labor story (and then some)

I can't believe I never wrote down my labor story this time around! I guess that's one of the differences between #1 and #2... less time to reflect on labor, more "labor" when you get home! I'm figuring out why no one's written a book about having a second baby. It's hard to find the time to really capture the changes and the emotions and the new frantic normal in words. ANYWAY... here's the birth story!

We decided in advance to set an induction date (my due date was the 6th, we set a date for the 1st if he hadn't come out on his own by then), which I wrote a post about before. So we went into the hospital the night before (a Wednesday night). The labor and delivery floor was packed and we actually had to spend the night in an outpatient room, but we got moved into the nicest (HUGE) labor room early the next morning so it was no biggie. That night I was already between 1 and 2 cm dilated and about 75% effaced. They gave me Cervadil, which started some small contractions in the middle of the night but we were able to get a pretty decent night's rest. They moved us into our new room at about 6 am and started me on Pitocin at 7. I wanted to try and go as long as I could without medication but had no set "birth plan" this time around. Contractions started picking up pretty quickly and I felt like I was managing the pain pretty well at first. Sometime around 11:30 or 12 the pain got suddenly very intense. The only position I was comfortable in was standing holding onto the arms of the rocking chair basically bent in half and my legs were literally shaking. If I tried to lie down or sit I felt like I was going to rip in half (nice, I know). So I decided to ask for the epidural. My doctor came in as I was getting it at about 12:30 and said he "liked how I was sounding" and would stick around to check me after I got it. When he came back about 15 minutes later, I was at 8 cm! No wonder it had gotten so intense! Almost as soon as he left, I told the nurse I was feeling a lot of pressure. The epidural had just started to take, so I still had some feeling and control of my legs. She checked me again and said I might already be ready to push so she would go find Dr. Goggin. I got more and more uncomfortable waiting for him to come back and got my mom to get a nurse so I could start pushing. I pushed for about 30 minutes (the doctor showed up about 15 minutes in) and still could feel PLENTY. Lawton started crowning and my doctor was able to pretty much push on me rather than me pushing to help guide him out. A little after 2pm, Lawton (Joseph Lawton Caldwell the FIFTH) was born at 7 pounds, 13 ounces (and ounce smaller than Laine). No tearing, no stitches, and so much less exhausted... I actually felt great! And he's been such a good baby... so far! Laine has been an absolute rock star of a big sister... she LOVES the baby and hasn't been jealous at all. Although she does want me to hold her a lot more often whenever her daddy gets home and my arms/lap are free!

To respond to some of your other prompts, Emily...

1. Potty training: We haven't really started yet. We got a "potty" and she has used it a few times, but haven't been pushing it yet. We tried a few days of wearing panties in the afternoon before Lawton was born but I don't think she was quite ready for it. She didn't seem to be aware of the need to go or very bothered by having accidents. So we're just kind of waiting til she seems more aware... I will probably start encouraging her to sit on the potty more often again soon.

2. Big girl/boy bed: SO not an issue. We talked about it a few days before hand and got the Elmo book "Big Enough for a Bed" which we read a couple times and then just went for it. I thought she would just sleep there at night for a few days, but she seemed to have so little problem with it that we started naps in bed the next day and she was fine. She still doesn't get out of bed on her own in the mornings or after naps - she waits for me to come get her, even though she can get in and out on her own no problem. She's been sleeping in her bed for about 4 months now and we have loved it. It's a day bed with a rail on the open side, which I think helps since it is enclosed.

Posts I want to see...

Hello ladies!

I hope you are all doing well. Greer, still waiting on Lawson's labor post! :-D

As our kids are reaching 'transition stages' (this is my name for them), I was thinking there were a couple of different posts I love to read from y'all.

First: if you are potty training or thinking about potty training, or have potty trained already, I would love to hear how you did it, what worked, what didn't work, how you rewarded, etc.

Second: if you have transitioned to a big girl/boy bed, how did that go and how did you do it. And I'd love to see pictures of the new rooms or beds!

We are doing well. Molly was sick from Sat-Mon so we missed out on some fun things this weekend and haven't been to the gym yet this week but her fever was gone this weekend so hopefully we can jump right back in tomorrow morning!

I am in a big time nesting phase which is awesome, but the problem is all the things that (I think) need to be done involve furniture moving or heavy lifting so I have to wait until Todd gets home. And by that point in the day I don't want to do it anymore!

If you have Halloween costume pictures I'd love to see them!
Emily

New Product for Babies with Reflux

This is for everyone--but especially Melissa. Have you all seen the new Fisher Price Rock & Play Sleeper? Link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3739296

I have heard this is a miracle worker for babies with reflux. I don't think this was out when Hadley was born, but I wish it had been. It was hard to find anything for her to sleep in that kept her at the appropriate angle after feedings for her reflux. The sleep positioners were not angled enough, and she always slid down when we put towels under the mattress. So we ended up staying up with her for 40 to 45 minutes at night after every feeding to hold her upright (which meant I got to sleep about 20 min. before it was time for the next feeding). A lot of moms have told me this thing is great, so it is definitely on our purchase list for the new baby!

--Amanda

double stroller???

So now that we are moving on to the second round of babies I was wondering what are some of the big purchases you are looking into. We are having another boy, so this really just brings our purchases down to a double stroller. I don't know if anybody is to this point yet, except for Greer who probably already has something, but I just wanted to let everybody knwo about the Britax promotion going on right now. Basically if you get a "B-Ready" stroller you recieve a free toddler seat/choice between two infant carriers/or a bassinet. We just got one this weekend. It was a little more than we wanted to spend, but we were able to get a free seat with it plus we purchased ours at Buy Buy Baby, and they let us use a 20% off coupon from Babies r Us on it so that saved us an extra 100 dollars. We opted to get a free car seat and hope to sell it on ebay for extra savings. Overall if we can get full price for the car seat then our double stroller will only have cost us around $250, which if you haven't started looking is actually a pretty good deal. We did try out the sit and stand strollers, and even though we loved it in theory Andrew just didnt get it, and the carrier hit him in the back of the head so it wasnt a good option for us...Anyways, I hope everybody is doing well!

Melissa

Pregnancy Differences

I would love to hear some of the differences between your first and second pregnancies. I wouldn't say mine have been drastically different but I also feel like my list of little differences is long.

The worst difference is that my eczema in this pregnancy has been about 10, 000 times worse. To the extent that the itching/pain wakes me up in the middle of the night.

With Molly I only threw up 6 times, with this one 10.

I also had nausea/gagging that lasted until about week 17 with this one, week 13 with Molly.

I think my leg hair growth has slowed down.

I feel like my baby brain kicked in full force. I am forgetting EVERYTHING!

Speaking of, I feel like there are more differences but I sure can't remember them!
What are y'all experiencing?!

almost time for the first second baby!

Joe and I are heading into the hospital this evening to induce, so we are anticipating a September 1st birthday if everything goes as expected. We decided to induce for a number of reasons (my doctor is going to be out of town around my due date, the baby has been a little ahead of schedule size-wise for most of my pregnancy, our family is all out of town, etc.). Honestly, though, one of the main reasons is how ready I was to have a solid END date for this pregnancy. It has been hard to be the mother and wife and person I want to be as I have gotten more and more uncomfortable and HUGE. My round ligament pain has been pretty constant and severe again and my back pain has been worse (I blame this one my current little one... she just gets heavier and heavier while I get more and more pregnant!). There is also, of course, the element of control you gain over the experience when you decide to induce. Pregnancy is such an out-of-control state to be in for an organized, plan-obsessed, Type A kind of person like myself that by the end of 40 weeks I am just ready to reclaim my body! I have a felt a little judgment around my decision to induce this time around though... I guess most people just don't see why I would want to induce if I had the option to wait. I hate feeling like I have to defend and rationalize my decision as a parent before I even have another actual baby! Have any of you experienced ambivalence and anxiety about decisions you make during pregnancy because of other people's reactions?

Baby #2

So far, everything is going smoothly with Baby #2. I was a little sicker and much more tired this time--probably due to the fact that I am chasing around a 18-month old all the time now. I am also STARVING all the time! I am really eating us out of house and home. I don't remember being this hungry last time.

I had to switch doctors and hospitals when we moved. I toured the hospital a few weeks ago, and I have my first appointment with the new doctor in about a week and a half. I got spoiled being in Atlanta where they have a plethora of good hospitals to choose from--all within 10 miles or so of our house. Where we live now, there are two community hospitals, each about 20 miles away. Neither of those really have NICU units, and I'm not sure if they have an anesthesiologist there 24 hours a day (important to me because I don't plan to even try going natural since I only lasted about 10 minutes without an epidural last time). I also want the NICU in the hospital just in case things don't go smoothly with the baby. So I have chosen a hospital that is about 45 minutes away. If I end up having to be induced, it won't be a problem. And my old doctor said that I would most likely have plenty of time. If I start getting close and they predict snow around here, however, we will be getting a hotel closer to the hospital. The hospital itself actually has a hotel in the top of it, so hopefully we can get one of those rooms if needed and just be an elevator ride away from where I need to be. This hospital also has an anesthesiologist dedicated to the maternity ward and actually at the hospital (not just on call) 24 hrs. a day.

How are the rest of you doing?

--Amanda