It's funny how closely my second pregnancy and labor/delivery was so similar to my first. Everyone said all pregnancies and deliveries are different, but mine were vastly similar. I gained to within one pound of my first delivery weight; my feet swelled, I got carpal-tunnel and acid reflux, and basically the same symptoms as the first time.
I also went past my due date, only this time we did plan an induction. We scheduled it for Saturday, November 8, 2008 (due date was November 4). About two weeks before this, we went to the hospital thinking (hoping) I was in labor, but they sent us home. I stayed at 3-4 cm for a few weeks prior to delivery.
We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am on November 8. My mother was at our house to stay with Logan while we were gone. We got to our labor and delivery room around 8:45 and I saw my doctor some time after 9:00. We agreed to try everything "natural" that we could before Pitocin, so she broke my water at 10:00. Things didn't progress very quickly, so at 1:25, they started the Pitocin drip. (This is the point where I stopped writing things down, so the rest of the timing is not exact.) I slowly progressed, but nothing dramatic and not enough to push yet. My doc came back and broke my water again; this time there were several huge gushes. She just didn't get it all the first time. After breaking my water, I progressed much more quickly and got to 8 or 9 cm. Luckily I also got an epidural soon after she broke my water again, because things got much more intense after that. Unfortunately, the resident was having problems with the epidural and the attending finally had to finish it for him. So it took more than half an hour which wasn't very pleasant. Around 6:00, a new nurse showed up -- the same nurse who had helped my during my labor with Logan! She quickly helped me get to 10 cm, so it was soon time to push. I think I pushed a few times while that nurse was there; then they told me to take a break for awhile. There was a shift change and I said so long to the nurse (Sandy) once again (her shift ended during my pushing with Logan, too). Around 8:30 I started pushing again; the nurse and my doc and even a scrub tech helped. She said my pushes were good and Justin could even see the top of his head. However, after more than four hours of pushing off and on, they became concerned that even if I was successful in getting the head out, that he could get stuck and we could be dealing with shoulder displacia (sp?) or more serious complications. Of course I didn't want to risk that, so we decided on a C-section again.
Kellan Xavier was delivered at 2:23 am on Sunday, November 9. Justin said my doctor pulled him out and said, "That's a big baby!" He said everyone's eyes in the room got huge; then they weighed him and he was 10 lbs. 4 oz., and 23 inches long! I knew he was big but I had no idea how big! I can't imagine how big he would have been if we had waited until he came on his own. I just wanted to hold him and be done with my part, but the anesthesia makes me shake tremendously and I guess they don't really let C-section moms hold the baby immediately at that hospital. And of course, they still had to sew me up. So it was another hour or two before I got to hold him.
So, I guess I didn't learn my lesson the first time. We don't plan to have more children, but if we do, it looks like we'll plan for a C-section next time. (I might not have a choice, anyway, since I've had two now.)
