Going into my second pregnancy I knew a little bit of what to expect and one of those things was a weekly shot starting around 20 weeks. Since Teddy had been so early, and I didn't have any preexisting conditions, they were going to give me the shots to help prolong the pregnancy. The goal was to get my 37 weeks. However just like with Teddy I found myself in labor and delivery at 32 weeks and testing positive for Fetal Fibronectin; a protein that is released in the uterus that indicates a 50/50 chance of going into labor early. But unlike with Teddy I was not already in labor, so I got my two steroid shots and was sent home; the shots where clearly working! From that point on everyone was saying once my shots were done, this baby was coming.
At 36 weeks I got my last shot and was prepared to head to the hospital at any time. Well 37 weeks came and went, then 38 weeks came and went and to everyone's surprise baby was still safe inside. At my 39 week appointment, I was scheduled for an induction in just a few days. Jon and I were shocked; not only did we think we would have this baby early, we were convinced it she would come on her own once the medication from the shots was out of my system. But alas we learned early on our sweet Maggie was going to be a stubborn one.
On September 12th, we went into the hospital for a 3am induction. After paperwork and the also challenging IV sticks ( I am a super heard stick, it almost always takes 3 tried which is super frustrating) I started on the Pitocin around 4am. Since they start low and slow with the medication we were able to get a little sleep before my OB came in at 7am to break my water. Once my water “broke” I moved to sitting on a medicine ball, this was the position I was in while laboring with Teddy and it worked well for me so I figured why mess with something that works. However once I moved to the ball I realized my water had not actually broken because after being on the ball just 30 minutes or so I felt the gush and it would not stop. I was laughing so hard and basically flooded the floor around me. I remember telling Jon to do something so he went to get the nurse and said “umm we made a mess”. We laughed so hard as the nurse helped us clean up our mess.
Over the next 2 hours or so not much happened, Jon and I chatted and watched a show. Contractions where frequent but not too intense yet. Around 10am intensity started to pick up; I turned on some music and started to focus. I stayed on the medicine ball hunched over the bed for about an hour before my hips started hurting too bad. Around 11, I told Jon I needed to move positions and he got the nurse to help us. As I was moving, she checked me and I was about 6cm dilated. I then moved so my chest was along the back of the bed and I was resting on my knees. Once I got into this position I knew I had made a mistake (haha), it was far less comfortable and with contractions so close and intense at this time I instantly wanted to move again. However, the nurse encouraged me to stay there if I could because it was probably opening my pelvis. So I managed to stay for a few contractions before having to slide down the bed onto my side. The nurse checked me again and I was at an 8, which for those of you who don’t know I started pushing at 8 with Teddy. So I informed the nurse and she let me know she would ready the room just in case but we probably still had a little while. In the meantime the nurse asked if I wanted to put the peanut ball in between my legs to see if that was comfortable. We put the peanut ball in and no joke, 2 contractions later I told the nurse I was pushing. She informed me that I was not and that I was only at an 8 and again I told her I was in fact pushing. She moved the medicine ball to check, she lowered my leg and calmly told me to do what I needed to do, that my body was doing exactly what it should and to follow its lead. The nurse them called for my OB and the house doctor just in case. (which also happened with Teddy).
For the next few minutes, with each contraction my body was definitely pushing but I was not actively pushing. After a few minutes I heard another voice enter the room and I asked Jon who it was; it was another OB in my OB’s practice and she just so happened to be the doctor that delivered Teddy. She had been in on a c-section and heard I was there and decided to stop in. She came over and lifted my leg to check me and said, “Oh she is right there, push”. So I pushed and after that one push I heard my OB enter the room. She helped flip me over to my back, she said push and with that push Magnolia Rian joined us earthside at 12:05pm. I later found out my OB was running down the hallway to get to the room and basically pushed the other doctor out of the way once she got in the room.
Maggie was 7 pounds 11 ounces at birth and 20 inches long, born at 39 weeks 3 days. She is the perfect addition to our family, she is already sassy and has no problem making her presence known. Teddy just loves her, wanting to hold her and kiss her all the time. We could not have asked for a more beautiful addition to #thejekelilife.
Name Tag from @firsthello
Paci and Clips from @ryanandrose