In my mind I had played with the idea that I might just go into labor on my own this time. After all, this was my fourth baby and my body was supposed to know what it was doing by this point. I had hoped baby girl would be born on the 19th of September so that she could have something in common with her two older sisters who were both born on the 19th of their birth months. BUT, nothing really goes according to plan when it comes to having babies.

They all seem to have a mind of their own. And so, on the 23rd of September, at 39 weeks gestation I went to the hospital at 6am to be induced. Before we started anything they did a Covid Swab, which was just about the only 1 of 2 things that was different from Owen’s birth just two years before. They asked a million questions about my medical history, placed the IV, and started the pitocin. I worked on our upcoming website launch right up until the doctor came to place the epidural which was a great distraction from the pain, and also necessary as we were launching the next day!

Once the epidural was placed I progressed from a 2 to a 10 in about 20 minutes and we began pushing. Here’s where things were different. When I was pushing Owen out, the cord was wrapped around his neck three times so each time I rolled to the left we would lose his heartbeat. It was a scary few moments, but he was just fine in the end.

With Adeline’s birth, there were no cord problems, no loss of heartbeat. I pushed about 5 times and she was here!! It was the easiest, least complicated birth of them all. She immediately stopped crying as they put her on my chest and continues to be a calm, cuddly baby! She is my last. It’s bittersweet. On the one hand I don’t think I could handle another pregnancy (this one was by far the hardest), but I also feel a little bit of loss as I know I will never again have that magical moment of meeting my newborn for the first time.

It is such a sacred moment that should be celebrated each time a baby enters the world!  

 

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