My Birth Story- Round 2!

I just had my second child in March, a boy this time. I delivered at the same hospital (NYU Langone) and had another very good experience, despite some craziness leading up to my delivery.

My due date was April 3rd and I was *supposed* to be working right up until that day. My first DC was born 3 days past my due date and I was induced due to low fluid. The induction went VERY well- I began induction with a Foley catheter at 11:00 AM and DD arrived at 5:16 PM- once my water was broken, labor progressed VERY quickly. So quickly that for my second pregnancy, my OB was concerned that I would be unable to make it from my home in Nassau county to midtown without giving birth on the LIE. So my OB wanted to induce me at 39 weeks to avoid any highway deliveries. He had been trying to get the hospital on board and didn't get the okay from them until I hit 39 weeks almost to the day... and he was on vacation! When I called to schedule induction, the earliest they had was April 1st, nearly my due date. I took it and was just happy to have an end date!

The week before I was due, my OB was on vacation, so I met two other doctors from my practice with varying success. The first seemed to not have a lot of info about my pregnancy and really ticked me off. The second called me the day before my regularly scheduled office appointment to discuss how I felt about my induction date. I said I was fine with it, but she seemed upset that I had to wait that long. She was very concerned that I wouldn't make it to April 1st and all this scheduled induction talk would be for nothing. I had been having mild, irregular contractions and told her so and she impressed on me how important it was to go IMMEDIATELY to the hospital. Her exact words were "Don't do your hair just GO!" I honestly thought everyone was being dramatic... so much so that I didn't even have my hospital bag packed... but I figured I should probably do it that night. Thank God I did. The next day, I dropped my DD off at daycare and went to work and my substitute doctor called and asked me to come in earlier. So I left work for a 10:00 AM appointment and met with this new OB for the first time. She checked me and said I was 3 CM dilated and 100% effaced and said she felt I should go in and be induced immediately since I had no contractions and felt completely normal. She felt that I would probably go home, go into labor, and not make it back to the hospital. I was 100% fine with having my baby that day, though surprised at how hurried everything felt, so I agreed. She stripped my membranes and told me to go IMMEDIATELY to the hospital. She urged me not to go back to work, not to wait for my DH, just GO. I said sure and went back to work anyway. I really thought everyone was overreacting at this point. I called my DH and told him to meet me at the hospital and he called back twice to make sure I wasn't joking. lol! I also called my sister and asked her to pick up my hospital bag and to pick up my DD from daycare. Everyone was so SHOCKED that this was happening like NOW.

I got to work (only a few blocks from my OB's office) and calmly gathered my things and told my co-workers that I was going to call a cab to go to the hospital. I was planning to finish a project I was working on quickly until my manager got wind and told me to get the hell out of the office. lol! I work with my MIL so they sent her to the hospital with me so I wouldn't be alone. They called us a car service and I left work at about noon. I checked in calmly and quietly- I still felt great, though I was starting to feel contractions. My MIL waited with me until my DH got there. He arrived and we waited a few more minutes before getting into a room. The on-call doctor from my office was another I hadn't met before but he was fantastic. He was well aware how fast labor went the last time and was prepared for it. The plan was to get me set up with all my IVs and monitors, break my water, get an epidural, start pitocin, and see where we go from there.

So it was about 1:30 maybe when they got me all hooked up and ready to roll. We sent my MIL back to work and she said she'd be back when she got out at 3:30- we thought that would be plenty of time! The doctor came in a few minutes later and I had progressed to about 5 cm. He broke my water and we waited for the anesthesiologist for the epidural. It was about 2:10 when I got the epidural and they immediately started my pitocin drip. My sister and DD arrived maybe 5 minutes later. As soon as they walked into the delivery room, I started to feel intense contractions and pressure. I grimaced through the pain enough to say hi to my DD, I didn't want to scare her thinking mommy was hurt. I told the nurse and she ran and grabbed the doctor. The nurse ushered my sister and DD into the hallway and my DH was gathering his clothes from the hospital bag to change from his dirty work clothes (he installs wood floors so think covered in glue lol). The pain became so intense that when the doctor came in, I couldn't even let him check me. I had to squeeze my legs shut because I felt like my baby was going to fall out. Finally, he checked me and called my DH back into the room, still in his dirty work clothes. lol! He told him that he didn't have time to change, the baby was crowning. I was pressing my epidural button like mad but had already hit my quota for the time being and still had zero pain relief- no numbness, no nothing. My doctor said there was no way to make me comfortable, the baby was coming now. The nurse grabbed one leg, my DH grabbed the other and the doctor asked me not to push. I told him I couldn't NOT push and he gave me the okay to go ahead. 4 pushes later, at 2:26 PM, Liam Thomas was in the world. A little peanut at 5lbs15 oz, 19 inches long with dark blue eyes and RED hair! The entire delivery lasted about 6 minutes. DH went into the hallway to tell my sister and she was flabbergasted. I delivered the placenta easily and got one stitch from tearing. But by that point the epidural was starting to kick in so I felt great again. We were calling everyone like mad to tell them the news. DH brought my DD into the delivery room to meet her little brother and then he nursed while we waited for everyone else to show up.

The recovery for this delivery was... nonexistent. I never had a catheter since delivery happened so fast, so I got up to pee shortly after delivering. Even the nurse was impressed by my mobility. When I got back to my room, I showered quickly, and put on regular clothes. When family came to visit later that evening I was already sitting up in bed, criss cross applesauce, ordering food on my phone. My MIL asked if I was quite sure I had a baby about 4 hours prior. Even after, I received Motrin only once and never really had much pain. The only pain was while I was nursing I had some contractions, but that was really it. I wanted to leave the hospital the next day but DS failed his hearing test and had to retake it the following morning- which he passed with flying colors. So I had to stay the second night, very much against my will.

So the moral of the story is... the second baby comes MUCH faster. And listen to your damn doctors. I am *terrified* to have a third because I'll probably wind up delivering at home, alone, in the bathroom... like my mom did come to think of it!

Anyway... here's some pics of the little man!

Message edited 7/8/2019 2:23:27 PM.

Re: My Birth Story- Round 2!

Congratulations! He is adorable! Great delivery!

Re: My Birth Story- Round 2!

Oh my goodness he is adorable! Delicious!

And I had the same issue with feeling everything when it came time to push. The crowning, the tearing, everything.The epi had worn off and they wouldn't give me anymore and I have never screamed so loudly in my life. They had to shut the door because I was scaring all the other mom's in L&D.
Yeah, that was God freakin' awful pain!
But like you my recovery was amazing.
Never took anything more than motrin and was 100% feeling myself in less than a week

Message edited 6/14/2019 5:34:03 PM.

Re: My Birth Story- Round 2!

Re: My Birth Story- Round 2!

Congratulations! He's gorgeous What an amazing experience you had!