HaleyI never posted a full birth story for James Michael, just a short birth announcement. And I can’t really blame my first-time-mom self for that, seeing as how I was busy religiously counting wet and dirty diapers, constantly checking to make sure he was breathing and lots of other anxious tendencies of being such a newbie.
The timing of Beau’s birth caught me a little off guard, but I managed to post his birth story soon after arriving home. It’s amazing how much easier things are the second time around; you know what to expect.
So here I am, just a few days after Scarlett’s birth posting her story, which is exceptionally similar to Beau’s. In full transparency, let me admit that my parent’s currently have the Rowdy boys at their house, otherwise I can guarantee you there’d be no time for this post 🙂
Based on my weekly dilation progression with Beau, I knew there was a chance I’d go to my 39-week appointment (39w3d) and have a baby the same day. Actually, that’s exactly what I was hoping for since it eliminated many unknown variables from the logistics equation. So I came to my appointment prepared with my hospital bag, the boys’ overnight bags, oh yeah, and Mr. Beau–while James was attending James Michael’s Christmas party at school.
I had armed myself with snacks to keep Beau occupied during my appointment, and had strapped him into an umbrella stroller for as long as he’d allow it. Then, I went through the routine appointment checklist. I had lost two pounds from my previous appointment, putting me at 21 lbs gained overall. No big surprise there since I think much of the reason I had gained two pounds the previous week was because I spent the weekend at my parents’ house. More indulgent food + help with the boys (rest for me) is the perfect formula for weight gain 🙂
When it came time for the internal exam, I told my midwife I wanted her to strip my membranes at this appointment. So she did, and it turns out I was 5 cm dilated anyway. As with Beau’s pregnancy, I walked straight over to Labor & Delivery to get a room. I pushed Beau around the waiting area in the stroller for about 30 minutes before getting a room. During that time, my contractions really picked up and I was glad I did not make the decision to go home and come back when the pain was intolerable.
Meanwhile, James and JM were on their way to the hospital, as well as my mom. So I just had to keep Beau out of trouble in my room for about 20 minutes before they got there, much easier said than done.
I squeezed in one last bump pic (with Beau) in my room, though it’s hard to see the bump since I’m wearing a black shirt. The nurse wanted to start hooking me up to the fetal monitors, and you can imagine how enticing all those wires looked to a toddler. The nurses attempted to sit him in my lap on the bed a couple times to contain him, but if you know Beau, sitting doesn’t happen unless straps are involved, and even then, it’d better involve a lot of food. Finally, the nurses agreed to wait until family showed up for Beau, and I promised them it would only be 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes were comical, if you can imagine me with mild contractions chasing around a toddler in a very breezy hospital gown and attempting to keep the back closed with one hand.
But we survived, and my mom and James took the Rowdy boys to lunch in the cafeteria before sending them off to my parents’ house with uncle Pac.
Meanwhile, I was getting my IV and fluids, and the nurses were monitoring my contractions, which were 3 minutes apart. My midwife stopped by and asked whether I wanted her to break my water now or wait for the epidural. Since I had planned for an epidural all along, I opted not to delay and got it first. As with the epidural I got with Beau, I flinched a couple times. I don’t remember flinching or even feeling the epidural with James Michael because the contractions outweighed all other sensations.
Soon after, my midwife broke my water and gave me a touch of pitocin since the epidural slowed down my contractions. Again, I had a great epidural and could move my legs and lift my hips without feeling the pain of contractions, but I could feel each contraction, and over the next hour they grew closer, longer and stronger. At one point I could feel I was getting close to delivery and asked to be checked and was 9 cm. So my midwife worked to ready herself and a tech prepped the room. When I was 10 cm, I started pushing and my midwife told me she thought Scarlett would be out in 7 pushes. Apparently, Scarlett was ready to come out sooner because after 3 pushes, out came a tiny brown-haired beauty. My first thought was, “She has hair!” I was really hoping my little girl would have hair since the boys were so bald. The second thought was, “And it’s brown!”
Scarlett Grace Hobson
Born Dec. 16, 2014, at 4:54 p.m.
6 lbs 9 oz.
18.75 inches
