Our plan was always to have three children and we knew we wanted them to be pretty close in age.  In April 2015, we found ourselves loving life with Catherine (1) and Madeline (2.5).  I was still pumping for Catherine when I got my first postpartum period in February 2015 (C was 10 months) and in March I remember calculating (and feeling very relieved) that there was no way we would have three under three.  Low and behold, I would conceive baby #3 the following month.  In all honesty, I really shouldn’t give any sort of advice when it comes to getting pregnant.  Sure, my kids are spaced 16 and 20 months apart, but I really don’t have any tips on the subject.  None of my kids were planned.  They are by no means accidents, just not really planned.  I don’t do birth control and have used natural family planning (prior to Madeline) and then abstinence.  My husband and I are very rarely romantic and baby #3 was a one-and-done kind of thing.  For each of my three pregnancies, my first symptom (prior to taking any tests) was always a strong aversion to coffee.  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE coffee.  Well, coffee and me being pregnancy don’t mix and just like the first two pregnancies, me not wanting any coffee was a major clue to me that I might be pregnant.  I was in a bit of denial though and waited a full week before gathering the courage to take a pregnancy test.  I wasn’t scared or nervous to be pregnant.  Actual, I was really really stressing about planning for baby #3 (hoping to conceive in June-August) so it turned out to be a relief to find myself pregnant with #3.

Having two toddlers, this pregnancy went by fast.  I found a new doctor that I absolutely loved and we quickly agreed that a c-section would be my best option for delivering #3.  My doctor wanted to treat me as high risk from the start.  I appreciated that and it really only meant an extra ultrasound plus some non-stress tests.  I was a little nervous about driving from Chicago to Disney at 10 weeks pregnant, but as luckily my morning sickness began to disappear on the trip.  I took the one hour glucose test and failed.  I then took the three hour test and failed miserably.  After delivering a massive 9.5 pound baby last time (almost three weeks early too), I had previously decided that I’d diet like a diabetic this time.

The biggest thing I had going on was WHERE I would deliver this baby.  My doctor delivered at five different hospitals so it was nice to have some options this time.  Obviously the same hospital that C was born at was not an option for me so that narrowed it down to 4 choices.  Another one was nice but I really didn’t like how far away it was so that narrowed it down to 3.  All along, I thought the hospital closest to my house was the obvious choice but when my doctor told me that moms on public aid get bussed from Chicago to deliver there, I crossed that one off of my list as well.  That brought my options down  to two.  I toured both hospitals, and while they were both nice, I knew which one I wanted to choose.  The first was a Catholic hospital with large rooms.  It also had residents from Northwestern making rounds.  It was also in an area that I wasn’t really comfortable with.  The second was rural and okay rooms.  It was super quiet.  I immediately decided on the rural hospital.  No one I knew had ever even heard of this hospital and I could tell that my mom was totally against this.  I knew that ideally I would have a totally different birth experience than with Catherine.  The rural hospital gave me just that.  They also happened to be affiliated with the hospital that I had Madeline at which gave me peace of mind.  Also, Northwestern acquired them about a month before #3 was born.

My pregnancy continued to progress fantastically and my c-section was scheduled for December 28.  My last day of teaching for the semester was December 18 which happened to be the equivalent to when Catherine was born (2 weeks 5 days early).  As long as I could make it until December 18, I would be fine.  I was nervous though that I would miss Christmas.  I stayed up night after night wrapping presents so that my girls could have a perfect Christmas even if I was in the hospital.  Thankfully, I managed to make it past Christmas.  The night before the c-section, my husband brought the girls to my mother in law’s house.  She was going to watch them for a few nights.

I didn’t sleep much and we woke up waaaay early to a winter storm on our section day.  I think our arrival time was about 6am.  We were there so early that we had to enter through the “ER”.  (no one was there, such a low key hospital)  We were given our room, I changed into my hospital gown, and I was given my IV.  The c-section was scheduled for a week before my due date.  I had begun having mild contractions which made me feel like the baby was ready to be born even though we were evicting him a week early.  I was wheeled into the OR at exactly 7:30.  All of the doctors and nurses made me feel at ease.  I explained to the anisetheologist that my blood pressure dropped when I had my two previous epidurals so he was prepared for that with some medicine.  My doctor’s partner was there during the prep and made me feel at ease, asking me if I had family in Louisiana.  I have a French last name which is surprisingly common in different regions including Louisiana.   At 7:50, they began the c-section and Noah was allowed to enter the OR.  Side note:  The did not restrain my arms during the c-section.  I’ve had some moms inquire about that and wanted to clarify.

Baby #3 was born at 7:58 (6 minutes later).  Like all of our children, we did not know the gender in advance.  When the baby was born, my doctor held it up and asked my husband to announce what it was.  It’s a boy!!!!  My doctor then had my husband cut the umbilical cord, rare for a c-section.  Since it’s a boy, we automatically knew his name was Braiden Robert.  My husband’s middle name is Braiden and my dad and my grandfather’s (nickname) name is Robert.    Braiden was perfect.  At 8lb 2 oz, he was my smallest baby.  He was immediately placed on my chest in the OR and for the remainder of our stay, he stayed with me 23 hours a day.  All three of my children were breastfed and they each had a different experience.  Typically, my milk comes in at day 5.  C-sections tend to delay milk coming in.  Going along with my “everything different than last time” theme, I was drinking my milk maid tea, taking my more milk tinctures, and nursing 24/7.  All of my hard work paid off and my milk actually came in before I left the hospital.  Braiden is our last baby and he has been a total dream.