Okay. There are a lot of things that I want to post on this blog. (If I could ever find the time to!) So I better start at the beginning... the labor story.
On June 10th (3 weeks ago today!) I went in to the hospital for a 7am induction. I was scared out of my mind because I don't particularly like hospitals. That coupled with the fact that birthing a baby is pretty darn scary, well, you get the idea. Dave and I showed up, signed in, and within a few minutes we were taken back to our room. I changed into a
lovely hospital gown and hopped on the delivery bed. Before I knew it I was hooked up to an I.V. and the fluids and Pitocin were started. I was surprised by how little the I.V. hurt.
After that, all we could do was wait. The nurse would come in and check on us every 30 minutes, and during that check a few things would happen. She would ask me how my pain level was, increase the amount of Pitocin being fed into my I.V. drip, and she'd assist me in going to the bathroom. That was one of the more frustrating aspects of the induced labor. Since I was on Pitocin, they had to hook monitors up to my belly. One was the fetal heart rate monitor, and the other was to monitor how strong my contractions were. These monitors were hooked up to the computer about 4 feet away. So everytime I went to the bathroom (which was a lot, I drank TONS of water the night before) she had to unhook the cables to the monitors, and we had to slide the machine that metered out the Pitocin drip over to the bathroom with me. After I finished, we had to go back across the room and get everything hooked back up and in place properly. (Not fun!)
At about 1:30pm, my doctor came in to break my water. He used a thing that was basically a latex glove finger, and it had a small hook that looked like a dried out rose thorn. I googled and googled and googled. Couldn't find a picture. It was terrifying looking! He was standing next to me talking as he put the thing on his finger and then out of nowhere he said, "Now see? I'm going to use this thing that has a hook on the end to break your water." At first I didn't know what he was showing me so I looked eagerly. When I saw what it actually was though, I shuddered and looked away. I had expected an actual tool. A crochet hook. Something.
Not that. Now, I'll spare you the gory details and just say that my cervix was rather high. And the doctor had a hard time reaching it. And an even worse time breaking my water. And it was the worst part of the whole delivery. As the doctor was attempting to break the water, he told me that I was dilated to 2.5cm. 5 hours into the process. 5 hours of Pitocin. 5 hours of discomfort. All I had to show for it was a .5cm increase.
My doctor told me that there was a slight chance that the baby just wouldn't engage in my pelvis. "She might be too big," he told me. "She might just not come down. You know that I don't say this lightly, but we might have to have a C-section." He said we would continue to wait and see what happened, but he wanted me to be prepared that a C-section was a possibility. At that point, I had to consider my options. I started considering getting an epidural at that point. My thought process went something like this:
I've been here for hours, and I've not progressed. It's not going to be time to push for hours and hours. Do I want to spend the whole day here in increasing pain?
If I have to have a C-section, I'll have to have an epidural. I will have endured incredible pain ALL DAY, just for them to give me an epidural followed by a C-section. What a waste!
If I have to have a C-section, I'll be a nervous wreck (What's scarier than getting cut open while you are still conscious?! I admire
Katie for the seeming lack of terror she possessed!) I'll be an even bigger wreck if I have to be wheeled off to have a C-section AND an epidural. Might as well get the epidural now...
I informed the nurse that I had decided to get an epidural, and before I had time to process that I was about to have a giant needle stuck in my spine the anesthesiologist was there! She inserted numbing agent in my back (which really was the most painful part of the process) and then inserted the needle and catheter in my spine. The needle didn't hurt so much as it just. felt. wrong. Like, my nerves felt gross while it was in there. One of those dull aches that just leaves you feeling a little creeped out. But after the epidural... I was in heaven.
The epidural started working almost instantly. I laid down and my legs felt like they were wrapped in clouds. I was so happy. Laying my head on the pillow was the best feeling in the whole world. A later side effect of the epidural was that my skin began to itch. But it wasn't an irritating mosquito bite itch. It was a
delicious itch. It felt so good to scratch. Not even scratch, just kind of gently tickle with my fingernails. I found myself inadvertently skritching my chest and my belly. So after I got my epidural, I just laid around for hours and hours. Every 30 minutes the nurse would come in and help me roll over. I tried to nap, but it was rather hard to with the blood pressure cuff testing me every 15 minutes!
Then around 8pm, I started to feel nauseous. I was really hungry because I hadn't been allowed to eat all day. Then the nurse checked me again and called the doctor because I was completely dilated. I pushed for about 15 minutes. I rested for about 15 minutes. I pushed for another 5 or so minutes until the baby's head was visible. Then I waited for the doctor, which took about another 10 minutes. Doctor got there and I pushed 3 times. He told me to stop pushing, and he slowly eased the baby out. It was such an incredible experience.
Rory Anne officially made her entrance into the world on June 10th at 9:01pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and she was 21 inches long. She's a delightful baby and I've loved every minute of the last three weeks.
