Giving birth for the second time was a completely different experience. I got up in the morning knowing that I'd be induced and be giving birth later. I showered, kissed our sleeping Eliot good-bye, and off we went to the hospital.
They broke my water around 8:00 am and I was at three centimeters. After some blood work, they began my pitocin at 8:45 am, but I was already having contractions about three minutes apart and moderately intense. I told the nurse and my doctor that I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural whenever I could because last time I went an extra four hours without it--and it was not fun at all.
About 10:00 am, the doctor came to administer the epidural. As I lay there limp over a table trying my hardest not to move (with the knowledge that a very large needle would be going into my back), we talked about Jack Kerouac and Existentialism. The epidural came at a good time because the contractions never reached that absolutely horrible place like they did with Eliot. They hurt, but I could still keep my eyes open at least.
It wasn't too long after that when I started grumbling about other pains. I couldn't feel my contractions, but I was feeling weird pressures. But that couldn't be Jack already, right? I mean, no way. I wasn't expecting to have him until 4:00 pm optimistically, but more realistically around 7:00 pm. Somewhere around 11:00 am, I couldn't take it anymore and asked the nurse if maybe something was going on. Sure enough, I was at six and the pressure I was feeling was Jack making his way down. That was fast.
Over the next hour, they had me change positions a few times because Jack's heart rate would go down and then come back up. It wasn't a major cause for concern, but we hoped to level it out. The pressure kept growing stronger and would intensify with contractions and then back off. Around noon or 12:30 pm, I called the nurse again and said I felt so silly, but it was hurting a lot and didn't seem like nothing. ...And I was at nine. Whaaat? She called the doctor to come immediately. Chris frantically called his parents to tell them to come and bring Eliot right away. My parents were there already, but his family had been watching Eliot at our house with plans to come later. Fortunately, his mom and sister were already on the way, so Elizabeth came in quickly to take photos while I was breathing the best I could with tons of pressure and trying so hard not to push until the doctor came. With Eliot, I suppose my epidural was turned up more, so I hadn't felt pressure like this before.
I don't know what time the doctor came, but they were set up and ready to go quickly. As I pushed, the doctor said his heart rate was dropping again, so we needed to get him OUT. After two or three rounds of pushes, Jack was born. The doctor told me to reach down and grab him. I did. She said, "Well, pull him out." He was slippery--I thought I needed help and was kind of out of it anyway. I pulled him up and placed him on my chest. He is safe. Finally, he is safe, I thought. He has hair. He looks like Eliot, but he looks different. As it turned out, the cord was around Jack's neck, which had caused his heart rate to go down. I heard Chris choke back tears of joy, just like when Eliot was born, and the nurse asked if he was OK. There our Jack was. Born at 12:55 pm. Just shy of five hours of labor.
Chris kept Jack company while they cleaned him up and I tried to nurse before bringing in the family.
The first person to walk through the door to meet Jack was Eliot carried in by Christopher. I was so happy to see him in this collision of worlds. I had been missing, thinking, and worrying about Eliot all day while laboring and worrying about this new son at the same time. I had just met our Jack, but I loved him dearly and wanted us all to be together and bond as a family. I missed home and I yearned to build our new home with my husband and our sons, which I couldn't do instantly in our hospital room--I wasn't even cleaned up all the way yet. Eliot was cautious at first and a little confused. Interested in Jack, but confused as to why I was laying in a bed and what all these machines were. A little later, though, Chris's parents brought him back again when we were settled into our room and Eliot was all over Jack. He wanted to find his feet, touch his arm, point to him, say his name over and over. He loved him and asked to hold him. Eliot did not show a hint of jealousy at this point, but I know I'll need to give Eliot his special, individual attention and affirmation while we all adjust.
Overall, things went smooth with Jack in the hospital. He did a great job nursing. Unlike Eliot, he slept in the bassinet (Eliot would only sleep while being held) fine and gave us about two and a half hours straight of sleep each night.
As for appearance, he has this amazing head full of dark brown hair. I kept saying that maybe my heartburn was for something, but I didn't really believe it all the way since almost everyone in our family (with a few exceptions here and there) is born bald and then has blond hair as a child. Poor Eliot didn't have any hair to speak of until he was a year and a half. Chris's dad has mentioned that Chris's uncle and also his great uncle (who happened to be named Jack too!) were both born with lots of dark hair, so perhaps he gets it from that side. I am hoping that Jack's hair stays. He looks similar to Eliot as a newborn, but his nose is slightly more broad. His cheeks are also a little different. Jack has dark blue eyes, which I suspect will either change to brown or hazel. I know he'll keep changing from day to day, looking more like one of us and then the other, but I do know that he is pretty darn cute.
And the hospital photo:
We were eager to get out of the hospital and go home perhaps moreso this time than with Eliot because we knew our little boy was waiting for us. However, Eliot had so much fun with his grandparents and Aunt Elizabeth. They even took him to Busch Gardens. We thought we were never getting out of there because they hadn't done any of Jack's tests or pictures on Thursday. How could they fit it all in (and also discharge me) on Friday morning? Somehow, it worked out, Jack received all good reports, and we were home by noon.
Up next: life with two. Spoiler alert: it's going great!
He looks so much like Eliot in that hospital picture.
Up next: life with two. Spoiler alert: it's going great!
Congrats! You have such beautiful boys. :) You L&D with Jack sounds exactly like mine with Landon. A fast and easy induction! Man, you're making me want another baby!
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