Kyle was due on November 10th but decided to surprise us with an early arrival on the morning of November 5th at 6:58am.
I had my weekly OB appointment on the 4th (39w1d) and he performed a stretch and sweep. He said the membranes were bulging and indicated he was “pretty confident this would do it” and that I wouldn’t be needing a 40 week appointment. I took that with a grain of salt as he had said the same thing at the 38w4d, 39w4d and 40w4d appointments with Luke (having performed a stretch and sweep at all three) and he was not born until after the final one.
So, home I went and waited to see if anything would transpire. When I had the last s&s with Luke I began cramping right away then contractions began around 3pm, was at the hospital by 7:30pm and he was born at 7:31am the next morning.
Afternoon came and went…nothing. Evening came and went and finally as I was putting Luke to bed around 8:30pm I had my first real contraction. They started coming about 10 minutes apart but again, I was still not counting on anything happening as I had had three hours of pretty intense contractions two nights before that completely fizzled out.
The contractions stayed at about the same intensity (4/10) from 8:30pm until 4:30am. I tried to sleep but I’d just doze and one would hit again. At 4:30am I rolled over onto my back (I had been sleeping on my sides) and all of a sudden the intensity went to about a 6/10 and coming much much closer together. Needless to say I took notice. I had to go to the bathroom and realized as I was walking downstairs that my water broke as I had a gush of fluid and it wasn’t pee! (With Luke they broke my water at the hospital). Rolling over in bed must have done it.
I had my iPhone with me in the bathroom (geek!) and started using my contraction timer app again and by this time it was about 5:00am. I was shocked to see they were coming less than 2 minutes apart now. I was pretty confident this was it considering my water had broken and they were so close together. I messaged our friend Chelle and then phoned her to ask her to come stay with Luke so we could head to the hospital.
After Chelle arrived we got in the car…the contractions still close together and now about a 7/10 and becoming increasingly difficult to breathe through. It was shortly before 6:00am and we made the usual 30 minute trip in about 20 minutes or so. Thankfully we had not yet hit rush hour traffic. I had to push my feet and hands down into the car to deal with the pain of each contraction and I kept my eyes closed almost the entire way just trying to focus and manage the pain.
By the time we got to the hospital I was stopping dead in my tracks with each contraction. I had to wait in the car for one to be over, stop inside the hospital doors, stop in the elevator, etc. I felt at the same pain level I did when I was admitted to have Luke. Luke was born 12 hours later and when they checked me upon admitting I was a mere 2cms but the pain was so intense I had an epidural at 2cms and was screaming my head off.
So, when the nurse checked me this time and I was having the same level of pain and on the verge of screaming, I was stunned when she said I was a good 6-7cms dilated. I promptly said “I’d like to put my order in for an epidural ASAP then!” to which she replied “I don’t think your baby is going to let you…”. WRONG ANSWER. My whole world shattered right then and there. While being in such an amount of pain and hearing “you’re only 2cms” last time, this ranked right up there…I thought for sure I would ultimately die if I did not have pain medication.
They decided to admit me, got me in a johnny shirt and sat me in the wheel chair and it was like out of a movie where I’m being pushed down the labour and delivery corridor like a bat out of hell in a wheel chair…practically squealing around the corners and Adam running behind the nurses trying to keep up as the nurses look at each other and urgently say “get a DOCTOR…NOW!”.
I got in the delivery room, up on the bed and the contractions were intensifying with each one…I was up to about a 9/10 pain level now and could not breathe, was screaming like a banshee and they were trying to get an IV in me to start antibiotics as I was Group B Strep positive. They offered me gas but I could not breathe it in as I was so focused on the pain and trying to deal with it. I’d take some breaths but all I wanted to do was scream.
Before I knew it I was wanting to push…the doctor told me to stop as I was at about 9.5cms and just a lip of the cervix left and I said I couldn’t stop, I had to push NOW! and I did! Three pushes and he was out!!! I remember screaming “Help…Help…Help…Help…Help” as his head was crowning. Boy, do I have a vivid recollection of that – ouch! I kept my eyes closed during nearly the entire delivery. I can honestly say the difference between an epidural delivery (slow…calm…serene) and a natural delivery (fast…chaotic…stressful) was as different as you can get. I’d much prefer the first 
He was born at 6:58am…a mere 30 minutes or so after entering the hospital doors and only about 20 minutes from the time I landed on the labour and delivery floor…about 10 minutes maximum in the delivery room before I was holding him.
Needless to say, I had NO IDEA that when I got to the hospital that I’d be delivering so quickly. Like I said, last time the pain level was that high and I was only 2cms…I had no reason to believe I was going to deliver so quick but am glad I phoned Chelle when I did or I could have been having a baby somewhere between Eastern Passage and Halifax. Yikes.
He scored 9 and 10 on his Apgar tests and was given right to me before weighing or measuring. He weighed in at 7lbs 8oz (Luke was 7lbs 5oz) and he is 20 1/4 inches long. Head was 14 inches around. I only had a first degree tear this time (had a third degree tear with Luke) and just like last time felt like a million bucks immediately following the delivery.
He has dark hair which everyone is surprised about since Luke is a redhead but all along I just knew he’d come out with dark hair. (Adam has dark hair). He also has a dark complexion which is different as Luke is so fair.
He’s a total dream baby – just like Luke was – he only cries when he is hungry. He’s totally content all the time and doesn’t need to be held. He’s quite happy hanging out in the bouncy chair or in the play yard and sleeps most of the day. Even during the night he only wakes long enough to feed then goes right back to sleep. He’s been bunking in with us in our bed as we have a king size bed and he’s so quiet that I’ve been getting a nearly normal night of sleep each night. I’m only awake maybe 45mins to an hour all night as he feeds for 15 minutes or so and goes right back to sleep and only wakes 3 or so times.
Unfortunately breast feeding has been a challenge again as my supply is low again. I had hoped with a good start this time it would be fine but apparently my body does not want to produce the adequate amount of milk. Very disappointing but I’m doing what I can do give him as much breast milk as possible and have to supplement with formula for the most part. The main thing is he is getting fed. Due to the first few days of trying to exclusively breastfeed and having low milk supply his jaundice got worse. I took him for blood work to check his bilirubin levels and also to check for possible infection due to not having a full hour of antibiotics during delivery for GBS. His levels for both came back fine. While his bilirubin was higher than when we left the hospital he will be fine once he has more liquid to help flush out the excess bilirubin.
Adam had the day he was born and following two days off and then he was back to work and that first day alone I cleaned the kitchen, living room, swept, did the dishes, did a few loads of laundry, made supper, baked a cheesecake, showered and edited photos. I’m feeling super domesticated lately and need to have all the laundry caught up, kitchen tidy, toys picked up, etc. I just feel like if all that is done and not piling up I can relax and feel great. Not sure how long that will last but I am trying to make more of an effort to take control of things instead of letting them overwhelm me. I’ve been out of the house more in this last week than I was in the first couple of months with Luke!
Luke has been a little cranky and has a nose like a faucet but he’s mostly over it now. 
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