INDUCTION BIRTH STORY: RUTH CAROLINE

Little Ruthie girl is one month old! It's been such a sweet first month getting to know our girl. She's such a relaxed baby - and being second time parents has made us more relaxed too. I shared Charlie's birth story when he was born (you can read it here and here), so I am excited to also share hers with you. It's so fun to jot these memories down while they are fresh. And if any of you are planning to be induced or curious about what my first induction experience was like, I hope our story will be helpful!

Overall, Ruthie's arrival was so much smoother than Charlie's. Just to remind my friends of some of the slightly traumatic events in his birth, Charlie had a bowel movement in utero, had to go to the nursery to be observed because of all the meconium he inhaled, and the first time we got to hold him was 5 looong hours later. It broke my heart to not be able to hold and see him right after delivery. It was a little bit of a rough start on us all.

Ruthie's birth was pretty different. The only thing they had in common was that they were both late!  We asked my mom if she would come up on the Saturday before Ruthie's due date (she was due Feb. 20th), so that she would be here to watch Charlie when I went into labor. We were crossing our fingers that Ruthie would not come early - or at least not before my mom arrived in town on the 16th. Praise the Lord, that prayer was answered. But then my mom ended up being here for a whole WEEK and little girl still had not made her arrival on her own. My due date came and went. 

I had always heard that the doctors are usually pretty middle ground when it comes to "predicting" when their patients will go into labor. But this time around mine weren't. Because of how quickly I progressed from week 37 to week 38, going from 0 cm to 3 cm dilated, they were all telling me not to expect to make it to my due date. I really let that get into my head, yall. I should not have listened to their "predictions" as much as I did! Ruthie did not come early. She was late just like her brother. 

So at my 40 week appointment on her due date, the one I was not even expecting to have to go to, we had a decision to make. This was the predicament: My dad and sister would be arriving the next day and were planning to stay with my mom through the weekend before they would all have to head back home to Kentucky. It was such an emotional roller coaster to have been preparing to go into labor for basically two whole weeks leading up to my due date, and then to suddenly have to be highly considering being induced so that my family would get to meet her and be able to watch Charlie. 

It was a big call to make. I was not really thrilled at the thought of being induced since I had a natural labor previously. Now, my whole experience would be different then last time. I would have to check into the hospital before I was in labor, not be allowed to eat for hours on end, without any no clue as to how my body would respond to the pitocin. The more Samuel and I discussed it, the pros highly outweighed the cons when it came down to it. We felt like it was the best decision given the circumstance of having family in town and ready to help. It was going to be so relieving to know that they would be with our boy at home while we were in labor at the hospital. Now that didn't mean I didn't keep praying to go into labor on my own for the next two days. ;) But I knew God would be sovereign either way.

When my dad and sister got into town Thursday night, we ate a huge meal at Cracker Barrel, and went home eagerly anticipating my induction the next morning.

I N D U C T I O N   D A Y was finally here! I was supposed to be at the hospital at 8 am on Friday morning, unless they called to say otherwise. Around 6:45 am I got a phone call from the hospital saying they were currently having several deliveries and they would let me know in about 2 hours if they were ready for me then. I was a little bummed, but at least I would get to have breakfast with Charlie and the family one more time. Less than two hours later, though, the hospital called back to say they were ready for us! We were so surprised to get an earlier call than expected. We scrambled to finish packing, I kissed my big boy goodbye, and on to meet our girl we went. 

We got to the hospital at 10 am. When they checked to see my dilation at the hospital, they actually could not tell! Weirdly enough, I had apparently been having lots of braxton hicks without realizing which had caused my cervix to move behind her head, so they weren't going to be able to check how far along I was until I was further in labor. As of 38 weeks, I was 3 cm and 80% effaced so that was good enough knowledge for my doctor to not need additional medication to the pitocin. By 11:30 am they had started the pitocin!

Around 1 or 2 in the afternoon I finally started to feel some little tiny contractions. They were really manageable at this point. I spent a lot of time bouncing on the exercise ball, romantically walking the hallway in my hospital attire with my sweet husband (ha), and generally staying on my feet so that my labor would keep progressing. The weirdest hiccup of the day was that my IV was giving me some trouble. It had to be redone by an IV specialist (thanks to my teeny tiny veins) and I actually had to be off the pitocin for about an hour while they were adjusting my new IV. I was hoping that this little break wouldn't set my labor back too much, and thankfully it didn't seem to.

By about 5 pm things were really kicking up a notch. I was 6 cm dilated and having regular, strong contractions. At 6 pm I was ready for my epidural. Ahh, the epidural...the blessed, long awaited for epidural. I loved my epidural when I had Charlie. It was perfect. Changed me into a completely different woman. Stoped my shaking from the labor. Gave me a chance to close my eyes for a bit before pushing. 

But not this one, yall. 

This one was not 100% effective and I was B U M M E D. There was an area on the front of my right leg and right side of my lower back where it did not work at all. I still had to breathe through most of my contractions. All you people who do labor without the epidural, I tip my hat to you even more now!

At 9:30 pm labor was going strong. The nurse popped in to say that she would be back around 10 pm to check my dilation again, but to let her know if anything changed. It was 9:50 pm and I started to really feel pressure, so I told the nurse she had better come in now. And, thankfully, we were finally at 10 cm and ready to start pushing!

This is where her birth story turns rapid speed. The nurse wanted me to give her a good practice push before she called the doctor in. So, I took a deep breath, gave a good push, and about halfway through it the nurse said, "Okay, stop!" She hurried over to the phone and told the doctor he needed to get there now- this baby was ready to get  o u t . 

After less than 10 minutes of pushing, Ruth Caroline made her way into the world at 10:10 pm. I remember one of the nurses during delivery saying, "Oh this baby is going to just deliver herself!" It was so quick. She came out screaming mad and shocked Samuel and I with her head full of dark brown hair!

We finally got to do kangaroo care like every new momma looks forward to right after her delivery. It was such a relief to get to hold her, healthy and screaming loud, so quickly. It was a 12 hour day from check in to delivery and I was so thankful she was finally here in my arms.  

Ruth Caroline James

February 22, 2019

7 lbs 6 oz

20 inches long

As much as I would have hoped to go into labor on my own again, I am really glad we decided to induce. A burden was lifted from us about making sure family was here when she arrived. The first half of the day started off kinda slow, but once true labor started things went pretty quickly. I had heard that pitocin labor pains were "worse" than natural contractions, but I don't know if I would agree with that. I think they are both pretty mean LOL. But come on, when the result is that precious little squishy face up there landing in your arms? It's worth it. So worth it. 

We love you, little Ruthie. Thank you, Jesus, for her life.

Emily

WHAT A WEEK: BABY'S GENDER & CONCERT IN CHICAGO

Last Saturday night, I looked at Samuel and said, "It's been a really big week."

And it was. We found out the gender of baby #2 and went to a long-awaited concert in Chicago!

20 WEEK ANATOMY SCAN
I'll start with the baby gender because, oh my!!!!!!





Ready for it....

IT'S  A  GIRL!

Surprise!! surprise!! surprise!!! We were so shocked and thrilled to find out that baby number two is a little girl!

We were both kind of thinking it was another boy, to be honest, just because this pregnancy hasn't been drastically different from my first pregnancy. But this is the second time I have been completely wrong on predicting the gender. I was so confident that Charlie was a girl. I'm 0 and 2 on that!

The ultrasound technician started out checking the heartbeat and trying to wake the baby up. :) I told her I had been feeling a lot of movement, but mostly at night. Just a few minutes later, the baby woke up and stayed moving around the entire time (very unlike big brother's anatomy scan. he stayed rolled into a ball the whole time and didn't even let us finish the whole checklist at that appointment!). Then the nurse said, "It's looking like a girl!" and I said, "What! Are you serious?"And sure enough, she could see very clearly that it was a GIRL. Samuel and I were thrilled by this happy news!

All of her measurements and photos during the scan looked great. We are so thankful for her health thus far. Her heart rate is now around 144 bpm.

Crazy enough, I did have a dream that it was girl a few months ago! My dream was that we had arrived home from the hospital with a baby girl and I could remember NOTHING about the delivery or even being at the hospital. So I guess you could say, I had a gender prediction dream! But let's hope that last part doesn't happen in real life.

Over the course of the day we found out, we called and texted family and shared our gender reveal photos above with them. Our family was just as surprised (and happy) as we were! I had several close friends who guessed girl, but most of our immediate family was also thinking it would be a boy. But it goes without saying that everyone, especially Samuel and I, was over the moon thrilled to hear that we are having a little girl. We are so thankful for her precious life and cannot wait to meet our new baby girl sometime near the end of February.

BEN RECTOR CONCERT
Samuel and I also went to a really special concert in Chicago last week!

For my birthday back in August, my wonderful + amazing + sweet + thoughtful + husband got me surprise tickets to see Ben Rector in Chicago!! The concert was at the Chicago Theatre and we were pumped. It was our first time going to Chicago alone, too, soo we were really up for an adventure!

We only live 25 miles from Chicago according to the map, buuuuttttt it definitely takes over an hour to get there. Always. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the concert venue, but thankfully we left about 2 hours prior to the concert start time.

The show was so good, y'all. He sang all my favorite songs from the new album and there were a lot of really special surprises in it too. And we loved being inside the Chicago Theatre! It's so beautiful.

October is off to a really fun start. We have family coming in next weekend and Halloween right around the corner (one of my personal favorites, as you may or may not know).

In the mean time, I'll just be sitting here letting it sink in that we are having a baby G I R L.
I can't believe it.

Emily

OUR FAMILY IS GROWING! + PREGNANCY UPDATE

I haven't officially announced our exciting news on my blog: We are adding another James baby to the family sometime at the end of February 2019!

We are so thrilled and thankful to the Lord for this sweet gift of life. Every time I think about it I am completely overwhelmed by the reality that this is a gracious gift from the Lord. I am so excited to snuggle another little baby and to watch Charlie become to be a big brother. 

I thought it would be fun to share some details about this pregnancy and compare it to my first pregnancy some, how it has been different or the same and if that is any hint at the gender. And speaking about the gender...our anatomy ultrasound is at the beginning of October! Ahhh, I can't wait to find out. 

So let's get into this pregnancy update!

How did you tell your husband?
I told Samuel totally different this time around. For one, our first baby was a happy surprise. :) Also, Samuel was basically waiting outside the bathroom door with me to find out. And, he was the one who recommended I even take a pregnancy test to begin with because I didn't believe I was pregnant. Ha! We found out together, and I was already 8 weeks along at that point.

This time around, we had just started trying to get pregnant again. I had a very strong feeling that I was pregnant for over a week before I took a test. I didn't really keep him in the loop at all, which is so unlike me, but it was all because I wanted to really be able to surprise him with the pregnancy test since I didn't get the chance to do that the first time! I kept my suspicions and buying a pregnancy test a little secret until I knew for sure. I took it early one morning while he was at the gym before work, and when he walked back in the door, there I was with a positive pregnancy test! 

Were you surprised? 
I wasn't! But Samuel was! Opposite of last time. 

How many weeks along are you?
18 weeks.

Baby's heart rate? 
It's been 154-155 bpm.

Cravings? 
For most of the first trimester, NOTHING sounded good. It was a  s t r u g g l e. I would get so so hungry, but felt like there wasn't a thing that was actually appealing. 

Eventually I started to crave egg salad sandwiches - for like two weeks straight. Then I craved this little made up combo with tortilla, cream cheese, pepperoni, and cucumbers and ate that every day for like two weeks as well. Bagel with cream cheese was also a staple early on. I might have also needed a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from McDonalds a couple of late nights. My husband is the best. ;) 

Gender? 
We are going to find out in early October! We are both suspicious it's another boy. I would guess boy based on not being terribly sick, acne improved, and similar pregnancy "feel."

1st trimester symptoms?  
Sickness- I only threw up one time (around 6 weeks) because I waited too long to eat breakfast which made me sick. There were two other instances were I thought I was going to get sick, but I hurriedly shoved a bagel in my mouth and it went away. It's a weird sensation to feel nauseous and be eating at the same time, but that is the secret in the first trimester. 

Tiredness- No joke, I could not go one day without taking a nap while Charlie was napping. It was unbelievable how tired I was. Sometimes on the weekends when Samuel was home, I would take a nap basically as soon as I finished eating breakfast and then again when Charlie was taking his nap. I have never been more unproductive or let chores go more, but it was so unavoidable.

Hunger- SO so so hungry all the time.

Can't Stand- Super sweet food and my sugary gummy vitamins.  I had to switch to a non-sugary vitamin because the others tasted SO sweet!

Round Ligament Pain - This was waayyy worse this time around. Basically any time I would stand up after sitting down for a while, that muscle would spasm and shoot pain! I had to be sure to stand up super slowly so that it wouldn't hurt. It's finally happening less often.

Other- I had major bloating and discomfort in my first trimester as well. So miserable. A homemade peppermint oil scrub right on my stomach worked wonders. 

Movement?
I started to feel light flutters around 15 weeks pregnant. By 18 weeks they feel like tiny kicks! I remember starting to first feel flutters during my first pregnancy around 17 weeks, so for me it's true that you feel movement earlier the second time around.

Maternity clothes?
I have started to wear maternity clothes here and there for comfort, but I can still wear most of my normal clothes right now. Same as first pregnancy at this point. 

Baby name? 
It's sooo much harder this time!! I feel so picky. We have mentioned a boy and girl name that we like, but we don't know if we will use them yet. Send me some suggestions y'all cause the ones I keep reading online are....terrible haha.

2nd trimester symptoms (so far)?
Energy- Hallelujah, my energy is ten times more than it was last trimester! Around week 14 I really felt a jump. I don't have to have a nap to function and that is a relief!

Sleep- Still getting up once a night to go to the bathroom, but sleeping fine. Crazy dreams, but that's normal for me. I had some back pain at night lately and started sleeping with a pillow between my knees which has helped.

Bump- Oh yes. It's here for the party.

Left: August 15 (13 weeks along),  Right: September 18 (Almost 18 weeks)

Thanks for reading this little update, friends! I don't know how often I will be able to do these, but we will definitely share the gender sometime after we find out. What do you think - boy or girl? ;)

Emily