baby was expected on march 18th. both ahonui AND nahe were born exactly on my due date which made things much easier to plan ahead of time. however, this little bubba threw us a curve ball...
at 39 weeks and 4 days along in the pregnancy, i had my final routine prenatal appointment on saturday, march 15th. since the appointment was all the way in town, i seriously considered cancelling it because it was such a hassle to drive out there for just a few minutes of a checkup. I ended up forgetting to cancel the appointment so we packed up the entire family and made the drive out to Kaneohe to see Dr. Li Duen Clark.
the kids get really loud and rambunctious in small spaces, so brandon and the kids waited outside in the van while I went in to the doctors office alone. I figured we'd be doing the same old...pee in a cup, check the weight gain (always scary, lol), check the blood pressure, yada yada yada, and I'd be back out in a jiffy. dr. clark's practice is wonderful...she does an ultrasound at each appointment to check baby's heart, growth, fetal positioning, placenta, and amniotic fluid levels. I usually check out pretty good at all my appointments. but this time, when dr. clark performed the ultrasound, I noticed that she had a worried look on her face. she kept moving around, looking hard at the screen. then she gave me the news...
she told me that my amniotic fluid levels were very low and that baby could go into distress without the cushion of those fluids, or he couldn't be getting enough fluids flowing through. she said, "well, it looks like you'll be having this baby today! you need to go to the hospital now to induce labor."
SHOCK!!!
so after leaving dr. clark's office, even though I was supposed to go and check in to the birth center, I decided to go with Brandon back to laie - quickly! (baaaad, baaaad patient, you don't have to tell me, I already know.) I had to get all the final things together for my hospital bag, get something to eat, take the kids to my in-laws, and install the infant car seat. Brandon was willing to go back to laie on his own to get everything sorted, then return to the hospital, but I just needed to take a little more time to get used to the idea that this baby was coming very, very soon!!
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| a quick shot to show my humongousness before heading to the hospital and pop this baby OUT! |
on our way back to town after getting all my things together, I got a call from hospital's birth center..."where ARE you?" lol, my bad.
we checked in to the Vera Zilber birth center at Castle Medical Center by 1:15pm, anxious and ready to get the party started!!
it took some time (and a LOT of routine questions) for the nurses to get us into a room and begin the induction process. so Brandon & I had nothing to do but wait around and what else...take selfies!
once we were moved to our labor & delivery room, got settled, and began my IV with oxytocin, it was probably around 3:30pm. it didn't take long before the contractions started, but they seemed pretty mild compared to what I experienced during my labors with ahonui & nahe. I'm a huge fan of the epidural and all, but thought that I'd wait to get it until the contractions were more painful and closer together.
around 8:30 I asked for the epidural...not because I was in so much pain (because I think I was doing okay), but because I didn't want to wait until it was too late to get it, and the pain would be too unbearable by then. when the anesthesiologist started the epidural, he seemed to have some trouble getting the long needle into my back properly. with my first two experiences getting the epidural, they were seamless, piece of cake compared to the pain from labor. this time i kept flinching...like he kept hitting a nerve! as brandon held me to keep me steady, he said a quiet prayer. after that, everything went smoothly and the anesthesiologist was able to finish the procedure without any problems. so grateful for brandon and his priesthood power.
i was able to rest once the epidural juice kicked in. my goal by that point was to have baby out by 10pm. unfortunately, you can't really call the shots when it comes to childbirth. because it wasn't until 10:40pm when the nurses had to wake me up to start pushing.
at 10:56pm that evening - saturday, march 15th, our baby boy Linohao Teroera Kealii Kahaialii was born. he weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long.
since i was induced instead of the labor naturally starting on it's own, the pain seemed a lot more tolerable...or maybe because childbirth is easier with each consecutive baby? if that's the case, bring on the babies!! (kidding.)
when i pick this chubba up from work each day, it seems that he's gained another layer of fat on his little bitty body. he has the loudest cry i've ever heard which can be compared to the shriek of a wild banshee. he seems to always know when i'm near because his head and eyes turn in my direction when he's being held by someone else. he loves to nuzzle against my neck when i'm done feeding him and in the process of getting his burps out. his big brother and sister always ask to hold him, but haven't quite got the hang of it yet. he's starting to smile a lot now which just melts anyone who's watching him.
we are absolutely in love with our baby lino. these past 8 weeks with him have definitely been hard trying to keep up with life with trying to manage all 3 kids, running on no sleep, quick meals, and a small house in disarray. looking forward to life getting back to feeling a little more normal, but enjoying every moment with our new bundle of joy.
