At my last doctors appointment the decision was made to induce me on May 2 if I had not already delivered by that time. Gregg and I were in favor of an induction in order to be able to possibly plan and control a few things. Our family was going to come to town so we would have someone to take care of Cade.
Cade and Gregg both woke up on May 1 running fever and not feeling well. We took Cade to our Pedi and he tested positive for strep throat. Not at all what we wanted as we were heading to Dallas later that afternoon to stay the night in preparation for the next day. We were able to get his antibiotics picked up and get those started knowing that he would no longer be contagious 24 hours after starting those. We figured that Gregg probably had the same and knew that we would have to be careful with him and the baby.
Final belly pic before heading to get things started!
My Mom made it to town first and we met her at the hotel to get us all checked in. We met up with my Uncle Rod (who lives in Dallas) and headed to Mia's for my last meal. Gregg's parents made it to town right as we were sitting down to eat and were able to join us for dinner. I had some chips and salsa and then Brisket Tacos which were excellent! After dinner we went back to our hotel. Gregg took Cade to my parents room to get him settled in for the night and my Uncle went to pick my Dad up from the airport. Around 9:15pm I started having contractions while drying my hair. My Uncle and Dad came over shortly after that and I continued to have contractions the whole time that they were visiting. After they left, I finished drying my hair and started to time the contractions. They were coming every 5 minutes at this point but were not painful. When Gregg got back we laid all our bags out to head to the hospital in the morning (we had to be there at 4am) and then crawled into bed. I was still contracting every 5 minutes and was starting to get a little more uncomfortable. I thought that I was really tired and kept trying to convince myself (and Gregg) that if I could just get comfortable and go to sleep that they would go away. That did not work at all and they actually started to come closer together- every 3 minutes. Around 11:45 Gregg decided that we were going to the hospital and got up to get in the shower. I tried to stay in bed and be in denial a few more minutes and then got up also to finish getting ready. The contractions continued to come every 2-3 minutes and by the time we got in the truck to head to the hospital (about midnight) I was quite uncomfortable. Gregg was way more nervous throughout all of this than I was because he just knew we weren't going to make it to the hospital (located right across the street from our hotel) and that he would have to deliver the baby, (I think he was secretly hoping for that to happen!) Since my water hadn't broken yet I knew that we still had plenty of time (I was right) and wasn't worried at all.
We got parked in ED garage about 12:10am and made our way up to L&D Triage to get checked in. I was very uncomfortable by this time and had to stop every couple of minutes as we walked to lean up against a wall of Gregg and breathe through a contraction. Once in L&D Triage, I changed into a gown and was checked by one of the Nurse Practitioners. Her exam was at 12:50am and I was 2/50/-3. This was the exact same exam as my last doctors appointment earlier that week so I was a little discouraged by all the contractions that I was having with no cervical change. There was a little confusion at this point as to what they were going to do with me. The NP told me that they would monitor me in triage for 2 hours and then check me again to see if I had changed any and if not they would send me home. I started to panic at this point because I was hurting so bad. I told them again that I was supposed to come in at 4am for an induction and did not understand why they would send me home only for me to have to turn around and come back an hour or so later. At that point they realized my induction was scheduled for that day and not for May 4 as they had originally thought when I said I was supposed to come in at 4 for an induction. Once that was all cleared up they happily sent me over to L&D East to be admitted.
Waiting in L&D Triage for a room
East was already expecting me- Amanda had called them early that evening and let them know I was coming in at 4am, told them what room I wanted and who I wanted as my nurse. (Perks of working at the hospital!) I was admitted to room 1 (same room that I delivered Cade in) and my nurse, Melinda, got started on all the paperwork. The Charge Nurse (Shannon Turano) came into the room to tell me that she had called the doctor that was on-call for my regular doctor, Dr. Troung, and that he would not clear me for an epidural since I was not yet 4cm and in "active labor". (My doctor, Dr. Rosenbaum, had told me that she had to be at the hospital at 7am for a procedure on May 2 and then would be over after that to check on me.) Again, I panicked at this point as I was now having painful contractions every 1-2 minutes and immediately started crying. Shannon assured me that she was not going to allow that and that she had already called the 4th year resident to come clear me instead. Shannon and Melinda were both wonderful the entire time that they were there. They were both great patient advocates and made sure that I was well taken care of! I got up and walked around the room while waiting for the doctor to come and check me because that helped ease the contractions a little. The 4th year came about 1:45am to check me, called me a "3" and wrote for me to get my epidural. (I still do not think that I was actually 3cm at this time and that the doctor was following Shannon's instructions for the exam!) The CRNAs that were on that night were both back in the OR doing C-sections and so at 2:30am Dr. Smith (Chief of Obstetrical Anesthesiology) came and put in my epidural. He was also wonderful and had me comfortable within just a few minutes of walking into my room.
At 4:30am the 4th year resident came back and checked me again. This time I was a good 4cm, completely effaced and at a -2 station. She ruptured my membranes and I had clear fluid. I was still contracting on my own every 3 minutes or so and so I never had to have Pitocin started. At 6:30am I was starting to feel a lot of pressure and knew that I was getting close to delivery. I called for a doctor to come and check me and I was now 9cm and at +1 station. I called my Mom and my good friend Emilie (who was with me when I delivered Cade) to come to the hospital. Em was already on her way and got there about 7:15 am and my Mom got there at 7:30am. My nurses for the day shift (also already picked out) were Jamie George (for me) and Christina Vinzant (baby nurse) came on at 7am and were both pretty surprised that it was almost time for delivery! (Fun side story about Jamie and Christina- they were both pregnant at the time of my delivery and ended up delivering on the same day a couple months later!)
Dr. Rosenbaum came in about 8:30am (also surprised at the fact that I was already ready for delivery and that I hadn't had to be induced) and immediately started to prepare for delivery. She checked me at 8:45 and I was complete and ready to start pushing. I pushed for 6 contractions (so different from the almost 2 hours that I had pushed with Cade) and at 8:54am Corbin James Groves made his arrival into this world! Corbin weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.39 inches long.
Jamie and Christina getting ready for the delivery
Love at first site!
I was able to spend my first couple of hours following delivery with just Gregg and my Mom in the room doing skin to skin with Corbin. This was very important to me in order to help with the transition to extra uterine life, initiation of breastfeeding and maternal-infant adaptation. Following this time, we allowed all of our family in the room to visit and Corbin was weighed and given his first bath in our room.
He looks so much like his big brother!
Dr. Rosenbaum and I
First picture as a family of 4!
We were transferred to our post-partum room a little later. Between family, friends and all my co-workers we had lots of visitors (which I got almost no pictures of)!
Brotherly LOVE!
Cade made himself at home in our room and loved using the bed remote to control the TV!
(We had a double post-partum room this time around which was GREAT for Gregg!)
Showing off our cute matching outfits! (Complements of PUSH! Delivery Gowns)
Cade was so excited to come back to the hospital the next day and visit and thought that it was extra special that he and Corbin were in matching Big Brother/ Little Brother t-shirts! I was less excited to still be in the hospital and convinced my doctor to go ahead and discharge me as soon as Corbin had his circumcision!
My cousin Mikka's little girl, Campbell and Corbin. (They are a little over a month apart.)
We were finally discharged around 6pm on May 3. Gregg's parents had already left to go back to Lubbock and my parents had taken Cade back to our house to start cooking dinner for all of us.
Finally free and headed home!
Since we didn't get to take any full family pictures leaving the hospital we had to wait till we got home and snap a few there! My Mom took these and I'm not sure what she did to get this circle around all the pics.
My entire labor and delivery process with this little one was almost perfect! We are so in love with Corbin and his big brother and are looking forward to all the days ahead as a family of 4!
