I was scheduled to be induced with baby number two at 39 weeks pregnant on 07/31/2020 due to a velamentous cord. A velamentous cord insertion is when a fetus’ umbilical cord abnormally inserts on the edge of the placenta which can puts your pregnancy at higher risk of complications. It rarely causes serious problems but requires additional monitoring (a blessing in disguise as we got to see baby number two every 4 weeks in our scheduled monthly ultrasounds). Initially I was told that because it was a medical induction that I would be scheduled for 7, 8, or 9am. This turned into being ‘on-call’ for a morning induction which turned into 5pm, then 9pm, then 10pm with a promise that it wouldn’t be pushed back again. It was a long disappointing day waiting to be called in but again a blessing in disguise as I got one more day with my little Granger boy to love on him as a mama of one. I got to cuddle him to sleep and lay with him for a couple hours admiring my perfect firstborn before Hannah and Andrew arrived to stay over with my little guy!
Eddie and I arrived to the hospital shortly before 10pm and met my mom out front! Swedish required we wear face masks in and get our temperatures taken when we walked into the lobby due to the coronavirus before heading up to labor and delivery. When we arrived we were taken right up to our birthing suite- we think it was the exact room we delivered Granger in- room 584✨ When I arrived, I was still only 3cm dilated and about 60% effaced which is what I had been at my appt the Tuesday before. They got me hooked up to an IV and started the pitocin within the first hour we were there, telling us all to get some rest while we could. Our nurse, Jenny, would be increasing the dosage by 1 or 2 doses every 30 minutes until contractions were painful and 2 minutes apart.
Around 2:15am I woke up with painful contractions but they were anywhere from 2-7 minutes apart. Mom sat with me and talked me through them while Eddie rested. The contractions lasted until about 3:30-4am and then I couldn’t feel them anymore, so we both took Jenny’s advice and went back to sleep. At around 6am I wasn’t able to get comfortable- still couldn’t feel contractions but laying in bed was killing my back and ribs so I decided to rock for awhile! I probably rocked in the rocking chair for 2-3 hours and then decided to walk around my birthing suite but just doing that made me feel super shaky so I had to lay back down.
Jenny was off at 7am so before she left, she brought in the new nurse to introduce us. Her name was Amy and she was amazing! If I could request a nurse every delivery, it’d be her!! She asked a lot of questions just getting to know us and stayed in the delivery suite the whole time, watching the monitors and offering support whenever needed. Doctors were switching over at 9am so we were just getting to know each other while waiting for the new OB- Dr. Smith to come in and check to see if I had progressed at all overnight. When Smith did check around 10am, I was still 3 centimeters dilated but 80% effaced so she went ahead and broke my water!
That got things going, I could feel my contractions instantly and they were very painful! After about 20-30 minutes, Amy asked if I was ready for an epidural. I was skeptical that it would work since I got 2 with Granger and neither took but accepted her offer! By 10:40, my epidural was in & working! My anesthesiologist Neil was incredible!! He was very knowledgeable, easily explained everything and very kind. He came back to check on me to make sure the epidural was working after about 20 minutes. No one did that last time & I had 3 different anesthesiologists. 🤷🏼♀️ I’ll see if the hospital will let me request him next time too! So good!!! Amy said he was one of the best and I can see why.
After I got my epidural, Amy suggested I lay with a peanut yoga ball between my legs to make sure baby P was in a good birthing position. I laid with the ball for the next few hours, occasionally switching sides. I was still able to move my legs pretty well & flip sides for her with little assistance. I couldn’t feel any discomfort but did have mobility which was nice. Although the epidural did make me feel crazy itchy! Eddie rubbed my legs for awhile for me which felt so nice! 😂 I asked Amy how I’d know when it was go time and she said she would be able to tell just by watching my monitors. That baby’s heart rate would dip a bit when I was ready to push.
Around 1pm baby’s heart rate was dipping and Amy couldn’t get it back to normal by having me flip from side to side. She decided to check my progress and when she did I was fully effaced and 10cm dilated but wanted confirmation from another nurse. Her coworker came right in and agreed that it was time to push! They went ahead and called in Dr. Smith who came in for just a minute and told them to have me start pushing and call her when I was close. They have you push 3 times per contraction and after one contraction they called her back to labor & delivery!!! Before we started pushing, Amy had brought in the mirror I requested so I could see my progression & baby P’s head was right there!! So motivating!
About 9 minutes and 4 contractions later (maybe 12 pushes) at 1:25pm on August 1st, 2020 baby boy Bennett made his arrival!! They laid him on my chest for just a second, he was pretty purple and totally wrapped up in his umbilical cord. Dr. Smith had that cord cut in seconds and the nurses took him to get him breathing better. Rubbing his back and tummy and after just a few seconds, they got him to cry and gave him back to me!
I snuggled my sweet baby boy for the next hour+ while they stitched me up, I had a second degree tear from labor. Was hoping to avoid stitches this time because the healing process is no joke but no such luck. Totally worth it though for a labor completely different from my first! Bennett weighed in at 8lbs 12.4oz and was 20.75” long, my sweet boy! So happy with my sweet second born son!! And all that dark hair? So cute! He has his own look for sure!
I couldn’t wait to get back to my big boy though and introduce them!! We had never been apart for long (talking a couple hours) and he spent two nights away from me. That was the hardest part, on my heart!!! 💙💙 Lets just say there were a lot of tears, on my part, about that! He was having a really fun time with his aunties and grandpa & grandma Eoff though!
Katie Protzeller 