Calvin’s Birth Story

I went into my second pregnancy knowing that I was at risk for pre-eclampsia, which basically meant I needed to keep track of my blood pressure and make sure it didn’t get too high. You can read about how I had preeclampsia and delivered my first baby 6 weeks early HERE.

Writing this 10 months postpartum here is what I remember about my pregnancy with Calvin. I did not get morning sickness. June-August was hot as hell. Heartburn is a B.

The week leading up to Calvin’s birth I was trying all the inducement tricks and watching my blood pressure closely, almost hoping that it would raise so I could have my baby a little early.

I had highish blood pressure for a couple of weeks and the days prior to the 13th I finally crossed into the “stage 1 hypertension” range so I was hopeful when we arrived at my 2:30 appointment on Tuesday that I might be sent to be induced sooner than my due date.

We arrived at the appointment, my blood pressure was high, the doctor checked me and said I was at a 5 and suggested stripping my membranes again (pointless, don’t do it) so we did that and then he said

"well if you wanted you could go to the hospital and just pretend you’re in pain and they will admit you with how dilated you are."

And I say, "well what about my blood pressure?"

and he asks, "is it high?"

Checks my numbers and says, “Oh yeah let’s get you in there tonight” then he calls the hospital and tells them I’m coming tonight and says to me and Ryon, go home get all your stuff in order and then head to the hospital and we’ll get that baby out in like 3 hours.

So we left the appointment with huge smiles on our faces and stopped for dinner at In-n-out, then went home and grabbed the hospital bag and camera. Called my mom and Jana to get all the babysitter stuff in motion. Then the hospital called and asked if we could wait until 7 pm to come. Which was fine, I had only had like 4 contractions since my appointment. I had a couple more on the drive to the hospital, then we checked in and they put in my IV, checked my cervix (5) and started me on Pitocin, gave me an epidural, broke my water, check my cervix (6), checked it again an hour or so later and I was at a 10, so they called Doctor Young in and I pushed for about 15 minutes through 4 or 5 contractions and then my baby was born!

It was an awesome experience again, it was pretty painless. Our nurse Abby was awesome. It only took 3.5 hours. No episiotomy this time! Woohoo! (TMI? maybe)

Since having such a positive experience with my epidural for Dean's birth I figured I would just do it again. I know there are many ways to deliver a baby, but someone told me that you should do whatever you need to do so that you can genuinely enjoy the birth of your child. So give me that epidural.

He is here!

August 13, 2019

11:37 pm

8 lbs 5oz

21inches

Dean was so sweet with his new baby brother and excited to play with all the buttons on the hospital bed. Both Ryon and I just couldn't get over how big he seemed compared to Dean as a newborn.

It took us an entire week to decide on a name (same as with Dean). We finally landed on Calvin after trying a couple of other names (Lewis, Henry, Thomas).