Levi's Birth Story

(I don't get very graphic at all but this is a birth story so if that's not your thing just skip to the pictures.) 

I knew very early on in this last pregnancy that I wanted to get induced if the baby didn't come on his own by 39 weeks. After having 3 really smooth deliveries (2 inductions) and after having an almost 10 pound Luke at 39 weeks I was pretty sure my doctor would let me get induced early with Levi. I wanted to get induced right at 39 weeks (May 25th), but it was the last day of school and then it was Memorial Day weekend so I ended up waiting until May 29th to get induced. 

The whole thing was pretty much as I expected. Just like with Emma and Luke I went in about 7:30 in the morning, got checked in, and got checked. I was already about 2 centimeters dilated and pretty effaced so they hooked me up to an IV and started me on Pitocin about 9:00. With the other two inductions my doctor let my contractions go for a couple hours before breaking my water but I had a new doctor this time and she broke my water right from the start. Things kicked into gear pretty quickly. They told me the anesthesiologist would be in a c-section so I either had to get it before his c-section or after it (a gap of about 45 minutes). I was planning on an epidural at some point anyway so I went with before. And it was a good choice. I forget how quickly induced contractions progress so by the time the doctor came to give me the epidural I was definitely starting to want it.

Taylor was a good sport. Fourth time around he knew what to expect. He knew that I would make him stay in the room for the epidural (I don't even need him to look at me, I just need him in the room for whatever psychological reason), he took a nap on the couch during the down time after the epidural kicked in (after asking me if it was okay), brought some work to do, and did whatever I asked him to. He's a good hospital buddy. :)

When you're on an epidural they prop a pillow under one side to keep you from laying flat on your back, then they come switch sides every once in a while to keep the epidural from settling to one side. 

So based on my previous two deliveries I expected something like this:

After the epidural I'd take naps or read for a few hours and finally at some point they'd switch my pillow, I'd start feeling a lot of pressure and the epidural wouldn't help. They'd check me, I'd be ready to go and I'd have to try not to push out the baby until my doctor got there. 

I even gave my nurse a heads up so she would take me seriously when I said I was ready to push. And sure enough, I was right!

They switched my pillow while Taylor was gone getting lunch (only about 5 minutes away... I checked Find My Friends...) and I started to feel that all-too-familiar pushing pressure. I texted Taylor that I was going to have the nurse come check but that he should probably get back to the hospital. The nurse came in, I was 9+ centimeters, she had me do a test push and said, "Yep! You're about ready." I thought, Great! We'll have this baby by 3:00!

NOPE.

Taylor came back and about 20 minutes later my nurse comes in and says super casually, "I called your doctor and left a message. She's finishing up with a couple patients and then she'll be on her way over."

SHE HADN'T EVEN LEFT THE OFFICE??

The office was like 20 MINUTES AWAY FROM THE HOSPITAL.

I was so mad.

Meanwhile I'm sitting there not moving and trying not to push out a baby. I wasn't in pain but I was SUPER uncomfortable and SUPER bitter. I almost just pushed the baby out without my doctor because I wanted that baby OUT.

But I waited.

Finally, my doctor came in, got me set up, and told me I could push with the next contraction. And although it felt like I'd had a million contractions in the last 5 minutes, nothing happened for like 3 minutes. Oh, the irony.

But a contraction did eventually come, I pushed, the baby's head came out, my doctor told me to stop, readjusted her grip on the baby, told me to push again (all within a single contraction of about 45 seconds maybe) and another Moss baby was born.

Levi Evan Moss

9 lbs 9 oz

21 inches long

Born 5/29/18 at 4:06pm (not 3:00)

It felt like some serious déjà vu when they put him on my stomach to cut the cord. He looked so much like Luke that I thought, Didn't I already give birth to this one?? He was definitely one of our kids.

This boy was not a happy camper when he first came out. In fact, he cried for maybe the first 20 minutes of life (even when I was holding him) until I was finally able to nurse him. He was just hungry! I should have predicted then that I would be feeding him every 2 hours for the next month or so (not exaggerating).

We also had a hard time naming him! We knew we wanted his middle name to be after Taylor's brother Evan but his first name? We went to the hospital still not knowing. With our other kids we basically had one name picked out unless they came out with a stamp on their forehead that said otherwise. But with Levi we actually had two other names above his on our list. We even called him one of them for like an hour before Taylor and I both decided it wasn't it. We decided to sleep on it and so we didn't officially decide on Levi until the next morning. But now it fits. 

I feel so lucky and relieved to have such straightforward deliveries and such healthy babies. Levi's blood sugar got a little low in the hospital (common with big babies) but they brought it back up with a tiny bit of formula and since then he's been absolutely perfect and healthy. He's a sweet little chunk and we all just love him.