Knowing KJ's birth story will help with context on my early decision making with Bryce, so here's the short version of KJ's birth story: false labor on and off for days. Minimal sleep leading up to birth. Early labor through middle of the night. Hospital at 09:00 - sent home. Waffle House. Bath. Movie. Hospital at 15:00 - admitted "barely" 4 cm. Epidural. Two movies. Nap. 3 hours of pushing. 48 hours after labor initially began, at 06:27 the following morning, KJ is finally born.
Bryce's due date came (Monday March 19th) and I hadn't even had false labor. I was dreading another long labor and really didn't want to be in the hospital for that whole time. BUT I was tired of being pregnant. So I scheduled my induction for Wednesday (03/21) & prayed labor would start on its own Tuesday night.
Tuesday morning my contractions started about 04:00 but we're at least 10 minutes apart. KJ got up at 06:30 and by 07:00 my contractions were more like 5-6 minutes apart. I was hopeful for labor but also half expected it to stop. I sent Kyle to work (he had a big client in town visiting) and took KJ to school. (Pro-Tip: don't drive while in labor. Ouch!) By the time I got home, I knew we needed to go to the hospital, but I didn't want to rush. Since we don't live 0.8 miles away anymore, I absolutely did not want to be sent home. I let Kyle's mom (Karen) know to head down from Nashville (she was on call to watch KJ since he can't come to the hospital) and I asked Kyle to come home from work. Kyle got home and started loading the car. I started the tub. In the tub I read a chapter of our monthly book club choice and ate as much as possible (no food during labor in the hospital). Around 09:30 we finally headed to the hospital. Contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. As we parked I realized I didn't have my wallet. Assuming I needed ID to be admitted, and still fearful we had come to the hospital too early, Kyle and I headed back home for my wallet. (Pro-Tip: wallet not needed. I was actually never asked for any form of identification during my stay. I guess when you know your birthday and the mid-wife recognizes you, that's enough). By 11:00 we were back, had walked from the garage to Kennestone purple tower, and I was in L&D triage answering all the questions. When the nurse checked my cervix she chuckled and asked me the most terrifying question ever:
"Are you planning to have natural delivery?"
NO! No, I was not. She laid my bed flat, asked me not to cough, sneeze, or laugh and explained that I was already 8 cm dilated. Any further and it would be too late for an epidural. She also said I would be a perfect natural patient because I was so calm and handled my contractions so well.
Now, let me just say a few things here. Yes, the contractions hurt like a mother, but screaming doesn't make them hurt less. If I stub my toe or encounter unexpected pain, I will flail like a child and you'll think I was shot. When it comes to labor, that's just not my style. I took deep breaths through each contraction and waited for it to pass, hopeful I'd be meeting Bryce soon. What surprised me most was that contractions at 8 cm didn't hurt more than contractions at 2 cm. They just came much more frequently. I probably could have gone drug free to 10 cm but I knew that was the "easy" part of labor. I don't have a clue what pushing feels like without drugs and I certainly did not want to find out!
Thankfully I got the epidural and was to 10 cm by 13:00. What I then learned was that there is a small difference between 10 cm and "complete" (ie. ready to push). It took almost three more hours for the last bit of my cervix to clear out of the way. Finally, by 16:00, it was time to push. The rest of the story goes a lot like KJs birth. Push for an hour with very little progress. Sit up & " let gravity help" with little more progress. Push for another hour. Baby is still stuck. The on call Dr came in and agreed with the midwife - I could do it. The Dr. did help encourage (read: manually maneuver) Bryce to roll from being sunny side up which allowed him to be more helpful in the birthing process. I was also finally given a little bit of Pitocin. After another hour of rest on my side with the peanut ball. My sweet nurse also snuck me some apple juice since it's was about 20:30 and I haven't eaten since I left my house at 09:30. (I did end up throwing all of the apple juice up, hence why they don't give you anything but clear liquid).
Kyle prayed with me, again. I continued to beg the Lord for strength. I spent an hour focused completely on breathing and consuming absolutely all the oxygen I could. Between all of those things, the next round of pushing finally showed some real progress 🙌. In what seemed like no time at all they called in my midwife to catch Bryce. As he was born she said "WOW! That's a thick boy."
Tuesday March 20th at 22:48 Bryce Cooper McClung was born weighing 9 lbs. 10 oz. & 22" tall. Our little family is complete 😍
In the following days at the hospital we worked through challenges regulating blood sugar and a heart murmur that was deemed a "normal abnormality" [insert eye roll]. Most interestingly, I was reminded, again, why I love my OB practice and the midwives. If they had known KJ has his cord wrapped 3 times, his first heart rate complication likely would have resulted in an emergency C-Section. Similarly, if they had known Bryce was so big, they may not have had as much faith that I actually could deliver vaginally. These things are exactly why my OB practice chooses not to do baby weight checks or ultrasounds after the anatomy scan (20 weeks) unless absolutely necessary. They said, in the medical field, when you are aware of things that could cause complications, its too easy to make decisions based on risk and potential liability. When you don't know about the risks, particularly normal and low risks like KJ and Bryce had, it's much easier to limit medical intervention.
I am reminded again of how gracious the Lord is in answering my prayers for strength, wisdom for my care givers, and a healthy baby. If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me, and please come visit us anytime.