while not everything was the same this time around, because i am evidently skilled at coming up with new and different ways to create drama in the delivery room, our second birth experience had some notable similarities to the first. to start off, we were once again caught off guard at a routine appointment where we expected to discuss an induction date that was still a few days away, but due to some extra amniotic fluid that showed up on the ultrasound that morning, ended up being induced the same evening.
we settled into our room, which happened to be the same one jack had been born in, and things moved along pretty much as expected, aside from the three tries it took for the epidural. once that was finally in place they broke my water, but the progress after was slower than expected. around this time i started getting the shakes which ended up lasting through the whole ordeal. when my doctor arrived early the next morning she was a little perplexed about the slow progress and ended up breaking my water for a second time, and this time it really worked [i was a bit oblivious, but donald describes this part as "epic"]. it was still slow going for awhile, but once it was finally time to push i did three sets and on the fourth set the contractions came back to back and the baby popped right out! the nurse put him on my chest while my doctor and a resident worked on repairing a relatively small tear. everything was calm and i think i actually said out loud, "is that it?"
spoiler: that was not it.
after about twenty minutes my doctor asked if i still had my epidural button and suggested i push it again, which seemed strange since i was under the impression we were pretty much done. i asked why and she said "i just think it's a good idea." and this is where things got interesting.
my placenta was not delivering, which i later learned is an uncommon and potentially quite serious condition called a retained placenta. when this happens someone has to manually go in and get it, which involves a glove that i previously thought was reserved for livestock, and my doctor digging around in what felt like my ribcage. during this process the shakes i had been experiencing basically the whole time became more like spasms, my speech became slurred, and the room filled up real quick. at one point there were five doctors and more nurses and techs than i could keep track of. i was once again hemorrhaging and it was another hollywood-esque scene as doctors shouted orders and various people ran around sticking needles into my legs and pills into my mouth.
an ultrasound machine was brought in to monitor the progress of the placenta removal, and after all the bits and pieces were eventually extracted the room cleared out a bit, but i still had another couple hours of the shakes and just generally feeling bad. at some point my nurse asked me to sit up so she could get an accurate blood pressure reading and it was as if a switch flipped and i suddenly felt fine [and also very, very hungry]. soon after we moved over to mother baby for a short stay, and while we were there we officially decided on a name and introduced archie michael to the world.
