Since I have done this a few times, I had expectations of how things would happen. Nope. My last three littles came a bit early, so I just assumed that baby B would be the same. Not even close. He was quite content in the womb. Even though I had been having false labor on and off for the week prior to my due date, I knew it wasn't the real deal just yet. At 40 weeks, I had a doctor's appointment. Had the doc help my body along a little bit by stripping my membranes. Nothing. An induction date was set. And I cried. I have never had to be induced. I have never wanted to be induced. I am the crazy person who actually loves going into labor. So the thought that that might be "taken away" from me made my heart heavy.
On January 15th, I woke up at 1:13 am to an intense contraction. I fell back asleep, but woke up at 1:18 am to another contraction. Not as intense, but strong enough. Again, I fell back asleep. At 1:23 am, another intense contraction hit and I knew without a doubt that I was in labor. I woke the mr. and we gave it another 10 minutes (and 2 more contractions) before calling my mom. In the short time it took for her to arrive, I was having contractions 3 minutes apart. I straightened my hair and threw on some make-up - because, you know, totally normal reaction during hard labor. We got everything laid out and organized for my mom before heading to the hospital. Arrived at 3 am. Triage felt as if it took fooooooreeeeeever. In actuality, it was only about 30 minutes before I was taken back to L&D. Contractions felt like death. I was given an IV and started on penicillin. At 4 am, I got an epidural and became a happy person again. Since two rounds of penicillin are required to be 4 hours apart, I slept. The nurse came in at about 7:20 am and started the second round of penicillin. My doc visited at 7:30 am and noted that labor had slowed. Said he was going to break my water to speed things up, but discovered that I was ready to deliver, then and there. Needless to say, we weren't expecting that. It only took a few minutes for the room to be prepped for delivery. And it only took 2 pushes (during one contraction) for baby B to arrive. The moment he was out, I grabbed my camera and started snapping away. Which might sound crazy, but is totally normal for me.
Benjamin Jess
January 15th at 7:44 am
7 lbs 11 oz, 19.75 in
Adorable! Welcome Baby B!
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