Birth story: take two

 I love sharing my birthing stories and hearing other stories from women because everyone's is different and unique.

The birth of our second child was the total opposite of the first, and I am still amazed at the difference. Let's start at April 4, a day after my due date, I had a doctor's appointment and everything still looked healthy so we decided to wait it out and not schedule an induction. I was dilated to 3 at that point, which my doctor was optimistic about, saying that my body was already starting the process. Now, in my head I wasn't as optimistic because with Elizabeth I was dilated to a 3 also at my 40 week appointment and still had to be induced a week later (still about a 3 when I went in for induction).

Fast forward to the middle of the night, I woke up around 3:30 am the next day with contractions about 10 minutes apart. By the time Ben woke up for work at 6:00 am, the contractions were not any stronger or closer together so he went to work for the day, with the phone nearby waiting for my call. Well, we went through all day without my contractions getting any closer so I decided to continue to labor at home. This was very different to me since with Elizabeth I was induced, I labored the whole time in the hospital, being at home was more bearable and I could move around (which caused more contractions) and not be tied to an IV or monitors.

My sister was at my house the whole day, which was nice to have her take care of Elizabeth while I was contracting. There was a storm coming so my mom decided to come before the weather turned bad, and when Ben got home around 7:00 pm there still was not any progress (in my mind at least). I eventually called the doctor and they told me to head to the hospital because it did sound like I was in labor. At this point my contractions did get a little stronger but still were only 10 minutes apart and had been all day. We went to the hospital and found I was dilated to 7! That was surprising to me, with Elizabeth I was in so much pain and only at a 5 before I finally decided on an epidural.

Once we were all checked in at the hospital, I did decide to get an epidural again and then we waited some more for this boy to be ready. Around 12:00 am they broke my water and I began to push around 2:45 am and at 3:04 am on April 6, Christopher James Beck arrived! He was 9 lbs 3 oz and 22 inches long.

I cannot forget the most memorable part, after Christopher was here they placed him on my stomach for skin to skin while the doctor and nurses finished everything. While he was on me he pooped all down my stomach and all over himself. The nurses said it was the most they have seen and just had to wait for the doctor to be done before cleaning it all up.

It still amazes me how less painful this birth was to my first one, I still had all back labor but it was definitely more bearable this time than before. I am always amazed at how our bodies are designed to grow a baby and then the whole process of birth. We are so blessed to have a healthy birth and healthy baby!