10:40am Tuesday December 5th- Nate and I headed to our final doctor’s appointment to have one last look at Knox on the inside plus go over our birth plan with our amazing midwife. My parents arrived in town the night before to take care of Jude while we were busy getting ready to welcome our second son into the world. When we arrived at the appointment I was super nervous. With Jude there was the fear of the unknown- I had NO idea what to expect, what labor would feel like, and how my body would react. Plus, having a higher risk pregnancy made things very scary (especially coming off of three miscarriages). With this pregnancy there was the fear of the known. I KNEW what labor felt like, how my body would react, and what could happen. My labor and delivery with Jude was very long and tiring and recovery was very rough, so I was a little fearful of what to expect with Knox since he was measuring two pounds larger!
Our midwife gave us the option for a C-section.. which sounded really tempting. BUT after a lot of thought and prayer I decided that I may have a rough recovery considering what it would mean for Jude. So, we decided to give natural a go, and discussed that if at any point it wasn’t working that we would go forward with the C-section.
8:30pm Tuesday December 5th- We tucked Jude into bed one last time while he was our only child. It was definitely an emotional event for me. This little guy and I had been a team for the past two years and I felt guilty knowing that I would be bringing an “intruder” home.
10:00pm Tuesday December 5th- We packed the car and headed to the hospital, checked in and got hooked up to the monitors. It seemed so surreal and like deja vu (we were put in the same room that Jude was born in).
12:00am Wednesday December 6th- They started me on Cydatec to get the labor started and I immediately began to feel the contractions. At this point I was dialated at a 2. Knox’s heart rate was dropping below normal and the monitor was alarming every few minutes to let us know. The nurse came in and adjusted the monitors and started an IV drip to try to get his heart rate up. After about an hour of continued low heart rate, she came back to put me on some oxygen. At this point between nerves and contractions (and the very obnoxious monitor alarm) it was impossible to sleep. I was beyond exhausted considering I hardly slept the night before with excitement and nerves. I sat up, drank some ice water and we were able to get his heart rate at the right level.
3:00am- Still not progressing -stuck at 2cm
5:00am- Still not progressing -stuck at 2am- another round of Cydatec for me. Contractions every 5 minutes at this point and they are becoming more intense. Since I wasn’t progressing I wasn’t able to get an epidural, so I opted for some IV pain meds and I was immediately transported into lala land!
6:00am- Contractions every 3 minutes, Cydatec has definitely hit! Another round of IV pain meds for me and back to lala land I went.
9:00am (ish)- I’m at a 6!!!! Now is time for the epidural. I remember the anesthesiologist coming in and declaring that he was my new best friend. As he was prepping me the contractions were SO intense. Nate was a champ and such a good coach through the entire process. He stood in front of me holding my hands as the epidural went in. The anesthesiologist asked how I was doing, which I asked him right back how HE was doing.
9:30am(ish)- My water finally breaks and the nurse came to check me- 8cm!
10:00am (ish)- epidural is starting to kick in! I was at a 9 and starting to feel the pressure.
10:30am(ish)- Really feeling the pressure- I’m finally at a 10! (From this point forward everything is a little bit of a blur)
10:40am(ish)- The nurse rolls me on my side to relieve some pressure while they call the midwife to head over to the hospital… which worked for about 2 minutes. I looked at her and said, um, I think I’m having him.. she looks and says “roll on your back right now and hold on!” At this point I knew my body was having a baby, there was no dancing around that! A few more nurses come in the room and they let me know that the midwife is on her way, just to hold back for another minute!
10:48am- Knox Wayne Weisser makes his grand entrance as our amazing midwife is walking into the room. I looked up, started crying and laughing and told her “I’m so happy you could join us”.