I won't bore you with the details of my pregnancy ailments. Let's get right to the good stuff...the labor and delivery!
Being overweight and of "advanced maternal age," (the nurse's words, not mine :) ), I was at a higher risk of having gestational diabetes. Turns out I had it. Yaaay me. The only good news I received from that diagnosis was my doctor saying he would induce me at 39 weeks instead of making me wait it out. I could have kissed him after hearing that! My other three babies were all born early (naturally), but knowing that I would have a week less of "suffering" made me feel better.
Braxton Hicks contractions were a common and frequent occurence in all of my pregnancies. By the time I neared the end of this pregnancy, those contractions had been happening for several months. I had learned to welcome them because they seemed to help get things moving and made my previous labor and delivery sessions short. I thought for sure I would go into labor before the scheduled induction, but on the morning of March 12, 2014, my husband and I calmly walked into the hospital and checked in. Labor hadn't really started yet. The good news was that I was already dilated to 4cm, which was 1cm more than two days prior. I was excited at the progress and knew it would be just a couple hours until the baby was born! My doctor asked that I immediately tell a nurse if I felt anything happening during the induction. He was working in the clinic that day and had a 20-minute drive to get back to the hospital. Because my previous deliveries were quick, he didn't want to miss it. Yep, got it, Doc. I was sure I would be sounding the alarms in about an hour.
After changing into the gown and getting settled on the bed, it was time to start the IV. I almost think that part is worse than the actual pain of childbirth. I have terrible veins and it usually takes several attempts to put in a line. This time was no exception. I was an anesthesia consult, which meant I was supposed to have a well-thought-out plan for pain management, and my needs would be met ASAP. I met with the anesthetist, but after two attempts with the needle on my left hand, he gave up and called for reinforcements. The next guy found a vein in my right hand like nobody's business. I was all...where were you 10 minutes ago?? Regardless, the needle torture was done for now. My master plan included getting a low dose of IV pain medication if the contractions got bad enough, then just before it was time to push, I would get a single shot in my spine to numb me from the waist down. Okay, the plan was in place, so it was time to start the pitocin!
It was around 9:00am that the pitocin drip started. I was sure I would have the baby by 10:30am, with enough time left in the morning to order a late room service breakfast. Mmm...my favorite part of the hospital stay is ordering food. :) To my delight, the nurse said I could order a normal meal (no clear diet for me!) because I wasn't technically in labor yet. I ordered and ate, waited, used the bathroom, got the pitocin turned up, watched TV, waited, used the bathroom, played games on my tablet, waited, got the pitocin turned up, used the bathroom, waited...you can see where this is going. No where. Nothing was really happening. I could feel the contractions and they were coming every couple minutes, but they weren't hurting in the right spot. The nurse and resident doctor said my cervix was flipped backward and was pretty far back, so the contractions had to flip it up the right way, then it would finish opening. Greeaat. More contractions and waiting.
After nine hours of the above mentioned routine, my normal doctor was back in my room to check my progress. It was 6:00pm. I wasn't supposed to STILL be pregnant at 6:00PM!! He checked my cervix...I had only gotten to 5cm! I couldn't believe it. A feeling of devastation came over me. I had just gone through nine hours of contractions and discomfort for one measely centimeter. The doctor said he would need to break my water to get things moving. I agreed, but was quick to mention that I hadn't had any pain medication yet and that I wanted a shot in my IV before that nice cushiony water was gone. He got the long water breaker needle thing and had the nurse get the medicine.
As he was breaking my water, I hadn't gotten the medicine yet. I started getting a little frantic. I mean, my pitocin drip had been steadily increased throughout the day and I was getting some pretty good back-to-back contractions. I could read the writing on the wall and pretty much lost it. As soon as the floodgates were opened, the pain felt unbearable. Where was that medicine?? I saw the nurse in the room with the vial and syringe, but then she was gone before I got any of it. Ummm...come back! At this point, I was literally begging and screaming for help. I was scared. This wasn't part of the plan! I didn't want to be one of "those" women that you hear in the room down the hall. The screamer. The lady who can't deal with the pain. But alas, I was her.
Four contractions after my beloved water was taken from me, I yelled out that I needed to push and that I could feel the baby's head almost coming out. My doctor was in the warming room getting gloves. He told me not to push (he had just checked me and said after the water was gone, I had dialated from 5cm to 8cm, but everything was still far back), but I insisted that my body was pushing! Suddenly I heard the nurse say "there's a head!" (nice of her to come back - she had to get a new syringe because the first one broke when she pushed it into the vial. Of course it did, because that would be my luck! Haha! I'm still not sure if I ever got the medicine.) and then it happened. The baby's head was coming out and I didn't have any pain medicine. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt a bit. The contractions were awful, but when the baby came out, I hardly felt it. The doctor rushed back to my bed and grabbed the baby's head. He didn't even have time to get scrubs or gloves on. I was still laying on the same bed I had been in all day. The end hadn't been removed and there were no stirrups. Hallelujah for no stirrups! In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the baby was out and was whisked away to be cleaned off and tended to. My husband was at my side telling me what a great job I did. I felt like I was in shock! The doctor broke my water at 6:26pm and the baby was born at 6:39pm. Crazy!
I had the body shakes after delivery, but that's normal. I remember feeling quite awkward at the sight of two young male doctors stitching me up...and of course I'm blabbing away and apologizing that they had to be down there to see my fat Jell-O legs shaking, my hemorrhoids, and I believe I also used the word "crotch" several times. Sigh. After i was stitched up and cleaned up, a nurse applied one of those glorious ice packs. Throughout my hospital stay and recovery at home, I never had to use another ice pack. In fact, I only had a couple doses of ibuprofen, Tylenol, and oxycodone to help with the cramps. I never had any peri pain. Praise God for that!
I had the baby 16 days ago, and the details are already getting fuzzy. I wish I could hold those memories as if they were still happening. All of my babies are precious and they're all growing up too fast. Having this baby is bittersweet...I don't want to ever go through another pregnancy, labor, delivery, and recovery, but I also don't want this to be my last baby. How can this child's firsts be the last that I'll get to witness? The thought brings me to tears. I'm going to continue to enjoy every moment I have with my children. They are true gifts from God! (And now I'm sobbing in the bath tub - multi-tasking by blogging while soaking - and the toilet paper is just out of reach! Guess it's time to end it!)
Joseph James
Born 3/12/14 at 6:39pm
8lbs 2oz
21" long
Perfect in every way!
