The pregnancy was going great, just starting to really feel big in the last month and I went to see my OB on 10/11 and found out that I was already dilated 2.5 cm. We discussed how quickly my labor with Luke was (brief recap below...) and decided that an induction the following week either on the 21st or 22nd would be a good idea and we agreed to finalize that date when I returned on 10/18 to be checked again.
(Brief recap of Luke's delivery: I was scheduled to be induced on Monday 10/15 and spent Saturday the 13th walking around an art fair and having pizza for dinner. My parents drove up that Saturday and we stayed up talking until about 11:30pm. My water broke at 2:30 am (10/14) and the contractions started coming within a few minutes. Josh, my mom, and I got to the hospital at 4:00am and I was 6 cm dilated. They took my blood work to check it before I could have an epidural and by the time it was back I was 9cm dilated and they wouldn't give me an epidural so I got a saddle block instead which wore off just before Luke was born at 6:57am. I can still recall the intensity of that pain and the uncontrollable need to push. So Luke decided to make his own entrance into the world and I was actually happy not to have been induced.)
Back to Brad...
So, wanting to avoid going into labor on my own with Brad and the potential for getting stuck in Atlanta traffic, I was happy with getting an induction. My parents arranged their schedules to be here by the 20th so they wouldn't miss his birth. When I went to my OB appt on the 18th, he said that all looked fine, still dilated at 2.5 cm and if I hadn't had Brad by my due date (11/2) that he'd induce. I was like, WHAT?! I reminded him of our conversation we had at my appt one week prior and I'm pretty sure he had no idea what I was talking about. I started panicking a little bit, told him we'd made arrangements etc, and then felt like I was talking him into giving me an induction. I left the office with him "checking his schedule" and that the office would call me but that we could "probably" do the 21st or 22nd. Needless to say I was frustrated and upset, but mainly confused as to what in the world just happened and was it really ok to have an induction?
Well, I went to work the next day (10/19) and as I was dropping Luke off at daycare I ran into my friend Kristi (Luke's best friend Alec's mom). Kristi had offered to me before that if we needed them to watch Luke if I went into labor that she would, so this morning I was telling her about the OB fiasco and jokingly mentioned that if I went into labor that night we'd need to drop Luke off, but that my parents would be there the next day so we should be fine for the induction. I went to work for a half a day to finish up some things and make sure I had everything from my office cleared out just in case I didn't go into work the next day (you see I was going into work still so that I would be around people in the event I went into labor and needed to be driven to the hospital instead of being at home alone). I had lunch with my friend Amanda and then we walked around Target. I was also waiting for a call from the hospital to let me know when my induction would be. After Target we went to Amanda's house where I was waiting to pick Luke up at a time that would coincide with Josh getting home from work. All day I was fretting about the induction, finally around 4pm I was notified that the induction would be the 21st in the am, but that the hospital would call me with the official time.
Fast forward to 8:30pm 10/19. We all were home, dinner was finished and we had just put Luke to bed. I sat down on the sofa to relax and watch tv. I noticed that my stomach hurt, but figured it was just gas. Kristi called me to just make sure we had a plan in case we needed it that evening (she must have sensed something!) so I jokingly said, you know my stomach is hurting but I am sure it is nothing. We made a plan anyway, just in case. Josh asked if I was ok enough for him to go to the gym and I said I was so he went to the gym. I noticed the pain was there on and off over the next couple of hours, not really steady and not increasing in intensity or frequency. My parents had left FL that evening and were stopping for the night in Tifton. Around 11pm I told Josh I was going to take a shower, again just in case. I was still having the pain as we went to bed, but wasn't convinced it was anything but gas. Over the next 4 hours I was up in the bathroom every hour or so and finally at 3:30 am as I was curled up in the fetal position in bed I decided that it couldn't wait any longer. I really didn't want to go to the hospital with false labor, but I was really starting to hurt and the frequency had picked up. We called the OB on call and he said to go ahead in to the hospital and get checked out. So at 4am I called Kristi and told her we were bringing Luke over! Josh packed a bag for himself and one for Luke and got Luke into the car. I was really in disbelief that this baby would also arrive one day ahead of my scheduled induction, but I think I worried myself into labor that day :)
I called my parents and told them we were headed to the hospital and that I'd call back when I knew for sure I was in labor. We dropped Luke off at his buddy's house and headed into the hospital. We got there around 4:45 and people arriving for their inductions were filling out paper work and I had to wait. I was convinced by now that I was in labor, although the contractions didn't hurt as bad as when I had Luke since my water hadn't broken this time. Finally we were all registered and headed back to the room. I got dressed in the hospital gown. My parents had decided to leave from Tifton and were on their way. When they checked me I was definitely in labor and already dilated to 6 cm. The nurse came to draw my blood, she stuck me twice and couldn't get it, she called in another nurse, who also had to stick me twice to draw blood. Flashbacks of Luke's labor and dilating to quickly for the epidural came flooding back. This was taking even longer and I mentioned to the nurse that this happened to me before and I didn't get an epidural. She smiled at me and said the best words "Don't you worry, you are going to get your epidural because we won't know how far you are dilated because we won't check you!" So I did get the epidural! The OB on call now was a female from the practice who I had not met but she was excellent and I am so glad she delivered Brad. She broke my water (I can't remember if that was before or after the epidural) and when she checked me I was 9cm dilated already. The epidural did slow down my labor and they had to start pitocin to pick it back up, but it was so much more "relaxed" than the mad dash I had with Luke. My parents were almost there and we wondered if my mom would make it in time. I started pushing I think around 9:30am and my mom got there soon after. Brad was born at 10:06 and we joked it would have been neat to make it to 10:20 am since his birth date was 10/20/2010 :)
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