Carter's Birth Story

The last few weeks and months before your arrival left me a very anxious mama. I was very hopeful you’d come early since I had a work event on September 17^th and wanted as much time as possible with you beforehand. I knew your sister came early and really hoped you would too. Your due date was August 16^th and I spent the week or two beforehand trying all sorts of ideas to get labor going-I even did acupuncture for the first time! As of Monday the 5^th, I was already dilated to 4 cm and having Braxton-Hicks contractions all the time.
I really wanted you to come only when you were ready but I had even penciled in an induction for August 12^th in case you hadn’t arrived yet. Actually, we had first scheduled an elective induction on the 11^th, but we rescheduled it for the 12^th because B-Bo and Mammy had a big Bethel reunion party at their house that day.
On the 11^th, at 4:17 am, I woke up with a contraction that was definitely uncomfortable. After that, I couldn’t fall back asleep. Contractions were 4-10 minutes apart for a few hours as I sat and tracked them (while watching Downton Abbey on TV). I still didn’t know if this was false labor or the real thing.
Meanwhile, Laura Agaba had been texting me the night before that she was in early labor and then that morning she wasn’t responding to texts, a clear sign that she was busy delivering a baby. I was so hopeful that you might arrive on the same day as Eden!
Once Daddy and Avery got up, we continued on to get ready to go to church. The contractions stayed steady but didn’t grow much in intensity or frequency. We went for a quick walk that morning but decided to go ahead and go to church since it still wasn’t certain that this was real labor.
I continued on through church service, quietly counting contractions as Pastor Kevin preached on The Jesus Stories, and went out to lunch afterwards at Chandler’s Crabhouse with Poppy and Grammy. By this point the contractions were definitely growing in strength, but I still didn’t want to get my hopes up too high. I had been hoping and praying for true contractions and labor so much, so I was probably a little extra skeptical about whether this was the real thing.
After lunch I called in to the on-call doctor at the hospital, Dr. Bohmke. She suggested I come in to the hospital to check on any progress. We took Avery home, put her down for a nap, packed up some bags just in case, and headed in to triage at the hospital.
We arrived shortly after 3 pm to the hospital. Our good friend, Leia Brown, was working in triage so she got us all checked in. Dr. Bohmke checked me and found that I was dilated to a 6, so we would be able to stay! A wave of relief washed over me as I realized I would be meeting you soon! It was such an answer to prayer and perfect timing for your arrival. 
Around 5 pm, after getting checked into a room, Leia sent us to go walk around the hospital for an hour. We had been walking around the hospital for about 10 minutes or so when we passed through the lobby and (pop!) my water broke. I couldn’t hold in nonstop giggles as Daddy and I rushed back up to our delivery room. I found it so hilarious that I had basically involuntarily wet myself in the middle of a public place.
We returned to the room and soon after, Jill and Mammy and Baby Kate arrived at the hospital. We chatted with them in the delivery room as my labor progressed. Right as I entered transition, I decided it was time to get an epidural. Many of my contractions were right on top of each other at that point. I definitely handled them better than I remember having done with Avery, but the 15-30 minutes before the epidural were like torture.
It was a couple hours more and I still had only progressed to a 7. Dr. Bohmke came in and felt that your head was turned sunny side up, which was stalling labor. She then turned me into a sideways position and dropped in a little bit of Pitocin to get you moving. Within about 5 minutes, I started feeling an intense amount of pressure. I mentioned it casually, but within 10-15 minutes I was a little more emphatic about this intense pressure I felt. Dr. Bohmke then came back in to check and found that I was at a 10 and you were on your way out! The doctor and our nurse, Leah, moved quickly into position for delivery.  Before you knew it, we were all set up to push.
My epidural was much lighter than it had been with your sister, so I felt every push and cut (albeit somewhat muted because of the epidural). It was 21 minutes of pushing to get you out. These were very intense, very painful, and super hard work, but I was thrilled to have it over so much quicker than with Avery. You then arrived at 9:41 pm.
The moment they brought you up on my chest right after you came out was full of joy and a natural comfort. I didn’t feel the overwhelming mind shift like I had with Avery, I just felt like I was so your mom and you were mine. I knew what I was doing this time. I also then had the thought that you felt much heavier than I expected! I later learned that this was because you were 9 pounds, 7 ounces-2 pounds heavier than your sister!
After giving birth, I almost immediately felt so much physical relief. Carrying you around was not very easy on mommy’s body! The week after you arrived, though, Daddy took work off and I felt awesome so we did so many fun activities. We went to the park, walked to Molly Moon’s, went shopping at University Village, took the ferry to the Whidbey Island Fair, went to Woodland Park Zoo with the Overfields, and had visits with family and friends.