God’s timing is best. It’s a lesson that I have come to learn time and time again. Isaac’s birth story is no different.
I have been induced with most of my kids. It’s just what has worked out for us, whether due to medical reasons or personal choice to ensure childcare was available. Shiloh is the only one that came all on her own without any medical interventions needed. But that’s another story.
Weeks leading up to Baby Day
Isaac had been measuring big since my anatomy scan around 20 weeks. I had a few more growth ultrasounds during the rest of my pregnancy to check on his size. He always measured a week or so ahead, but by the time the end of my pregnancy approached, the doctors determined that while he was measuring on the larger size of average, it was still within normal size limits and they were not concerned.
Keep in mind that I am pretty short, so any baby measuring on the larger size is large for me.
I really hoped that he would come early. I had a few false alarms where I thought I was going into labor, but then everything stopped. One time was on Father’s Day night after a stressful incident happened leaving our dog, Snowy, in critical health.* We were not given a positive outcome, and I believe the stress of it caused contractions that lasted for a few hours. Once I hopped into the shower to try to slow them down, they stopped.
*Snowy ended up making a full recovery and is back to her usual self now!
This pregnancy was a tougher one for me physically. I felt more tired and experienced more aches and pains. I felt done by the time I reached 36 weeks, and was told at the growth scan that he was already measuring 7lbs 3oz! That was the size Gabriel was when he was born just shy of 38 weeks.
At my 38 week appointment when my doctor mentioned that I could have an elective induction at 39 weeks, I said yes. While I would have loved to have gone into labor on my own, I was exhausted, and Christian was set to leave for 3 weeks in July for his annual training (he would leave just 11 days after my due date). I wanted to make sure I had enough time with him around so I could recover (and God knew that I needed that time too). I made the appointment for the induction, but was really hoping and praying that Isaac would decide to come on his own before that date.
I was doing everything I could to try to start labor, but ultimately nothing worked. By the time Monday came around, I figured that spontaneous labor was out of the picture. My father-in-law made it to our house, we ate dinner, and then Christian and I went to bed to prepare for an early wake up call the next day.
Labor Day
I got a call early the next morning (probably around 5am) asking us to be at the hospital by 7:30am. It gave us enough time to get up and ready and say goodbye to the rest of the kids before heading off to the hospital to meet our baby. When we got there and got checked in, we were taken to our room and met the nurse who would be with us that day.
I was surprised at how quickly the doctor came in to break my water and get things moving (my past experiences the doctors usually came in later). This was the fourth time I was induced like this, so I have come to know what to expect and have a mental checklist of obstacles to get through before meeting my baby. The first one is having the doctor break my water. This is usually painful (it comes before any pain medication) and this time was no exception. Then making it to the point where contractions are very uncomfortable. Next getting the epidural. The last is pushing.
This time there was another obstacle I wasn’t expecting. I got the GBS swab at 36 weeks, but was never told a result, which led me to believe that I tested negative (I’ve figured out that usually no news is good news…not the case this time around). I didn’t find out until that day that I actually tested positive for it (this was the first time I ever did) and had to receive antibiotics for it (also another way I believe that God’s plan led me to be induced on this day rather than go into labor on my own).
I had read online that the antibiotics were not comfortable for a lot of women. And after receiving them I can also attest to that fact- it was a burning sensation from the IV in my hand up into my shoulder! It was very uncomfortable the first time, but then the second time I didn’t notice it.
After the doctor broke my water and I was hooked up to IV fluids and antibiotics, Christian and I passed the time playing card games, watching tv, and resting. My nurse decided to start me on some Pitocin at that point since contractions weren’t becoming consistent after my water broke. She increased it again after about an hour, and at this point I decided to stand up and walk around to try to help him sink lower into my pelvis.
If I’m being honest, I was starting to worry that he was stuck in my hip and couldn’t get into the proper position, which is why I decided to start walking. Walking has also worked for me in the past to help labor start and move along. When the nurse came back to increase the Pitocin again, the contractions became very strong, and I decided it was time for the epidural.
I got prepped for it and it took a little longer than usual because one of the needles wasn’t going through the way it should have. Finally it took, and I was able to get some relief from the pain. The nurse asked if I wanted to use the peanut ball and Christian and I both enthusiastically said yes! I have had so much success with it helping baby drop in the past.
45 minutes after getting the epidural, I felt a lot of pressure and sure enough, baby was ready! The nurse had to call the doctor back to the hospital because everything happened super fast. The peanut ball really does work well for me!
Once the doctor came I started pushing, but I was having a hard time feeling exactly where to push and felt like I was in an awkward position. I asked to lean up a little bit, and kept pushing. I could tell when he was starting to crown and knew it was almost over, so I kept trying to push for as long as I could. It felt like it was taking longer than usual, and at one point the doctor had me come to the very edge of the table. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and kept pushing until finally Isaac was here! They laid him on my chest and he had a nice and healthy cry.
I later found out that his shoulder had gotten stuck on the way out, which is why it was taking longer than usual and was why the doctor had me scoot to the edge of the table to help Isaac get out without getting hurt. It worked, because he was healthy and had no injuries!
I can see God’s hand in all of it. From the moment we found out about Isaac joining our family and during his birth, God’s timing was best. If I had gone into labor on my own, I might not have made it to the hospital on time to receive the antibiotics. If I hadn’t gotten induced when I did, Isaac could have gotten even more stuck and could have been injured during birth, or I could have ended up with a c-section.
Choosing a name
How did we come up with Isaac Paul as a name? Not easily. Boy names are so much harder for us to agree on. If it were up to me, I would have named him Carlo, after Carlo Acutis. Though of course now, I can’t imagine him being named anything else but Isaac.
We went through all the boy names and said yes or no (most were a no by at least one of us), and then made a list of the few that both of us kind of agreed on. Christian really liked the name Isaac, and I wasn’t sure for awhile. I came up with Paul for the middle name. I liked the flow of it with Isaac, and also wanted to name him after Saint Paul because I love reading his writings! Christian wasn’t sure at first, but then agreed to Paul. So we each got to choose a name.
Once he was born, we realized how close the names Elijah and Isaac are to each other when we were trying to talk about each boy. We looked at each other and asked why we gave our kids such similar names!
I know looking at it on paper is different and they don’t seem as similar to each other, but try saying their names frequently and add in some sleep deprivation and you will see what we mean!
All joking aside, we really do love his name!
The Transition
I am planning to write what the transition to postpartum and going to a family of 8 has been like and hope you will come back to read more. I did share an article with Catholic Mom about my postpartum experience and would love if you checked that out too!
I’m sure you can imagine how busy we have been since it’s taken me about 2.5 months to finally share his story. But I am looking forward to writing more about life with Isaac now!
