So my baby is officially 3 months old and I’m finally getting around to telling how everything went! Let me just say, this birth was way different from my first. With my first, I went into labor all on my own at 37w5d, labored all day at home and after being in the hospital for less than 2 hours, I gave birth. Never had any type of false labor or any issues!

Well baby #2 was a whole different story! I was in the hospital a couple times due to false labor and preeclampsia scares. At my last doctors appointment I was 5cm dilated but not in labor so I asked him to sweep my membranes (I was scheduled to be induced that Thursday) and within an hour of my appointment, contractions started. I wasn’t sure if it was real labor or not because they didn’t feel like much and at that point in my pregnancy, anything and everything made me have contractions. My mom came over since she was keeping our daughter when we went to the hospital and after about an hour or so of cleaning the house, my husband and mom convinced me to go to the hospital. I called my doctor while we drove and she definitely thought I was in labor. We got to the hospital and they brought me to an exam room to check how dilated I was and I was still at a 5. I was determined to have a baby that night. The nurse decided to have me walk around the labor unit for an hour and then we’ll recheck me. Mind you it’s like 9pm and my contractions started at like 6pm. So my husband and I decided to walk around for an hour. We got to see some babies in the nursery and I was having contractions every 1-3 minutes. However they really didn’t hurt still. I was losing confidence at this point and assumed we would be sent home since my contractions didn’t get worse. At 10pm we finally were able to be rechecked and to my surprise I was 6cm almost 7cm dilated and they kept me! They brought us to a labor room and got me all hooked up to my machines and my plan was to do this unmedicated. I have a terrible fear of needles otherwise I probably would have gotten an epidural. Once we were all hooked up, my nurse left us to labor and said she would check in later to see how far I’ve progressed. I took this time to try to sleep (I really didn’t) and at around 2, my nurse and doctor came in to check me and break my water. I was at an 8 and we broke my water. Contractions got more intense and I was just waiting for the urge to push to hit me. My nurse came in at one point and helped me lay on my side because I was almost a 10 and baby’s heartbeat was starting to drop during contractions. Once I got on my side she got in the right position almost immediately and I dilated to a 10 and I was ready to push. At 3:55am, I started to push and at 4am she was born! Poor thing had a bruised face because of how quickly she was born. My baby was a whole pound bigger than my first but I didn’t tear! (I tore pretty bad with my first) my recovery was a lot less painful this time around because of the lack of stitches however my blood pressure started rising shortly after she was born but within a few hours it came down. We stayed at the hospital until the next day and went home. I will say, having 2 kids is not easy. I have a lot more anxiety this time around and now I have 2 kids that I have to care for. I am grateful for the 11 weeks I got stay home and take care of my little one and bond.