Baby #4 Birth Story – Introducing Baby Sam!

This post shares my baby #4 birth story – introducing baby Samuel Edrick Kelnhofer – Sam for short- born 11.18.2021 weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz. He is a sweet bundle of joy, and completes our family, now a family of 6!

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As I type this post, baby Sam is sleeping next to me, quietly, peacefully. He is a lot quieter than his siblings (Ben and the twins Freddie/Frankie) were when they were born (they made little dinosaur sounds or little goat grunts, whereas Sam is a quiet little guy – well, actually he was born the biggest/heaviest of my 4 kids – I find myself placing my hand on his chest to feel his breathing).

The day before I went into labor, something felt off. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t move. I was originally going to have a c-section because he was breach (feet-down), but then a few weeks before birth, he flipped, so I was going to try to have what a TOLAC – trial of labor after cesarean (the twins were both feet down so I had a c-section with them, and I ended up going into labor when I got to the hospital.)

Similar to the twins, I started having contractions and going in to labor as I got to the hospital! When I got admitted and on to the labor and delivery floor, I was IN THE SAME ROOM as when I delivered Ben!!

I was in ‘pre-labor’ having contractions all night (I lovingly joke that Nick slept through ALL of it, the nurses – who are all angels- and doctors – I gave birth in a teaching hospital so it’s residents, fellows, attendings…lots of people- were coming in what seemed like every hour – they check your cervix and see how dilated you are and how you’re progressing with labor).

Keep in mind, shift change is at 7am. The sweet nurse was saying how she probably wouldn’t get to meet baby Sam. At 6am when they checked my cervix I was “complete” and I was given the go-ahead to start pushing. If you’ve ever been around childbirth/labor you know this can be a very long, strenuous process.

I started ‘active-labor’ at around 6:20am, and after about 3 pushes, the nurse went to get the doctors, and then with the doctors another 2-3 – TWO TO THREE- pushes, baby Sam was born at 6:40am!!!!

It was insane, absolutely mind blowing how fast it went. The nurses/doctors who had been there all night did in fact get to meet baby Sam. He came out so fast his head was round because he hadn’t spent a lot of time in the birth canal (sometimes, like with Ben, when babies are born they have cone-shaped heads lol).

Things have definitely changed in terms of after-birth protocol at the hospital. Instead of whisking the baby away to clean and measure the baby, they let you hold the baby and do skin-to-skin for a minimum of an hour. It was so special. Baby Sam also peed on me 3 times right as he was placed on me!

I hadn’t eaten since the previous day breakfast, and immediately after labor I was SO HUNGRY. You can only have clear liquids during labor – so I had had jello, yay, but 1 little jello cup is not filling. I didn’t have any chicken broth, because I had that during Bens labor and puked it all up, something I’m clearly still remembering, so I didn’t want to have a repeat performance.

They rolled me and baby down to the recovery floor around 8, it seemed like they were in a rush to, and it turns out they were, because the entire labor/delivery floor was full, and women were going into labor in the triage rooms!

As soon as I got down to the recovery floor I could get something to eat – hallelujah!

Ok, what to eat at the hospital? Their veggie omelette, English muffin and side of fruit, it seemed like the best meal ever, it was delicious! Then for dinner I got their grilled salmon/broccoli/baked potato, and it was great!! Nick tried some other things from their menu (quesadilla – he said it was a big no-go.)

Another funny food-related hospital thing – when I was getting an epidural (thankfully this time I got it in time, with Ben I got one but it was way too late) the doctor said I’d feel “spice” “like a pumpkin spice latte” – that truly made me laugh, because a-it is soooo painful, and b- it’s more like a bee sting, and they’re giving it to you while you’re having contractions, so it’s a lot of pain on top of pain, and the doctor was kindly telling me it was like a pumpkin spice latte as my back was on fire.

What’s baby Sam like? He is a sweet little angel baby. As I mentioned above, he is so much quieter than my other kids were when they were newborns. He’s doing really good, and his cheeks are filling out. His siblings call him Sam-Ham, and it’s a nickname that I think is going to stick. He is just a little Ham! He had thrush so he needed some meds to clear that up, but he’s been a champ about it. And if he can sleep through the other 3 kids and all their noise (they’re SO LOUD) I hope that lasts and carries on and translates into him being a good sleeper.

How is my recovery/life with 4 kids going? When you get home the drugs start to wear off, your hormones are all over the place and you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck, you’re trying not to bleed everywhere and navigate going to the bathroom…you have “supplies” to go to the bathroom with and then every time baby makes a sound you want to make sure he’s ok, and then you have to track how many times the baby has a wet or poop diaper and what time you feed him and how much he eats…all this to say, it’s a lot.