Photo by: Elaine Farris Photography
First of all, I have been telling Alex he isn’t allowed to have any more birthdays, but he won’t listen to me. Instead I will think about his birth story and how he once was smaller than me.
14 years ago (how did I get so old?!) I was induced. There was a lot happening in life and I was induced at 38 weeks 5 days. To avoid the dad missing the birth because of work trips, Alex was measuring big and of course, tax breaks my doctor and I agreed that inducing was a good idea. Also, I have really fast labors. In case you haven’t read about the other 3 I will link them here (Courtney, Claire, Oliver).
If you get queasy at words like cervix, you might want to stop here.
I had my membranes stripped a few days prior to Alex being born, I had the normal bloody show, mild contractions and that was it. I didn’t go in to labor. I was so disappointed. The morning I went in to deliver Alex, I don’t remember much besides taking Courtney to my dearest friends home to be watched. I am fuzzy on times with Alex. That isn’t like me. I am super good with details like that.
I remember getting to the hospital and getting checked in. It seemed to take forever. I think I was anxious.
Want to know why I was anxious? When I was like 30 weeks I was measuring way ahead and the nurse practitioner I was seeing sent me for an ultrasound. At that ultrasound baby looked amazing, and then I heard the worst words someone can say to a pregnant woman. “His head is ginormous. That is going to hurt.” And his head was huge, still is, always has been.
My doctor was an amazing woman. She actually happened to be pregnant herself, so I know she felt my pain. When she checked me I was at 5cm! We decided to break my water and see what happened.
If you have given birth you know what happens when your water breaks. The amount of pressure is intense. This time was no different. I was planning on getting the epidural. However, that wasn’t in the cards for me. 45 minutes after my water was broken I begged to push. My doctor couldn’t believe how fast I had progressed. She had me doing baby pushes as the room was readied for Alex to arrive. Those are the worst. They don’t really do what you want them to do, relieve the pressure.
When everyone was ready, it was go time. I pushed and felt the ring of fire so intense with that big noggin. The second push his head came out and the rest was easy. Alex was my biggest baby at 7 pounds 11 ounces. He had red hair, and the deepest widows peek I have ever seen. That giant head was perfectly round and I loved him so much.
My doctor with Alex didn’t do episiotomies, so I tore naturally which was actually for the best. She was able to repair some damage from when I gave birth to Courtney that hadn’t been put back together well.
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Courtney came to visit and meet her new brother that afternoon. She was instantly in love, and she really liked to hold him. Then I realized, I have two kids! It was such a trip to see happen.
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