What was Different this Time Around

So what was different this time around about labor and delivery?

With Owen, I got induced after being 8 days late. I was only in labor for 10 hours and pushed 1 1/2 hours. He had some meconium and got pulled out with the the vacuum-extractor. He spent some time getting extra suctioning and examination by the pediatric team before we got to hang out. In the end, everything was fine, but there were > 10 people in the delivery room with us between the OB and pediatrics teams.

Katherine arrived much, much faster. She arrived 8 days early and I delivered about 20 minutes after we got to the hospital. Fortunately, Travis was working at home that day, or he might have missed it. The contractions started off slowly, but then seemed to speed up much faster than I expected. I was a bit worried that I'd end up delivering in the lobby of the hospital, which would be a less than glamorous, plus I might see coworkers. It never occurred to me that labor could go that fast! So total labor time was about 2 1/2 hours and pushing was less than 2 minutes. The OB told me there was no time for an epidural, so I actually had 'natural childbirth'. People aren't kidding when they say it hurts. However, it didn't last very long, so I think my experience was alot easier than people who labor without medication for 20+ hours. This time, it was the OB, a resident (who stood to the side and watched) and a few OB nurses, me and Travis, so much less of a crowd in the room. Apparently, babyKat was ready to be born and meet us. We got to hang out immediately after her birth and she spent alot of time looking around and wiggling, which was great.

Afterward I felt much less like I'd been run over by a bus, which was a nice change from giving birth to O. We were also much smarter this time about letting littleK go to the nursery at night for a few hours so we could sleep a bit, so I left the hospital less tired.

So, the moral of the story? If we have a 3rd baby ever, we need to live next door the the same hospital where I'm working, and Travis will need to work from home for at least a few weeks prior to the due date.