My (2nd) Birth Story

Back in September, I had my second baby. This birth was similar as my first, as he was extremely late, but different in other aspects. Maybe because I’ve done this before, because it was a boy this time, because it wasn’t during a pandemic, who knows. 

August 25th, 2023

My due date. I was only having prodromal labor for weeks leading up to this. 

August 30th, 2023

I was having contractions all evening, so we went to the hospital! Definitely thought it was go time. But by the time we get to the hospital, they had subsided. When I was checked, I was still only 4 centimeters dilated – same as I was at my OB appointment the day before. 

September 3rd, 2023

I wake up in the morning and hop into the shower. At this point, it’s day 9 past my due date. With my daughter, this was when I was induced due to a heart rate drop and low amniotic fluid. 

As I was in the shower, I had a contraction and I could tell it was different than any others I’d had. I could feel my body literally pushing down – it was wild. But we had things to do that day – my sister-in-law had a post-wedding brunch and my husband needed to go shopping for school pants. So I got ready and I remember leaning into the door of my daughter’s room as my husband was getting her ready and saying “I’ll be in the hospital at some point today.”

Throughout the day, I was experiencing contractions – at brunch, walking through the mail, at home as I finished packing my hospital bag. My mom, who was going to watch my daughter while we were in the hospital, was on vacation a couple hours away since it was Labor Day weekend. So I called her up and told her she needed to start heading back our way (we had planned this out) and my sister came over too wait for my mom to show up. My husband got home from a football coach meeting and we were off to the hospital. 

**Also want to point out that yes, the timing was stressful – with my sister-in-law’s wedding, high school football season, and Labor Day weekend. Come on Hudson!**

Once we got to the hospital, I went to one of the monitoring rooms to be hooked up. They checked my dilation and I was at 6.5 centimeters – finally getting admitted! The timing was great, as I was scheduled to come in the following day (Labor Day lol) to be induced. 

I was brought to one of the bigger rooms, with the big tub and got to meet my nurse for the night, Kylie. She was absolutely phenomenal. She asked me about preferences, answered questions I had, and wanted to talk about my previous birth experience. I mentioned that I was admitted and induced with my daughter due to a heart rate drop, and that was something I was sensitive too. She made sure to note it and it came into play later. 

For the next several hours, I labored in the bath, on the bed, on the birth ball, watching the Harry Potter movie marathon that was on that weekend. My water still hadn’t broke, so we were waiting for that. 

September 4th, 2023 – Happy birthday Hudson!

Around midnight, my water broke and one of the midwife students made sure to empty it completely. There was meconium in the water, which was normal since he was now 10 days overdue. 

Around 3 in the morning, I told the nurse I felt pushy, which usually means it’s go time. I could feel my body bearing down, it was really intense. They had the staff come in and when I was checked, I was only 8.5 centimeters. At this point, I was exhausted and it felt that my contractions were coming one after another. This was because I was in transition. But my doctor suggested I get an epidural to relax as I wasn’t dilating as quickly as they would hope. 

So the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. At this point, it was around 4 or 5 in the morning. I took a short 45 minute nap and woke up to my nurse coming in. She explained that there was a heart rate stop for baby and she just wanted to shift me around to see if that helps. She was so calm and even told me that there was nothing to stress about – I felt like she handled this situation so well with me especially with me sharing my fear that I had with my first. 

They got Hudson’s heart rate leveled out and checked me. I was 9.5 centimeters – so close! So they had me shift positions for about an hour to help get that last half centimeter. 

Around 6:45, I was at 10 centimeters and ready to push. Once the midwife and nurses were there, our night nurse had to clock off, which was so sad as she was amazing through the bulk of my labor! However, my new nurse was also great. 

I pushed for 30 minutes and all 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches of Hudson arrived!