Birth Story, Baby is a…
The last few weeks of my third pregnancy definitely didn't go as planned. If you haven't already read my life update, definitely check that out so you can read more about my experience. In today's post, I am going to share the birth story of our third baby as well as a gender reveal with LOTS of photos! We didn't find out the gender of baby number 3 so we were dying to find out.
Early Induction Date
My third trimester was honestly a dumpster fire of problems. I'm pretty sure I jinxed myself because I previously joked about how easy my third pregnancy was going. With my first two, I was sick pretty much the entire pregnancy. With number two, I developed a plethora of food intolerances, joint issues, and an autoimmune disease called Raynaud's. So when I didn't have any morning sickness or issues in the first two trimesters of this pregnancy I thought I was in the clear (read more about that here).
Nope. Complications led me to be induced early at 37 weeks with less than a week's notice.
The Big Day
Whenever something exciting is going to happen I find it impossible to sleep the night before. Holidays, vacations, and induction days!
I was up around 5 am. I showered, braided my hair, and put on some light makeup. It was a strange feeling. With Sofia and Bubs, my water broke at home in the middle of the night. So the fact that I was totally fine and getting ready to walk into the hospital and walk out with a baby was just wild.
Our hospital is only 5 minutes away so a little before 8 we left the house. We dropped the kids off with a friend because it was a no-school day. Then we left to get checked into L&D.
We started Pitocin at 9 am and spent the day waiting. I progressed very slowly. Seemingly stuck at 3 centimeters for the entire day. I held off on medication for as long as I could but opted for an epidural around 3 or 4 pm.
Finally, around 9 pm things started to really get moving. I was checked and made it to 5 cm but contractions and pressure started to get REALLY bad as the minutes passed.
Time to Push
The nurse came into my room around 10:30 to check on me. I was in a lot of pain at this point. I honestly can't imagine how much pain I would have been in if I didn't get the epidural because it was intense with it. The nurse decided to check to see if I had progressed and sure enough I was 10cm! She quickly called my doctor and within a couple of minutes the whole team was in the room.
In my birth plan, I had hoped to watch via a mirror and even cut the umbilical cord myself. When it came time to push we, unfortunately, didn't have time to pull out the mirror. Just 3 pushes in 3 minutes and the baby was here! And I got to say, if you have a chance to cut the umbilical momma do it! It was the coolest moment and a memory I will cherish forever. Also, you would not expect it to feel the way it does. LOL.
Baby is a...
Boy! Isn't he the cutest thing? I am so happy we waited to find out the gender of our last baby. Finding out as the doctor pulled him out was a truly special moment for not only us but the whole labor and delivery floor! In the hours leading up to delivery, everyone was excited to see what the baby would be. We had skipped the 10-week genetic testing so not even our doctor knew beforehand. We had been calling the baby Ollie for weeks, Olive for a girl and Oliver for a boy, but I definitely had a feeling Ollie was a boy. I couldn't believe I was right!
After Delivery
The first thing the nurse did was place Ollie on my chest. In the moments after my OB handed me the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. It was such a weird texture but it cut very easily. I honestly still can't believe they let me do it. Carl refused because it makes him squeamish. So when our nurse told me I could do it instead of him I was thrilled! I wish I could have cut Sofia and Bubs too.
Our hospital really emphasized the importance of skin-to-skin contact after delivery and actually didn't take him from me for the first 2 hours. He was a bit sticky but it was absolutely amazing. We practiced nursing and Ollie latched right away!
After our two hours of bonding time was up, the nurse took Ollie to get measured and cleaned off. They clamped his cord, got him dressed, and gave him his shots.
As for me, I felt great! The epidural wore off much quicker this time around and I was up walking right after they took Ollie from me. I definitely feel like I've bounced back much quicker overall but if you are breastfeeding I do want to warn you about the cramping. Apparently the more pregnancies you have the worse your postpartum cramping is. This made nursing extremely painful for me for the first week. If you're wondering why, nursing causes your uterus to contract and shrink and after 3 babies the uterus is much bigger and has to shrink more (at least that's what the nurses told me).
Regardless, I overall felt good to go and after getting a little sleep I got out my camera and captured all the photos I could!
At 24 hours old they ran all of the required bloodwork. I am relieved to say Ollie passed with flying colors. I had a lot of anxiety leading up to it because Sofia and Bubs both had jaundice and Bubs also had issues with his sugar levels.
The kids came to visit us on Tuesday. They love him so much already!
Because Ollie passed his tests we were able to take him home Wednesday Morning. We were ready to get our little guy home and to sleep in our own beds!
What's Next
We have been home now for almost 7 weeks! I can't believe how fast time is going. Ollie has been doing well and at his one-month appointment had already gained over 2 pounds!
I have been having a blast taking all the photos of our new little guy. Before he was born I bought a Canon DSL camera and am currently taking an online class to learn how to capture the images I am hoping for. I absolutely love it! I've been searching for a hobby and I can safely say photography is it.
Coming next on the blog I hope to begin posting more regularly. My goal is to push out 2-3 posts a month. As for the content I have lots of activities to share, life updates, and even a zoo trip/travel guide coming this June!
If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to my email list so you can be the first to see new content as it comes out. Until then you can find me on IG and YouTube!
💕Sending love & momma to momma support,
Kaylin