I was trying to work until the 17th or until I went into labor (my due date was the 21st), whichever came first, so I was kind of stressed those last days. Every day at work I thought it would be my last day so I rushed to finish things up and said my goodbyes to my coworkers several times. I found myself checking emails late at night every night just in case I went into labor that night. By Tuesday the 14th, I was tired of this and decided that I would just turn my computer in and be done with it. That Wednesday the 15th I went into work, finished up a few things, had lunch with my coworkers, and left my computer on my manager's desk. I was officially on maternity leave!
That evening I really felt like it was going to happen that night. I had been having a few signs, nothing conclusive, but I really thought labor would happen soon. After dinner I started having horrible shooting pains in my inner thigh, so bad that I couldn't stand. I had been having these pains off and on for a week but never this bad. Then around 9pm, I lost the plug and started bleeding (sorry TMI) . This was kind of scary because this did not happen with Jack and I was afraid something was wrong. I called the L&D at the hospital and they told me to monitor the situation for an hour and if it didn't stop then I needed to come in because something could be wrong. Joey and I were semi-freaked out for the next hour but when I called back to report my progress, the nurse seemed to think I was fine and I should just keep an eye on it. I went to bed, hoping everything was ok and thinking labor could be very near - although the nurse told me that it could be any minute to a few days away.
I fell asleep and around 1 am I woke up to mild contractions. I laid in bed for a little while but they started getting too intense to sleep through so I decided to get up and distract myself with TV. I still wasn't sure I was in real labor yet. I went out in the living room and sat on my birth ball and watched a little Netflix. For one Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and one Louie, I was able to forget the contractions. After a while, I couldn't ignore them and I had to start paying attention and I was starting to get more confident that it was real labor. I paced the house for a couple hours, hoping to help things progress faster. Around 3:30am, I woke Joey up because I needed moral support. Things started getting more intense around 4:30am so I started timing the contractions. I knew for sure by then that this was the day.
By 5am, they were about 3-4 minutes apart and I thought it was about time to start getting ready for the hospital. I wasn't completely sure because they were still manageable and I had such horrible memories of my contractions with Jack, but I just thought it was time to go. I was kind of afraid I'd get there and only be 3 cm (I was shooting for 5-6 cm, so I could get the epidural right away) but I just didn't want to wait any longer. Joey also initially questioned my decision since things were moving so much faster than with Jack, but I gave him one look and he knew that I had made up my mind. Joey jumped into action and packed our hospital bag and got Jack ready while I tried to stay calm. We dropped Jack off at our friends Jasmine and Broc's house just a few blocks away and went to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at 5:42 am (I still vividly remember seeing the clock when walking in) and got checked in. My midwife was on duty (yay!) and she came in to check my progress. I was 6cm! I was so happy! I told her I was ready for the epidural and she moved us into the delivery room. It took about an hour to get all settled in before they could give me the epidural and those last few contractions started to get pretty rough, partially because I was in the bed and couldn't continue to walk around like I had been. But by 6:30 am, the epidural was in and we could all relax.
After the epidural took effect, I fell asleep for a few hours. My legs were mostly dead weight, which I wasn't a fan of, but at least I could rest. I was still afraid of the upcoming pushing phase - the most traumatic part of my labor with Jack - but I tried to be optimistic and not think about it. My midwife went off duty at 8am, which I was bummed about, but I got a fairly young midwife who turned out to be fantastic.
Things slowed way down and it was after 11am before I was fully dilated and ready to push. I was very skeptical because even though I could still feel and move my legs, I didn't feel much pressure and I was afraid Kara wasn't ready to come out. My midwife told me it was go time and I had to start pushing anyways. So I did. The first 5-10 minutes of pushing were traumatic, just like I remembered. The midwife and nurse "coached" me while I did my best to hold my breath and "bear down" - whatever that means. I was having trouble holding my breath so they were asking why I was stopping and kept telling me that I was "pushing with my face." I felt like they were yelling at me so I got frustrated quickly and started crying, which certainly was not helping me focus on pushing. The midwife apologized and told me that they were just trying to help and decided to try another strategy. She put the squat bar on the bed, wrapped a towel around it, and told me to forget pushing and focus on pulling the towel towards me. I felt much better about this approach until she told me to keep pushing this way and she'd be back in a few minutes. It's never a good sign when the midwife leaves during pushing.
I kept focused anyways and with the next contraction, Kara almost came out! Everyone was super surprised and told me to STOP! They ran out to get the midwife and told me to wait (which is not fun). A couple more pushes and she was out! It was amazing. I'm not sure why they wasted my time (or anyone's time) with the regular pushing method. The towel thing was SO much easier! That was definitely a technique to remember! So all in all, it was less than 30 minutes of pushing! Not too bad!
Joey cut the cord and we had our baby girl! She was 7lbs even. We named her Kara (pronounced care-uh) Lindsey Heithaus. No story, we just liked the name.
So to recap and compare Jack and Kara's births - Both labors started at 9pm, with contractions starting around midnight. With Jack, I went to the hospital around 1pm the next day and with Kara I went at 5:30am. With Jack I pushed for 2 hours and with Kara I pushed for less than 30 min. Jack was delivered at 1:11am the next next day and Kara was born at 11:40 am - about 13.5 hours shorter! Yay for easier deliveries with second babies!
That afternoon, Joey left the hospital to pick up Jack from daycare and bring him to meet his little sister.
After an hour or so, Joey took Jack back to our friends' house to stay the night. He was having so much fun with them that he didn't even miss us one bit. Throughout our stay, they were sending us pictures of their activities. Here's Broc walking them to daycare...
One of them playing outside with bikes and scooters...
And one of dinner time - pasta is Jack's favorite!
Then Joey came back to the hospital to stay the night with me - which I really really appreciated. Kara was SO fussy that first night that she was inconsolable and neither of us could sleep. Joey bounced her for hours trying unsuccessfully to get her to sleep. Eventually around midnight, in desperation, Joey walked to a nearby grocery store to buy a pacifier. Luckily that worked and we both finally got a little bit of rest. We were slightly terrified that we were going to have an extremely fussy baby on our hands...
The next morning, the poking and prodding continued as we checked all the things off the list that we needed to do to get released - newborn blood test, hearing check, jaundice check, pediatrician exam, birth certificate, etc. etc. We were so tired and couldn't wait to get home but we were enjoying holding our little girl - who was thankfully less fussy than the night before.
They released us around noon and we were off!
Kara cried most of the way home. She did not enjoy her first car experience.
The next few days were a blur of naps, nursing, and diaper changes. Kara was pretty fussy at first but seemed more normal after a few days. And in fact, she started to seem easier than Jack - at least from what we could remember. Here are a few pictures of that first weekend home.
Jack immediately loved Kara and wanted to touch and hold her all the time. He almost always calls her "sister" which is pretty cute.
On Monday, we took her into the pediatrician for her 2 day weight check. We had been keeping track of all her wet and dirty diapers that weekend. She was a pooping machine!
She had lost a few ounces, which was to be expected, but was doing great! We were off to a good start.
Next up, Kara is already 1 month old!
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