The adventure of pregnancy and the birth of our second daughter during a pandemic.

By now, we’re all tired of hearing about the pandemic. What was once something we had hoped would come and go as quickly as we first heard about it, has now turned into “life as we know it”. We just surpassed one year of the first confirmed case in the United States. In our family, we also just surpassed one year of first announcing we were pregnant with our second child.

Our first appointment was scheduled for early February 2020 when I was 7 weeks pregnant. We were elated to confirm our oldest daughter would have a little sibling in late September. Due to my first pregnancy sadly ending in a miscarriage and being put on bed rest at 35 weeks due to high blood pressure during my second pregnancy, I was labeled as “high risk”. My doctor wanted to see me every 3 weeks until I was 20 weeks pregnant and even more frequently after 20 weeks.

Little did we know, the 7 week appointment was the first and last appointment Austen would be able to go to. The global pandemic ramped up, the United States implemented a nationwide shutdown, and medical facilities put strict limitations on the number of individuals allowed at appointments.

Appointment after appointment, I followed the same procedure: masked-up, filled out COVID paperwork, sanitized my hands before opening the door leading back to the room, sat down in one of the socially-distanced seats to get my blood pressure taken, and then waited patiently for the doctor. I was blessed to get an ultrasound during every appointment and was able to record each one to send to Austen. Although he wasn’t able to be with me during the appointments, being able to send him the video of our little one was the next best thing.

The pregnancy itself was uneventful. I didn’t have the swelling or carpal tunnel like I had during the pregnancy with my first daughter. I attribute it to going to our community pool and swimming 5x per week until I was 37 weeks pregnant. Fast forward to 11:00 PM at 39 weeks (just like the first pregnancy), we were making our way to the hospital to get ready for the birth of our second daughter.

The Delivery

When we first arrived at the hospital, we were sent to the monitoring section of the hospital to determine if I had dilated enough to be admitted. To my dismay, I was only 1 cm dilated at my arrival but I knew I was in active labor. The doctor came in to visit shortly after and told us if after 2 hours I had dilated more, I would be admitted. The 2 hour walk we took around the halls was just what the doctor ordered (literally!). Another centimeter dilated and a COVID test later, I was finally wheeled up to my room at 7:00 AM on the labor and delivery floor.

Once I got to the room, I was asked if I wanted to get an epidural. I informed my nurses that I had a really bad experience with the epidural during the first delivery; I have a narrow spinal column which resulted in about 30 minutes of poking around until the anesthesiologist finally found the correct spot. They explained the administration of the epidural, in their experience, had never taken that long and I shouldn’t worry. I was about to prove them wrong…

The anesthesiologist arrived and proceeded with inserting the needle into my lower back. Both nurses were on opposite sides of me holding me forward so the anesthesiologist could find the correct location. After about 10-15 minutes, 3 different pokes, several instances of feeling the sensation of a hitting my funny bone in my ears and finger tips, and the instantaneous flailing of all four extremities into one of the nurses when a nerve was hit, it was over. I sat up, looked at the nurses, let out a small laugh, and said “I told you”.

This epidural block was different than during the first labor and delivery. During the birth of our first daughter, the epidural completely numbed my body from my lower back down through my legs. I could not move at all. If I started feeling contractions, the anesthesiologist had to come back into the room and administer another nerve block through the line. This time around, I could turn to my side and move my legs without assistance but I couldn’t feel any contractions. It was pretty cool. Anytime I felt any sort of contraction, I just had to hit a button.

Our nurses were nothing short of amazing. They were attentive and friendly. Around 9:00 AM, they explained my doctor had to go into emergency surgery so they did not want to start Pitocin until he was out. At 11:30 AM, Pitocin was started, I was asked to flip to my side, and I was given a peanut ball. That really got things going! I quickly went from 4 cm to 10 cm in less than 2 hours. The doctor was called in, he prepped, and was ready to deliver our daughter.

I was so sleep-deprived and exhausted at this point that I felt like I was having an outer-body experience. After the first contraction and push, my doctor started talking and laughing about Star Trek. I looked at Austen, raised my eyebrows, pretended to know what my doctor was talking about, and started laughing myself. That got my doctor’s attention! He noticed laughing was doing more than pushing so on my next contraction, he told me to laugh instead of push. Literally 2 contractions/”pushes” later, I laughed my second daughter into this world.

Fun fact: our second daughter was named after her great grandmother, Jean.

Life as a Family of 4

The past 7 months have been a whirlwind. The first 5 months were extremely rough; bottles/pacifiers were refused and consistent sleep was minimal. However, one day in early March, everything just “clicked”. The past 6+ weeks have been an absolute blessing. Austen is the best father/”girl dad” to our daughters and our oldest couldn’t be more proud or more in love with her little sister. This little family of 4 is everything I could have ever dreamed of and I’m looking forward to continued memories and adventures with this incredible team.