Our biggest concerns about labor were that it would happen too quickly and that we wouldn't have anyone here in time to watch Augie. Luckily, Benny decided to come on a weekend and we had asked Brett's parents to come in and stay with us. I had been just as dilated at my 38 and 39 week appointments as I had been with Augie, and I had been having pretty regular Braxton Hicks contractions, so I thought it would happen either that weekend or on the third or fourth, when my mom and Tod would be here. So that was a huge relief.
All day Saturday I was determined to get things going. I went for a pretty long walk Saturday morning with Brett and Alan, cleaned out the cupboards Saturday during naptime, and went for another walk with Brett Saturday evening. My contractions were regular, but every 7 minutes and not getting any stronger, all throughout the day. They weren't painful, just felt like my uterus was tightening. In the evening they got a little bit crampy but not anything to write home about.
We went to bed at 10 and I slept from 10-12 and from 12-2. Starting at 2, the contractions were just more noticeable, ever so slightly painful, but still not very frequent. I couldn't get back to sleep because I was just thinking about the what ifs, something I had been lying awake doing a lot lately. But at 4, pain came with the contractions and I started making some noise and squirming which woke Brett up. He started timing them, and we quickly realized they were between 2-4 minutes apart and lasting a minute or longer...time to go. We called the doctor's answering service, asked him to call us back, got dressed, and were out the door a little after 5.
The doctor still hadn't called back so I called again once we were on the road and we were put through directly to him. He had been the one to see me at 39 weeks and I knew he was on call for 5 days in a row. He had predicted that he'd be seeing me soon. He said "Kari, is it time?" And I said yes, we're heading to the hospital. On the way there we passed a McDonald's and Brett mentioned how good McDonald's breakfast sounded. Then we talked about how I was definitely in better shape than I was on the way to the hospital with Augie -- my contractions weren't on top of each other yet and I was able to talk and hadn't thrown up yet. I took this to mean we had a long road ahead, so I told Brett to stop at the McDonald's right by the hospital for breakfast for himself. He made sure I was serious, then did a u-turn. My contraction timed nicely between when Brett paid and when he received his food, so it's possible the employee had no idea I was in labor.
Brett dropped me off at the entrance, got me settled in a wheelchair, then went to park the car. I had one contraction in a silent, early morning hospital lobby before he got back to me, so it probably took him less than 8 minutes. We wheeled up to labor and delivery, where they handed me paperwork. This until my next contraction, when the person at the desk said "let's get this woman a room, she's very uncomfortable." and they wheeled me away from Brett who had to stay and tend to the details.
The labor and delivery unit was hopping when we got there. We found out later that we actually were given a closed room which had a broken computer in it because it was the last one left. Brett described it as a "monkey house" - lots of women in various stages of labor. When I got to the room, I told the people that I needed to use the bathroom. They asked number 1 or number 2. I said I'm not really sure. They said well I need to check you first, if this is baby #2, I don't want you pushing it out. I responded "I'm not pushing the baby out, I just need to pee! I would know if I was pushing the baby, I haven't even undergone the lost of modesty yet!"
After lettine me use the bathroom then getting me into bed, a man walked in and asked if he was needed. The nurse said no, but we'll need you soon. Then she looked at me and said "you want an epidural, right?" I said "no." She said "oh, I guess we won't be needing you." After a couple contractions I got really mad about Brett not being with me but they told me he was coming soon after he filled out paperwork.
Anyway, he got there. My doctor got there soon after and checked me and I was 5 cm. My water hadn't broken yet and the nurse asked if he was going to break it. He said "not yet." After he left, Brett texted parents saying that it would probably be awhile - with Augie I was 8 cm dilated the first time anyone checked, and my water had broken right away. We didn't want anyone to worry if they hadn't heard from us. I got very hot, and asked for a wash cloth for my forehead. I ended up with one on my forehead and my neck and the air conditioning cranked up. Brett took a video of the heart beat monitor so we could have it for posterity. I look more pathetic in it than I felt.
After maybe 30 minutes of contracting, I needed to pee again so I asked Brett to take me. When I stood up from the toilet, I felt more liquid than expected running down my legs, so I was pretty sure my water had broken. The doctor walked in then and complimented Brett on his shoes...they were both wearing Converse All Stars. We told him that I thought my water had broken but that it hadn't been a big whoosh so he checked. It had, but not all of it. So he broke the rest. I was 6 cm dilated but he reported "very elasticky."
And the rest is basically history. Transition labor came quickly and fiercely. I don't know how many terrible "I can't do it" contractions I had, but I would guess 8 or 9? Then I said I thought I would need to push soon. The nurse needed to run out to log something on the computer, so she asked me if I wanted her to check me to see if I was ready to push. I said no, I would be fine. Well, I wasn't. At the next contraction, it was partly pain but also partly an urge to push. I freaked out that nobody would be there when I needed to push. The nurse came back in and checked me and said I had "just a little bit of cervix left" and that I should wait to push. But with the next contraction, it wasn't a choice, I just had to. When that contraction was done, I said, "I feel a lot of pressure!" The doctor responded "That's because the baby is crowning." Brett confirmed, saying he could almost see his ears. With the second push came the whole head, and the third push we met our baby! Brett announced "it's a boy!" and we all were amazed that there was a baby! A human being who hadn't been there moments before.
This boy was very cold, just like his brother, so after a few minutes on my chest while they wiped him off, they ran him over to the warmer and took his measurements right away. Brett went with him. After he had warmed up a bit, they brought him over for more skin to skin and we just cuddled a long time. We decided on his name, Benjamin Davis, before Brett sent out the news to our friends and family. We loved him instantly and just can't wait to get to know him!
Later that day, grandma and grandpa brought big brother Augie to meet him and he was very excited! He already knows that you talk to babies with a sweet voice, and was mostly interested in telling Benny to sleep in the "bucket" that they have for newborns at the hospital and in getting under the covers next to me in bed.
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| Big brother on his way |
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| Holding Benny for the first time |
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| Deep in thought |
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| Passed the hearing test with flying colors! |
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| Our checklist to complete before heading home |
The second day, we all went for a walk down to the room where you could see the skyline.
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| When Augie came home, he got sniffed by Nanaa. Benny was left alone with the exception of the occasional "hiiiiiiii, Benny!" from his big brother. |
