Second Baby – Introducing James and the Wild Differences in a Second Pregnancy

So I usually post every other day but have been out of the scene for a minute as I was welcoming my second son into the world, Jamie Patrick Scharff “James”. After my experience of labor and delivery with James and my extreme surprise over the vast differences from my experience with Jack, I decided to share James’ birth story for fellow second time mommies. Moral of this Post: Do not expect your first experience to be anything like the second!

THE BIRTH

I was set for an induction on August 24th but the evening of August 23rd, my water broke. My water breaking was the only thing that was similar in my pregnancies. Quick fact, did you know that only 10% of women go into labor with their water breaking? I am very lucky to have gotten this signal both times because honestly, I was so confused on what a labor contraction feels like as opposed to Braxton Hicks or early labor contractions. I did not want to make the hike from Midtown to Germantown to be sent home with false labor, yet I didn’t want to have my son in a car or at home either.

My water breaking this time was more like what you see in the movies. With Jack, I was convinced that I had just gone incompetent because it was just a slow on and off trickle. I wasn’t sure if I was peeing on myself and definitely didn’t think it was my water initially. This time I was sitting in the recliner and out of nowhere I felt and heard a huge pop in my stomach. It sounded like something exploded in my body. Initially I thought one of my organs popped. It terrified me but I felt no pain so I was puzzled…..until I stood up and with a rush of liquid, it became very clear that my water had broken. I went to get a quick shower and we loaded up for the hospital.

By the time we got to the hospital I was feeling some tightening in my back and slight discomfort in my uterus, like a really bad menstrual cramp…nothing unbearable…YET. I got back to the delivery room at only 4 cm dilated but the pain grew progressively worse over the hour. I went ahead and ordered my epidural. They cannot give you an epidural if you are too far along in your birthing process so they checked me again and I was at 6 centimeters dilated at this point (10 cm is full blown birthing). My mom and Ben’s mom went to the waiting room while I got my epidural and had planned to come back to sit with me until the doc told us it was time…they never made it back!

When my anesthesiologist arrived, I was in a great deal of pain. With Jack, I did not really feel significant pain until about 3 hours before I had him which the epidural knocked out. I labored for 8 hours with Jack and had every intention of doing the same with James. I was trying to focus on being super still because of obvious paralyzing risks of sticking a needle in your spine, however the pain at this point was excruciating…mind you, this is all within the first 2 hours of arrival. I was unsure what was happening because again, with Jack the labor was long and drawn out, which I did not mind because I was super numb. I barely felt a thing and this time I was feeling all kinds of different pains and pressures. By the time the epidural was in, I had gone from a sickly moan to and all out hollar. I was trying my best not to scream down the maternity ward as I wanted to be polite but the pain was growing worse and contractions all the way up to a minute apart at this point. I kept telling my nurse that I think I needed to use the restroom… the problem is, with an epidural your can’t use your legs. I was very concerned as to how I was going to make it to the toilet. haha!!! The epidural did not kick in as quick as it did with Jack. The pain kept coming!

I heard the anesthesiologist say, “Are you sure that she is not actually having this baby right now? She sounds like she has progressed all the way.” My nurse checked me again and sure enough…the pressure that had me feeling like I was going to go number 2 on myself was actually his head! I about died! Not only did I expect to have 5 more hours to prepare myself and get comfortable with my surroundings but the epidural had only numbed one side at this point! I was secretly panicking.

It was time to push and while the pain from the contractions had been muted, the pressure was the weirdest feeling in he world. You feel like you are turning inside out! I felt none of this with Jack because I was completely numb and immobile. I pushed for what felt like an hour but the doctor confirmed that it was only about 15 minutes (I am such a baby). Looking back on it, being able to actually feel him being born without the contraction pain was pretty cool. I feel like I hardly did much when giving birth to Jack with only 4 pushes in about 5 minutes to get the job done. James was truly work! I remember feeling like he was never going to come out and started to ask if we could just cut him out. For a gal that has never had surgery and is terrified of being put under the knife…I was desperate. Although the epidural wasn’t in full force for the delivery, the experience gave me a better appreciation for my body after that experience. By the way, it was nothing that the anesthesiologist did wrong…the epidural kicked in 100% after James was born. My luck!

THE BABY

Everything else went pretty well after James was in my arms, however the differences in my babies were significant. Jack was 5 lb 11 oz and 19 inches long. He was constipated for 3 months, colic, and would not breast feed naturally. James has about 6 poopy diapers a day, wears me out with eating, and doesn’t cry as much at all. He LOVES to sleep!

Jack has grown up to be a super smart 2 year old boy that loves his momma and always wants to lend a helping hand. He is super independent and is very head strong on his ideas. With the experiences being so different, I can’t wait to see if the personality traits and strengths will differ as well. Only time will tell!

THE WEIGHT

Everyone always says that it is harder to get the weight off with the second one. So far I am progressing about the same, however…it has only been 7 days. The day I had James, I was 175 lbs. This morning I weighed in at 157 lbs. 18 lbs lighter in 7 days…not bad! My original weight was 133lbs and I will not start a workout plan until about another week so I am anxious to see how much more falls off before then. The key is breastfeeding! It is super painful and hard work. It’s like the baby sucks every calorie out of your body. I wake up in the middle of the night starving and feeling malnourished.When you feed your muscles in your lower abdomen contract and tighten. It is also a little painful but such a cool experience. Your body knows exactly what to do to heal itself after pregnancy. The way the human body is wired is a true miracle.
When you sit and think about it…it is such a beautiful thing. Giving life to and nourishing one of God’s creations through nothing but your body. I have heard many Christians say that the pains of childbirth were punishment for women making Adam eat that apple but to me, It was hard work. I am the type of person that is most proud when I have put in excruciating work and get to see my creation come to fruition. I must say. My most proud accomplishment is being a momma!