The Birth of Our Fifth Baby

I’m going to go back. Way back to the day I found out I was pregnant. It was August and we had only just moved a few weeks before. I knew there was something going on with me. My first thought was that I was having delayed postpartum depression because my baby was only six months old. When the nausea came, I pretty much knew. Either I had a terrible disease, or I was pregnant again. The VERY positive line on my pregnancy test confirmed that I was pregnant with our fifth child.

I was scared at first. Our fourth baby wasn’t even a year old. I worried how I could handle five kids so young. I worried about my own health because I’d only lost half the weight from my fourth pregnancy. I worried I would have another miscarriage. I even had bleeding in those early weeks that scared me into believing I was miscarrying again, but we saw that beautiful heartbeat during the first ultrasound and our baby girl grew and grew.

This pregnancy was pretty rough. I gained a bit less than I typically gain, but considering I hadn’t lost all the baby weight from my previous pregnancy like I typically do, I ended up larger than ever. I was also sick a lot. I was exhausted, and I battled hypoglycemia and anxiety. The last few weeks of the pregnancy were so hard. I could barely walk. My ribs felt like they were being pushed apart and it was incredibly painful. I was constantly breathless. In the end, I chose to go ahead with an induction. I felt like she was going to be a big baby because I was so horribly uncomfortable, and considering we live 45 minutes from the hospital I prefer to deliver at, I just thought an induction would be better for me, my other kids, and my husband.

Mr. Simple and I arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. Everything was pretty standard. I filled out the paperwork (haha I never preregistered), changed into my gown, and sat on the hospital bed. 

Our nurse was an older lady. Apparently she had broken her knee cap in the room I was delivering in, so she told me she got a little nervous around all the cords by my bed. She hooked me up with my monitors, started my IV, and put the blood pressure cuff on me. I got saline and antibiotics because I ended up being + for Group B strep (first time for that).

Around 8:30 a.m. she started the pitocin. My doctor came by to break my water, but I was only dilated about 1-2 cm, so she thought it would be best to wait until my contractions got a little stronger. All this time I was in pretty much no pain.

I got my epidural around 10 a.m. I’ve nearly delivered without an epidural, and I’ll be honest, I will take the epi, please. It honestly makes the delivery so much easier and stress-free for me. 

My doctor came back around 11 to break my water, and that’s when things really got going. I like to be able to have some feeling with my epidurals, but the pain was getting pretty intense. I thought I was pushing the little button on my epidural for more medicine, but I wasn’t pushing it hard enough. Ha. My nurse finally noticed that I wasn’t pushing the button correctly, and just as my epidural was wearing off I was able to get some more medicine.

There was one instance where my nurse had me laying back in a weird position, and then she sat me up and the baby’s heart rate dropped really low. At the same time I got a weird headache. It felt like a head rush. The nurse turned off the pitocin and sat me back a bit. Her heart rate did come back up and everything was fine, but that was a bit weird. I’m not sure if it was the pitocin, or maybe the baby rolled over on to her cord in a weird way. 

Around 1 p.m. I felt the urge to push. My nurse checked me and I was nearly fully dilated. My doctor came in and got suited up while I waited for my opportunity to push. 

After 3 or 4 good pushes, our baby girl was out. I can’t tell you the amount of relief my body felt when I pushed my baby out. It was a relief that I hadn’t felt with my other kids.

I watched as the doctor cleared her airway. I felt like everything was moving in slow motion. I held my breath waiting for her to cry, and then she did. Such a beautiful sound!

For the first time ever, the doctor was able to place my baby on my chest before she was whisked away by the nurses. My other kids had some issues that needed to be taken care of immediately, but not this little girl. It was such an awesome thing and I’m glad I was able to experience it.

The cord was around her neck once, and apparently the cord was the longest one anyone in the room had ever seen. It was also unusually thick.

And so, we have welcomed our beautiful fifth child into the world. A baby girl, born on April 12th at 1:43 p.m. She weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. and was 21 3/4″ long. We named her Ava Christine. She is the biggest baby I have ever given birth to. The nurses actually put her in a size 6 mo shirt!

She is now 2 weeks old, and we are slowly adjusting to our new life as a family of 7! Wow! I still can’t believe we have five kids. I won’t lie, days can be hard with so many littles, but we love it! 

I’m soaking up these baby days. Mr. Simple calls me a baby hog. I just love holding her. I could hold her all day. The newborn days don’t last long enough.