Introducing Amelia Mae Lude...Labor Story

Amelia's Birth Story

Sunday evening (which happened to be April Fools Day and Easter Sunday) I started experiencing mild contractions that I would equate to the feeling of menstrual cramps.  But aside from the loss of some of my mucus plug that afternoon there were no real signs of labor coming anytime soon.  Monday went as planned with Joe going to work, and I hung out at the house with Bran all day. Grandma Lude came to town that afternoon to stay with Bran for our scheduled induction on Tuesday morning. I started experiencing some stronger contractions during dinner (Chipotle, yum!) that continued into the evening. They were even stronger when I went to bed, and I actually started timing them.  They were coming every 5-7 minutes until about 2 a.m. and I was starting to think we may need to head to the hospital before morning.  I was so thankful Linda was at the house because I would have been very nervous not having someone else there with Bran at this point.  I kept thinking this was a somewhat cruel joke for baby to play on me trying to keep me up all night with contractions the night before my induction.  I was looking forward to a last good nights sleep!  Luckily the contractions got a little less consistent and I was able to get some decent sleep from about 2 a.m. until my alarm went off at 6.  

Tuesday morning felt very relaxed.  We loaded our hospital bags in the truck, ate breakfast, grabbed some coffee, said bye to Grandma and Bran (I was holding back tears hugging and kissing my baby boy), and hit the road around 7.  It was rainy, there was a ton of traffic, and my contractions had definitely kicked back in so I think I started feeling a little bit anxious. But once we parked and were heading into the hospital it was all excitement to meet Baby L 2.0.  I remember laughing because I couldn't believe I was walking into my induction already having regular contractions (which the nurse immediately commented on once I was hooked up to the monitors). So it seems Baby L 2.0 would have been making an appearance that day no matter what!

Last bump picture. 39 weeks and 5 days.

After verifying baby was still head down, they started me on pitocin around 9 a.m.  The nurse checked me (and ouch it hurt!) and I was a little discouraged to find out I was still 3 cm.  I mean hadn't these contractions done anything?! So anyways we settled in and I started to ride out the contractions with the goal of making it to lunch time, when I would plan to probably get an epidural and have my water broken.  I quickly got bored so the nurse hooked me up to some wireless monitors so Joe and I could walk around.  We must have walked up and down the hall for about an hour.  It became a fun game to try to get to the end of the hall before I would have another contraction. We headed back to the room and the nurse was pleasantly surprised with how well I was still tolerating the contractions so she increased my pitocin.  Joe had started talking about going to grab lunch, but it is a good thing he didn't. The higher dose pitocin combined with the walking must have done the trick because I was becoming more uncomfortable, and noticeably so because Joe started asking if I thought I might want an epidural.   It was about 11:45 and I decided I could make it until noon.  I had to pee really bad and wanted to do so one more time before I got an epidural. We both got up and Joe was bent down unplugging my IV pole when I felt a huge gush of water and a huge release of pressure. I exclaimed that my water had broken, and that I had farted (because who knew if anything else had come out that way, haha! Thankfully it didn't). I started laughing hysterically. Joe quickly hit the call button and said "her water broke!" and a nurse that was covering mine for lunch came in and said "well at least you are laughing!".  She helped me get to the bathroom, cleaned up my legs, and threw away the slippers I had soaked. 

This is about the time things started getting really intense for me.  The next 15 minutes felt endless.  After my water had broken there was no more cushion so my contractions started hurting really bad. I wanted my epidural now! During all of this my nurse returned and quickly started setting up the delivery table (they must have been worried I was going to be delivering a baby soon).  The anesthesiologist arrived and was able to get my epidural in within a few contractions. Joe was thankful because I think he was getting nervous I was going to break his fingers if he had to help hold me still through too many more contractions.  The nurses were great and kept reminding me to breathe, and the sweet relief of the epidural came before I knew it.  They checked me once everything had settled down and my epidural was working well. I was so excited to hear I was at 7 cm! No wonder my contractions had become so intense.  So at this point I relaxed and Joe went to grab some lunch.

Around 2:15 p.m. they checked me again and I was at 9 cm.  They decided to turn me on my left side and give me the peanut ball to put between my legs.  The nurse instructed me to call her if I started feeling a lot of pressure.  Not too long after that I started needing to hit my button to give myself more medication through my epidural.  I actually asked Joe at one point if I had run out because I wasn't getting the same relief I had been experiencing.  After he assured me I had plenty still in the bag I decided to go ahead and call the nurse back.  I didn't want to embarrass myself and try to have a baby without any help. When she came to check I was at 10 cm, it was go time! Unfortunately we needed to wait on Dr. Sayat to get there before I could push so they gave me a little more medication to provide me some relief so I wouldn't feel like I needed to push, and they cut my pitocin in half to slow down the contractions.

Dr. Sayat (who is so smiley and upbeat) arrived and it was time to push! We all took our final guesses, the nurse and I thought boy. Joe, the nursing student and Dr. Sayat guessed girl. On my practice push the head came into view and everyone announced that there was so much dark hair. It was at this point I started becoming suspicious that it may be a girl. I pushed again and when her head came out we had a scare because the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck.  It was tight enough it could not be unwrapped and had to immediately be cut.  There was a controlled sense of urgency at this point that I needed to push and get baby out quickly.  I braced my knees up to my chest and a couple hard pushes later (I actually only pushed through 3 contractions) baby was out.  Dr. Sayat announced that it was a GIRL!! She apparently didn't rotate as she came out like most babies do, and instead as Dr. Sayat put it came flying out like superwoman. They quickly put her on my chest and started beating on her back, and when we heard her first cry it was a huge relief.  She had some facial bruising and redness around the irises of her eyes, but she was perfect! We were both quite emotional and excited to finally meet our baby girl. Amelia Mae was born on April 3, 2018 at 3:54 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz and was 21.5 inches long (born two days before her due date and bigger than her big brother who was born 4 days late!). Amelia is actually the girl name we had picked when we had Bran. 

Buckeye Baby

Our first (and only) night in the hospital was very calm.  They took Amelia to the nursery to give her her first bath, and let us get some rest.  When they brought her back at feeding time I barely knew she had come in the room.  She fed calmly and sweetly and went right back to sleep.  This was so different than Bran who I could hear screaming from way down the hallway when they were bringing him back to the room. Amelia and I have had a fantastic breastfeeding experience and I am really hoping it can continue.

Wednesday morning Joe went to pick up Bran and Grandma Lude to come meet Amelia.  Bran was so enamored with his little sister from the minute he walked into the room.  He was so excited to sit next to Mama and Amelia so he could hold her.  He kept giving her hugs and kisses, it was so cute.  The funniest part was when Joe decided to video and right at that moment Bran gave her a nice little lick! He must have been getting her ready for the puppies. Amelia also got Bran a big brother gift.  His favorite was the snake, although we had to retire him for a softer version for a little while for safety reasons (haha!).

After a slight delay in Amelia getting released (they were worried her bilirubin may have been elevated at her 24 hour check, but it ended up being just fine) we were packed up and heading home Wednesday evening.  So it was about 36 hours door to door, and we were all so happy to go home!  When we loaded up in Joe's truck I actually climbed up in the front seat for the ride home.  I decided I should move to the back seat, even if she was the second kid.  She rode home quiet as could be.  Joe had to inform me on the ride home that he would be spoiling his little girl.  Sounds like Amelia already has Daddy wrapped around her tiny little fingers. We are so in love, and can't imagine life without her.

Ready to go home!