I can’t believe my baby boy is just over a month old already! I did such an amazing job pre-scheduling blog posts for the month of November that I didn’t have an opening to share his birth story until now.

The birth of my baby boy was so different from that of my little man. Not only were we in a different hospital, we were in a different state! And to be honest, I liked my experience more with my little man. Up to a point. You’ll see what I mean as I tell you my story. (You can read about his birth here.)

I made the decision to take advantage of modern medicine and issued my baby boy his eviction papers at 39 weeks gestation. My reasoning for doing so was because of my almost 16 month old. I really wanted to have his grandparents here to watch him while we were in this hospital. With us living in Ohio and the grandparents in Alabama and Florida, I knew it’d be easier to have a known due date and all four grandparents were able to be here!
My little man had never spent a night without us and while I had a good friend offer their home to him if needed, I didn’t want his first night away to be in an unfamiliar location. (Not to mention he doesn’t sleep through the night and their daughter does!)
My little man was well taken care of and smothered with lots of love during the entire process. His grandparents even took him trick-or-treating for the first time!

Because I was being induced early instead of late the process for induction was different than my first delivery.

Here is the story of how Walcott entered the world:

We checked into the hospital at 8 pm on Thursday night. Upon being taken to the labor room I found out that it was hospital policy to not allow any tub labor (I didn’t want to deliver in the tub) with an induced delivery. While that information wouldn’t have changed my decision, it would’ve been nice to know ahead of time. That news was a big blow and did nothing to calm my nerves. (Laboring in the warm bath was a great pain reliever with my little man.)

The family came with me to check in to get an idea of where the hospital was located and which room I was in. It also gave my little man a visual of where we were. He loved exploring the labor room and played hide and seek behind the curtains at the door. He was put in a night diaper and pajamas before leaving the hotel. My hope that he’d fall asleep in the car on the long drive back to the house was realized thereby making bed time much easier on the grandparents.

At 10 pm I was only dilated 2.5 cm so it was decided that a cervix ripening gel was to be inserted. I had to remain on my back for 30-45 minutes and highly encouraged to remain in bed for 4 hours, at which point there’d be a second application of the gel if needed. Unfortunately the gel and my stomach were not friends and I found myself taking frequent trips to the bathroom. Because that’s what every laboring mother wants to experience! I was still only dilated to 2.5 cm after the first 4 hours so a second round of gel and more stomach problems. This time there was progress and I hit 4 cm.

At 6:10 am Friday morning they started the Pitocin and at 6:20 a resident broke my water. Much like my first labor I reacted very well to the Pitocin with frequent contractions and again I experienced “back labor.” The Pitocin, which starts at a rate of 2 miliunits/minute, was increased to 4 and then eventually turned off completely.

The NST kept showing that my baby’s heart rate would drop with consecutive contractions so the nursing staff told me to remain on my left side. Honestly, we believe that the monitor would simply lose the baby when I was in certain positions due to my small stature. But, I know they could only go off of what the monitors indicated and so the positions that were best at pain tolerance – using a birthing ball or sitting up – were denied me. At 6 cm, around 8:30 am, I began to consider an epidural (laying in bed is not the best way to labor if you’re trying to go “natural”). I had a whimpery conversation with my mom and decided to go for it. Why not experience labor both ways, right?

The anesthesiologist was attending a C-section so I had to wait. The pain was reaching the “I give up” level. Because I had asked for the epidural I “rebelled” against the nurses and said “screw it” to laying on my side. I got on my hands and knees and felt immediately better (probably the best position if you’re trying to go “natural”, in my opinion)! Then I felt the pressure. I was complete and ready for delivery at 9:17 am.

The nurses kept saying, “Don’t push until the doctor gets here.” My mom, husband, and I were thinking “Okay, don’t be so dramatic!” I had pushed for 2 hours with my little man and had mentally prepared to have a repeat. My husband was already trying to figure out how to keep me calm and motivated through another delivery. (He had been glad I’d asked for the epidural!) Turns out the nurses were all right – after two contractions and less than 7 minutes of pushing my baby boy entered the world at 9:25 am. 5 minutes later the anesthesiologist arrived.