Samuel's Birth Story

My due date was Sunday, March 10, so Matt and I were getting pretty anxious to meet our little guy. Nathan was a few days late, so we weren't too surprised when my due date came and went, and we had no baby in our arms, but each day just felt like a long waiting game. On Wednesday afternoon I started noticing some contractions. They weren't painful, but were happening pretty consistently about every 4-7 minutes. I had been having a few earlier in the week, but they usually went away after an hour or so. These were sticking around, but were not getting any more intense or frequent, so I wasn't sure whether I was really in labor or not. We continued our evening as usual. We took Nathan and Rhapsody to the neighborhood playground, ate dinner and did Nathan's normal nighttime routine. I had a suspicion we might be heading to the hospital later that night, so I took extra time savoring my sweet Nathan as I rocked and read him stories. After he was asleep, I cleaned my bathroom. Matt helped too, so it didn't take long. That sounds silly now. I had planned to do it during Nathan's nap earlier that day, but I hit a wall of exhaustion when I put him down and took a nap instead. Looking back, that was probably a good decision to get a little added rest for what was to come. I was feeling good that evening, so I decided to go ahead and get it done so that in case we did need to go, it would be clean when we got home.

I was still having contractions at 9:00 Wednesday night, and Matt and I talked about whether we should go to the hospital. I think our decision was complicated by the fact that I had tested positive for Strep B bacteria and would need antibiotics during labor to ensure Samuel didn't contract it when he was born. My doctor had encouraged us not to wait around at home when I went into labor since I needed the antibiotics and my labor and delivery went so quickly with Nathan. If I hadn't tested positive, I'm sure we would have stayed at home and waited for the contractions to intensify, but we decided it would be better to be safe than sorry and finished packing our bags to go to the hospital. My parents came over to get Nathan and Rhapsody, while Matt loaded the car.

 We got to the hospital about 10:30 that night. We settled into our room. At that point I was dilated to a 4. I was a 2 on Tuesday at my doctor's appointment, so it was nice to know I was making some progress, but we still weren't sure I was in active labor. We hung around the hospital that night. We walked around for about an hour, hoping the walking would help me progress. About 1:00 that morning, I noticed that my contractions were slowing down. I was disappointed, but it did enable both of us to get some rest. We dozed for a couple of hours. At about 2:30 that morning I hadn't made any further progress, and the nurse called my doctor. Dr. Sanders wanted to go ahead and admit me because of the positive strep test, and told me if I still wasn't progressing in a few hours, they could start some Pitocin to help me along. I was more than willing to stay. I had been really worried that we would get sent home from the hospital because nothing was happening, and although Matt reassured me that it would have been fine even I wasn't admitted, I really didn't want that to happen.

 We filled out paperwork, and the nurse started my IV, and Matt and I were able to rest for a couple more hours. At around 8:00 the next morning, I still hadn't dilated any further, and they added some Pitocin to my IV. I noticed my contractions becoming a little more painful, but they were still not bad at all. My parents and Nathan stopped by for a few minutes. It was good to see my little boy for the last time before he became a big brother.

The doctor came in around 9:00 and broke my water, and then things picked up a lot. Breaking my water really helped me progress. The contractions quickly intensified. I was dilated to a 5 and asked for an epidural. The hospital was really busy, so the wait for the epidural took longer than I had hoped. My contractions were pretty painful, but thankfully they were also short, with enough of a break in between that they weren't too unbearable. Matt and I were both ready for the epidural when it came. I got my epidural a little before 11:00, and life was good again :). Matt and I have both said over and over how wonderful we think epidurals are. In the process of getting the epidural I had progressed to a 7, and less than an hour later I was ready to push.

The nurse told me that I got a good epidural because I was still able to move my legs pretty well and feel some pressure which helped with pushing. My doctor came in around noon, and I pushed for about four contractions before Samuel made his debut at 12:16pm. One reason I wasn't too disappointed that Samuel didn't come early was because my doctor was out of town until the day before his due date, and I really wanted her to deliver me. She told us we won the prize because we waited for her to be back in town, delivered during daylight and not during her office hours :).

I forgot how special that moment is when I got to see my baby for the first time. It's surreal and so emotional. We were instantly in love with our boy.

 Samuel's birth story is another testimony of God's goodness to our family. Any experience that ended with a healthy baby in our arms would be a wonderful story, but after concern for several weeks during my pregnancy that I might need to have a C-section, we were especially grateful for another great labor and delivery experience with our second baby.

 Although my labor started out slowly and we probably spent more time in the hospital than we needed to, it was obvious my body was ready to have a baby. It was a little shocking at how quickly things progressed that morning. I don't think any of us thought after the slow start that we would be welcoming a baby so early in the day. Matt and I are so grateful for another great labor and delivery experience. God has been oh so good to our family.

One interesting thing about Samuel's birthday is that both Nathan and Samuel were due on a Sunday and they both arrived the following Thursday (4 days past due). If we have more babies, I think Matt and I have learned our lesson to not expect them to come on time :). They are certainly worth the wait though!