I went to my 38w appointment on 9/4 and was informed that I had made no progress, was scheduled to be induced on 9/13 (due to baby measuring big) and to come back to get checked again on 9/6. At that appointment both myself and my OB were surprised to see that I was 3-4cm dilated since I wasn't aware of having had any contractions. I was told to come back first thing in the morning because if I had progressed anymore it was very likely that I would be admitted. I went back the next morning had not progressed anymore but was scheduled to come back that afternoon. At the afternoon appointment I was closer to a 4 and my OB changed my induction date from 9/13 to 9/9 at 6AM. MY OB also asked a lot of questions about how far I lived from the hospital and plans for the weekend; basically my OB expected me to delivery very quickly. My OB actually predicted that we would start the pitcin around 6AM and the baby would be here by around 10AM.

DH and I spent the next two days in a panic to get finished all the things we were planning for the weekend and making arrangements for DD's care while we were in the hospital. My parents arrived to care for DD, we went to our church's picnic on Saturday afternoon and then prepared to leave for the hospital first thing Sunday morning. Sunday arrived and we headed off to the hospital. I was started on pitocin at around 6:40AM, my OB came in and checked me at around 7:30 (I was around 4-5cm dilated) and suggested that I get my epidural around 9 and then the resident could break my water shortly thereafter. Due to an unexpected c-section, my epidural was placed at about 8:30 when I wasn't feeling any contractions yet but they continued to up the pitocin dose regularly. My water was broke about 9 and my OB called to check on me. Around 10AM, I started to feel pain/pressure in my lower abdomen so they came in and gave me a booster on my epidural since they figured that the initial dose was pretty low because I wasn't feeling contractions at the time it was placed. After the booster dose was administered, my L&D nurse drained my bladder and checked me finding (to her surprise) that I was fully dilated and ready to begin pushing. The necessary people were called in to get the room ready and my OB was paged (he happened to already be coming down the hall when he received the page). I did 3 practice pushes and after the third DS was "ready to launch." My OB did a small episiotomy and I pushed the final time resulting in DS' arrival at 10:43AM; almost exactly 3 hours after my induction was started.

DS was a healthy, big boy weighing 9lbs 6.3oz and was 22 1/2" long. Because the epidural booster had just taken effect I was unable to move for several hours after delivery but otherwise our hospital stay was uneventful. My parents brought DD to see us and meet her brother Sunday afternoon and we were discharged on Monday afternoon.

We are adjusting to life as a family of 4 instead of 3 and overall things are going well. Breastfeeding has been rocky but the problems are very similar to those I experienced with DD so we are working through them.