Third Time Around - Birth Story

Going to the hospital to deliver one's third child would seem familiar. Jessica had healthy pregnancies and deliveries with number one and number two, so number three should be a walk in the park. And, spoiler alert,  for the most part it was! Of course, I'm writing this while Cole is two, so maybe I forgot some details.

Jessica was forty weeks when we scheduled the delivery. Still a natural birth, but our doctor does not see any benefit in waiting longer (and sometimes waiting too long adds complications). Waiting another week or so might have been better, and perhaps a little more natural, but we scheduled our time and drove to the hospital in the morning.  We did not know if this was going to be a boy or a girl, so for all the familiar sights (same hospital, same birthing suites, etc.) there was still some unknown anticipation.

It is kind of odd writing about this as the guy, as contractions and all that is not something I experience personally. Still, things seemed to go smoothly. The doctor set up with pitocin, like the first two, and then left for a few hours while the nurses helped us with everything else. He did try this "balloon" to help dilation but it was kind of a bust (pun!). Hours of being together, bouncing on the ball, and relaxing in the tub (well, Jess did all the bouncing and relaxing) led to Cole! (From a bed, as doc did not prefer tub births in the room we were in.) Clean up, first nursing and all the other baby firsts went very well too.

Gramps and Nana were watching Hugh and Miah, and came to visit the new baby while I ran out to get our traditional Domino's pizza (it is the closest pizza joint to the hospital). A few visitors stopped by and we went home after two nights as family of five : )

Side note regarding this hospital birth, Cole was the most expensive. Like dummies, we did not plan our pregnancy around the yearly insurance cycle and high deductibles, so all of the pre-natal stuff (and Jess's work, which is not a baby so is not pre-natal) had us nearing our deductible by the end of the year. Then our insurance year reset in December, and we started over on all the deductibles for Cole's birth in February! Insurance is weird.