My labor and delivery story with baby #2

I had a baby yall! I know….. I’m late on the post but I wanted to share my labor and delivery story with baby #2 since I’ve been thrown into a whirlwind of having a newborn and a toddler in the last few months. I wanted to write my story before but didn’t have the energy to do it. So now I’m here! 

Welcome to the world Ari Matteo Gomez, my sweet baby boy who entered this world 5 days after my birthday September 20th, 2022. He was a full 8 pounds, 22 inches born at 3:16 a.m.

One Month before baby’s Arrival 

When I tell you I was READY!! Honey!!!! I was ready to have him come out as SOON as possible.

The waddle walk was serious, I had pelvic pains, my toddler’s tantrums were at a 10 and I was MISERABLE. 

Since this was my second pregnancy, I already figured out what I wanted to bring to the hospital my Braxton hicks were kicking in and I felt like I was ready for labor.

I downloaded an app called Gentle Birth Pregnancy which prepares you for a positive birth experience. It was something I wanted the second time around since the first time I had a baby it wasn’t a good experience. 

Labor is definitely no joke. Phewww it’s like a marathon and you’ve got to be mentally prepared for it.

There are links in my post where I’m able to earn a small commission if you decide to purchase at no cost to you.

They teach you how to mentally be calm, breathing exercises, calm music, courses, and everything you need to do to prepare for your birth. I seriously recommend this as a second-time mom as I had a great experience with it. I would always go to sleep listening to a module since it was very calming.

 There’s also a contraction timer with a person speaking in the background to guide you through your contractions and this really helped as I was going through mine in real life! 

Realistically nothing can prepare you entirely, however, it’s nice to have some mental preparation as giving birth is a HUGE mental/physical preparation. 

Delivery Month of Baby 

Two weeks before I had baby Ari I thought he would come out way before my due date since he felt so heavy on my body and it was obviously my second pregnancy. 

But I was wrong….

I kept asking the doctors if they could tell me if the baby would come sooner because I was DONE. They would tell me the obvious statement that he would come out whenever he was ready and was hoping for another answer. 

At this point, I was really uncomfortable and super annoyed with everything. 

I wanted him out. 

Being desperate, I researched everything to see how I can get the baby to come out sooner and so I heard from other moms on social media about eating dates and raspberry leaf tea. 

There are links in my post where I’m able to earn a small commission if you decide to purchase at no cost to you.

They say it will make your labor shorter and the baby come out faster. I will attest to this because I had him literally in 3 hours. *my head starts to hurt as I reminisce* We will talk more about this later…

When I tell you to DO THIS (claps hands) because it works if you want your baby to come out faster! 

*Disclaimer: this worked for me and may not be the same result for everyone else* 

Two weeks before the arrival of baby

The excitement of having the baby was heavy on my mind and my birthday was four days before his due date which made me even more anxious. 

Everyone thought he would arrive on my birthday but I was hoping he wasn’t going to come on that day since I make that day reserved just for ME haha! I didn’t want to share the same birthday, however, I was ok sharing our birthday month. It doesn’t sound too harsh right?  

I had already packed my hospital suitcase , my mom’s suitcase and brought extra things for my husband. This time around I thought I wasn’t going to pack too many things but somehow I was able to fill up my check-in bag (laughs). 

A week prior to giving birth my mucus plug came out and that had NEVER happened to me when I had my daughter so I looked on google first before calling my doctor and it was a sign of labor coming. 

If you don’t know what a mucus plug is….it’s basically this plug that forms as mucus in early pregnancy and prevents bacteria and infection from going to your uterus.

Yep, it’s crazy what your body can do. 

Anyways, I was nervous and called my midwife to let her know what happened and she calmly told me it could be today, tomorrow, or next week of labor. 

I was excited and hoped that he would come out the next day! I told my mom, got ready, and then prayed that I would get labor pains soon.

Nope, nothing happened. 

So then let’s fast forward to a day before my due date and I was absolutely DONE. I didn’t think I would make it to his due date and although I was grateful we made it to 40 weeks, I was ready for him to come out. 

My mom suggested we walk around the mall to walk him out and I was determined not to go anywhere because I was in so much pain from walking but I couldn’t take being pregnant anymore. 

So I gave in and walked with my mom in the mall with my umbrella as it assisted me in my famous penguin walk.

I felt so embarrassed and people could tell I was in pain. Someone had mentioned they felt bad for me and asked if I was due soon and I said Yep! Tomorrow! They were in shock but knew I was ready to have him out!

Labor

The next morning around 6 am, I started to have contractions, and this time I KNEW they were contractions. (Thanks mom for the walking suggestion!) 

I was having Braxton hicks for a few weeks and now the Braxton hicks transitioned with pain in my back and so now I understood how Braxton hicks prepared for labor. 

The excitement came over me and I told my husband and mom to prepare our day! I had to wait to see if my contractions were getting consistent and they were all over the place throughout the day (I had to walk around our neighborhood again) and then once it was around 10 pm it started to get consistent. 

There was a sense of knowing he would come out during the evening because he was always active at night.

As my husband and I put our daughter to sleep, I started having consistent contractions and knew it was time to go. We packed our things, went to the car, and realized this was the last time we would be a family of three. 

I called my midwife, and she said to come to the hospital. Tearfully, I realized the era of just my daughter and I would be over. It really sunk in.

Sitting in the car doing my breathing exercises with the gentle birth pregnancy app we made our way to the hospital. I was nervous knowing it would take us 30 minutes to get there and thank god I didn’t wait any longer because he came out so fast! 

Delivery

We arrived at the hospital and I requested a wheelchair to push it and not sit on it. Yup, strangely I needed to hold onto something rather than sitting down and it made sense because I could feel him being really low. 

As I check into the registration desk, I ask for an epidural ASAP and the nurse assured me they would give it to me once I get a room. 

The pain was all over my body now and I could not wait for the epidural, they had to give me a saline bag first, and once my doctor arrived she let me have the epidural. I was in heaven!

Until I realized the epidural worked but the tip of my tailbone was still in pain. She checked me and I was at 5 cm arriving and then an hour later 7 cm. Then my doctor said ok! We will be having this baby in another hour! 

I started doing practice pushes when it was time and the epidural went away which scared me. 

I felt EVERYTHING…. (whoosahh)…. and once he started to come out I felt the famous ring of fire and my body was shaking from the trauma. 

When my doctor pulled him out he was so warm and calm. The sound of his cry was a relief that I won’t ever forget. 

It was an exciting feeling and I was curious to see how we were going to bond since I didn’t bond with him much while I was pregnant. 

But the love was there once I saw his face and felt complete. 

After Delivery with baby #2

My body was shaking and I was filled with excitement and relief since the pain was almost gone.

The placenta was the last thing I remember that was making the contractions continue and weirdly wanted to see it come out too!

After my doctor pulled it out, the pain was immediately gone and I felt so happy that this would be my last baby but somewhat sad that it was over.

I remember trying to take as many photos and videos because I would always look at lunas birth photos and regrettably felt like I didn’t take enough! These babies change so much in a few days!

Taking continuous videos and photos of the baby in my postpartum room was so exciting, I was able to set up his announcement clothes and sign in his little bassinet.

Being kind to myself during this time was very important to me and I didn’t stress about NOTHING yall.

Like I didn’t even care that he wasn’t wanting to eat for the first few hours because I knew he would eat when he wanted to. I also breast fed him as long as he wanted on each side and there were no issues.

I realized I also didn’t have baby blues thankfuly.

Being a mom of two has been such a blessing and I feel like my heart is full. I never thought that having two kids would make me feel the way I do and for that I am grateful.

Now on to the next best chapter in my life and raising my little family of four.