Reagan Isabelle's Birth Story

And here we are 2 months later and I've already fallen behind on my promise to myself to keep this blog updated with my second child's posts. So before time passes too much and I forget the big details of the day she was born, I wanted to document the day from start to finish. I'll be sure to post lots of Reagan pictures along the way!

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, April 20th, but before the induction started I had to go in the night before for cervical ripening. This was the same process they did when I was pregnant with Amelia, so it was comforting to know what to expect as far as the procedure goes. What we weren't sure about was what to expect at the hospital, given that we were in the middle of a global pandemic, so we were pretty anxious about that. We arrived at 6:00pm and there was barely a car in all of the parking lot. It was so weird and eerie! When we were buzzed in we had to put on a mask and have our temperatures taken and we put hand sanitizer on after every elevator button or door handle we touched. Once we were checked into the procedure room, we were told it was safe for us to take our masks off. I was so relieved I wouldn't be wearing a mask during labor! ha!

The nurses moved fairly quickly getting me all hooked up to the necessary contraptions - heart monitor for the baby, blood pressure cuff, and my IV. It took 3 nurses to get my IV in correctly! Waahhh! I had bruises all over my arms when I left the hospital - boo! Around 8:00pm it was time to insert the Cervadil which would work its ripening magic for the next 12 hours. Chris stayed and hung out with me until I was ready to try to get some sleep, and then he headed out to sleep at home. He definitely wouldn't have gotten any sleep in my room that night, I think I got maybe 2 hours so I spent most of the night watching episodes of The Golden Girls and Frasier on the Hallmark channel.

My 'day before instructions' indicated that I shouldn't eat anything after midnight the night before my procedure, so I didn't eat anything all day on Sunday. By the time we arrived at the hospital at 6:00pm on Sunday, I was starving. Around midnight Sunday when the nurse came in to do her hourly check on me (which is why I got no sleep) she asked me when was the last time I had anything to eat. I told her dinner on Saturday .... and her eyes about bugged out of her head! Apparently I was supposed to eat on Sunday and the instructions were referring to midnight Sunday night. Whoops! They really need to make those instructions more clear for dingalings like me. So my nurse quickly ran to the cafeteria before it closed and grabbed me a turkey sandwich and vanilla pudding. I had not eaten in 28 hours.....You have never seen a meal devoured so quickly by a pregnant woman! Ha!

Around 7:00am Monday morning, Chris arrived back to the hospital. They went ahead and removed the Cervadil soon after he arrived and then I was allowed to shower before they began induction. They started the Pitocin between 8:00 and 9:00 and checked to see if I had progressed any with the Cervadil...but I was still only around 1 cm dilated. The doctor arrived around 10 to check me and since I still hadn't dilated much, she went ahead and broke my water. Once that happened, it didn't take long AT ALL for the contractions to ramp up big time. Not to mention, every hour, the nurse was coming in to increase the Pitocin. By around noon, I was gripping the bedrails in pain every 2-3 minutes so I called the nurse and said EPIDURAL STAT! I was dreading the epidural process SO much because of the horrible experience I had last time. Even though it wasn't the most pleasant process in the world, I have to say this time around was much more bearable. And once that epidural started doing it's magic, I couldn't feel a thing. Thank goodness! I definitely had way more intense contractions this time around, holy cow!

I had a few hours of pain-free contractions where I just about dozed off a few times, and then around 3:00pm the nurse checked me and I was dilated 10 cm - it was go time! If you recall from my last post, Reagan was born at 3:27pm....so it really didn't take long AT ALL. Once the doctor got in the room, she reminded me of how and when to push, though to be honest, I was so numb I wasn't sure I was going to be able to push! But when it was go time, I pushed just 3 times and Reagan was out!

She had healthy lungs right off the bat - crying big time while they cleaned her up. After they weighed and measured her, they placed her on my chest so we could have kangaroo care which calmed her way down. Due to the coronavirus, Reagan never left our room. There was no nursery visits or waiting rooms. We got to witness her first bath, her hearing test, her shots, and everything else they usually do in the nursery. I've got to say - I loved being with her constantly, but I definitely missed not having visitors.

We've been home with her for 2 months now and she's only met Nana and Papaw. Stupid Coronavirus, go away! I'll post her 2 month update next week after her checkup. At her 1 month visit, she had bumped up from the 10th percentile to he 46th in weight (9 lbs 2 oz). She's not a tiny tot anymore!