change. I stalled at this exact same spot with Aleesia, so I asked her to break my water then in hopes it would help the baby move into a better position. I hung out in the room – walked around, bounced, etc.

Mike and my mom traded places hanging out next to me!

After a big gush of fluid she noticed a slight bit of meconium – all that meant was if she came out crying there would be no change in plans, if she didn’t, they would have to take her before I got to hold her. I didn’t let it freak me out or mess with my head though. I ended up having to stay on the monitors longer than I wanted because as my contractions picked up, she had a few decels that our midwife wanted to keep an eye on. This was slightly frustrating, but I made the best of it. I wanted to stand up almost the whole time – it was more comfortable, actually.

The hard work started around this time, but I made the best of the time between contractions. I could even still laugh!

 

More ball bouncing thanks to my close monitoring.

I don’t really remember taking my glasses off, but obviously thinks were serious at that point. I asked Theresa to check me again around this time to be incredibly disappointed with little progress. 

I got pretty flustered but Theresa and Mike were great at reassuring me that things change quickly and to stay focused. So I cried a little. And then I did just what they said, got my focus back.

I was working hard at this point – my contractions were intense about 90% of the time and I was breathing through them with the occasional need to make whatever noise emerged from my mouth. Mike was fabulous, as usual. He made sure I was drinking water when I couldn’t remember to do anything but breathe.

I was pretty much done talking now and focused totally on the peek of each contraction.