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Our second child came into the world with
a bit of drama and a lot faster than her big brother Evan.
It all started the day before my due date when I went in for
a routine appointment. They had sent me for an ultrasound
beforehand to make sure everything was o.k. The technician
said that my baby was big and was approximately 8 lbs 11oz.
I know that the standard deviation is a pound which meant
that the baby could be anywhere from 7 lbs 11oz to 9 lbs 11oz.
I was having déjà vu all over again as the same
thing was said with my last pregnancy when they told me my
baby would weigh 7 lbs 6 oz and he was 8 lbs 9 oz. So you
can imagine why I immediately leaped to the conclusion that
baby # 2 might weigh 9 lbs 11oz! Jeff (my hubby) told me that
must have shocked me into labour.
We went to my O.B. appointment and he told
me that he was working the floor the next day (my due date)
and that I should come in and have my baby. I said that was
what I did last time…I had my O.B. appointment on a
Tuesday and Evan was born the very next day on a Wednesday
which was my due date and my O.B. even delivered him. What
are the chances that I might have both my children born on
their due dates through spontaneous delivery, both on Wednesdays
and both by my own O.B.?
We left his office and I went to the bathroom
to discover my “show”. I had remembered that my
labour with Evan started 3 hours after my “show”
appeared. Hmmmm….could this be it? I told Jeff what
had happened and we decided to call my parents to come down
from London as they were planning to care for Evan. Nothing
much happened the rest of the evening, a few pains here and
there but no “real” contractions.
By the next morning (my actual due date)
there was still nothing major to report. We went for a walk
to get my mind off things. Then we decided to go for lunch
around 1:00pm. As we parked the car I got my first “real”
contraction, it was quite intense and different from how things
started with Evan. We started to time the contractions. The
next one came 20 minutes later. When we got home from lunch
we decided to pack things up and head to Toronto as I was
delivering at one of the downtown hospitals. By the time we
got in the car the contractions jumped from 20 minutes apart
to 6 minutes apart. We didn’t panic as my contractions
with Evan were all over the place, 4 minutes, 1 minute then
back to 4 minutes apart so we weren’t too concerned.
We arrived downtown at 3:20pm and I had to register in the
admitting department. By this time my contractions were 2
minutes apart. Miraculously Jeff found parking and came to
meet me. I was still trying to register when I told him I
needed a wheel chair. By 3:40pm we had zoomed up to the labour
floor and told them my contractions were 1 minute apart. The
nurse checked me and told me I was 9cm dilated. I of course
still asked for the epidural. The nurse didn’t respond
and I was having severe intense contractions and was swearing
occasionally in a loud voice by this point. My dear husband
asked the nurse AGAIN if I could have an epidural (he knew
this was his mission). Again, she didn’t respond but
shot him a look that said “buddy, she’s not getting
the epidural but I’m not going to tell her are you?”
They were trying to find me a delivery room and I was on a
gurney in the hallway when my water broke. Immediately I felt
the urge to push. I was swearing loudly still and groaning
and told them I had to push. They told me not to push yet.
YEAH RIGHT! YOU TRY IT! They zoomed me into the delivery room
and found the O.B. by that point (my own O.B. was busy delivering
triplets in the O.R.). With a few fast and furious pushes,
Claire arrived safely at 3:59 pm weighing a polite 7 lbs 13
oz (not the 8 lbs 11 oz I was quoted the day before or the
9 lbs 11 oz I had imagined), 20 minutes after I arrived on
the labour floor. It was certainly a speedy delivery which
I could not have managed without Jeff there to hold my hand
(he’s still recovering from my death grip).
So we were 2 for 2. We had two children
born on their due dates, both on Wednesdays and within a half
an hour of each other. We almost had our own O.B. for both
deliveries…that would have made for an even better story.
Things I learned this time….
#1: If it’s your second pregnancy go
earlier than you think you should to the hospital. What they
say is true…the second one is usually faster. My labour
with Evan was a total of 19 hours from the first contraction
to delivery. My labour with Claire was less than 3 hours from
the first contraction to delivery.
#2 IMPORTANT: If you are
GBS positive you actually need to be hooked up to antibiotics
3 – 4 hours before delivery. They don’t tell you
that because they don’t want you showing up to the hospital
ages before you need to be there. In my case I obviously didn’t
have time to be hooked up to the antibiotics. As a result
they wanted to keep us for 48 hours and do a blood test on
Claire to make sure she was o.k. (thankfully she was fine).
#3: I couldn’t have
done it without the support of my family (my parents caring
for Evan) and my husband Jeff who was impressively calm given
the drama and mayhem.
Claire is 7 weeks old now and we are settling
in to life with 2 children. Evan is getting used to being
a big brother (he has his moments as he just turned two).
We are getting a bit more sleep these days and are very happy
and blessed to have two healthy children.
Mommy Jenny
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