Contractions started around noon on Thursday 4/5. They would get regular if I stayed still but once I got up and moving they'd space out and get less intense, so I just tried to relax and help them along. We sent Evan to sleep over at Jack's parents' house just in case we needed to leave in the middle of the night. I went to bed for about an hour and a half and then couldn't get back to sleep. They finally picked up in intensity and were about 4 minutes apart by 2am. I called the midwife and she said to head on in. So I woke up Jack, we had a quick bowl of cereal and headed to the hospital around 2:30am.
They observed me for a bit and the contractions got stronger. I was 3-4cm and 50% effaced at the time. After about an hour and a half they admitted me and we moved to our LDRP (labor, delivery, recovery, post partum) room, where we spent the entire hospital stay. It was spacious and new with a gorgeous soaking jacuzzi tub, which I never ended up using! I got asked a thousand questions and signed a bunch of consent forms (didn't I pre-register?) but fortunately my labor was progressing slowly and I wasn't at the point of chewing their heads off yet! I not-so-subtly hinted at my desire for an epidural but was told I should progress more first so I got a shot of nubane to help take the edge off and sleep a little. I was halfway between sleep and awake the whole time but I think it helped me rest a bit. And Jack was able to get some sleep.
By about 8am I had progressed to 6cm and they called in for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was in surgery so I had to wait a bit for the epidural. We watched Scrubs and I enjoyed it in between contractions. Around 10am, the anesthesiologist finally arrived. I am SO glad I got it. It was way stronger than my epi with Evan and I could only move my toes about half a centimeter. With Evan I still had control of my legs. I was completely numb but could still feel the slight pressure of contractions. I thought it was too much but the nurse talked me out of asking them to turn it down and I'm so glad she did!
I drifted in and out for a few hours and by about 12:30 I was at 9cm. The midwife had to head in to help with a c-section so we prayed that Liam would hold out for her return! I labored down with the epidural, which is why I'm so glad I didn't ask them to turn it down. My contractions did most of the pushing work for me! When the midwife came back at almost 2, she prepared me for pushing. I was gearing up for it to take a while but 2 contractions later, he was out at 1:58pm! And I barely felt it from the very strong epidural! Thank the Lord!! When they told me he was out, I said "Seriously!? That's it?!"
They cleaned him up and tucked him in my gown to snuggle, and snuggle we did for over an hour! It was so wonderful and amazing. He didn't seem that much bigger than Evan when he was born, but he weighed in at a shocking 8lbs 14.5oz! Evan was 7lbs 11oz! They measured his length at 18.5 inches, which we didn't believe because he was so wiggly. At his first doctor appointment a few days later he measured 21 inches. That's more like it!
He's been a very chill baby for the most part and very sleepy. We had a rough night a couple nights ago but we're still getting used to it all! He can really shriek when he's not happy but fortunately that seems to only be when he's got a dirty diaper or hungry.
Evan has adjusted very well. He's had to learn to be flexible about certain routines, like sometimes Daddy has to read bedtime books instead of Mommy, but he's learning to deal with it and we're trying not to change too much for him! He really loves Liam and loves giving him several kisses and snuggles all the time. He can't wait for Liam to be able to play with him. He asked Liam to chase him yesterday.
We love our family!
