Nine months ago, Bryce and I decided our little family was ready to add another little one. Ellie was ready to have a permanent playmate and best friend, and we were ready to have another little newborn and child to raise. We were thrilled when we got a positive pregnancy test back in March of this year!
The next several months of pregnancy were great! I never got sick, I was able to continue to workout daily, I never had food cravings or aversions.... other than some episodes of passing out/almost passing out, my only pregnancy symptom was getting bigger (and my couch becoming ridiculously uncomfortable, which only seems to happen during pregnancy.) Anyway, to say I had an easy pregnancy would be an understatement.
In July, we had an ultrasound to find out if our baby was growing and developing they way they should, and to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Bryce and I were both hoping for a boy, just because we already have a little girl at home, and were hoping for at least one of each gender at some point. So of course we were SOOO excited when we found out that our little baby we would be welcoming in December would be a little BOY! We knew right away what we would name him, but wanted to keep his name a surprise until his birthday, so we lovingly referred to him as Baby C for the next several months until his grand debut.
As the weeks got closer to Baby C's birth, my body was doing all the right things to prep for delivery. I was dilating and effacing on my own. Baby boy was head down for the last several weeks, and he seemed ready to go. My doctor, Doctor West, was pretty sure he would be making an early entrance into this world. That definitely got me excited! I was so excited to meet him, and really hoped that he would come basically any day after the 37 week mark. :)
Well each week, I went to the doctor, and he would tell me that my body really just needed the *slightest* nudge to go into labor... when you're 4 cm dilated and 95% effaced, thats really all you need. BUT alas, Baby C wasn't ready to come on his own. However, I was ready for him to come! My doctor gave me the option to go ahead and be induced. He said I was so close to going into labor on my own, that I would only need the slightest nudge when induced to make this baby come.
So since I am not the most patient person, I chose to just go ahead and get induced. Turns out they actually changed my baby's due date at some point, but they didn't tell me. I guess at some point, they changed his due date to November 30th... So I was actually a week over due when I was induced. (As a side note, I actually hate telling people I was induced, because I kinda sorta feel judged.... Seems like today, if you do anything not *completely* natural, you will find people who will judge you. Oh well. That's another post for another day. I am happy with my decision! Maybe next baby I will be patient enough to wait :)
ANYWAY, so Bryce and I went to the hospital on Wednesday morning, December 7th, to have our baby boy! We got checked in, settled into our room, changed into the fabulous hospital gown, and got hooked up to an IV with fluids. When I was induced with Ellie (I had preeclampsia), the absolute WORST part of labor and delivery was getting the IV. They put the IV in my hand and missed a couple times, and it hurt so bad... I guess my hands were sensitive or something. Haha. Anyway. I was nervous about getting the IV this time because I really hated it last time. But this time they numbed me and then put the IV in my forearm rather than my hand, and it didn't hurt one bit! Although I almost passed out when I saw my blood.... That was not the greatest way to start the day, but hey! Good thing Bryce was there so he could quickly grab me some water and a wet rag... so weird because blood never used to bother me.... but whatever. My nurse, Christiana, then proceeded to ask me a billion questions that probably took about 45 minutes to get through. After that, they started giving me dosages of Oxytocin to get labor started.
Something interesting is that with Ellie, I maybe had a few contractions before they gave me an epidural, but I didn't contract enough for me to really recognize when I was truly having a contraction... They were a little uncomfortable, but I wouldn't have described them as painful. SO this time was kind of the same way to begin with. Bryce would look at the monitor, and tell me when I was having a contraction, but I honestly wouldn't have known those were contractions. Finally, around 10:15, I started having contractions that I really could feel. They were uncomfortable. Not painful, but uncomfortable, yes. At this point, my doctor broke my water for me. This is when things started picking up. Contractions got closer together and more and more uncomfortable. I still wouldn't say they were *painful* but definitely not peaches and cream.
At about 11:15, I started having painful contractions. It was hard for me to breathe through the contractions. I was really hoping that I was getting close to delivery because I wasn't sure I could take much more pain.... I didn't prepare for a birth without an epidural. I never took any birth classes. I didn't know any pain management techniques. I didn't know how to go to my "happy place" or how to breathe through my contractions.
SO when my nurse came in at about 11:35, I asked if she would check to see how far along I was. This would help me determine if I wanted an epidural. I decided in my mind that if I was at 10 or *maybe* 9 cm, I would just stick it out. Anything less, I was getting an epidural. My nurse checked me and told me I was at 7 cm. I immediately asked for an epidural because at that point, I could NOT imagine being in that much pain for 3 more cm. In fact, I thought in my mind about every girl I ever knew who had a natural birth and thought either they lied to me or that they were super woman. I had been told that when you hit the point that you just can't "do it" any more during labor, you are SOOO close, like only 20 minutes away. Um.... yah. No way I was making it another 20 minutes.
My nurse told me that they would get me the epidural right away. BUT, instead, Baby C decided right then that he was ready to come out! It was crazy because my body just started pushing him out. Definitely no time for an epidural. I always thought that I would have to work to push out a baby, but my body just started doing it on its own. My nurse kept telling me "DO NOT PUSH." And all I kept saying was "I am so sorry! I am not meaning to push! I am so so sorry! I am not meaning to!" I basically repeated that over and over again while hyperventilating. I am sure I was annoying all the people in the room... but I feel like I couldn't control what was coming out of my mouth. Baby C was coming out whether they were ready or not! Doctor West was not in the room while I was pushing.... another doctor ran in and got ready to deliver my baby. But Doctor West ran in with just seconds to spare - Just in time to greet my baby boy and welcome him into the world!
Carson Porter Call was born at 11:38 am on December 7th, 2016. He was absolutely perfect. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz, and was 21 inches long (exactly the same as Ellie!) Hearing his cry was the most beautiful noise I had ever heard. I was soooo happy! I was shaking like crazy from all the adrenaline running through my body, but was so incredibly elated to be holding my baby boy in my arms.
So, there you have it! Carson's birth story. Post birth has been a breeze so far. I have been a zero on the pain scale since day one, and since day two I have felt like I could basically do everything I could do before getting pregnant (although I have still taken it easy to be safe.) Recovery has been a dream. I am so grateful! Bryce has 4 weeks of paid paternity leave, which is ridiculously awesome - he gets to hang out with Ellie every day and make sure she is happy and adjusting well. Because of this, I have had plenty of sleep and have been able to stay on top things around the house... and it has just made life happy.
We are thrilled to have added a 4th member to our family! He has been such a good baby - truly a joy to have! We are taking in all the baby snuggles and all the little sweet moments... life is good. We are so happy!
And here are a bunch of pictures from his first few days of life!
