Warning! Talk of child birth coming at you!
Wednesday, October 19 (12 days until due date)
6:00 am
I woke up to let the dogs outside. While I was waiting for them to come inside, I went to the bathroom. The moment I sat down, I felt a release of water that was not like anything I've ever felt before. I tried to stand up to let the dogs back inside, and water just continued to rush out of me. I called for Angel to wake up, "uh... I think my water broke and I can't get up."
He went to get the dogs and started to wake up. We tried to give my mom a call to come pick up Estella and the dogs. We were hoping we didn't have to leave until after she woke up so we could say goodbye and get her taken care of. In the meantime, I took a shower and stood inside the shower while we called the dr and told them what was happening. Water continued to run out and eventually I had to put on a postpartum diaper in order to leave the bathroom and pack my bags.
7:30 am
My mom and stepdad arrived to pick up Estella and the dogs. When they left, Angel ran to work to clean up his work station and then came back for me. I was having some mild contractions but not much of anything painful or consistent.
8:35 am
We arrived at the hospital and were placed on some monitors. They said I was in fact in labor (as the water continued to pour out). I was getting worried about the amount of fluid I was losing.
9:45 am
I had my first cervical check. They determined that I was 90% effaced, 2-3 centimeters dilated, and still very high up. I was officially admitted at this time. They got a wheelchair for me to be taken to my room - I tried to walk but it was a little like the slug in Monsters Inc. that mops the floor and then just messes it up all over again.
12:00 pm
I ate lunch and watched Singing in the Rain while Angel went to the gym. I was having some contractions but not hard ones. I was on intermittent monitoring - one hour they would check my heart rate and the next hour they would do a non-stress test. Between monitoring, I did some of the exercises from the binder in my room. Doing a circuit of exercises to move the baby down lower and open up more.
4:20 pm
Contractions started to really ramp up. They were getting stronger and closer together.
8:45 pm
Very strong contractions and back labor (again). I was breathing through some pretty intense contractions and asked for an epidural. Just like last time, I was worried I wouldn't have the strength to push if things continued at this slow pace. They did another cervical check (after some insistence) and determined I was now 100% effaced, 5 centimeters dilated, and -1 station.
9:40 pm
My epidural was done and they decided to start me on pitocin (induction medication) to get things progressing. After your water breaks, there is a higher chance of infections so they like to get things moving. They gave me 2 milliunits to start and then planned to add more as needed. I decided to try and get a little sleep now that the epidural had kicked in.
~10:15 pm
I had slept for maybe 5 minutes when I started getting pretty intense contractions again. I had heard stories of failed epidurals and was afraid that's what had happened to me. I called the nurse to let her know that I was feeling a lot of pressure. She asked if I felt like I needed to push or if I could wait for the dr to finish up with someone else before coming in. I told her I didn't feel the need to push and I could probably wait for the doctor.
The nurse left the room and not even 2 minutes later I got another contraction and a strong urge to push. I pressed my call button and said "I don't think I can wait. I need to push."
After that was kind of a blur. The doctor arrived at some point, they checked me and said the baby's head was right there. She said, "it's time to have a baby". It was all happening so fast and I was scared. I couldn't believe that I had progressed so much in such a short amount of time. I pushed maybe 4-5 times and he was here! IT. WAS. WILD.
Marino Luis was born almost 2 weeks early on Wednesday, October 19 at 10:33 pm. He weighed in at 7 lb and 8 oz and measured 19 3/4" long. We had a beautiful golden hour of skin to skin snuggles before moving into our new room.
Postpartum (the 4th trimester)
The recovery this time was incredible! I felt amazing right away with little to no pain. I was able to move around freely and unrestricted. The difference was shocking. Upon arriving back at home, I only needed to take short breaks if I stood for too long. I felt like myself so much faster than after my first delivery!
Here are some photos from our amazing in-home lifestyle newborn session with Melissa Engle Photography.
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