(This is probably more information than anybody wants to know about the day but I wanted to write about it because I know I'll be glad to have this down the road to read back)
On Monday April 12th I had a busy day. I went into the office to take care of some things before the baby's arrival and maternity leave. From there I picked up Will from my dad and Sharon's and then we ran home to quickly do a few things. While we were there I thought that it was possible that my water had broken, but I wasn't sure, and I was having such a busy day that I just kept going - but grabbed my hospital bag just in case and threw it in the car. Then we headed to Bloomington and met my mom, Chuck, his daughter and son-in-law and some friends for a quick dinner. Then we handed off Will to Aunt Sandy and left for the Straight No Chaser concert at the IU Auditorium. The concert was incredible but I was definitely feeling uncomfortable. We got back to my mom's around 11 and Sandy had put Will to bed there so I was very happy to crawl into bed with him after such a long day and spend the night there. Good thing we did, because I was up all night because of uncomfortableness and mild contractions and the fluid leaking. Around 4 I decided that my water was definitely leaking and this was the beginning of something. Because Luke was working in Ohio and working nights, I called him and told him what was going on and that he might want to go to his hotel and get some sleep. My plan was to call my Dr. in the morning. Luke wasn't having any of that - he insisted I call the Dr. right then. So I did, and to my surprise she told me to come on in. I called Luke and he of course panicked and hopped on the road right away. I snuggled in bed with Will for a while and enjoyed some last few moments with him as my only son. Then my mom and I both showered and we left for the hospital around 6. We didn't want to dawdle too long, as we were afraid Luke might beat us there. I was so happy that I didn't have to disturb Will and get him out of bed, but that he could wake up as usual and spend the day at my mom's house with Aunt Sandy. It was very emotional for me to leave him.
We got to the hospital and I got all checked in and changed and paperwork galore. At that point they needed to confirm that my water had in fact broken. There was a little voice in my head saying what are you thinking? Your water hasn't broken and now you're going to be sent back home after all this fuss and with no baby. But, indeed, it had broken. My labor was not progressing though, and since my water had been broken for a while, they began a Pitocin drip. Drip drip drip, all day long and SO SLOWLY. All morning I was having contractions but they were 7-9 minutes apart and not painful at all. Luke arrived around 10 or so, I'm sure setting a record for the length of time it took to get from Columbus Ohio to Bloomington, and just in time for us to sit around some more. We walked the halls and I was trying to get things going, but all that was increasing was the swelling in my legs and feet so I wasn't able to stand for too long. I was convinced that if my water would just break a little more that things would get going. Sure enough, around 4pm, my water REALLY broke and immediately I was getting some good contractions. At that point, I had so much pitocin in me that my contractions really came on strong. Things were definitely moving then and as with Will, I found that my favorite option was using the birthing ball and Luke. My mom was with us for labor and the birth (she was with Will as well). Luke's mom came in to visit with us for a while during labor and Luke and I decided to ask her if she wanted to stay for the birth as well. She was delighted. This labor was different this time in that my contractions were more painful and intense (probably because of all the pitocin) but I had some relief in between them. At 7 they checked me and told me I could have an epidural if I wanted, so I decided to go ahead. After that was done I felt better, but was still pretty uncomfortable during contractions. At 8:30 my Dr. came in to check me. At that point Luke left the room (I think for the very first time the whole day) to say hi to his dad and as he was leaving I said "don't worry, I won't have the baby while you're gone." Well to everyone's surprise, the Dr. said we were ready to go! Luke's mom called him and told him to get back in the room asap. He came back as they were prepping me for the birth. I ended up pushing through three contractions (about 9 times). Toward the end the Dr. said to stop pushing and to get another nurse. I knew there was something wrong. I was so panicked but didn't even want to ask or I knew I would start crying. Apparently the baby was stuck behind my pubic bone and the Dr. had to turn him. Once he did that, everything was ok and Dane was born. The Dr. said that he would probably have a bruise on his right forearm, but he didn't even have that. When he was born he was a little blue and not crying. They whisked him away quickly to make sure everything was ok. The same thing happened when Will was born but obviously both ended up being fine.
The baby and I both ended up having issues. They couldn't get my bleeding to stop and ended up giving me a drug that stops hemorrhaging. And the baby's blood sugar was low, which the Dr. said was likely due to the fact that he was a bigger baby and my water had been broken for over 24 hours. He ended up getting a glucose mix and then was ok. My epidural was absolutely perfect. I did not have pain, but still had feeling. If that makes any sense. Not long after Dane was born I walked to the bathroom.
We feel so fortunate that I've been able to deliver both of our boys naturally and without any major complications. Most of all we are so grateful for two healthy children. What a miracle pregnancy and birth are. God is good.
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