It feels pretty surreal to be sharing Chloe’s birth story. Didn’t I just find out that I was pregnant?! I can’t believe she has been with us for ten days already… it’s been the most exhausting-but-wonderful blur.
All of my previous “bumpdates” can be found below if you’d like to get caught up on my pregnancy journey with Chloe!
First Trimester
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Second Trimester
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Third Trimester
Even though I’ve been through childbirth once before and generally knew what to expect going into labor & delivery, this time I had a new-to-me provider & hospital and, of course, every pregnancy & delivery is different so I fully anticipated a completely different birthing journey (while still retaining my knowledge from the first experience).
It goes without saying that everyone’s pregnancy and birth experiences are different. There are many women who go endure traumatic situations and they are brave enough to share their stories publicly. I’m so glad that they tell their stories in order for other women who have had similar situations feel less alone — ALL birthing experiences are valid! However, those stories can often feel a bit like fear-mongering for soon-to-be mamas (or at least that’s how they felt to me?) so I thought that I should share my [second!] positive experience, especially since this time I qualify for the “advanced maternal age” pregnancy title.
I was really hoping that the labor process would happen naturally for us again, but if you’ve read my bumpdates you’ll know that I have been mildly at risk of preeclampsia so my obstetrician felt it was the safest course of action to induce labor a couple of weeks earlier than Chloe’s original due date (which was today — Tuesday, July 9th!). Thankfully, by Week 38 in a pregnancy the baby is “fully baked” and even though a couple more weeks in the womb would have been ideal for optimal growth, my slightly elevated blood pressure readings during my third trimester OB appointments pushed my doctor to make the arrangements for an induction.
This situation differed from my first pregnancy in that with Sophie my water broke spontaneously and I was admitted into the hospital right away as a result, so this was my first time experiencing a scheduled induction.
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PRE-LABOR EXPERIENCE
We had been provided with an induction date by the hospital, but not with an appointment time… apparently the way this hospital works is that you are put on a waitlist for a specific date and the Labor & Delivery Dept. will call you when they have a bed + a nurse for you, which could literally be any time, even in the middle of the night. Additionally, if the hospital gets busy and there’s no room, your check-in may be pushed back by a day or two, so that was the situation we were facing for this induction.
Since we had no idea when the hospital would call us, it felt like a lot of anxious waiting around on our induction waitlist date (6/25). I had gotten a pedicure a few days prior, showered the night before, and double-(triple-!)checked that everything that baby and I would need had been packed.
Our labor and delivery department ended up being extremely busy during the week of our induction so we weren’t called on our original waitlist date. I felt really annoying because I had to call the Labor & Delivery Dept every day at each shift changeover to get an update on when they thought they might have availability, but without me actively calling the hospital there was effectively no inbound communication. This was mostly frustrating for us because we had made arrangements for Sophie’s care for the time period that we were told that we would be in the hospital — my husband’s generous sister had flown in from Maine(!) to help us, but she had to fly back home on July 1st so we were under a bit of a time crunch!
Two more days of waiting by the phone went by and the hospital was still too busy for us. On June 27, two days after my initial waitlist date, I went to my OB’s office for an additional [pre-scheduled] Non-Stress Test + baby checkup appt. Chloe was looking great and I was a “tight” 2cm dilated (which isn’t very much) so while Baby Girl and I were both making progress and looking good, I was getting pretty frustrated by how long this induction process was taking! After expressing this to my OB during that appointment she suggested doing a membrane sweep to potentially kickstart a natural labor and I agreed that we should give it a try — oh boy; she did not hold back when she performed the procedure! 😮💨 Whew! That was an intense few seconds and it left me pretty tender afterward (it caused some spotting as well, but that was to be expected from that kind of procedure). While it didn’t have the desired effect of kicking off spontaneous labor, it certainly induced some sporadic contractions, but no definitive labor.
Thankfully, the call from Labor & Delivery came in at 5:20pm on 6/28 that they had a bed and nurse ready for us so I quickly made dinner for Sophie, reviewed Sophie’s bedtime routine with my amazing sister-in-law, my husband grabbed our packed bags, infant car seat, nurse gift baskets, we said goodbye to Sophie (this was my first time ever being away from her for more than a few hours 😭), and we made our way to the hospital!
One blessing about this induction is that I didn’t have to worry about being in active labor while stuck in commuter traffic. Our new home is technically quite close (distance-wise) to our hospital / a city center, but we’re also very close to a very busy freeway junction which often has traffic backups during the busier times of day. The possibility of having a baby in the car on the way to the hospital was probably my second biggest source of anxiety during this pregnancy because I have heard that labor with second (and subsequent) babies can progress much more quickly than first pregnancies and Sophie’s labor & delivery had been fairly speedy. Having an induction date avoided that situation altogether, so I was very grateful for that element of being induced.
We checked in at the hospital’s Birthing Center around 6:15pm. We were admitted to our suite right away, gave the nurses their gift baskets, and I changed into my birthing gown and compression socks. I was asked a ton of intake medical questions, we discussed birthing preferences, and we were given a quick rundown of the amenities available in our suite / within the hospital.
While we were in that birthing suite a few nurses stopped by to say thanks for the appreciation baskets — I was super relieved that they were so well received! It made me so happy to boost their spirits and express our gratitude for their care.
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Once we were in the birthing suite I was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and IVs. 🤣 I had a saline drip to help keep me hydrated, Pitocin to help induce consistent contractions, an antibiotic since I had tested positive for GBS, fetal dopplers to monitor baby’s heart rate and my contractions. I was hooked up to ALL the things!
I was pretty anxious / excited so my adrenaline prevented me from being able to fully relax and get very much rest… I was also trying to stay awake to help support my sister-in-law in case she needed anything re: her first ever night of babysitting!
During all of this my husband was dutifully reporting updates to our family members via group texts (parents and siblings, respectively) so that we could keep everyone in the loop as things progressed.
INDUCTION PROCESS
Thank goodness when I arrived at the hospital I was already 3cm dilated, 60% effaced and at -2 station, so I was able to skip super early induction methods like a cervical ripening agent or a foley bulb (which sounds particularly unpleasant).
My first amazing nurse (Katie) started me on Pitocin to induce / increase contractions. She helped me feel as physically (and emotionally) comfortable as possible and was just so sweet & kind. At the end of her shift she handed me off to Nurse Jordana who ended up being with me for the majority of my labor. I lost all sense of time while we were in that birthing suite, just breathing through my contractions.
After a few hours of increasing discomfort I finally requested an epidural. I had gotten an epidural during Sophie’s labor & delivery and it had given me so much relief that I knew I would absolutely want that kind of pain management again for this labor & delivery experience as well. Upon my arrival at the hospital I had made it abundantly clear with my birthing team that I wanted to have the epidural put in as soon as it made sense and an anesthesiologist was available. While I knew that an epidural would slow down labor progression, the level of pain management was invaluable to me.
The anesthesiologist was able to see me between other patients around 11:30pm. He was fantastic with the insertion process — so efficient, a very gentle touch, and super effective placement. The medicine worked like a charm — after about 20-30 minutes I was perfectly numb and comfortable for the rest of my labor and delivery process. I was even able to sleep for a few hours leading up to pushing!
One thing about the epidural medicine is that it works by gravity so you have to roll over from side to side every so often to make sure that the medicines are distributed evenly. Additionally, a peanut ball is super helpful at gently opening your hips and encouraging contractions, even with an epidural. Jordana was so great at helping me move to the opposite side every so often to keep the epidural medication going to where it needed to be.
Around 2:15am Jordana woke me up so that the on-call OB could break my water and THAT was a very strange sensation. 😂 I don’t know why I was so nervous about this part… maybe because my water broke spontaneously for Sophie’s birth so I didn’t know what to expect from it being broken manually (would it hurt??). Because I had already gotten my epidural all I really felt was some added pressure inside my pelvic area and then a gush of fluid (which was “caught” by some strategically placed towels). Once that was complete, I was able to fall back to sleep and conserve my strength for the Big Push ahead!
BIRTHING EXPERIENCE
Around 7:10am my amazing L&D nurse Jordana woke me up from my nap to let me know that the doctor was coming to check my dilation. The on-call doctor confirmed that I was at 10cm — it was time to have our baby! However, this determination was made right at shift change time so before having baby we would first be assigned to an alternative nurse and OB for the actual delivery.
My new nurse Angie arrived in our room, introduced herself and immediately began to adjust the space to prepare for delivery. Additionally, it may not be the most optimal birthing position, but I prefer to lay on my back for delivery so Angie helped me get into position from my side.
When everything was prepped and ready to go, Angie and my husband each helped hold up my legs while I grabbed behind my knees, curled my chin down to my chest, took a deep breath in and bore down to push into the contraction (which feels oddly like passing a large, hard bowel movement). It’s WILD the way your body instinctively knows what to do; it feels very primal to follow your body’s cues.
With Angie and my husband’s help I started pushing through my first contraction around 7:25am. After two subsequent contraction pushes (a total of 3 pushes held for 10 seconds each), Angie told me to stop pushing while she called the OB/GYN into the suite to deliver our baby! After the doctor arrived I pushed through two more contractions and Chloe emerged! She made her debut at 7:45am weighing 7lb 6oz and was 20 inches long!
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RECOVERY
We’re so thrilled that our second little lady has arrived to complete our family and we absolutely adore her! Just like with Sophie, I didn’t cry at all during labor, but I most definitely sobbed when they put Chloe on my chest for the first time — we had done it! So much joy and relief. We are so beyond grateful for a healthy pregnancy & baby; I still can’t believe that our sweet girl is finally here!
After some Golden Hour skin-to-skin with Chloe, the doctor stitching me up for a small labial tear (😩 ugh!), and Angie cleaning Chloe up a bit (taking her measurements and administering her Hep B shot and Vitamin K ointment, etc.). We remained in the birthing suite for a while until I got some feeling back in my legs after turning off the epidural medication drip. Around 10:20am we were moved to our room in the recovery ward where we spent our first couple of days with our newest family member!
My commemorative hospital cup 🤪 I had considered packing my beloved Stanley cup for the hospital to use during labor and recovery, but ultimately decided to leave it at home because I knew the hospital would provide a large water cup of their own and it would be one less thing for me to bring (and possibly forget / leave behind!). Plus, I kind of loved using my hospital’s branded cups!
I had been craving a Jimmy John’s Turkey Tom sandwich for weeks ahead of Chloe’s delivery so it was the first meal I wanted to eat after giving birth (and I was SO hungry). That first turkey sandwich after 9 months of pregnancy just hits different… SO satisfying! 😂
Thankfully, Chloe and I passed all items necessary to be discharged. I think the soonest you can be discharged from the hospital is 24 hours after giving birth because they want to monitor both mama and baby. We didn’t try to leave any sooner than that, but we were so eager to get home to our first baby and to be back in the comfort of our own home.
Once we cleared all of the requirements to leave, we were given discharge instructions for postpartum/postnatal care at home. It was a LOT to remember 😵💫 I’m glad they gave us a printout with the information because I would have never been able to retain it all.
We were discharged on Sunday afternoon at 11:15am and had our very first car ride home with Chloe! We couldn’t wait to get her home to introduce her to her big sister and start getting acclimated to our new routine as a family of four.
As I said before, every pregnancy, delivery, and baby is different so I don’t know how helpful my story may be for you, but I always enjoy reading other moms’ birth stories because it shows the spectrum of possibilities and you can kind of mentally prepare yourself for what’s to come if you’re in this stage of life.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the Comments section below!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie
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