On Monday night, April 27, at 10:15 pm I was lying in bed and felt a pop (it seemed really loud!) and a gush and I said "uh oh!" The amniotic fluid was very greenish-brown, which means the baby pooped and could be in danger, so we kinda panicked, packed up a few things and flew to the hospital (20 minutes for a trip that's usually 45 minutes!) We got checked in and they got the fetal monitor hooked up to me and thank God the baby's heartbeat was fine. I remembered I hadn't felt the baby move a whole lot that evening, so I was getting really worried. They explained the risks of meconium in the fluid and said he might be fine or he might have some lung trouble and we would have to wait to see.
Ben looked so surprised and confused to wake up at the hospital. He gave me the sweetest kiss goodbye and Tim took to our friend's house. Tim came back and we walked the halls for a few hours, coming back for a fetal monitor check and cervix check every hour. I was having contractions this time and I was glad - I was dreading being induced like with Ben - and I was progressing. We were excited to hear I was 6 centimeters dilated at 1:00 or 2:00. The contractions seemed manageable (unlike last time with the pitocin) and Tim and I debated whether to get an epidural for a while. I finally decided to go ahead and got one when I was 7 centimeters dilated, at about 3:00 am. The contractions had just gotten a lot worse and I was getting really tired (why can't my babies come in the daytime so we don't have to start their lives by pulling an all-nighter?), so it was a big relief to lie down and rest. Our wonderful nurse Lori said my forehead finally came unfurrowed. We settled in to rest or sleep a little, but my mind was racing. Tim's mom arrived a little after 4:00 am. At about 5:30 Lori checked me and said I was 9 cm dilated and then things got hectic! I mentioned shift change at 7:00 and having to get acquainted with a new nurse and she said "We're having this baby on my shift!" I started feeling the contractions (not sure why, but Lori said it was a good thing and didn't turn up the epidural), and a bizarre-feeling and hard to resist need to push. The doctor came in and all kinds of other nurses came to be ready to check on the baby. Lori and Tim got into position to help me push and Tim reminded me to rest in between to save my energy (for another 2 and a half hour pushing session). I pushed through one contraction and felt like I had to try to get the hang of it. I pushed three more times and was surprised that they said he was crowning at the end of the third contraction!! The cord was wrapped around his neck and I watched as the doctor frantically (it seemed to me) clamped and cut it. I pushed once more and he was here! They took him to the warming table and suctioned and looked for fluid and he was really struggling to breathe, so he went to the NICU for a couple of hours. Tim kept going back and forth, taking video in the NICU and coming to show me the improvements in his breathing, and the third time he came back he said he was breathing much better. I was so thankful!!
We got moved into the mother and baby room and watched the baby sleep. We missed Ben a whole lot, and felt bored and restless. He finally got a name on Wednesday morning: Oliver Albert Enlow Waggoner. Albert is my father's name, Enlow is Tim's grandfather's middle name, and Oliver was one of the names from our list that suited him.
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