It’s hard to believe little Conrad joined our family over a year ago. Time is flying by so fast and, although it’s bittersweet, it is so fun to watch him grow! I am excited to finally share Conrad’s birth story. I love having this space to document the experience, because even a year later a lot of the details are fuzzy (which honestly is the reason we are willing to give birth time and time again). Child birth is miraculous and while both of my experiences were truly magical, they do call it labor for a reason. Thankfully, these babes are more than worth it!
Conrad was due on February 21st. Like with Quinn, the plan was to induce a few days early because I was on blood thinners. After lots of back and forth about which days and at which hospital my doctor was available and debating whether we were ok with Conrad being a Valentine’s Day baby, we opted for a scheduled induction on Friday, February 17th at the hospital we preferred but without my doctor in the delivery room. I met my doc, who I absolutely love, for the first time when she delivered Quinn. She was the one who sat with us as we got the news that we had lost our first angel baby. And our second. She was an important part of our journey. But we knew our decision was the right one for us. And with this decision, I knowingly accepted the risk that I could go into labor on my own before the 17th, possibly eliminating the option of receiving an epidural. But the thought of going into labor on my own never entered my mind as a true possibility.
The day before my scheduled induction Ryne and I took the day off to spend time together just our little family of three. That morning, I laid in bed feeling Conrad move. From the get-go I was very emotional. I was marinating in the bittersweet feelings of knowing this time together was about to come to an end. Anticipation over knowing that Quinn, my baby, was about to become my oldest child and a big sister. Tons of excitement over meeting our son! And of course some anxiety over labor. Before I even rolled over, I had a strong contraction. Some women may have known at that moment that their child was on their way. Their instincts would kick in and they would feel it in their bones. Apparently I don’t have any of those 😉 I had a plan and I fully anticipated that Conrad would stay put until my induction the next morning.
We sat at breakfast and timed contractions for fun. They were uncomfortable, but inconsistent and I felt confident they were not indicative of anything to come. After breakfast, we took Quinn to her favorite park. It was an unseasonably warm day for mid-February. Ryne and I sat and watched our daughter play and my contractions grew stronger. But I was sure I’d go home and rest and my contractions would dissipate.
3:30 pm. We went home. I wrote my final blog post before Conrad’s arrival. My contractions were getting stronger, but they were still 30 minutes apart. Since we needed to be at the hospital early in the morning for my induction we packed a little overnight bag for Quinn, who would be staying with my mom and little sister that night.
5:30 pm. We threw her bag in the car and drove to dinner. Our last meal just the three of us. Suddenly the contractions were much more regular. Ryne was timing each one. At one point, I was breathing through a difficult contraction. Eyes closed. I remember feeling so vulnerable sitting there in public, surrounded by strangers, knowing my life was about to be dramatically changed. I craved the privacy and familiarity of my own home. My contractions were 5 minutes apart. We decided to cut dinner short and go drop Quinn off at my mom’s. I must have been in serious denial because, again, I thought my contractions would slow down if I went home and rested.
6:45pm. 15 minutes later we were at my mom’s house and my contractions were already less than 4 minutes apart. They were coming on strong and I could no longer walk or talk through them. I remember panicking a little bit as I stabilized myself on a wall at her house. I called my doctor’s office and seriously questioned whether I’d be one of those women delivering my baby in a car. The answering service on the other end told me to wait for a call from the on-call doctor and to call back if I didn’t get a call within an hour. H to the no! I knew we needed to grab our bags and head to the hospital. I hugged my girl and felt a tinge of devastation over not having more time to say goodbye. To sit in the gravity of the shift that was occurring in our world. In her world.
7 pm. We jumped in the car and raced for home. I hadn’t finished packing my bag. I’m not sure Ryne had even started. My contractions were growing more painful and were less than 3 minutes apart. The panic increased, but so did the excitement. I remember racing upstairs and trying to change my clothes in between contractions. It was a rush. A blur. As we left our house I was full of anticipation of this enormous shift. I paused on the stairs for a picture. Baby boy was on his way!
8 pm. Ryne drove me to the hospital while I quickly sent off texts to family members letting them know that baby boy was coming a day early. It was 8 o’clock at night. My dad wanted to come sit in the waiting room at the hospital, but I encouraged him to stay home and sleep and I promised to send updates throughout the night.
8:30 pm. It must have been a full moon, because when we arrived at the hospital, the labor and delivery triage rooms were nearly full. We waited for 45 minutes in triage before I called my doctor’s office again. The doctor on-call spoke with the triage nurse and insisted that they admit me since I was GBS+ and I was scheduled for induction in less than 12 hours anyways. I felt some relief when I was finally in my own labor and delivery room. I kept asking for my epidural, but there were lots of delays. I squeezed Ryne’s hand as I breathed through each contraction. My brother and sister-in-law stopped by to drop off cold medicine for Ryne and give a quick hug. They left and the room was quiet. Most of the night up until that point had been a rush. But now there was just the quiet beep of monitors and the hiss of a blood pressure cuff. I remember looking at Ryne’s face for the first time in hours and telling him how excited I was to be having another baby with him.
11pm. A bag of fluids, two doses of antibiotics, and some lab work later, the anesthesiologist arrived to give me my deeply desired epidural. Finally, sweet relief. I was able to relax and really just sit in the excitement of everything to come. I was 5 cm dilated. Ryne tucked me in and tried to get some sleep on the couch. I closed my eyes, but couldn’t sleep.
1am. The nurse came in to check me. 7cm dilated. A short time later I felt something between my legs that I seriously thought was an arm or leg. The nurse came in to check me and found the amniotic sac was bulging. A short time later, my water broke. The next two hours are a blur. I know my nurse came in to check me a few times as did the on-call doctor. I let her know that my regular doctor had requested to be called if I went into labor on my own. And God bless that sweet woman. She got out of bed in the middle of the night when she wasn’t even on call to watch our story come full circle and bring our boy into the world.
3:01am. The nurse woke Ryne up just as my doc walked into the room. It was time to push! The nurse gave me a crash course on the correct way to push (because apparently there is a wrong way to do it). Less than 10 minutes and 3 pushes later, at 3:11 am, Conrad Edison was born weighing 6lbs, 9oz. easiest. labor. EVER!
One of the sweet nurses laid Conrad on my chest. He was very purple and despite some aggressive rubbing he wasn’t pinking up. Someone grabbed him from me and whisked him away for what felt like an eternity, but I’m sure it was only a minute. I was in tears, wanting to know if he was okay, and finally we heard a loud scream & cry from across the room. After a few minutes of the nurses checking him out, the nurse brought Conrad over and Ryne got to meet his son for the first time. He had a head full of beautiful, dark hair and the sweetest little features that were all his own. We snuggled him up for the next few hours before finally getting a little sleep around 6am.
