Welcome to the world, Joshua!

Where do I begin? My first was born at 35 weeks so naturally I figured I should have my bags packed rather early this time. Well, my son had other plans. My April 20^th due date came and went without as much as a pain in my side. I had my 40 week appointment that day. My doctor scheduled me for induction the following Thursday.

Fast forward to Wednesday, April 25^th. I woke up that morning feeling like it was the day. Unfortunately, it wasn?t. I had bloody show and low back pain all day while visiting my mom. Joshua just wasn?t ready to join the world yet. With my induction being early the next morning, my husband and I decided to spend the night at my parents? apartment because it was right down the street from the hospital. It?s a good thing we did.

That night, I was barely able to sleep. I was nearly 41 weeks pregnant and very large. I only slept for maybe an hour or two on the couch before I woke up with contractions. They started around 3:45 AM and grew stronger by the minute. Everyone else was sleeping. I woke up my husband around 5 and told him I was officially in labor. I decided to take a hot bath to ease my back pain. He said he was going to lie back down but told me to yell if I needed anything. The contractions were intensifying so I took a shower knowing I would be headed to the hospital shortly. I felt a pop in the shower and knew I needed to hurry up and get dressed. I got out of the shower and my water went gushing everywhere as I was drying off. It turns out that the pop was it breaking in the shower. I rushed to get dressed and pack the bags for the drive to the hospital. We left around 5:30 I would say.

I arrived at the hospital and got checked in shortly before 6. I couldn?t help but laugh through the pain. I was supposed to arrive at 6 AM to get set up for my 8 AM induction. Joshua has impeccable timing. I was triaged and lay there for quite some time. The pain was too much to handle and I asked for something, anything to take the edge off. Unfortunately, my only option was an epidural.

I was finally moved into a labor room sometime after 8. By the time I was settled and given the epidural it had to be close to 9. I was 4cm when I was triaged and was started on a small dose of pitocin to speed things up. I continued progressing gradually over the next few hours.

At one time, I had a contraction lasting a solid two minutes. Joshua?s heart rate dropped into the 60s alarming the doctors. They had to roll me onto my left side and manually manipulate my uterus from the outside to get it to end. I was given a shot to temporarily stop my labor and allow baby to recover. They also stopped the pitocin. I was told to stay on my left side for awhile. The nurse also told me that if baby?s heart rate continued to dip I would need an emergency C-section.  I was extremely nervous during this time and very thankful I had the epidural. I had to be given oxygen and probably would have passed out from the pain of that catatonic contraction. (I think that?s what they called it.)

After that, baby seemed to tolerate labor fairly well. Sometime after noon, I was checked a final time. I was fully dilated and ready to push. Pushing was taking awhile because I was still numb from the epidural. It was shut off but my left side was still very numb and heavy from laying on it. I hate to say I pooped but I did. It was disgusting and I felt every second of it. L Pushing took over an hour. I was again threatened with an emergency C-section. Finally, at 1:25 PM, Joshua David O?Malley was born via use of forceps. My poor baby was yanked out, by his head, with a giant pair of metal salad tongs. He was 8 lbs, 0.4 oz and 21.25 inches long. He had a full head of dark hair and the cord wrapped around his shoulders. The cord was cut and he was suctioned extensively, as he swallowed a large amount of blood during birth. They cleaned him off and got his vitals before placing him on my chest. He ate and snuggled for a few hours before being taken to the nursery for more tests.

While he was gone, I went to use the restroom for the first time following birth and having a catheter. It would be just my luck that the toilet was broken. I waited for probably a half hour before my postpartum room was ready. Don?t they know not to make a woman who just gave birth wait to pee? Overall, his birth definitely did not go according to planned. I had wanted to go naturally like I did with my daughter but things just didn?t work out that way. I was thankful to finally have a healthy child I could take home with me. In the end, that?s all that really mattered. Joshua is currently growing like a weed. His daddy and I only love him more and more every day.