Baby Sister Lucy came into the world on Saturday, June 16th, 8 days earlier than expected. Due to our general procrastination in baby preparations this time around, we were sort of counting on a due date or later delivery. Therefore, I spent much of the labor in denial that it was really happening.
Friday, June 15th was a very normal, uneventful day. My mom took Ruby to the playground while Steve and I drove to Berkeley, where we bought Lucy's coming home outfit at Kid Dynamo on Shattuck, had lunch at Saul's, and picked up cupcakes at Love at First Bite. In the afternoon I went to Trader Joe's, then made one of Ruby's favorite meals for dinner: oven baked chicken and zucchini sticks. In the evening after Ruby went to bed, I started feeling the same Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had been feeling every evening for the previous 2 or so weeks. I was a bit uncomfortable, but we still watched a movie, ate a cupcake, and got ready for bed.
This time the contractions which usually subsided later in the evening persisted into the night, waking me several times. Each time, I told myself to go back to sleep, I'm sure this will go away. Finally around 4:30am, the situation became untenable, and I had to get up. Even then, I was still thinking that is would probably go away and we could carry on with all of the weekend plans we had made. I held out a little longer before deciding to call our doula to put her on alert just in case she had to leave the house and come over. By this time, Steve and I were utilizing each break between contractions to pack the hospital bag, wash Lucy's coming home clothes, and make preparations for Ruby's day. By 7am when our doula arrived my contractions were already very regular at around 5 minutes apart and increasing in intensity. As it became more clear that we were indeed having a baby that day, on my mind were all the appointments I had to cancel. I had a prenatal massage scheduled for that day, 2 OB appointments on Monday, the hospital tour on Tuesday, friends visiting, and a birthday party. I was also thinking about Ruby and how her life was about to change forever. I wondered if I had done enough to prepare her and if I had done enough to savor our time as an only-child family.
When Ruby was born, I labored for 36 hours at home with irregular contractions. When the contractions finally formed a pattern and we went to the hospital, Ruby was born just 2 hours later. Second births are most often significantly faster than the first, so we all had in our minds that we needed to leave for the hospital in a timely fashion or else risk delivering on the side of the road. By around 9am my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart lasting for 1-1.5 minutes. Even though our doula did not seem worried, Steve and I were feeling anxious to get to the hospital in case I progressed as quickly as I had the last time around. When I was admitted around 9:30, I was 5 cm dilated and at -2 station, almost the same status as when I was admitted for Ruby's birth. We all went into the delivery room with the expectation that we would have a baby very soon.
Lucy didn't make her appearance until 2:41pm, five hours after we arrived at Labor and Delivery. I had thought that giving birth to Ruby was the most intense and challenging experience of my life, and at the time, I really couldn't conceive of how anything could be more difficult. Giving birth to Lucy was precisely 2.5 times more difficult. First of all, the timing of the labor (starting in the middle of the night and immediately intensifying) made it difficult for me to eat anything during that time, so I had essentially not eaten since the night before. By the end much of the lightheadedness and nausea I was feeling was probably due to low blood sugar. Secondly, the most drawn-out part of the labor this time around was at the very end, when the contractions are by far the most intense, closest together, and lasting the longest. While both deliveries ended up being natural and unmedicated, with Ruby's it almost felt like it was out of my hands because it was so fast that there was no time to offer me anything anyways. This time around, it felt much more like a conscious decision since by the end I was being offered interventions and augmentations. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was in such a sad state at that point that I was almost unresponsive and incapable of making any decisions. Just as I felt I could absolutely go no further, my water finally broke, and a few pushes later, Lucy was born.
My main envy of those who have medicated births are the glamorous "after" shots of mom and baby, looking refreshed and with hair in place. I will spare you any photos of me until after I moved into the post-partum room and had a shower because I looked like I was going to die.
I made sure to make myself more presentable by the time Ruby arrived as to not freak her out. I also made sure to have the baby in the bassinet as it is suggested that the first time your child sees you after having a new baby, you should be able to greet her as you normally do and not be holding the baby. However, as soon as she entered the room, Ruby started looking around and asking, "Where's Baby Sister?" And as soon as she laid eyes on her, she was in love.
I often wondered while I was still pregnant how I could possibly love anyone as much as I love Ruby. Now that Baby Lucy is here, it's strange to think that I've only known her for such a short time because it feels like I've loved her forever. We're so happy to have added another member to our Girl's Club!
