Hellobee

My due date for Baby Deer was October 15th. With Little Deer I waited until I was 40 weeks and 6 days along before taking castor oil to help get things going. That worked quite well and she was born the following day at 41 weeks. I was hoping that Baby Deer might come a bit earlier, but sure enough, my due date came and went. I know it’s just as normal to deliver between 38-40 weeks as it is 40-42 weeks, but you can’t help but think of your due date as the end point sometimes. Remembering how tough the newborn days are did help take the edge off though. A few more days of getting to sleep in my cozy bed all night was alright with me, even as uncomfortable and pregnant as I was, I knew Baby Deer would be here soon.

The night of my due date I went to bed and woke up to LD crying around 2:30 AM. I checked the monitor and saw her rolling around trying to get comfy. She was laying on her book rather than her pillow, that silly girl. After a few seconds of fussing she quickly fell back asleep. Since I was already awake I got up to pee really quick then crawled right back into bed. I noticed I was having a contraction that was a bit stronger than the normal Braxton Hicks (which I’d been having a ton of for weeks). but I didn’t think too much of it. After a few minutes of laying there trying to fall back asleep, another contraction came. For the fun of it I decided to time them. By 3:15 AM I had recorded a steady pattern of contractions coming about every 6 minutes or so. Mr. Deer was sleeping out on the couch (being very sweet to give me the bed in hopes that I might sleep better), so I went out to the living room to wake him up and tell him that I thought it might be go-time.

Mr. Deer and I decided to take a quiet moment and sit down together to take communion and pray–something we did when labor started with LD too. After that we both decided to take it easy on the couch and catch up on some TV shows while we waited for LD to wake up at 7:00 AM. While laying down my contractions totally petered-out. They spread out to about 15-20 minutes apart. I knew if I got up and moving they’d pick up again, but I was running on 4 hours of sleep at that point and knew it was good to rest too.

Once LD was up we all had breakfast together. It was so good to see her little sweet face that morning. Once her alarm clock lit-up I could hear her yelling, “Mama!” I was suddenly hit with the realization that this was the last time I’d really be with my sweet girl before she became a big sister. I really wanted to get some good snuggles in with her before my labor picked up again, so it was kind of nice that the contractions had mellowed out a bit.

Once we were all back on the couch letting LD watch a morning TV show, I realized that my labor this time around wasn’t going to go as fast as I had thought. I was in labor with LD for about 12 hours, and at the rate I was going this time, I was definitely looking at a longer time frame. I also realized that there may be a chunk of time where we weren’t quite ready to go to the hospital, but we were also not up for playing/entertaining our toddler. I called my mom and asked if we could do a house swap (she lives just a few minutes down the road). She could come and be with LD while we headed to her house to hangout and wait for labor to pick up. She agreed and came at 8:30 AM. By then my contractions had picked back up and were 5-6 minutes apart. We got the car packed up, gave my mom and LD a hug, and headed out.

Once at my mom’s house we went through a similar cycle of me resting on the couch and having my contractions slow way down. By 12:30 PM I decided it was time to really make an effort to get things going. My mom’s house has a little path that runs along the outside of it, so we opened up her front and back doors to make a big loop in and around her house. We then got to walking. Mr. Deer and I spent the next hour walking and talking together. While the contractions were getting pretty tough, it was really enjoyable too. It was a cool but sunny Fall day and it felt really nice to be outside a bit. The neighbor’s cat wanted to get in on the action too and frequently met us on the path and walked alongside which was pretty funny. Her neighbor across the street knew what we were up to as well, and popped out to give us a wave and wish us luck. By the end of the hour my contractions were back to 5 minutes apart. Though I still expected them to be closer together by that point, they were definitely very strong. I was having to stop and really focus to get through them. One strategy I found that really worked was to start counting when the contraction began. I knew by the time I counted to 60 or 70 they would ease up, so knowing where I was in the contraction really helped.

T H E  H O S P I T A L

At 1:30 PM we decided to pack up and drive to the hospital. Fortunately we live just 5 minutes away from the small community hospital here in Monterey, so we got there pretty quickly. We parked, walked in, checked-in at the nurses station, and got settled in our room. Judging by how normal I was acting in-between contractions, the nurses weren’t sure how far along I really was. The nurse checked me after I was changed and in bed, and said I was a good 6 centimeters. We were definitely staying!

In the meantime they started an IV, hooked me up to the monitors for a bit, and got everything settled. Mr. Deer was sweet and rubbed my feet and massaged my back—what a guy. I was open to an epidural this time around (which I debated about here), so in-between contractions we talked about if that was something I really wanted. I was totally on the fence. As the contractions got even more difficult though, I found myself leaning towards wanting one. It was tough though because after a contraction I felt pretty good. This labor was so different than it was with LD, it was really throwing me for a loop! With my first labor the last few hours I was super focused and out-of-it between contractions, which wasn’t the case this time around. I mentioned the possibility of an epidural to our nurse and she surprised me by saying she didn’t think I needed it, that she had a feeling things were going to move quickly.

B R E A K I N G  W A T E R

Sure enough, at 4:45 PM she checked me and I was 8 centimeters. My contractions were still 5 minutes apart but I was definitely progressing right along. They called my doctor and within about 30 minutes he was there. He checked me, said I was 9 centimeters, and broke my bag of waters. Last time my bag of waters didn’t break and I think that may have added to the intensity of the pushing phase, so I was happy to have it broken this time around. He said he suspected I would have just a few more contractions and then be pushing. We couldn’t believe it, we were super close!

P U S H I N G

About 5 contractions later, my body felt the need to push. Let’s just say—I panicked. The part of my labor last time around that traumatized me the most was the pushing. It was so much more painful and intense than I could have ever imagined, and it was the reason this time around that I contemplated having an epidural. So when that first contraction came and I started to push, I freaked out. I started yelling, crying, and saying that this was why I wanted an epidural; I didn’t want to do it anymore. I was so scared of facing that pain for hours again. With the next contraction though, my body just took over. I wasn’t even trying to push, but she was coming anyway. I rolled onto my side a bit and pushed like there was no tomorrow (apparently in-between screams I apologized for being so loud– it was pretty intense!). I would say within about one minute, I went from 10 centimeters, had that second pushing contraction, and completely pushed Baby Deer out. It was the most crazy intense minute of my entire life, but it was done! She was here!

 Big sister meeting baby “Ro” for the first time



Sweet Rose Elizabeth flew into this world at 5:56 PM. She went right to my chest and I remember thinking that she looked just like I thought she would. A lot like LD, but with darker hair and eyes. It was so surreal. We had another baby girl and I just couldn’t believe it. As we snuggled and got cleaned up, the doctor helped deliver the placenta and get me stitched up. I seriously loved our doctor. He knows I’m a nurse, so he was showing me the placenta and chatting about fun bodily things like that. It cracked me up. I was afraid since she came so quickly there’d be quite a bit of damage, but he said I just had a small second degree tear, as if nature gave me a little episiotomy. That was such a relief! I was hoping not to tear at all, but after how fast she came I was very grateful for only a small tear. Since I had a postpartum hemorrhage with LD, they gave me pitocin right after delivery to help make sure that I stopped bleeding. I had no problems with that this time around, and after a little bit they stopped the pitocin and took out my IV. Our nurse weighed Baby Deer in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and measured her at 19.5 inches—very similar in size and length to Little Deer.

I would say overall that my experience giving birth this time around was much better than the first time. Knowing what to expect really helped, and though the labor was a bit longer, it really wasn’t too intense up until the end. Sure, pushing her out that quickly was terrifying, but it all happened so fast. And then it was over and she was in my arms. Though I was open to an epidural, I’m glad I was able to push through the pain on my own. Having Mr. Deer there at my side, letting me squeeze the heck out of his hand and encouraging me every step of the way certainly helped! I didn’t deal with bleeding, a difficult tear, or trouble with placing an IV… it was all very smooth this time around and I am so grateful.

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How was your second birth? Was it different than the first?