Levi was born less than 30 hours after his due date but you would have thought that he was two weeks late for how impatient I was getting about this birth. As I mentioned in my 40 week update, the longer it went on, the more it seemed like it wasn't going to happen. At my appointment on my due date, the doctor stripped my membranes in order to induce labor, but said that if it didn't work in 24 hours it wasn't going to help. So by Thursday evening we were preparing to wait out the weekend and then go in on Monday for the checks to see if the placenta was good enough for them to let me "stay pregnant" as they called it or induce me. But praise God we didn't have to wait much longer.
The contractions started at 12:30am and I tried to ignore them thinking they might not be the real thing. I actually fell back to sleep for a while but then the contractions became more intense and frequent, and I woke Martin up around 2am. I called my mom, who, ever ready for the call, answered on the second ring. As Martin said, "Out of all the frequent calls between Heather and her mother, this was by far the shortest they ever had." Here’s a transcription:
I'm only slightly exaggerating. My parents had to make the four-hour drive from Pittsburgh, so our neighbor Krystal was able to come over to be with Dylan and Lydia until they could get here. We left for the hospital around 3am.
After checking in, the nurses decided to skip the triage (I think it was just a slow night) and put us in the same Labor & Delivery room that Lydia was born in. We remembered watching the sun rise out that same window when I was in labor with Lydia. This was just one of the many ways that God put me at ease by recalling Lydia's birth rather than Joshua's at the time. I normally don't want to shy away from remembering all I can about Joshua's short time on earth but in this case, remembering Lydia's birth instead was a way push back any fear that could be creeping into my mind.
The contractions continued to grow in intensity. I was anxious to receive the epidural (after laboring naturally with Dylan, I knew I wanted one this time), but the nurses did not see the urgency and asked a long list of questions. After nearly an hour and a half, I finally received the epidural.
After the C-section with Joshua, I really hoped to have VBAC because it should lead to a quicker recovery. Fortunately, my OB/GYN had declared me a good candidate, and the rest of the labor proceeded without issue. Both Martin and I noticed that this delivery seemed much more relaxed than in the past. With Dylan and Lydia we remember what seem like a rush when it was time to push and flurry of activity around the room. With Joshua, his dropping heart rate meant the C-section was quite rushed. But with Levi, I got to 9.5 cm and Doctor Pereira asked me if I would like to push or wait, like oh, it's up to you...whatever you want. I definitely wanted to push - I had waited long enough! Even when there was a break between contractions all the nurses seemed to be just waiting.
Levi took a lot more pushing, so we could tell he was going to be a bigger baby. I had to push through three contractions (as opposed to one with both Dylan and Lydia) and out he came at 5:24am. My first memory of seeing Levi was the nurses holding him over me and him peeing on me. (Dylan and Lydia find this hilarious.) They asked me if I wanted to hold him first thing and I said no, that's fine, you can clean him up first. But they also wanted to check him out right away because he came out with meconium, meaning that he had defecated in the womb. Because of the meconium, the pediatrician had to perform gastric suctioning to remove it from his mouth and stomach. Although not enough to warrant any antibiotics, Levi did sound weezy at first and we suspect that he failed his hearing test in his right ear twice because of all the fluid.
Levi weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz, measured 21.5 inches long. He was much bigger than either Dylan (6 lbs 8 oz) or Lydia (6 lbs 5 oz).
Levi spent the first 45 minutes very alert, keeping his eyes open. It was something that surprised us. Because of the suctioning, I had to wait a little while before I could try nursing him. We got a good bit of time to relax and enjoy Levi and were then moved to the maternity ward.
My parents picked up Dylan and Lydia and brought them to meet Levi for the first time. They were both beaming with excitement. Dylan and Lydia kept taking turns carefully holding him and giving him gentle kisses on the head. Lydia was a little apprehensive at first, as I think she was afraid of dropping him but she did get up the courage and held him that first visit. Then they went off to Vacation Bible School and were proud to tell their friends and teachers about their new little brother.
We stayed at the hospital from that Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. I recovered pretty quickly. The hospital stay was okay, room was kinda small and then of course there's the incessant stream of people coming in, but I always enjoy the food and this time even watched two movies. We we very excited that our pediatrician was doing rounds that weekend and so he got to be the one to examine Levi and then discharge him. When Dylan and Lydia were born he didn't have rights at our hospital. He switched practices in 2011 and we have been looking forward since then to seeing him in the hospital. And I was so pleased that the doctor that did Dylan circ did Levi's. It was also good to have Dr. Pereira deliver Levi. She delivered Joshua and was more vested in our family story. (Oh, and Levi came at the perfect time - if he would have waited any longer, the shifts would have changed and my least favorite doctor was on next.)
God answered my prayers (see week 40 update) about the doctors and nurses (and the big kids not missing their activities).
On Sunday, we had my parents bring the big kids to the hospital so we could all ride home together and sing our family theme song - HOME! We got home to find balloons, welcome home signs, and friends from our Home Fellowship Group who brought lunch!
The contractions started at 12:30am and I tried to ignore them thinking they might not be the real thing. I actually fell back to sleep for a while but then the contractions became more intense and frequent, and I woke Martin up around 2am. I called my mom, who, ever ready for the call, answered on the second ring. As Martin said, "Out of all the frequent calls between Heather and her mother, this was by far the shortest they ever had." Here’s a transcription:
- Mom: Hello?
- Heather: I’m having contractions.
- Mom: We are on our way. (Hangs up)
I'm only slightly exaggerating. My parents had to make the four-hour drive from Pittsburgh, so our neighbor Krystal was able to come over to be with Dylan and Lydia until they could get here. We left for the hospital around 3am.
After checking in, the nurses decided to skip the triage (I think it was just a slow night) and put us in the same Labor & Delivery room that Lydia was born in. We remembered watching the sun rise out that same window when I was in labor with Lydia. This was just one of the many ways that God put me at ease by recalling Lydia's birth rather than Joshua's at the time. I normally don't want to shy away from remembering all I can about Joshua's short time on earth but in this case, remembering Lydia's birth instead was a way push back any fear that could be creeping into my mind.
The contractions continued to grow in intensity. I was anxious to receive the epidural (after laboring naturally with Dylan, I knew I wanted one this time), but the nurses did not see the urgency and asked a long list of questions. After nearly an hour and a half, I finally received the epidural.
After the C-section with Joshua, I really hoped to have VBAC because it should lead to a quicker recovery. Fortunately, my OB/GYN had declared me a good candidate, and the rest of the labor proceeded without issue. Both Martin and I noticed that this delivery seemed much more relaxed than in the past. With Dylan and Lydia we remember what seem like a rush when it was time to push and flurry of activity around the room. With Joshua, his dropping heart rate meant the C-section was quite rushed. But with Levi, I got to 9.5 cm and Doctor Pereira asked me if I would like to push or wait, like oh, it's up to you...whatever you want. I definitely wanted to push - I had waited long enough! Even when there was a break between contractions all the nurses seemed to be just waiting.
Levi took a lot more pushing, so we could tell he was going to be a bigger baby. I had to push through three contractions (as opposed to one with both Dylan and Lydia) and out he came at 5:24am. My first memory of seeing Levi was the nurses holding him over me and him peeing on me. (Dylan and Lydia find this hilarious.) They asked me if I wanted to hold him first thing and I said no, that's fine, you can clean him up first. But they also wanted to check him out right away because he came out with meconium, meaning that he had defecated in the womb. Because of the meconium, the pediatrician had to perform gastric suctioning to remove it from his mouth and stomach. Although not enough to warrant any antibiotics, Levi did sound weezy at first and we suspect that he failed his hearing test in his right ear twice because of all the fluid.
Levi weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz, measured 21.5 inches long. He was much bigger than either Dylan (6 lbs 8 oz) or Lydia (6 lbs 5 oz).
Levi spent the first 45 minutes very alert, keeping his eyes open. It was something that surprised us. Because of the suctioning, I had to wait a little while before I could try nursing him. We got a good bit of time to relax and enjoy Levi and were then moved to the maternity ward.
My parents picked up Dylan and Lydia and brought them to meet Levi for the first time. They were both beaming with excitement. Dylan and Lydia kept taking turns carefully holding him and giving him gentle kisses on the head. Lydia was a little apprehensive at first, as I think she was afraid of dropping him but she did get up the courage and held him that first visit. Then they went off to Vacation Bible School and were proud to tell their friends and teachers about their new little brother.
We stayed at the hospital from that Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. I recovered pretty quickly. The hospital stay was okay, room was kinda small and then of course there's the incessant stream of people coming in, but I always enjoy the food and this time even watched two movies. We we very excited that our pediatrician was doing rounds that weekend and so he got to be the one to examine Levi and then discharge him. When Dylan and Lydia were born he didn't have rights at our hospital. He switched practices in 2011 and we have been looking forward since then to seeing him in the hospital. And I was so pleased that the doctor that did Dylan circ did Levi's. It was also good to have Dr. Pereira deliver Levi. She delivered Joshua and was more vested in our family story. (Oh, and Levi came at the perfect time - if he would have waited any longer, the shifts would have changed and my least favorite doctor was on next.)
God answered my prayers (see week 40 update) about the doctors and nurses (and the big kids not missing their activities).
On Sunday, we had my parents bring the big kids to the hospital so we could all ride home together and sing our family theme song - HOME! We got home to find balloons, welcome home signs, and friends from our Home Fellowship Group who brought lunch!
