It's been over a month now since Logan was born, so I should probably quickly write down what I recall from her birth. Just so I don't forget too much and so I can please the sadistic people who like to read these kind of stories. I kid, I kid.
Anyways, my pregnancy with Logan was way different than it was with Sheriff (To read all about my first pregnancy/delivery, go HERE). I craved crap. Like chips and candy. I was also way more laid back. I knew what birth was all about and wasn't freaking out the entire pregnancy about delivering the baby. And I looked different. This should have lead me to believe I was having a boy, but when I first found out I was pregnant, both Jon and I instantly thought it would be another girl. And then we didn't find out what we were having because the ultrasound technician couldn't tell. In retrospect, I wish I would have kept a tally of how many people told me I was going to have a boy based on the way that I was carrying Logan. I find living in Calgary that women of different ethnicities are more excited to speak with you about your pregnancy than your typical "white" woman, and they often have little "signs" they look for that obviously indicate what you're having. I had Vietnamese women, Pilipino women, Latino women, Chinese women, all sorts of women randomly tell me I was having a boy. But still, I couldn't quite believe them.
My due date was October 10th. As the date drew closer I found myself not as anxious as I was the first time. With Sheriff, I just wanted things to end. It made me furious each time I found out a girl with the same due date as me had their baby already. This time around, I knew my days with just Sheriff were numbered and I did my best to enjoy them. I would have been perfectly fine to go overdue a couple days.
When the due date finally rolled around there was still nothing. So I went on a walk in the coulees in Lethbridge, enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner, did some shopping, watched some Walking Dead, and then started to feel like labour might decide to happen in the near future. It was like 10PM at this point, so I decided to have a nice long, hot shower and get ready for bed. When I hopped into bed at 11PM, that's when contractions started to happen consistently. I figured I could still try and get some sleep, so I laid in bed patiently waiting to doze off, but it never happened. At 1AM I finally decided to tell Jon what was happening. Thankfully, my husband is a much more antsy person than myself and he made me get the ball rolling to leave for the hospital. I really hate the idea of showing up at the hospital and then being sent home, so I dragged my feet a little and slowly packed and got ready. We finally got to the Raymond Hospital at around 1:45AM.
SIDEBAR - I decided to have Logan in Raymond as well because I had such a great experience having Sheriff there. When I first started to see my doctor for this pregnancy at the beginning, he was quick to tell me that they were going to quit delivering babies in Raymond in the near future and that I may need to find another hospital/doctor. As I got further along it was determined that I could have my baby in Raymond, but that they were going to shut things down soon. I guess the Raymond Hospital doesn't deliver that many babies since there is no anesthesiologist there to administer epidurals. Girls choose to go into Lethbridge to get the job done instead. At my 39 week appointment I was told that I would be the last to deliver in Raymond, as neither of the two doctors who do deliveries had any more patients expecting.
When we got to the hospital, the door was locked since it was after hours, so we had to buzz in. The nurse at the desk asked us what we were there for, so I simply answered, "I'm here to have a baby." Haha, you should have seen their faces as we came in and I casually walked up to the desk joking around with Jon. The contractions were definitely getting stronger by this point, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle. This dude nurse even went as far as to ask, "Are you sure you're in labour?" I assured him I was as this was my second kid.
It was like Logan knew I was finally in the hospital, because as we were standing at the desk getting checked in, things started to amp up. I regretted being so chipper on my way in because it made the nurses act really slow. When I finally got to the delivery room and changed into my gown, things got cranked up another notch again. The head nurse checked how things were progressing and then called my doctor to come in. I remember being a little annoyed because she didn't give me my "number," but looking back I should have known I was at a 10 because she told me she could feel Logan's head already.
The contractions at this point were outrageous. With Sheriff, I was so relaxed and peaceful and had my wonderful little birth mantra of "I can do anything for one minute," and things just never felt overwhelming at all. This time around all of that went out the window. I remember after one contraction that felt like it went on for 2 years thinking in a panic, "I can't do this for five hours," which is how long my labour with Sheriff was. Fortunately I didn't have to. With Sheriff I never, ever felt the urge to push. By the next contraction that's all I could think about. I mentioned this to the nurses, to which the dude nurse said something to the effect of, "Hold on, let's not be hasty." (Haha, as I'm remembering all of this and writing it down I'm surprised I never once felt the urge to punch the dude nurse in the face)
By this point Dr. Steed arrived and so did another nurse, my friend Jessica's mom, to help out. I'm so glad the head nurse called Susie, as the dude nurse and other girl really had no idea what to do. In fact, the other girl nurse wrote "Amanda Ruiz" on my hospital bracelet. Bless her heart. I think Dr. Steed thought this delivery would be like my last because he was really nonchalant and took his time to get his gloves and gown. After he broke my water he started to ask me a question, but I so rudely interrupted him with a contraction that I finally had the green light on to push. And just like that, after two contractions accompanied with pushing, Logan was born. And thank goodness, because like I said, those contractions felt like I was being hit by a train. Haha, I remember looking up after the first contraction and Dr. Steed didn't even have his gown on all the way. It was pulled up to his elbows and that's it. Logan surprised him.
It was so neat to see little Logan. She came out with her legs crossed, so there was this magical moment of anticipation where everyone was looking anxiously to see what she was. Dr. Steed was holding her to face me, so when her legs finally uncrossed I was one of the first to know I had just had another girl. And I was so excited! A big smile tore across my face. Which is funny when I think back to how upset I was when I found out Sheriff was a girl, haha. Logan let out a big healthy cry shortly after coming out and everyone in the room was in awe over how much hair she had.
Logan had all the attention in the room for a couple minutes before I stole it all back. I remembered how Dr. Steed had been in the middle of asking me a question, so I apologized and asked him to finish. He said his wife was wondering if she could come in and take pictures of "the last baby to be delivered in Raymond." I was so excited and obviously said yes. I've been a closet creeper of her blog and photography for awhile and knew the caliber of her work. You can see the beautiful pictures she took HERE.
As I mentioned, I quickly stole all the attention when it became clear how much blood I was losing. I remember looking up at the monitor and being surprised to see my blood pressure was hoovering around 70/50. At that point it was determined that I needed a transfusion, so now I can say I have someone else's blood in my body. I guess that's pretty cool. After the transfusion was complete the nurses tried to help me up to go take a shower. Nope. My blood pressure was still so low that even sitting up on the bed made me nauseous and start to shake and feel like I was going to pass out. So they gave me quick little sponge bath and a catheter and took me to my room on a stretcher. Can I just say how fantastic a catheter is? I'm asking for one for Christmas. Think of how much Netflix I could lay around and watch without any bathroom breaks!
I ended up staying in the hospital for two and a half days and got two more blood transfusions. Can I also just say how awesome blood transfusions are? I'm asking for some more for Christmas. I now totally understand why professional athletes would get all tangled up in blood doping scandals. It makes you feel invincible! So although my delivery with Logan was way rougher than Sheriff's delivery, I felt way more awesome sooner because of the wonderful blood gifts.
So there you have it folks. This has been a story about having another baby. To conclude I'd like to just reaffirm something a friend told me before I had ever had any kids. After a couple quick labours of her own, she told me that fast labours SUCK. I didn't believe her. It didn't make sense to me that it would suck to have an inevitable moment of pain be over quickly. I can now confirm that she is right. Although I was really only in labour with Logan for 2.5 hours, the last half hour was so brutal I felt like I was being trampled by a herd of cattle. The quick labour with Logan made my moderately longer labour, only five hours, with Sheriff seem like a day at the spa. So ladies, pray for a longer labour.
The end!
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