Ibbie's Birth Story

If you're not interested in birth stories or any sort of medical talk, skip this post.

Seriously.

Unlike her sister, in the weeks prior to Ibbie's birth, there was little evidence that I was progressing toward labor. At 40 weeks and 2 days, my OB said I was still 2 centimeters, as I had been since 37 weeks, and I still wasn't having any contractions. After an ultrasound indicating everything was fine, my doctor gave me the option to wait it out another week or schedule an induction. I opted to schedule an induction since my mom was in town to help. My doctor left a message with the hospital scheduler and told me she'd call me later in the day with my induction date and time. Before I left the appointment, my doctor also offered to strip my membranes. I asked her to go ahead with it since it was effective with Cole.

I was a touch uncomfortable following my appointment but proceeded with everything as normal. Cole, my mom, Bigs and I ran errands, lunched on the bluff and even walked the bluff stairs—anything to get labor going! At 3 o'clock I got a call from my OB that my induction was scheduled for 5 o'clock the next morning. I was relieved. The waiting game was over!

As the afternoon turned to evening, I grew increasingly uncomfortable. I wasn't able to stomach dinner and I realized we wouldn't be making it to the scheduled induction so I asked my mom to spend the night at the house with Cole. Around 8 o'clock I decided it was time to start tracking my contractions. They were coming every 4:30-5:00 minutes and lasting for 60-90 seconds. After an hour, they were coming every 3:45-4:00 minutes and I told Peter it was time to go.

When we got to the hospital at 10 o'clock, the nurse told me Dr. Delaney, the same doctor who delivered Cole (and who I love!), was on call and that I was 5 centimeters. Then she asked if I wanted an epidural which I did.  Before she checked me, she asked if I'd had any bleeding. Prior to arriving at the hospital I hadn't but as I changed into the hospital gown I realized I was bleeding. She told me it was probably just bloody show which is normal. Once she got me hooked up to the fetal monitor she put me on oxygen because Ibbie was not reacting well to the contractions.

I got my epidural around 10:40. As I laid back on the bed, I felt an overwhelming amount of pressure. The anesthesiologist said, "Uh oh!" and the nurse said she needed to check me because it may be time to push. Fortunately I had only progressed to 8.5 centimeters so I wasn't going to have to push without the epidural. Still, 3.5 centimeters in forty minutes is pretty fast. The pressure I felt was from a "bulging bag" of waters. I remained on oxygen and the nurse had me lean on my left side because Ibbie was still not doing well with the contractions.

As Peter and I waited for progress, I thought my water broke. Twice. In both cases, it was just blood. We told the nurse, who was not concerned the first time but became quite concerned the second. Looking at the fetal monitor, she said, "I don't like this. Let me call Dr. Delaney again." Not long after that, around 1:15, Dr. Delaney was in the room.  She checked me and I was at 10 centimeters. My water still hadn't broken so she went ahead and broke it. After doing so, she looked at the nurse and said, "Call NICU." Of course, hearing that I knew something was off but set my mind to getting the baby out. I started pushing at 1:20. The pushing was going well but they needed to get the baby out which was obvious by the faces of the NICU nurses that had come into the room and were watching the fetal monitor. At 1:29 Dr. Delaney told me she was going to use a vacuum to help get Ibbie out. With the vacuum assistance, Ibbie was out in five pushes with an official birth time of 1:31.

The nurses cleaning Ibbie up called her "chunky," "bigger than mom," and pointed out her double chin. Our sweet girl arrived with a head of hair and a tad heavier than her big sister, at 8 pounds 3 ounces. As Ibbie was being checked on by the NICU nurses, Dr. Delaney explained that I had a partial placental abruption. She even went to far as to show me the placenta, with the caveat that she didn't want to "gross me out." She also explained how the position of the cord was part of the reason Ibbie wasn't doing well with labor. The cord was pinched during contractions; Ibbie was quick to turn her head away from the cord once she was out.

After everything was determined to be just fine with Ibbie and me, we got to meet! She latched right away, like Cole, and hasn't lost interest. After a bit of recovery time, Dr. Delaney came back to discuss how I was doing and answer any questions Peter or I had about the labor.  She told me we were fortunate pushing went well because had it gone on much longer she would have had to perform a Cesarean. It was a short labor but a long night.

Ibbie revealed a hint of her personality when she opted to arrive after her due date but ahead of the scheduled induction. And exactly 19 months after her sister. We're looking forward to seeing more of this little lady's personality in the upcoming days, weeks, and months.

Here's a short slide show I put together with some pictures we took during our time in the hospital: 

Early Days

These early days have been busy ones! After 36 hours at the hospital, I was ready to get home and ease into our new life as a family of four. Lucky for us, my mom decided to come visit for a bit which has been very helpful, especially with Cole. We've had a stream of visitors since Ibbie arrived- both in the hospital and at home. Most notably, Peter's sisters came to visit from Nashville and Georgia and Stacey came from Arkansas! Since free time is precious these (and all) days, I'll leave you with more pictures than text. 

Leaving Home

There are times in life when you are ready to leave home, like before going to college. You spend years preparing for the change, knowing you'll have to establish a presence in your new place. There are also times when you don't have years of preparation before leaving home.

Six years ago, I followed Peter from Clemson to Memphis. It wasn't immediate, but after two years it became home. We have grown to love this city and our little place in it. In the past six years, I have adopted the term: Memphian by choice. This city has been so special to us. Our first house is in Memphis, our first jobs were in Memphis, our baby girls were born in Memphis, this city is absolutely a part of us.  We have been abundantly blessed with a large community of people who know and love us. Still, we have longed to live closer to our families for years and that longing has been amplified by the birth of our daughters.

Earlier this week, Peter accepted a job in Maryland. We'll be one hour from my family in Baltimore and one hour from Peter's relatives in Philadelphia. While we are thrilled to be moving closer to family, we are sad about leaving our home.

Peter wasn't looking for a job, but since the position in Maryland crossed his desk in late July it has been very clear where God is leading. We are praying to embrace and understand His perfect timing. In the upcoming weeks we'll be getting ourselves organized for the move while getting to know our newest addition. Of course that will mean selling our little house in Midtown — the home we returned to after our honeymoon, where we hosted our first Thanksgiving, and first brought our children back to from the hospital.

I would love to reach out and tell our friends individually but with a newborn that just isn't an option. We covet your prayers during this transition. Our hearts are heavy knowing we'll be leaving our home, but we're optimistic about what the Lord has in store for us as we establish ourselves in a new place.