Levi's birth story - part 1

All in all, I don't think I could have two more different birth experiences with the boys without having had a c-section. Especially such different experiences that were both very positive. I have no regrets about either.

With Charlie, I went into labor 5 days before my due date, and he was born 3 days early. I didn't necessarily expect Levi to be early, but I think I expected he would come sometime between 5 days early and my due date. So when the due date came and went...and went...and went, I have to admit that I was more than a little grumpy and uncomfortable. 

I had plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the pregnancy, and about a week before my due date had enough contractions consistently enough that I thought it might have been the start of something. This continued off and on for several days. Nothing to where I was convinced that it really was labor, but enough that I was on watch and spent too much time checking contractions against the clock. 

The wait

Ocho de mayo (May 8, my due date) came and went. I had an appointment in Friday, two days after my due date and hadn't progressed much since the previous week. We scheduled an appointment for the following Wednesday, 41 weeks, to "come up with a plan," if we needed to. At this point, part of me was hoping for a Mother's Day baby (that also meant he would have shared a birthday with Tiffany). 

Well, Mother's Day came and went also. Actually, we had a fantastic day. Charles spoiled me rotten, with flowers, a lovely card, and gift certificates for a massage, pedicure, coffee and pastries (yes, he knows me well!). He also cooked breakfast food all three meals of the day...my absolute favorite, and a labor of love for him.

When it became apparent there would be no Mother's Day baby, I mentally geared myself up for the 41-week appointment or longer. It felt a little like this baby was never going to arrive. I was also tired of paying close attention to the maybe-it-is-maybe-it-isn't contractions, so tried to quit paying as much attention to those until it was clearly the real deal.

One silver lining to the whole thing: it was absolutely gorgeous weather - unheard of for Oregon in May - and we were able to enjoy lots of extra family time as a family of three. The job site Charles could have been working on was in Newberg, and by this point I didn't feel comfortable with him that far away, so we got an extra few days of Daddy at home. What fun!

Meanwhile, the What to Expect app was mocking me daily..."you are past your due date," as if I didn't already know that.

May 15 - the AM

On Wednesday, May 15, we got up bright and early for my 8am doctor's appointment and ultrasound. Nana came over to watch Charlie. The ultrasound showed that Levi was happy, content and still had plenty of fluids. As the tech was checking to estimate his size, I made a joke about telling us "as long as it wasn't 10 lbs"...yeah, oops. The estimate was 10 lbs, 5 oz. My doctor had said all along that she didn't think he was very big, so based on her estimate by feel and the ultrasound, she made an ultimate guess at 9-9.5 lbs.

Since everything still looked good, there was no immediate need for an induction, but the practice likes folks to deliver no later than 10 days overdue. At this point, I wasn't going to argue for an extra few days, so we scheduled an induction for first thing Friday morning.

After the appointment, we did what any normal suburban middle-aged couple would do with their last few hours of freedom for awhile - we went to Starbucks and Costco. Yep, definitely realized we were getting old with that one. But the coffee was delicious and we picked up a great wheelbarrow and bucket toy set for "Levi" to give Charlie. Then we headed home to relieve Nana, and settle in for a low-key day.

Last preggo pic - 41 weeks

Around 4pm

Charlie was napping and Charles was at the gym. I was watching some Quickbooks training videos (just what anyone else would do at this point, right?), and realized that I was having contractions a little more noticeable than they had been and, after loosely watching the clock, realized they seemed to be coming a fairly steady10 minutes apart. Based on past experience, I figured I would try to take a nap to see if they would go away. I dozed a little, but did wake up for each contraction. After about an hour, I figured it was probably time to text Amy, my awesome doula, to give her a heads-up that something might be happening. But, before I could get to that....

....my water broke!

Stay tuned for part 2