My Second Birthing Experience

Aaaand baby is out!

As you may or may not know baby #2, aka baby ED, was born a couple weeks ago and it, or should I say, I feel great! Well, at least physically. If you need to catch up, check out My Second Pregnancy Experience Part 1 and Part 2 so you can see what I’m talking about!

Not only were my pregnancies different, but so were my birth experiences. Birthing baby ED was definitely different than My First Birthing Experience.

Hospital Tour & Hospital Bag

This time we did not do a hospital tour in person. This hospital compared to where baby CJ was born is tiny. However, we did do the virtual tour which is basically all we really needed to see how big the rooms are and what to expect. Once we were actually there, we couldn’t have been happier!

Unlike with baby CJ, we weren’t sure when baby ED would come. But, we also procrastinated for the longest time. We didn’t get our bag together until I was 37 weeks pregnant! I looked over what I had packed with Baby CJ in My First Birthing Experience and used it as guidance.

I combined everything into one bag (smaller than last time’s) and here’s what our hospital bag looked like:

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Epidural & Spinal Block

With baby CJ I thought I could wait for the epidural until I couldn’t bear the pain, but as I found out, that was sooner than later. I knew I wanted it this time because I had it with baby CJ and it that went very smooth.

While my labor pains intensified, the anesthesiologist worked on getting the epidural set up. That did not work. He explained, and I’m paraphrasing, that the epidural goes into the epidural space which is between the vertebrae wall and the membranes. This space is very small and while my muscles had been relaxed for some time (getting ready for labor), it was easily missed and punctured through which caused spinal fluid to leak. This leak causes severe headaches that can last a few days which is why they didn’t try to go for it again. Instead, I got what it’s called spinal block. A spinal block goes right into the spinal space, where the spinal fluid is. This method allows for the anaesthetic to be administered manually because it is more potent and fast acting. I did get a headache (which is indescribable) but it went away within a few hours.

Labor & Hospital Stay

Labor with baby ED was much shorter than with baby CJ. On the day baby ED was born, I had an appointment with my OB/GYN in the morning to see how I was progressing. We found out I was 4cm dilated, without contractions, and from there pretty much went straight to the hospital. From the time my water was broken to baby ED being out, about 4 hours went by.

When baby CJ entered the world and we moved to our post-delivery room, the only thing for husband to rest on, slash take a nap, was a recliner chair. In the post-delivery room with baby ED, there was a full-size couch that extended! I know it might not seem like much, but this was a very important thing that made all the difference.

We stayed one night and we checked out the following night. Everyone who was assigned to us was wonderful and we’re thankful for all their work!

Overall I’m so glad that baby ED is here and that all my pregnancy ailments are gone!