Waiting until our 8 week appointment was torture. When it finally came time for our appointment I think we both held our breath as we waited to hear our baby's heartbeat. When we heard the thump, thump, thump we both exhaled with relief. I was paranoid almost the entire pregnancy, but began to settle down after our gender scan when we were told everything growth wise looked good. I found out at my next appointment the technician had recorded that the placement of they umbilical cord on the placenta looked suspicious. My doctor suspected it was either eccentric or marginal cord insertion and recommended that I have a level 2 ultrasound to confirm the placement. I walked away concerned and went home and goggled the two. Never, ever google things after leaving a doctor's office. I let myself read several articles and sites before telling myself to stop until I saw the high risk doctor. At my next appointment I found out the cord was eccentric (attached slightly off center) and everything with the baby looked good. After everything we had been through I knew this baby was in God's hands and I couldn't worry about him.
This pregnancy shared symptoms my previous pregnancies exhibited. It also seemed twice as long as my first mainly because I was pregnant for almost a year straight. With both of my full term pregnancies I sweat through two hot summers, one with AC and one without AC. I experienced leg cramps from almost the beginning, along with broken blood vessels and heartburn/acid reflux with bouts of nausea.
We also had an extremely hard time deciding on a name. I had a long list of girl names and no boy names. The few I did like only lasted on my list until we actually found out we were having a boy. It wasn't until a few months out that we even came up with a possiblility - Everett. Neither one of us were sold on calling him Everett so we were trying to think of middle names or nicknames he could go by, Finally we settled one Everett James, but I don't think we were convinced that was his name until he arrived. We had thought about calling him EJ, but that hasn't stuck although we aren't opposed to him going by that. Everett sounds like an old name for a baby, but we have both come around to it. It was always in the running as a middle name until we couldn't come up with a first name. We hope he honors his 101 year old great grandpa who he is named after.
I'll be honest I thought we were having a girl and I secretly hoped we were having another girl. I know girls. We had tons of girly things and I wanted a sister for C. My friends who have boys convinced me that I would love having a boy. They sold me on the fact that boys loved their mommas and loved to cuddle where C does not.
As we approached E's due date I was showing 0 signs of labor. Convinced that I would go past my due date we continued to make plans and schedule activities. The morning before I went into labor we meet our friends at Chick-fil-a, where else, for their kids club activities. David was working from home that day so I think we went to Costco and ran a few other errands. Off and on throughout the day I started to exhibit signs of labor, but nothing major so I was still convinced that it would be a few more days before we met our little man.
Around 3 that morning I woke up with sharp pains. To be honest I had forgotten what those first contractions felt like, but I knew things were getting started. I couldn't go back to sleep so I started timing the contractions. They were inconsistent so instead of laying in bed awake waiting for the next few hours, I got up and started watching Gilmore Girls. Not long after David woke up and joined me. By now it was around 5 or 5:30 and the contractions were getting stronger. I thought that my water might be leaking because I was in the bathroom every 5 minutes and I didn't remember the contractions being as painful with C until they broke my water. Around this time too it had started raining here and David suggested we head to the hospital. If we waited too much longer we would hit traffic with the rain and could deliver our baby on the side of the road in the rain. I was convinced they were going to send me home since the contractions weren't 5 minutes a part. We showered, grabbed our bags, woke up our sleeping girl and headed out. Our friend Julie, who had volunteered to watch Charlotte, was on her way to the hospital to meet us.
We arrived at the hospital around 7:00 am and waited to be admitted into triage. By now the contractions were really painful and still inconsistent. They got everything hooked up and told me I was dilated to a 5 so I wouldn't be going home. We also found out that my water hadn't broke. While we waited for a L&D room I texted a few people to let them know what was going on.
Around 9:00 am we made it to L&D. My nurse assesed my pain and not wanting to appear weak I told her the contractions were a 6 out of 10. They were probably higher, but since I planned on getting the drugs I wanted it to look like I could handle the pain. Turns out 6 was where I was when I requested the drugs since it was going to take at least an hour or so before I could actually get them. The contractions continued to intensify and I have no idea how close they were getting. Around 10:30 am the anesthesiologist finally arrived with the goods. He had a student with him who I think performed the epidural and I'm not sure if they hit the spot 100% correct. Not long after another nurse came in to insert the cathetre and my water broke in the process. When that happened they found out E had pooped and were concerned about his respiratory functions. A neonatal team was called in case there were complications. At this point I was dilated to a 9 and ready to push. It took a great amount of control not to push since the doctor hadn't arrived. The doctor on call delivered E and as soon as she arrived I told her I needed to push I could still feel the contractions, but with slightly less intensity. This was completely opposite of C's labor. I pushed for 20ish minutes and you were out. We did start to come out sideways and the doctor did have to rotate you so you wouldn't get stuck. I had the privilege this time of cutting the umbilical cord. Afterwards they handed E directly to me for skin to skin time. About an hour after the delivery I started shaking violently and had to hand E over to daddy. I couldn't get warm even with the extra blankets they gave me. It was awful. I finally fell asleep and the shaking stopped.
Newborn Stats
Height: 19 inches long
Weight 8 lbs. 6 oz.
Head: 13.75 inches
The next afternoon Big Sister came to visit along with Julie and her girls. C loved getting to meet E and I swear she turned into a big girl overnight. We went home the next morning.
C's Birth Story
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