Monday, November 30, 2015

Birth Story: Levi

Levi's due date was October 25th.  I didn't think I would go into labor early, because I had not in my previous two pregnancies, but I hoped.....however,the 25th came and went.  I had scheduled an OB appointment for the 26th with the intent to schedule an induction if my OB felt I was effaced and dilated enough.  There was very little change, but due to the size of my babies Dr. Wilkerson did not want me to go too far beyond my due date (which I completely agreed), so the induction was scheduled for Wednesday, October 28th.  I was beyond ready to no longer be pregnant :)

In some ways this pregnancy was easier than the previous two.  In other ways it was more difficult.  I was grateful to have only experienced a few migraines and no black outs or blurred vision during this pregnancy.  There were dozens of women praying for me, so it was wonderful to witness God answer those prayers.  I gained more weight this time and much faster, so that was more difficult.  I also had difficulty sleeping, which I had not experienced in the past.  There were a few other challenges that I will not mention here, but overall it was a smooth pregnancy.


We awoke bright and early Wednesday morning and were at the hospital by 5 a.m.  Sandy, my mother-in-law, spent the night at our house, so she could take care of the big kids.  I knew what to expect, because I was induced with Zoe.  Personal information checked, clothes changed, baby heart monitor placed, and IV started with fluids and Pitocin.  Dr. Wilkerson arrived around 7:30 a.m. eventually breaking my water, which was by far the most painful part of the whole process.  I labored for a few hours before getting the epidural.  This was the first time I did not have any difficulties with the epidural.  With Bennett, it only affected one side, so they had to redo it.  With Zoe, the original dose did not affect the pain, so they gave me an extra bolus of medication that left me numb for hours after delivery.  This time it worked perfectly.

It is a lot of waiting, particularly for Sam, but we continued to remind one another to appreciate the silence and lack of responsibility for a few hours.

As the hours ticked by my legs became more and more numb, so I asked them to lower the epidural medication.  The doctor checked me and I was 5 cm dilated.  The was a little discouraging, but he quickly said I'll check you again in 30 minutes and we'll probably start pushing :)  It was a little longer than 30 minutes, but a number of people began prepping the room for Levi's arrival and before I knew it Dr. Wilkerson had arrived and we were ready to go.  I pushed 4 or 5 times and at 2:24 p.m. baby Levi Blake had arrived weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 21 1/4 inches.  They laid him on my chest and Sam was a little freaked out about his purplish color, but once he began crying he knew everything was okay.


That's it.  There was nothing out of the ordinary.






My mother-in-law arrived with Bennett and Zoe around 4 p.m. and they were so very excited to meet their brother.  They held him, kissed him, sang to him, and loved him.  It was incredibly sweet and I was so grateful!









We were transferred to a patient room around 5 p.m. and requested to be released after 24 hours if at all possible.  Thankfully, they were able to complete the circumcision early Thursday morning and we were released to go home around 4 p.m.




When Bennett was born I wrote about how we chose his name.  At the bottom of the post, I wrote, "Who knows if we are blessed with another child and it's a boy maybe we'll use Levi."  Here we are 5 1/2 years later with our second son "Levi."  Levi is Sam's middle name, so it was an easy decision.  It took us a little longer to decide on a middle name, but in the final weeks we settled on Blake.    

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