Ethan Josiah Wagner

On Thursday night, April 3, Marcus and I were sitting in the living room discussing making an offer on a house in Birmingham when I felt a small gush of fluid that was definitely NOT urine. Over the next couple of hours, fluid continued to leak slowly. Other evidence suggested that I had lost my "plug" and that labor was on its way, though I was still not certain whether or not my water had broken. Marcus and I were both exhausted and inclined to just go to bed for a few hours until the contractions started, but we called the hospital and they said we really needed to come in if there was a chance that my water had broken, since they like to have baby out within 12-24 hours of membranes rupturing. So Marc's sister, Wendi, who lives in town, came over to spend the night with Caleb, and we headed to the hospital at 11 pm.

In triage, they tested me and decided that my water had not yet broken (according to the sample they collected for the lab test). Because of later events, I'm still not convinced that I was not leaking amniotic fluid. They also determined that I was dilated 2-3 centimeters, a huge improvement from the 0 centimeters Dr. Duff had pronounced me to be just 2 days before. I still was not having contractions, and the doctor and nurse both said that we could either stay or go home until something changed. We immediately elected to go home and get a few hours of sleep. We arrived home at 1 am and slept for a wonderful uninterrupted 5 hours of sleep. We slept so deeply that we didn't even hear Marc's mom and her little dog, Panda, arrive in the middle of the night. We woke up with Caleb at 6 am, and Marcus was trying to decide whether or not to go to work when I finally felt the huge gush of fluid that definitely indicated that my membranes had ruptured. Everyone mobilized fairly quickly from there. Wendi went to class, Mimi fed Caleb, and Marcus and I left for the hospital (everything was still in the car from the night before). My good friend Holly came over an hour or so later to keep Caleb so that Marc's mom, Susan, could join us at the hospital.

At the hospital, I made it through triage faster this time because I quickly passed the "Is my water broken?" test and I was having contractions every 5-6 minutes. We got into our labor & deliver room around 8:30 am and got settled in. The nurse came to do my IV, which turned out to be the most painful & difficult part of the whole experience. The first line she placed was on my forearm, and it was incredibly painful, like it was pinching a nerve or something, even after it was all taped on and she was done. She ended up deciding to take that one out and do a new line in my hand. It was much less painful the second time, and didn't hurt once it was in. I still have a large purple bruise on my arm from that first IV.

Then they asked if I wanted an epidural and I said that I didn't need it yet, but I definitely did want one. Apparently this nurse liked to get things done quickly because the anesthesiologist arrived less than 30 minutes later. I really didn't want the epidural yet, but also didn't feel like annoying the guy who was going to be sticking a big needle in my back. So I got my epidural at 3 cm while my contractions were only mildly painful. The epidural worked differently this time than it did last time, and for a while I was concerned that it wasn't working at all. Last time, I was completely numb from the waste down about 30 minutes after the epidural was placed and stayed numb until after delivery. This time, only part of one leg went numb, and I continued to have diminished sensation everywhere else. I could feel the contractions, the exams and eventually, even Ethan's head and body passing through the birth canal, but without the sharpness of the pain.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I got the epidural around 9:30 am, and the next four or five hours were very uneventful. Marcus and Susan took turns sleeping on the fold-out couch. I was too excited to sleep or even read, so I just watched the monitor and waited to meet my second little man. By 2 pm, I had only moved from 3 cm to 5 cm, even with the help of pitocin. We all thought we were in for a very long labor. I still held out hope that things would pick up, though, since I remembered that I'd moved from 5 cm to 9 cm with Caleb in a couple of hours.

An hour and a half later, at about 3:20 pm, we were all hanging out in the room...Marcus, Susan, the nurse and even Wendi & Caleb who had come over to visit. The doctor came in to check me in the midst of that chaos, and quietly pronounced me fully dilated and effaced. Everything was kind of crazy for the next few minutes...Wendi corralled Caleb and took him off to the waiting room, the nurse and doctor left for reasons still unknown to me, Marcus ran to change into some scrubs, and Susan and I were left alone in the room while a very strong urge to push came over me. I didn't push (much) and the doctor and nurse quickly returned, dressed for delivery. Of course my sweet husband cannot be hurried at anything, even dressing for his son's delivery, so I held out through another contraction waiting for Marcus to get back. He finally arrived and all took our places. The doctor and Marcus had spoken about it and agreed that Marcus could spearhead the delivery if he wanted to. He did, and so he sat on the stool and took charge of the whole thing, with the resident looking over his shoulder.

The clock said 3:30 when I started pushing, and Ethan was born nine minutes later. Several times I had to push without contractions because Ethan had what's called a body cord (cord wrapped around his chest), and his heart rate was falling in the compression of the birth canal. I actually enjoyed the pushing stage this time, because I could feel Ethan's progress, though I was not in pain. Also, it was a much shorter time period than with Caleb. So Ethan Josiah Wagner was born on Friday, April 4, at 3:39 pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz (13 oz. smaller than Caleb), and was 19 inches long. His eyes were smoky blue at birth and he had just a little blond fuzz on his head. Overall, he was perfect :)

fter Ethan was out, the resident clamped the cord and Susan cut it. They whisked him away to weigh him and assess him there in the room, while I delivered the placenta. A few minutes later, they let me hold my sweet new baby and I was immediately enamored. I had wondered if I would be as in love with Ethan as I was with Caleb, and that question was answered the moment they put him in my arms. He was perfect and so incredibly precious that I thought I would burst with love for him. Caleb and Wendi were back in the room within 30 minutes of Ethan's birth (as soon as I was cleaned up and modest), and Caleb was immediately fascinated with "his" baby. I nursed Ethan as soon as they gave him to me, and he suckled like a pro from the start. Caleb and I had issues with breastfeeding at first, but it went much more smoothly this second time around. All in all, this labor and delivery could not have gone better, and we are infinitely grateful for our precious son.