It’s only taken me 5 weeks to write this because life with 2 kids can be crazy! I’m hear to give you all the details, so if you’re not interested in all the details, this may not be for you!
My birth experience with Owen was completely different than with Ava (you can read more about that here) since I was induced. I honestly questioned being induced a lot in the weeks leading up to my delivery. You would think that having already had one baby I would have been much more prepared but knowing that I was going to be induced and have a different labor experience gave me so much anxiety. If I’m being honest, I really didn’t think we would make it to 39 weeks. I had Ava at 38 weeks and everyone told me their second baby came earlier than the first, so I really had it as a last resort plan.
To our surprise, Christmas Day came and went (39 weeks), and I was still pregnant and our induction was scheduled for 2 days later. The positive of being induced with a toddler at home was we were able to plan. We were able to drop Ava off at her grandparents house the night before, make sure she was settled, and Sean and I were able to have a nice date night at home.
The morning of the 27th, we were supposed to be at the hospital around 3am. The hospital called at 2am and told us that they had quite a few women come in during the night and they needed me to hold off on coming in until they called back. Naturally, I’m wide awake at this point, so I was able to make myself breakfast, drink my coffee and get ready. They called back around 4am and told us they were ready for us, so I got Sean up and we headed in.
It is such a different experience walking into L&D not in labor vs being in active labor. Once back in L&D we got settled in our room and my nurse got me all hooked up and checked me. I was 3cm dilated which was the same as I had been at my last appointment so she went ahead and started me on Pitocin to get things rolling.
Around 9am, they came in and broke my water. I didn’t want to get my epidural too soon, so I waited until around 11am when my contractions were becoming quite painful. When they were hooking me up to the monitors, they actually put the wrong room numbers contractions on my screen, so they had both sets of information I was watching. For a while, I was watching the wrong set of data and thinking I was having these massive contractions and it turned out it was the lady next to me. Sean and I are naturally competitive so we were half joking that we wanted to have our baby first.
Around noon or so, we had a little scare. The nurse was talking to me and I felt extremely light headed and dizzy. Come to find out, my blood pressure was really low and they had to give me a few doses of medicine to stabilize it. At that point, she turned the Pitocin down and would recheck it in a couple hours.
My mom and Sean had been there with me since 5 am, so around 2:30 they went to get lunch as Sean’s sister and great grandmother arrived to check in on me. I literally felt nothing, so I told them I’d call them if the nurse or doctor came in, but other than that, I was fine. I was actually going to talk to the nurse about raising the Pitocin back up because my contractions were pretty small and I was feeling nothing.
The nurse came in around 3pm to check on me. She checked me and said I was 9cm dilated, then asked me to push. I pushed once and she said “stop, you’re ready.” and went to call the doctor. I texted Sean and he rushed back into the room, just as surprised as I was.
10 minutes of pushing and our sweet little Owen arrived at 3:32pm weighing 7lbs 8oz. It was honestly the easiest deliver I could have expected. I didn’t even break a sweat.
Two big differences with Owen is that I was able to keep him in the room with me and breastfeed. Ava went right up to the NICU, so I didn’t get to watch them measure her, do skin to skin, or even attempt breastfeeding. Owen was a champ and latched immediately. I was honestly intimidated being a second time mom and not knowing how to breastfeed, but the nurses were so helpful and it actually was super easy.
A month in and we’re so in love with our little Owen! Ava is completely obsessed with him and he’s the perfect addition to completing our family. Here are more photos from our Fresh 48 session with Arzu Vargas Photography.
Outfit Details:
Robe: Kindred Bravely
Nursing Bra: Kindred Bravely
Onesie: Monica & Andy
Swaddle Blankets: TJ Maxx
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