“Anything we do now will result in delivery.” How’d you like to hear that from your labor and delivery nurse after telling them your epidural didn’t work properly? Oh, and your side is going numb because you’ve been stuck on it for the past hour. Unlike with Alexis, the Mackenzie Charlotte birth story definitely includes a little real-life hospital room drama!
The Mackenzie Charlotte birth story is much more complex than that of her big sister. Her delivery date was ultimately determined by a series of unexpected lead-up events. Those will help paint the full picture of how she ended up arriving at 37 weeks and 5 days.
Friday Morning at 2:00 a.m.
It was 2:00 a.m. on Friday, March 29 and I woke up to what seemed to be gas pain. That’s very common at 37 weeks pregnant. Normally, hunching over something helps and the air works itself out fairly quickly.
Pro tip for mamas-to-be: go semi-horizontal to rid those gas bubbles, it worked for me. Read more about my pregnancy gas pain remedies here!
However, it wasn’t going away and it was becoming clear this wasn’t the usual air bubble associated discomfort. Not wanting to wake Kevin, I tried to find a position laying down that was comfortable enough to rest in. However, nearly every way I laid was uncomfortable and changing positions was actively painful. I hardly got a wink more of sleep that night and got up for the day around 6:00 a.m.
Sitting on the couch that morning, I started focusing on the pain and felt it more in my right hip. Now that I was really awake I could tell it wasn’t just simple gas pain.
Fast forward to about 3:00 p.m. and the pain had not gone away. It hurt to move basically at all and sneezing was the WORST. Baby was moving as normal and I otherwise felt fine, but I clearly needed to do something. After asking friends and a little light Googling (I never recommend this, but I was desperate) it sounded like round ligament pain. But it was SO severe that I called my doctor’s office before they were closed for the weekend. I waited so long to call because I knew they were going to tell me to go into the hospital. And let’s be honest, who wants to spend hours in that uncomfortable bed if it avoidable?
Friday Night: Off to the Hospital
Sure enough, my doctor suggested going in because they can’t diagnose this over the phone. I fully expected this to be the solution. But given how much pain I was in — I literally walked out the door hunched over, my mother-in-law was convinced I was in labor — I knew it was for the best. My in-laws came to watch Alexis and we headed to the hospital with our packed go-bags, just in case.
More on what was in my hospital go-bag and what I actually used here. Spoiler: it’s so much less than you think!
While at the hospital, they check to see if your water broke (it had not) and take your vitals. Over the 5-hour stay I had about 12 blood pressure readings and only the first couple were high. Now, throughout every pregnancy my blood pressure has been absolutely normal, so having any high reads was a little blow to my ego.
After five hours in the labor & delivery triage they concluded it was severe round ligament pain. For those unfamiliar, it’s completely harmless, just really painful and uncomfortable. A heat pad helps (love mine), and you can take aspirin as needed for pain management. But otherwise, it’s just a waiting game.
The on-call doctor from my practice (not my normal OBGYN, important detail later) discharged me. However, due to the higher reads she wanted me to come back the next day for follow up blood pressure readings to ensure there’s no concerning patterns. Much to my displeasure, I obliged, even though I was hosting my family’s Easter celebration the next day.
Saturday: “Quick” Blood Pressure Checkup
I was feeling much better already Saturday morning after a good night’s sleep and some heat application. But being the dutiful patient I am, I still made time to go in for the follow up readings. After Easter dinner my mom and sister stayed with Alexis while Kevin took me for my follow up. In true hospital fashion, we waited over an hour to get two perfectly normal blood pressure reads.
At this point, I considered it an open-shut case.
Monday: My Unexpected Afternoon Doctor’s Office Call
As of Monday the pain was nearly gone after some heat and rest over the weekend, thankfully. I was going about my business as normal, working at home as Alexis plays nearby, when my doctor’s office calls. Naturally, I get a little nervous. I wasn’t expecting a call from them, especially since my 37-week appointment was the very next day.
One of the nurse practitioners called, the one I don’t normally see at my practice. This wasn’t unusual as they split the workload different ways so hearing from her wasn’t a red flag, necessarily. However, she was telling me I needed to come in today to get a follow up blood pressure check. I told her I went in on Saturday as directed and the reads were both 100% normal. However, she was insistent that I needed follow up readings because of those high ones during my stay. This was terribly short notice and I certainly couldn’t trek out with my toddler given my recent physical state, so I told her I wasn’t making it in.
I was confused as hell. Why didn’t they tell me that they’d want me to come back (yet again) during either hospital visit? I figured we’d hash this out with my normal nurse practitioner at my appointment the next day.
Tuesday: My 37-Week Doctor’s Appointment
My NP calls my name and we start talking about the weekend as we head back to her exam room. My NP is an absolute gem of a human and was fully briefed on the situation already. She put the puzzle pieces together before I even got to the appointment.
Turns out, the on-call doctor mixed up my story with that of a patient. Similarly, she came in on Saturday with high blood pressure but never returned for her follow up readings on Sunday. The on-call doctor told my team that I was a no-show, and since the NP who doesn’t normally see me was the one who called she didn’t think anything of it. Personally, I think that was the biggest mistake. She mustn’t have looked at my file or she would’ve seen I came back, but that’s where the mixup happened.
Why is this important? Oh, because I’m pretty sure had this mixup not happened I wouldn’t have been sent to deliver Mackenzie that day.
My NP and I rehashed the weekend’s happenings. She assured me the second she heard the story she told the team, “I know Ashley very well and she’s an incredibly compliant patient, it isn’t like her to not come to a recommended follow up.” She did her research and saw it wasn’t me that ghosted. So essentially, they called me for absolutely no reason (and got me all riled back up again) on Monday. It was wonderful to hear she had my back, but unfortunately it didn’t help my blood pressure at this appointment.
Those Fateful Blood Pressure Readings
As I sat down she told me we still need normal blood pressure readings in order to keep going. “If we don’t get normal readings today, you’re done.” The high readings were still on their radar given I was 37+ weeks pregnant and they didn’t want to risk pre-eclampsia.
“Done as in… I’m having a baby today??”
Yup. She isn’t even fully done taking my blood pressure and looks and me with a little smirk, “we’ll wait a little bit and try again”. I ask her how bad it was… she didn’t even finish and it was at 147. 😮
Personally, I believe recapping the stressful weekend and infuriating follow up was why I was reading high. But we’ll never know for sure. We proceed with the rest of the appointment, circling back to the blood pressure at the end. Sure enough, it was still in the 140’s. I’m now texting Kevin to give him an immediate heads up since I’m still in this appointment because he’s working and needs to wrap up like, NOW.
The medical term for why I was being induced early is gestational hypertension. If my blood pressure continued to rise my condition could’ve become pre-eclamptic. That’s quite a bit more serious condition, so my team wanted me to avoid that. The combination of high blood pressure, being 37 weeks along and baby’s strong vitals were why moved to deliver. She was now able to arrive safely and given my recent physical state, it was the best call for everyone.
Heading to the Hospital to be Induced
My NP told me I could grab my things and ensure Alexis was set, but to come back ASAP. Kevin and I got Alexis ready for our first overnight absence from her ever as his parents arrived. We took a few last photos and videos as a family of three, and then we were off!
Thankfully, I’d been preparing for an unexpected trip to deliver and we weren’t too stressed about things. Not really sure why, but for months I’d had a hunch I wasn’t make it to my due date, so I was ready. Sure enough, when I got to the labor & delivery floor they were very much expecting me. Crazily enough, we were brought to the exact same room I delivered Alexis in! There was something very comforting about being in the same delivery room, it was awesome.
5:50 p.m. — First Dose of Misoprostol
As is typical, we had a bit of paperwork and admin to do before getting started. Around 5:50 p.m. was when I had my first round of misoprostol to start induction. I was only 1 cm dilated upon arrival and nothing changed in that arena after this first round. It was a very uneventful few hours.
10:10 p.m. — Second Dose of Misoprostol
After the first several hours there was really no dramatic progress, which is incredibly normal. So a little after 10 p.m. I took another dose. After a few hours I was still only 1 cm dilated but was about 50% effaced which was at least some progress. Still incredibly slow and no real change in feeling either.
Wednesday at 2:20 a.m. — Third Round of Misoprostol
Not much action after the third dose either, but I was able to get a little bit of sleep at least. And of course, Kevin had gotten plenty of rest already at this point and was still snoozing away.
7:05 a.m. — Starting Pitocin
This is when the show really got started. The Misoprostol got my body ready, even if I couldn’t physically feel it. Because once that Pitocin started things moved much more quickly. Within 90 minutes I felt the need to tell my nurse we should get the epidural started. I know better than to wait, especially since my mom had two of us without it because she waited too long. Could never be me!
9:30 a.m. — Epidural Fluids Started Flowing
I waited as long as I could but knew this was about the time to get the epidural started and I’m glad I did. I’d definitely started to feel contractions and being my second delivery I didn’t want to be caught too late into the process. Everyone and their brother told me how fast a subsequent birth can go!
A huge bonus for me, my anesthesiologist was the same woman who placed my epidural with Alexis and both Kevin and I LOVED HER! She was just such a calming presence and a welcome face at a stressful time. I swear this epidural placement was so much quicker and smoother than with Alexis (still hurt like hell, let’s not get it twisted), but all things considered it was great.
Wednesday at12:35 p.m. — Water Broke
Being an experienced laborer now, I knew not to let the doctor break my water before the epidural was in. She broke my water a few hours before my epidural with Alexis and it was the most insane pain I’ve ever experienced (shout out to the women who have to do this without the option of safe pain management, it could never be me). I was around 4 cm dilated at this time. At about 2:10 p.m. I’d noted I was about 5.5 cm dilated so things were certainly moving right along.
Why Am I Feeling so Much Discomfort?
At 4:10 p.m. I was 80% effaced and things were moving FAST. But all of a sudden I started to feel pressure in my reproductive area that was quickly turning to discomfort.
The nurses said it was probably almost time and paged my doctor.
But I had an epidural…? Why am I feeling ANYTHING?
It felt like baby was literally half delivered she was so close to the exit, it was INSANE. I told my nurse I’d pushed the button to get more juice from the epidural, as she’d offered me a few hours before, but it didn’t feel like it had helped any.
With each contraction I was feeling it more and more intensely. I was laying on my right side and asked my nurse if I could move onto my back, maybe that would help with my growing discomfort?
“Anything we do now will result in delivery.”
Ummmmmmmmm…
Imagine hearing that from your nurse after you tell them you’re in a good deal of unexpected discomfort (slowly turning into pain) and you’ve been on your side that is quickly going numb but if you move the baby is going to show herself out without a doctor around to catch her.
Needless to say, I was getting a little stressed.
Delivering Miss Mackenzie Charlotte
Despite being in an unexpected amount of discomfort, all my vitals were fine and the nurses were incredible so I wasn’t as wigged out as I’d have expected myself to be. My primary nurse explained that sometimes epidurals aren’t as effective from person-to-person, though it was strange because each person usually has the same experience every time they have one. (With James the epidural was unevenly favoring my left side but worked 100%, with Alexis it was perfectly even and worked 100%, with Mackenzie it was evenly distributed but not working 100%).
Basically, even though I had an epidural I’d venture to guess my birth pains were maybe 30-40% offset. I felt a LOT more than I did with Alexis.
I can’t be positive since I’ve never had an unmedicated birth but I know what medicated feels like, and fam, THAT WASN’T IT.
Around 4:30 p.m. — Doctor Arrives
Thankfully, my doctor was very nearby and knew things were moving FAST so she was there on the double. She has the most amazing bedside manner and the second she walked in the room I felt like I could exhale (mentally, anyway 🤪). They quickly removed the bottom half of the hospital bed, got everyone in place and it was time.
Eight Minutes Later… Mackenzie Charlotte is Born!
When I told you before that this baby was ready, I MEANT IT. We waited for my first contraction after getting setup and about 30 seconds into pushing she was here! Literally one contraction, which is still the craziest thing to me. And while it sounds like a dream birthing scenario, I assure you karma balances itself. The lead up to the actual pushing was NOT ideal!
Now, when she first came out she was not immediately crying which spooked me. But given all that went on I didn’t notice that as quickly, I was too busy just happily staring at her and taking full, deep breaths for the first time in what seemed like months. Just when I had started to process what was going on she started to wail away! Kevin said he was super freaked out because he noticed right away and was just watching it all resolve, which didn’t help his panic. They needed to suck some fluid out of her mouth, which is pretty common. I’m actually a little relieved I didn’t notice sooner because it all happened SUPER fast and spared me some serious panic that my body probably didn’t really need.
Welcome, Mackenzie Charlotte!
Though ultrasounds went back and forth thinking she was going to be unusually tiny and then unusually big Mackenzie Charlotte Burk ended up being born on April 3, 2024 at a nice, healthy 6 pounds, 12 ounces and 19.5″ long. She was absolutely perfect.
Mackenzie Charlotte was taking bottles like a champ and hardly spitting anything up. All she wanted was her food and then a nice swaddling back to sleep, she was as simple as they come. Our only real hiccup is that she waited to make her first poopy diaper until during her 24-hour exam, which she needed to poop before/during in order to be discharged. Girly was really keeping us on our toes with that one!
We were eager to get home that evening because the next day was big sister’s second birthday and we really wanted to be able to be there for her. Thankfully, we were discharged and home around 7:30 p.m. that night and got to see Alexis one more time as a one year old with the added bonus of introducing her to her new baby sister.
Alexis was really welcoming of her new baby sister, and being that she was currently going through a phase of pointing out body parts the first thing she does is say, “eyes!” and proceeded to poke Mackenzie Charlotte in her little closed eye (gently, thankfully, as I panicked all the same and grabbed her arm away). Sorry, Mackenzie!!
Going From One to Two Kids
Friends of ours told us they felt it was easier to go from one to two kids than it was from zero to one, and Kevin and I fully agree. For the second child you already know so much more so there’s not the stress of learning how to be a brand new parent, but rather just how this child needs to be parented. We’re also very fortunate that Alexis has acclimated to our new addition really well and adores Mackenzie Charlotte just as much as we do.
On a professional note, it has been a lot harder to get work done but I’ve managed to do more than I think I expected in the first two months. I recently looked at Alexis’ Birth Story and that took me four months to post yet here I am 11 weeks postpartum writing the Mackenzie Charlotte story. It’s not always easy, and you’d think double the kids would mean double the time commitment, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. By the time you have the second baby you’re probably in a routine with your first and that saves a lot of time compared to the haze of brand new parenthood.
If you’re wondering when the right time to have a second baby is, my answer will always be never and now. You’re never not going to be ‘too busy’ but as soon as you feel ready, I say go for it. You’ll never regret the extra time you have with both children and realistically, you never know how long it’ll take to conceive a second time. Every time can be completely different.
Overall Feelings About My Induction and the Birth of Mackenzie Charlotte
I’m beyond grateful for my team of providers for making the call to induce when we did, and I’d do it all over again because this pregnancy was so much more physically tolling on me. Towards the end it was clear that baby and my body were both ready for her arrival. Everyone constantly advocates for you to listen to your body, and my body was absolutely telling me it needed to be done being pregnant. Even though mentally it seemed early to deliver, instinctively I felt we were both ready — mom and baby — and I will forever be thankful for the extra 16 days I had with my second baby girl.
For those who read this far I commend you, it was a LONG story. I look forward to sharing more parenting and baby content with the arrival of Mackenzie Charlotte, though it will be a bit as I continue to take time off and acclimate to my new life and routine. Follow us on Instagram for daily hacks, products and more in the meantime!
Stay tuned for a coming post with all of the Mackenzie Charlotte newborn photos including some cute family shots. We got some great ones of big sis, too! Here’s a sweet little sneak peek in the meantime.
