The Lovely Years: Charlotte's Birth Story

Instead of a Week 40 Update for BB-3. here is the entire story of Lottie's arrival on 8/1/16 :)

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On Friday, 7/29, I was feeling a little off. I had a cold/sinus infection, and I just wanted to rest as much as possible. Jillian and David were playing pretty well together, so I was able to relax in my bed most of the morning. Lunchtime rolled around, and I feed the kiddos their lunch. I wasn't feeling super hungry, so I went to lay back down for a bit.

Around 12:30, I went to the bathroom, and wiped off. I felt something strange. I looked, and saw my mucus plug. Now, I've never lost one before, so I was taken aback by it a little. Plus, it was mostly brown tinged, so I was a little worried at first after my bleeding episode earlier in the pregnancy. When I wiped again, there was more with more colors, including light pink. I called Phil, and we both agreed that we'd wait and see what happened. I took a shower, and went about my day. I did lose more mucus a few more times during the day, but no major contractions were happening yet.

By Saturday morning, I decided that maybe things would happen soon. I thought it'd be cool to have Lottie share my grandma's birthday, so we tried a few things to see if that would help move things along. We took a family walk, and I bounced on my exercise ball for awhile. I kept losing more pieces of my plug, but no real contractions again.

Sunday, I was almost mad. I continued to lose pieces every other time I went to the restroom. I would have a good contraction, but then not have another for an hour or so. Nothing was being consistent, and I just had no idea what to do/expect. I knew my parents would be getting into town on Monday afternoon, so being induced Tuesday was for the best anyways. I went to bed feeling at peace about my induction. Surely the plug meant that I would be dilated a little more, so it shouldn't be too bad. I was still battling the cold/sinus thing. I would cough up a lung to clear out gunk first thing in the morning, then be a little sniffly the rest of the day. I would feel the urge to cough a little at night, but it was usually a dry cough. Phil and I ate Rolos and watched "My 600-lb Life" on Hulu before going to bed for the night. I told Phil what I wanted for breakfast, and that I was planning on showering in the morning before he left for work. {He has an early meeting on Mondays with his boss, so I knew he'd have to hustle out the door the next day}

At 5:20, I woke up to the news on our TV. We have a timer that turns it on in the morning. I felt like I needed to cough, but I wanted to wait a little bit. After fighting it for a few minutes, then having a weird ache in my pelvis, I decided to go ahead and go to the bathroom. I did my thing, but suddenly started coughing. Then, my coughing got worse. My body wanted to clear my lungs, but it was a really big coughing fit. I clear out lots of yucky stuff, and my lungs felt better. However, something else felt funny. When I went to wipe and stand up from the toilet, I noticed some pink. No mucus, just pink. Then, I felt something running down my legs. After standing there in shock for a few moments, my legs began to shake. I had a feeling something was happening, but I wanted to be 100% sure.

This was 5:30 a.m.

I called Phil, and told him I was starting to think something was happening. I told him to jump in the shower, but not to be leisurely about it. He knew something was weird when I said that! After his shower, I was just starting to feel some contractions. These were similar, but slightly different from my contractions with David. They felt more on my pelvic floor than my whole belly. Either way, it was starting to get uncomfortable, and my legs would continue to shake at random. I told him he better call someone to watch the kids.

Here's where the story gets fun! Phil called his brother, who lives roughly 30 minutes from our house. {Keep in mind, this is around the time people are starting to leave for work on Monday morning} Well, he didn't pick up the first couple of times we tried to call because he's a really heavy sleeper. We decided to call a few other people, preferably closer to the house because my contractions were picking up to 5 minutes apart.

None of them answered.

I now believed my water had broken earlier, so I called the hospital to ask if there was room, to which they said "yes." I told them my water had broken, and that this would be my 3rd baby. They told me that they'd be ready for me when I got there. By this point, I only felt comfortable on all fours next to my bed. After feeling a few contractions with gushes, I told Phil I was positive that my water had broken, and we needed to go. We decided to wake the kids, get them dressed, and take some cereal with us to the hospital until we could get ahold of someone. Phil woke up Jillian, who immediately woke up to the prospect of her baby sister coming! She ran into our bedroom and said, "Mama, I sure hope the baby comes today!" Trying so hard to not scare her by crying out in pain, I whimpered back "Me too sweetie. *swallows* Please go find your daddy!" And off she went. Thankfully, that was the only interaction we had during my labor pains.

I was starting to feel like I was going to throw up, but could not move from my position by the bed. I told Phil we needed to go soon. He told we had one last option: we could call and ask his boss to come watch our kids until we could get ahold of his brother. At this point, I was so worried about giving birth in my house, that I said ok. {Thank goodness they have such a good relationship!} When Phil called, I was worried he was told "no" by how he was responding. Thankfully, that was not the case! Phil packed up the car, and I asked for a bucket in case I did throw up. {For the record, I did not!} Phil's brother got back to us, and told us he'd relieve Phil's boss ASAP. I'm so thankful for family in town willing to do that! It took about 20 minutes, but his boss got to our house, and I ran into the car. I had a contraction as I climbed in, and proceeded to have 3 more back to back halfway to the hospital. We pulled up to the hospital in 8 minutes flat. It was the fastest I've ever gotten to the hospital, considering traffic!

This was 6:53 am.

Phil went into the front area and asked for a wheelchair because, if you recall, I went from a 5 to a 10 with David because I walked from the observation room to my delivery room 2 doors down. I was wheeled inside, and handed my ID to the front desk. I was wheeled to my room by my sweet admitting nurse. I had to wait for 2 contractions to even get up to put on my gown. I took off my shorts which were soaked thanks to my water breaking. By the time I got all hooked up, my contractions were about 2-1/2 minutes apart.

I was asked a handful of times if I wanted an epidural, which I did. My initial exam had me at 4 cm dilated, which is only 1 cm better than my appointment 5 days prior. I didn't understand how little progress I had made knowing how I was feeling with every contraction.

Then, things got really intense.

I feel like I did a much better job of breathing through my contractions than when I had David, but it was still really rough. A few times, Phil had to answer questions for me because I couldn't! By 7:30, I was at a 6, so the nurse called my doctor. She was doing rounds at another hospital, so she said she'd be there soon. About this time, I was asked about an epidural again since my IV was in. The main person was still in a C-section, and the backup was going to put on her shoes and head my way. I recall saying out loud, "There's not going to be time!" {I believe I said it in a nice way, but only Phil can confirm that. I was trying to be nice at least because I knew they couldn't help it} I mentioned pressure, so they checked me at 7. Due to it being the middle of a shift change at the hospital, the overnight on-call doctor was about to head home. They asked if she could stay because I wasn't going to be much longer. She came in, introduced herself, held my hand through 1-1/2 contractions, then checked me. It was time to push! With around 3 pushes in 5 minutes, Charlotte Eliza May Coghill was on my chest, and giving us a good cry :)

This was 7:47 am.

{Quick recap: My water broke after a coughing fit at 5:30 am, I got to the hospital at 6:53 am, my doctor was told I was at 6 cm at 7:30 am, and Lottie was born at 7:47 am}

My poor doctor came to my room at 8:05, thinking I'd have an epidural and waiting to dilate to 10. She was completely caught off guard when she saw my baby on my chest! HAHA She apologized, but didn't have to. I don't think I even expected to done that quickly.

Lottie was weighed a few hours later. She is our biggest baby at 7 lbs 3 oz, 19.5 inches long, and had APGAR scores of 8 and 9. In other words, just perfect :)

Everything worked out, and it is quite a story to tell. I was truly scared of delivering at home, so I'm thankful things didn't progress any faster! Phil's parents, and my folks, all made it to greet Lottie on her birthday. We had some sweet visitors, and lots of well wishes. With both of us looking good health-wise, we only stayed 1 night, and got to go home on Tuesday late in the afternoon. Jillian was very glad of this. {Apparently, thanks to Daniel Tiger, she thought I'd have the baby, then we'd walk to baby home in her stroller that same day. Thanks a lot D.T.!}

Both Jillian and David have warmed up to Lottie, and love having her around. Now listening to their bosses and doing what they're told without an attitude, that's a different story...

I'm most grateful for all the friends and family, nurses, and doctors all willing to help me and my family. There's no way I would have made it to the hospital, and had such a good experience without every person that was there for us on Monday!

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good considering. It is a little harder to recover when you have two littles at home, even if you have lots of help. My body feels a little more run down this time, but I still feel much better than I did after Jillian's delivery. I don't have lots of leg swelling, I'm only taking Ibuprofen, and I feel good mood wise. I am already taking medicine for anxiety and depression, just so I can be on top of it this time. I'm hoping to be weaned off in a few months, but we'll see how things go :)

And what you're really looking for... pictures!