My due date was October 11th, 2009. We were having a boy this time! We were so excited and I was a little nervous. My husband came from a family of four boys so his apprehension was with Paige, he had no clue what to do with a girl. This time it was my turn...I had just one sister and nearly all of my cousins were girls too. I had very little exposure to boys, what would I do with a boy?? It sounds so silly now but it felt real at the time.
This pregnancy, just like my previous one went very smoothly. I was healthy, felt great and even better...mentally stable (no girl hormones) :) I was pretty much my normal self which was very nice. The biggest difference in this pregnancy was that it went by very quickly since I already had a 3 year old at home to care for. With the second child you don't get to focus so much on yourself and your newest little one on the way, instead life is pretty busy and you just go with the flow. In turn, time flies by! I did miss the extra outside excitement around this pregnancy though. We of course were SO excited about our second baby but with the first baby you have baby showers, you register for gifts, you plan and decorate a nursery and everything about the whole experience is so very new. This time, you are already a pro, you know all the answers (so you think) and you have all of the stuff. And in our case, the kids would be sharing a room so even that part of the planning was eliminated. All I had to do was buy baby boy clothes and diapers and we were all set!!! I guess it is a good thing that there is so much less to do because you have so much less time.
Here are a few pictures of the kids room once we put the crib back up and got it ready for the new baby! Wasn't it perfect? We were just waiting on the chair rail that Jeff needed to put up. In the second picture you can see Paige's big girl bed to the left. And then of course there is the creepy baby doll that Paige insisted on playing with all of the time in the last few months of my pregnancy in the swing.
Sometime around 34 weeks I fell on the stairs really hard. I was just heading out the door to work and had Paige on one hip and my purse on the other arm while holding a cup of coffee. It was a small slip, just one step...but I went straight down and HARD. Since I had both hands full I couldn't slow myself at all. So I landed square on my tailbone with an extra 60 lbs of weight on my body, 30 from Paige and 30 in pregnancy weight. It was awful, I was certain I broke my tailbone, and likely did. There was nothing that could be done about it though, I just had to tough it out. Luckily the baby was just fine and my water didn't break from the fall. I will say though that falling that day and the pain I felt in the weeks after was the single most painful thing that has happened to me...ever. From that point on I was counting the days until my little boy was born even more so.
At my 36 week appointment, my doctor, Dr Andreson, began checking to see if I was dilating. Right away I was one centimeter, nothing note worthy, especially since I had given birth before...one was kind of expected. The following week there was still no change, my baby boy was sitting tight! I asked her if she would consider stripping my membranes at the next appointment of 38 weeks, she was a bit hesitant since I would still be 10 days away from my due date but eventually agreed after I told her how it was done twice with Paige and didn't work. I left the office excited and hopeful that maybe our baby would come just a little bit early, I was so anxious to meet him.
My 38 weeks appointment was on a Thursday the 1st of October. One thing worth noting is that it is my husbands birthday on October 3rd. I had thought it would be really fun if they shared a birthday. With the timing of today's appointment, it just could happen! I worked that day and had my appointment scheduled for that afternoon so I was going to leave early. After the appointment I had made dinner plans with my cousin. Tera and I had been trying to get together for months with the kids so she could give Paige a belated birthday gift that she had for her. We decided to meet at the McDonald's in White Bear Lake. That way we could visit while the kids played. Anyway, that morning at work I closed a really big sale, big enough that I had already made my monthly quota and it was only the first of the month, I was so excited and remember telling my boss that we needed to be sure it was processed today because I may not be back tomorrow. I am not sure why, but I was just so darn hopeful that having my membranes stripped that afternoon was going to work this time. It was a fun day, we had a pizza party for lunch and I spent the remainder of the day "office nesting". I organized my desk, cleaned out old emails, finalized instructions for my work while I was out...all for just in case...
I left work that afternoon in the pouring rain and headed to my appointment. When I arrived we went through all of the normal checks and then Dr. Andreson checked to see if I was further dilated. I was! I was just over two! She asked if I still wanted to have my membranes stripped, of course I did! Yes please!!! I remember her telling me that it may be painful, I didn't remember it being painful with Paige at all either time it was done so I just nodded and she went ahead with the procedure. I can remember some discomfort when she did it, but nothing too bad. One very big difference this time though was that when she pulled her hand away there was blood on her glove. That didn't happen with Paige. She told me that she did a good job on it and we would just have to wait and see if it worked. I was excited!!! I hopped off the table, quickly got dressed and was out the door, back into the rain, with a little skip in my step. They always tell you after this procedure that you may feel some cramping and have some spotting so I was of course paying special attention to my body once I left.
On the way home from the clinic, I called my husband to tell him about the appointment and how I was optimistic that I would go into labor soon. I also noticed that I did have some cramping too, but that was normal so I didn't put too much thought into it. I hurried home to pick up Paige and then met Tera at McDonald's. We ordered and visited, the kids played and Tera gave Paige the cutest monkey pajamas and her very first bubble gum machine. It was a hit! At some point I stood up to check on Paige and it was then that I felt it, a little gush...like I had just peed my pants yet I knew that I hadn't. I went to the bathroom, nothing suspicious, just wetness. I went back tot the table and mentioned it to Tera, a little bit of excitement building. A few minutes later it happened again...and then again. I still felt fine otherwise but at this point I was just getting so giddy that I knew I had better get back home and call the hospital. We finished up our dinner and headed once more into the pouring rain and home.
On the way home I called Jeff and my Mom since she was going to take Paige overnight when the time came to go to the hospital. When I got home I called the hospital, they asked if I thought my water had broke. I said yes, I thought so, but wasn't 100% sure because it wasn't a big-gush-puddle-on-the-floor kind of thing that you see in the movies. They asked if it was clear or had a yellow or brown tinge to it (this is a sign that the baby may have had it's first bowel movement inside). I really wasn't sure because the toilet paper at McDonald's was recycled, and kind of cardboard colored. What are the odds right? Well they told me to come in and they would test my fluid to see if in fact it was amniotic fluid. And if my water had in fact broke there was a chance they would admit me. I was under the impression that once your water broke, it was kind of a done deal...it was time to go..I guess I was a little bit off.
I called my Mom back and told her it was time! She was excited and said she would be over shortly to pick up Paige. I started packing for both Paige and myself, and trying to pick up the house a little before she came. I tell you it was a disaster. I wonder why I didn't try to have it picked up being I was so excited about this appointment and hopeful that I would go into labor? I guess thinking back, maybe it was because I thought it would be like last time, I would have lots of time at home while waiting on contractions to get everything done. Nope, not this time, the nurse told me to come to the hospital within the hour.
As soon as my Mom came she suggested we take some pictures before we left for the hospital. I am so glad she did as they are some of my favorites. Lots of funny poses of Paige and I while she was still and only child.
Before I knew it, it was time to go. We said our goodbyes and headed to the hospital. Thinking back, it was probably around 8:00 pm or so when we left. Once we got to the hospital we checked in and were brought to our room. The nurses had me change into a gown and they hooked me up to the monitors to watch my contractions. At this point I was having small ones but hardly anything noticeable. The nurse came in to try to get a swab of the fluid that was leaking. Apparently when you lay, if there is a small leak as I seemed to have, it will pool and they can test it to see if it is in fact amniotic fluid. Unfortunately for me, the test came back inconclusive due to the fact that I had an exam that day which included the membrane stripping. The nurse told me that the test will usually not work if you have had a physical exam within 24 hours. Well based on the minimal contractions, the fact that I was still only dilated to a 2 and that they couldn't tell for certain that my water had ruptured....they told me I had the choice to go home or be admitted. I wanted to stay, I was SO excited to meet our baby and we were already there. My husband thought it would make more sense to go home and wait it out, the nurse agreed. They both thought we could get some sleep. Yeah right. I was sad and frustrated and feeling a bit like a 2 year old. I finally decided that I would get dressed and go back home for a while. My contractions had strengthened but not to the point that I was afraid to go back home. Once we were in the car I melted down and threw a bit of a tantrum. My husband offered to turn around and go back to the hospital but it was too late, we were already on the road. I called my mom and told her we were going back home to wait it out for awhile and I would keep her posted. The time was about 11:30 pm.
When we got home I took my pouty self up to Paige's empty room and settled in to watch all of my recorded episodes of A Baby Story while my husband used the time to get some sleep. Lucky him. I tried to sleep too, and actually did for about 2 hours before my contractions started becoming pretty intense. Once the contractions started doing their thing they also did a number on squeezing the fluid out of the amniotic sac. What a mess that was, and super annoying to boot. It wasn't just one big gush, it was just enough to make a mess like every 10 minutes. Super fun. I had never experienced that with Paige as she was all but delivered in her bag of water. I will say though that I knew for 100% certainty that things were moving along in the right direction! When I had about all I could take of the intensifying contractions I took a quick shower and changed for the hospital, got my husband up and moving and we were off for a 2nd time. It was now about 3:30 in the morning.
We were back at Woodwinds and this time when we arrived it felt much more like it did when we arrived with Paige's labor. It was the middle of the night, I could hardly walk as I worked through each contraction and I was exhausted from having next to zero sleep. We were brought back to our room, I changed and was hooked back up to the monitors. Same routine, I was checked and had dilated to nearly 4 centimeters. I was officially admitted. Woo hoo!
With Paige I spent some time in the bath tub to relax and ease the contractions which in turn slowed them down. This time when they asked if I would like to go in the tub I declined. I knew I was going to have an epidural again and also that the tub may slow my contractions. Soon after I was all set up and given my IV and fluids, the nurses asked me if I was ready for my epidural. I told her I was fine for now, but maybe to check back in a half hour..I could make it a bit longer..why? I remember my cousin Heather telling me something about waiting to get an epidural was like telling the dentist not to give you Novocaine before he started drilling and just waiting until you couldn't take the pain anymore. I agreed with her logic, yet I still waited. Thinking back it was silly but I must have had my reasons.
Over the next half hour my contractions increased immensely, I was ready for my epidural and buzzed the nurse...and when I say ready...I mean I wanted it immediately. Well when the nurse told me earlier that it would be fine to wait a bit, she failed to mention that since it was around 7:00 AM, waiting a bit would be awhile as the anesthesiologist was prepping the scheduled c-sections. Uh-oh. Well I waited a good hour through my contractions and by the time it was my turn, I was in tears. The pain had become so intense and I felt like I could hardly catch my breath before the next contraction hit. How did women do this naturally?!? Finally the anesthesiologist was in my room and if I could have gotten up I would have done a happy dance and hugged him. I bet he loves pregnant women, they are all SO happy to see him!
Once I was nice and numb I relaxed and my exhaustion kicked in. It felt so good to be rid of the pain. The nurse checked me again and I was dilated to a 4 1/2. I told her that if this delivery was like my last one, I would likely progress quickly now that the epidural was in place. I think that once my body is able to just do what it needs to do without me fighting it, it moves fast and it was almost 9:00 in the morning. She told me to try to get a little sleep, I knew that was not going to happen. On top of knowing it wouldn't be too much longer, I also am not a napper, especially when it is light out. So Jeff and I watched a little Cash Cab on TV and waited. I called my Mom and told her that it was almost time and that they could make their way to the hospital, I thought he would be born in an hour or so. The nurse checked me 2 more times in the next hour before declaring that I was at a 10 and ready to prep for delivery. She was really surprised how quickly I progressed, I wasn't :)
This was it again!!! It was time to meet our boy!! And just like before, the doctor on call was Dr. Toppin and she had and intern along. She asked if I would be comfortable with the young girl observing her first birth as part of her schooling. I told her of course, that was just fine. If you read Paige's Birth Story you will know what I am referring to when I say that as soon as Jeff saw Dr. Toppin, I knew he was thinking "uh-oh, here we go again". Unlike last time where he was forced to participate in Paige's birth, this time when she told him to hold my leg, I told her that I wanted him up by my head as he had already witnessed that part and I was okay with it. She called in a second nurse to help with the pushing instead.
As the nurses and Dr. Toppin were getting everything ready I told them how quickly Paige had been born and that she was out in 3 pushes and how I hoped this labor would be similar. I got the feeling they were just nodding along as I told them, not really believing me. When I was in place and ready to push I was determined to meet or beat my 3 push record with Paige. After all, this one should be easier being my second right? Well I got close, I pushed him out in four pushes. I knew it wouldn't take long! When he came out I laughed as one of the nurses looked over at the intern who had a stunned look on her face and said, "this is not normal, it doesn't usually happen like this". Jeff cut the cord as all dad's should and the nurse handed me my baby.
As soon as I saw him, my first thought was that he looked like me. There was an immediate resemblance to my side of the family. The second thing I noticed about him was that on the very back of his tiny coned head, within his dark long hair, he had a double colic. A double pinwheel. I loved them at first sight, and also knew he would hate them one day. Most importantly he was here finally and in my arms.
Quinn Alan
Born at 10:03 AM
Friday October 2nd 2009
6 lbs. 12.5 ounces and 21.5 inches long
After Quinn was born I held him while I continued contracting until I delivered the placenta. I know that I did this with Paige too but just don't remember it for some reason. This time I remember it clearly. Dr. Toppin asked if I wanted to see it, I told her sure..I was curious. It was probably one of the most disgusting and facinating things I have ever seen and why anyone would want to eat it is beyone me. I think Jeff almost threw up.
In Quinn's first hours he was given the APGAR test, he scored well but not perfect as he wasn't super upset when he was born. Apparently the madder you are upon birth and the louder you cry, the higher your score. I think he scored 9 out of 10. Ironically, he also slept through his very first night at the hospital completely and I appreciated it so so much after virtually no sleep in the past day and a half. I opted for the nurses to keep him the first night unless he needed to eat simply because I needed the rest. It was so nice to be able to catch up before going home the next day. I was hopeful that he would be some sort of miracle baby who would sleep through the night immediately. Nope, that didn't happen.
The day before Quinn's birth, the day of his birth and day we went home...it rained. And it rained hard. We got to go home on Jeff's birthday, pretty nice birthday gift if you ask me. I joked that we should have named Quinn "Noah" with all of the rain coming down.
And here he is at home, just one day old. Our sweet little boy Quinn.
Just as perfect as can be.
And that is Quinn's birth story.
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