It took me a long time to write Aidan's birth story. As so much has happened with Logan, I don't want to forget the details of his birth. Let's see if I can still remember or my mommy brain is malfunctioning.
I started feeling minor contractions the night/early morning of November 16, 2008. I knew the baby would be born that day as I had similar contractions with Aidan. The contractions were not close enough, nor were they very painful. They started coming closer and stronger when I got up in the morning (not that I had a whole lot of sleep that night). I didn't feel nervous or worried, as I were a few days before Logan's birth.
At around 7:30 a.m. or so, I felt that I should probably call Kaiser's advise nurse to see when's a good time to go to the hospital. At that time, my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and lasted between 45 secs and a minute. When I called, the Labor and Delivery advise nurse suggested me to go in immediately as this is my second child and the delivery usually happened fast. I started getting ready, said goodbye to Aidan as I wouldn't be able to see him for a few days. He was totally fine as my parents were here to keep him company.
Hank and I went to the hospital and arrived at the waiting room at around 8:30 a.m. We waited for almost half an hour before someone came to lead me in the room. The contractions were getting frequent, but they were tolerable. Just like last time, I didn't scream or yell. I just did my deep breathing and held everything in. I checked into LDR4, changed my clothes and was admitted to the hospital. Leads were put on me to monitor my vitals and the contractions. I laid in bed, answered questions, signed forms, got my blood pressure checked, etc. My blood pressure as always was on the high side.
1) took 3 tries to put the IV in me and it was painful and uncomfortable throughout the rest of the duration, last time, no discomfort.
2) I was already 4 cm dilated when I got to the hospital, and quickly got to 6-7 cm in a matter of hours.
3) I could actually felt water coming out of me when the doctor broke my water.
4) Epidural was given when my contraction was gone. Last time, it was given while I had the contractions, thus, I couldn't feel how uncomfortable it was. It was PAINFUL getting epidural!! Besides, I delivered Logan only a couple hours after the epidural, last time it took a while before Aidan was born.
5) I felt very uncomfortable after I got my epidural. Last time, it was a breeze and I couldn't feel anything. This time, I felt tightening of my chest, and it turned out my blood pressure dropped dramatically. The epidural and my blood pressure had to be monitored a little more closely.
6) Hitting the epidural button this time didn't make a difference.
7) I could still feel my contractions (not in a very painful way, but the pressure of it), before and during labor.
8) I could feel the baby coming out and I had to call the nurse immediately as I actually had the urge to push the baby out.
9) Only took 20 minutes to push Logan out, which with Aidan, it took me 2 hours.
10) I was able to hold Logan immediately after his birth and see how purple and wrinkly he was. With Aidan, because he was stuck in me for 2 hours, he was taken to the pediatrician right away instead of to me.
11) I was able to move around after giving birth. I didn't feel sore or very uncomfortable.
We happily took pictures and enjoyed this beautiful baby for a while until the nurse realized his temperature was a little low. The pediatrician was called and because he also found some mysterious rashes on Logan's body, he suggested to have Logan be kept at the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) for monitoring in case the rashes were caused by an infection. Of course we're worried and weren't thrilled to hear such suggestion, but to be on the safe side, it had to be done.
Hank followed the nurse and pediatrician, and took Logan to the ICN while I waited for the nurse to clean me up and take me to my maternity room. Hank then came to look for me and took me to the ICN to see Logan. He was put on IV fluid, blood work was done for live cultures to see if any bacteria would grow. He was then transferred to the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN) for the next few days.
For the remainder of the stay, I went back and forth from my room to the nursery to see Logan. I didn't really have a lot of rest as I tried to pump every 3 hours to get the colostrum and milk going, and of course I was worried about Logan as well. Hank went home and didn't stay with me as we still had Aidan to take care of. We didn't want both parents to be gone and since it's not my first stay, I felt comfortable enough to be at the hospital by myself. This marked the first day of Logan's life.
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