He is absolutely beautiful and has been another wonderful godsend and addition to our family.
As you hear everyone say, no two pregnancies are the same, the same will go for labor and delivery. :) I got to feel "real" contractions this time - not fun.
I actually went in to the hospital the night before. I had felt a little off that day and by that Saturday night, I called my doctor's office and they advised me to come in and get checked out...just in case. We dropped C.J. off with his Tío Pete and Tía Holly at around 10pm and headed over. I was there for only a couple of hours and was told that everything was okay and I should just head home.
Sunday morning, Erick went off to work as usual and I took advantage of sleeping in a little since C.J. was off with his cousins. I awoke around 9AM and thought to myself about what I wanted to get done that day - shower, go pick up C.J., run a couple errands. When I roll over and hear a "pop." (The only way I can describe it is, it sounds like when you pop a leg or arm joint.) I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom - my water had broken! Considering that I did not experience it like this the first time, it was a bit of a surprise. And everyone says it doesn't happen like the movies, well it felt that way to me. There was a gush of water all over my clean bathroom floor!
I called E and told him what happened and that he needed to come home. I got in the shower and finished getting my hospital bag ready and was packing the SUV just as E was pulling up into the driveway.
I was prepped and in my private room by 11AM. My nurses were all really helpful. I felt confident and safe in their care. The only time I was a little anxious was soon after I was admitted. My nurse, Sarah, asked if I was going to get an epidural which I replied yes to. But then she told me just to let her know when I wanted it so they could call the anesthesiologist because it would take about half an hour for him to get to me. This made me nervous because when I went through labor with C.J., they called the doc for me and got everything going, it wasn't a "you let us know when" situation. I knew I didn't want it too soon because I didn't want it to wear off but I didn't want to wait too long either and then not be able to get it at all. It was about 30 minutes later when I could no longer take the contractions and I had them call the doc. The anesthesiologist arrived around noon and my contractions were already pretty intense and less than every 7 minutes. He introduced himself as Dr. Manning and I made a face because that was my obstetrician's name. He smiled when he saw this and said, "My wife must be your doctor." :) Super sweet guy and he talked me through everything he was doing. Within 15 minutes he had given me my dose. He headed out while I waited for the meds to kick in....they never did.
I called Sarah back again after about 30 minutes and told her that I was still feeling my contractions and they were getting worse. She called Dr. Manning back and he showed up around 1PM and administered more medications into my morphine drip. And we waited, again. Sarah called him back at 1:30PM. For some reason, my body just didn't take the first epidural.
Dr. Manning was confused because he said he had pumped me with enough drugs that I should have been out, but I could still feel every single pain and only had my right foot numb. By this point, my contractions had become completely unbearable. I could not speak through a single one and was really using my breathing techniques. He then began to give me my options: he could either redo the epidural, wait it out, or begin process for a C-Section. This all just made me extremely uneasy and scared but I decided on redoing the epidural. So he prepped me again and inserted the needle a second time. This time I felt a strong vibration shoot all the way down my left leg unlike the first time where it shot down my right but only up to my knee. With Dr. Manning and my nurses waiting, I finally began to feel the numbing. It started in my feet and quickly worked its way up. After a few minutes passed, my nurse commented, "I think it's finally working because you didn't feel that one, did you?"
The epidural had finally taken affect! Dr. Manning was delighted as well. :) He wished me luck and headed off.
Everyone advised me to get some rest which of course did not happen. I was told to turn on my right side because they were monitoring the baby and I think I may have drifted off for an hour, when I felt an immense pressure on my back. I called my nurse back and after she checked me, she said we were ready to begin pushing. This time it worked a lot differently too.
I did most of my pushing with my labor nurse. They called the doctor on call, Dr. Chancellor, and he did not arrive until about 10 minutes before the baby was actually born.I began pushing around 3:30PM and at exactly 4, Matías was out. :) I actually didn't know, I was concentrated so much on pushing I had my eyes closed shut until Dr. Chancellor said, "Hi Mommy." I opened them to see him holding Matías and waving his tiny arm. <3
After a few hours we were moved to recovery. He was able to stay with me the entire time. They have a nursery but they recommend the baby staying with the parents which was more than fine with me.With so many drugs pumped into me, it took a while to finally start getting the feeling back in my legs. By that evening I could finally move. That is until my nurse tried to pick me up and walk me to the bathroom - my left leg just wasn't ready to be stable. I basically collapsed all the way down, luckily she caught me! Just needed a few more hours to get its' strength back. That night the hospital did something really sweet for us. They let us choose from a special menu and they made us a special dinner where they set up a nice table for Erick and myself. My nurse explained it as they like to think the birth of a baby is a celebration so they like to do something for the parents to congratulate them on their joy. It was very nice.
The on-call Pediatrician came in to check on Matías that night and gave us an all clear. I was checked as well and we were both doing wonderfully that they told us we could head home the following day.
It was surprising how quickly I bounced back from the delivery compared to the first time.
On Monday afternoon, Erick went to pick up C.J. from school and to bring him back to finally meet his baby brother. He was so sweet and seemed a little nervous as well. But he was all smiles! He has been amazing with his little brother! There's been no jealousy or animosity and C.J. is always so helpful. He talks to Matías all the time and even loves to sing to the baby.
They are both such a blessing.
It is now 10 Weeks later and life could not be better. We are all still adjusting to having a little one in the house but are enjoying every second. Matías is cooing and babbling, rolling over, and still eating every two hours! We are practicing more tummy time and sitting in our Bumbo seat. We can be a little grumpy at times but quickly adjust. :)We love our boys and cannot get enough of them.
