It was the morning of March 30, 2016…
Bel wasn’t feeling well and noticed that baby wasn’t kicking as much normal. A few days earlier, Daren had just caught the stomach bug and we were worried that he might have passed something onto Bel and possibly to the baby. We decided to not take any chances and call the hospital. After a brief discussion with the call-in nurse, we agreed to drive over to the hospital as a precaution.
It was about 11am when we checked into the Kaiser labor and maternity ward.
For the next few hours, Bel was given a range of tests while they monitored the baby’s heart rate closely. After 3 IV bags, and countless check-ins from the nurses, we were told that the baby’s heart rate was dropping periodically enough to cause some concerns.
So at 4:30pm that day, we decided to induce an early birth than risk any complications.
The labor process…
Needless to say, an induced birth caught us a little by surprise! We were still 16 days from our due date so we weren’t really expecting to give birth from what we thought was going to be a routine hospital visit! I hurriedly drove back home to pick up extra clothes and the baby seat.
It was around 8:00pm when I got back to the hospital. They administered Bel with Petocin, and we were on our way.
The next few hours seems to drag on for awhile… The doctor finally came in to break the water sack at 10:30pm, and Bel requested for an epidural a little time after that. She was able to take a nap afterwards, and several hours later at ~4:00am the cervix was fully dilated and ready to go.
It was right at that moment that I can still remember our energetic nurse Kim burst through the doors to our room yelling out “Let’s have this baby!”
Active labor took about ~27mins… well shorter than Daren’s birth.
And at 4:27am, our perfect, healthy, 6.5lbs baby boy was born!
Born: March 31, 2016 @4:27am, at Kaiser SF, 6lb 5oz, 19 in