Amy's Adventures: {Surprise Arrival} Caleb Michael

As you know by now, we had an early surprise arrival of Caleb a couple weeks ago. I've had a few people ask me why he came so early and unexpectedly. And although I don't really know why, here's how it all went down.

On Saturday December 5th, Ella and I went to the PSU hockey game, as we often do on Saturdays in the fall/winter/spring/allyearlong. It was the annual Teddy Bear Toss game, so Ella was super excited to go, as it's her favorite game of the year.

In the weeks prior, I had been having occasional contractions, especially when I was at work or doing something active. The doctors were aware, and they said it was no big deal. That Saturday, I had been having contractions more frequently and at rest, so I looked at the doctors' instructions they give to all pregnant patients. It said that if you have contractions at rest, and they resolve with hydration and activity then they're false contractions. So to the game we went, and the contractions stopped. So I didn't think anything more of it. We had a great time at the game, and had a relaxing and routine evening at home.

I went to up to bed at 11pm, and Mike was still watching the Big Ten championship game {go iowa!}. Just as I tucked into bed at 11:30... GUSH! I was totally shocked, and I knew immediately that my water had broken. So I waddled my way into the bathroom. Since Ella was asleep just down the hall, I didn't want to yell for Mike. So I texted him. And his phone was charging about 10 feet from me. Rats. I made my way down the hall and quietly asked Mike to come upstairs. Twice. Nothing. So I waddled halfway downstairs, hoping not to make a trail on the carpet behind me. I asked him again to come upstairs. He stood up and started to slowly make his way upstairs, while intently watching the football game. Patiently, I rolled my eyes and headed back upstairs to avoid making a puddle on the stairs. A few minutes later, he came up. [priorities ;) ]

After calling the doctor and quickly throwing some things into a bag, Mike and I were on our way to the hospital. We had called a friend to sleep in our guest room so that we didn't have to wake Ella. Thank goodness for friends!

Because it was five weeks early, my OB and pediatrician were discussing sending me to Hershey to deliver, since there isn't a NICU here-- just a nursery. But my labor was progressing quickly and they hadn't made a decision yet, so there was no time to transfer me to a hospital an hour and a half away.

When I arrived at the hospital, my water had indeed broken, I was 3cm dilated, and my contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. They got me admitted by 1:30am, I got an epidural at 3:30am, and I was fully dilated by 4:30am. They had me "labor down" and wait it out [if you're wondering why, they didn't know by GBS status since I wasn't yet 36 weeks, so they were hoping to get one more dose of antibiotics in at 6:30am], which I was totally ok with... lying there with an epidural sounded much more pleasant than pushing :)

Around 5:30am they decided I should start pushing. And after a whopping three pushes, Caleb was born!

Caleb Michael

Sunday | 12/6/15 | 5:50am

5 lb 8.5 oz | 18.5" long

Labor was a completely different experience this time around. I was in labor for six hours, and I pushed three times [Mike said I didn't even break a sweat!]. With Ella, I was in labor for 20 hours and I pushed for two hours. Needless to say, I recovered much more quickly this time around!