Charlie's Birth Story

Get ready for lots and lots of pictures...

So, at our 38 week appointment, I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. At that point, our doctor strongly recommended being induced because he suspected that I would have a very quick labor. We listened to his advice and went ahead and scheduled his induction for the following week.

My Mom and Dad made it in the day before Charlie's induction, and they took us out to Outback for dinner. I guess now it will be a tradition to eat there the day before I deliver, because that is the same place we ate the night before I had Jack-attack. 

That night, I had a terrible time falling asleep. I could not get comfortable for the LIFE OF ME. Needless to say, I started the day off pretty exhausted, but excited.... and also a little nervous. Because, what if this labor didn't go as quickly as Jack's. You know how they say, "every labor is different"? Well, that saying terrified me. 

After calling into the hospital twice to make sure they had room for me, we were off. Can you tell that I was excited? 

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before our scheduled nine o'clock appointment, to fill out paper work and such... and I tried my absolute best to get comfortable in the hospital gown on that bed, but once again, that's like almost impossible to do when you are moments away from delivering a baby.   My Gordy looked so handsome though.

We found out that the fabulous nurse who helped deliver Jack, would also be helping deliver Charlie. Another strange coincidence don't you think? I was super excited about that. 

But the day wasn't all roses and pony rides... We ended up having to wait on another lady to push her baby out before they would shoot me up with the pitocin. And so we waited... and waited... and waited some more... and took pictures of ourselves because there was nothing else to do in that little room. This was seriously the most agonizing part of the day. 

FINALLY, almost TWO HOURS later, they said that they could start giving me pitocin to get my contractions started. We were all like, "okay, let's do this thing". But, they only started me off on a level one with the drugs. That got the contractions started, but we were a little disappointed because they weren't feeling very strong at all. We were happy though that we could FINALLY go for a walk around the hallways.

About every twenty minutes or so, they bumped up my level of pitocin. By noon, I was on a level 4. The contractions were still very bearable and I was still walking through them... Like I wasn't even stopping my feet when they would hit.

At 12:17 my doc came in to check on me. 4 cm dilated. Not so hot. But he wanted to go a head and break my water. Totally weird experience, and totally different from the first time I had my water broken. Okay, this next part is going to be kind of gross, so if you don't have a strong stomach you can just skip down a little. This time, when my water was broken, the amniotic fluid just kept coming and coming. The doctor and nurses were shocked at how much fluid I had. My doctor guessed that I had more than a HALF GALLON. Wowzas. I had to stand on a towel while the nurse changed my sheets because EVERYTHING was soaked, including me.

but the good news was, that after my water was broken, I was 5 cm dilated. The doctor strongly recommended that I go ahead and get my epidural right then if I wanted one. I was still feeling really great, and not at all feeling like I needed an epidural, but I remembered that after the water breaks, the it's a whole new ball game in terms of feeling pain. Even though I felt like a bit of a cheater for getting my epidural before I ABSOLUTELY needed it, I decided to go a head and listen to the doctor anyway.

Just before 1 PM he started placing my epidural... and I made Gordy eat his tuna fish sandwich in the bathroom, because I didn't want that junk stinking up the room while I was all HEE HEE WHOO with my labor breathing.  Luckily, I have the best husband in the world, and he didn't even bat an eyelash when I ordered him into the bathroom with his stinky lunch.

Once my epidural was in, I was feelin' really good y'all. I actually get kind of loopy with an epidural, but I swear the world is a better place once that drug numbs you up. I was barely feeling my contractions, and life was SO good.

So, then 1:45PM rolls around and I'm barely settling into my epidural euphoria when I start getting really sharp pains in my lower abdomen. The first few times it  happened, I just let it slide. Then, I thought, "Oh no... what if my epidural is already wearing off?". So, I decided it was worth mentioning to the nurse, since the pain was getting more intense. She said that she would call the anesthesiologist back in to adjust my epidural, but she was going to check me first.

So, she took a looks-ey and got wide eyed and said, "You're complete, and its's time to start pushing. Your baby is already at a +1 station. Sorry hon, you're s.o.l. for getting your epidural adjusted." That's okay, I told myself, I can totally push through this pain (even though with was pretty agonizing).

So, it was time to start pushing, but I couldn't start pushing until the doc made it back to the hospital, which Gordy tells me too approximately 7 minutes for him to get there. Meanwhile, I was just breathing through the pain.

The doctor made it to my room at exactly 2 PM and told me to start pushing. I did one practice push, waited until my next contraction, and then REALLY pushed. It took a total of two contractions, and 4 minutes of pushing and our little Charlie Lake Wilson was born at 2:05 PM, weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 19.5 inches long. See his little smushy face? I love those new born mushed up faces. So cute...

We decided on his name, because Gordy and I both have grandfathers named Charles and Lake was my maiden name. Now Charlie will have two great men to look up to as an example as he grows up.

The entire process was incredibly quick and pretty easy. The doctor and nurse kept going on and on about how lucky I am that my deliveries are so quick, and I am super duper lucky. I always say that I would rather do labor and delivery 50 times before I would do the first trimester of being pregnant...

So, for those of you who weren't counting, my entire labor, first contraction to holding Charlie was three hours and fifteen minutes. Thanks for being cooperative, Charlie.

Then came the fun stuff, like getting to meet Grandpa, Grandma, and of course, his older brother, Jack... and getting settled in our recovery room, and eating lunch. Because heaven knows, I'm not about to skip a meal just because I was having a baby... haha.

Charlie had really long toes. We have no idea where he gets this trait...

It was really fun to see Jack love on Charlie, but of course, Jack couldn't be more than two inches away from Gramma while she was here...

Getting his footprints and his hearing test. Doesn't it look like he is listening to some old school head phones?

Before we knew it (and not a minute too soon), it was time to head home. I was so sick of being stuck in that one little room... I was definitely ready for some fresh air. Here is Charlie showing off how tiny he is in his going home out fit.

Well, that's it. That's how Charlie made his entrance into this world. A perfect delivery and a perfect little guy. He is so cute and we've been loving having him in our family.