My due date was officially November 4th. At about 6 months, Dr. M determined that she didn't want me to go that long, but the hospital would not allow anything electively to be done before Oct. 29th. We decided to set an inducement date of Nov. 1st (mostly to be AFTER Halloween and not on a weekend). I went in for my final doctor appointment on Oct. 25th. We talked a little bit about what to do if I go into labor, but I eventually just asked if there was anything we could do to hurry this little thing along. I knew a couple of friends had their membranes stripped , so I non-chalantly asked about it. She offered to do it, so of course I agreed. She said she'd "be surprised" if I didn't go into labor in the next 48 hours. Which, in my experience with her, meant that would happen. So, Brad and I figured out all of the things to do to help move this process along. I walked a bunch (around the block a few times, to the mall, up and down the hallway), went up and down stairs, found a swing to swing on, rocked on the ottoman, ate spicy food. Everything. And of course nothing helped get Blake to want to come out. I was frustrated.
It got to the weekend, and I didn't want to do anything to help the situation because Dr. M was not on call, and I definitely didn't want a baby on Halloween. I was exhausted. We went to a friend's house Saturday evening to have some burgers. I got home later and began to feel yucky. This then turned into diarrhea late in the night. Sunday, I went to church feeling yucky and then began to throw up. I threw up 4-5 times in a 24 hour period. Everyone kept telling me it was a natural way for my body to cleanse itself for birth. Monday morning, I was walking up and down the hallway drinking water to stay hydrated, and I puked. All the water I needed was in the toilet. So, that made me call the doctor because I didn't want to get dehydrated. She sent me directly to labor & delivery to get an IV and check the progress.
We got to the hospital with all of our bags and such just in case. They checked everything and determined that I was EXTREMELY dehydrated. I got put on an IV and the nurse suggested that I be admitted since I was going to be induced the following morning anyway. She said my contractions would slow down (they were happening pretty regularly 5-7 minutes apart and I was just over 3 cm dilated.) once I got hydrated, and of course mine did the opposite. They progressed. I ended up having to take 3 full bags of fluid (and peed every bit of it out!) . They admitted me and eventually took me off fluids and gave me an Ambien to sleep at night to get ready for the 5am induction! I was very thankful for the Ambien, because I don't know if I could've slept without it. I was so anxious and uncomfortable. Poor Brad probably should've gotten one too since he had to sleep on a tiny chair that laid out.
They came in the morning and got me all hooked up again. They started the pitocin about 5:30am. I was feeling contractions before hand, but these were definitely stronger. I got moved to a much larger room and changed nurses. Kendra ended up being our nurse after a couple of changes, but I loved her. At about 9am, Dr. M came in to check on me and decided that she wanted to break my water. The nurses and Dr. M kept mentioning the epidural, and of course I wanted it, but nobody directly took my responses to their conversations as the idea that I wanted ASAP. Once Dr. M broke my water (which by the way felt disgusting), they said the contractions would get stronger, so I immediately requested the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in with his cart and did his magic. OH MY GOODNESS, I have no idea how any body does this without that thing. What a huge relief! Brad would watch the monitor and see how huge my contractions were, and of course I was taking a nap! :) It was amazing.
I was progressing along and doing just about right. Kendra said we were looking at about a 2pm-3pm arrival time based on her calculations of where I was and how I was progressing. I also had become nauseous, but they were able to fix it with Zo.phran. I can also remember that all I wanted was water. I was so thirsty, but of course I couldn't drink anything. Ice chips weren't doing the trick. At about 3pm, she checked me, and I was at 8cm. She changed my position and came back and I was still 8cm. I had felt Blake move into the pelvic cavity about 3pm and I knew we were getting closer. Kendra came again and checked me and I was still 8cm. This was the point where she said if Dr. M came in around 5pm, and I wasn't progressing, we were going to have the C-section talk.
I was devastated.
Dr. M came in and checked, told Kendra some medical gibberish, turned to me and said," let's start pushing." HALLELUJAH!
Dr. M stuck around for a bit when I started. Then she eventually left and came in and out sporadically. I'm telling you, pushing is a crazy feeling when your legs are completely numb. I couldn't tell what muscle I was using, but they said I was doing a good job.
I could tell I had been pushing for a while, and of course never doing this before, I had no idea if it was working. I kept looking at the clock knowing that it had been a while. I was not expecting this since my mom had extremely short labors and barely pushed at all. Eventually, Dr. M started getting all of her gear on, which made me very excited! This means that I was getting close! More and more people started coming into the room. All signs that this was about to happen! Dr. M then asked if it was okay to use the vacuum to help pull Blake down. She warned me of the popping sound I would probably hear because Blake had so much hair. And sure enough, it popped. I'm so glad she told me about this, otherwise it would've been crazy scary.
After about an hour and 20 minutes total, I finally heard Brad say, "Here he comes!" These were the best words of my life! I began to tear up and cry before he even came out! And believe me, it's incredibly hard to "bear down and push" when you're crying!
And sure enough, my stomach went down and out came Blake! 6:03pm
After they cleaned him off on my belly, Brad cut the cord and they took him over to be examined. All the while, Dr. M is still working her magic on me. I have no idea what's going on. She keeps asking the nurses for things and has this "puzzled" look on her face. After about 45 minutes, she finally says I'm ready to be cleaned up. I knew this wasn't a good sign.
Apparently, the large head that my son has been equipped with caused some damage. I, of course, was not told this until later that night at nurse shift change. Dr. M also okayed the epidural to stay in me all night. This is not normal, so I also knew that damage had been caused. I had incurred a Stage 4 tear as well as a Stage 2 episiotomy. I only figured out what that meant after I googled it. Don't do that. I then realized why I had the epidural!
I ended up getting sick again. After Kendra got me some water, she told me to drink it slowly, which was impossible, and of course I ended up throwing up again. The Tomsons brang us some soup since the food service was closed, and as soon as I started eating, I threw up again.
Blake ended up staying the night in the nursery both nights we were there, which was a wonderful thing to do. I recommend it for anyone. At least I was able to get a few hours of shut eye in between the times my IV alarm went off and them checking my vitals.
We were stuck in one of the smallest rooms on the floor. It was so cramped. But they were incredibly nice. (Except the shower had no hot water....)
All in all, the birthing experience wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but I'm so thankful to have not had a C-section. Within a week or so, I was off pain meds and out and about around town. I couldn't imagine what it would've been like had I been recovering from surgery. I think I would've been so stir crazy.
And the best thing about it? This handsome boy.
God is good!
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