I know I've done this blog before...a while back. But being pregnant again, I have just been thinking about my labor experiences and wanted to put them out there.
I was 37 weeks pregnant with Theona and went to my normal appointment. My doctor did all the normal stuff, measured my belly, did the Doppler for the heart rate, then checked me for dilation. She told me I was a little over 1 cm and about 70% effaced. Then she said the most shocking thing ever! "I'm going to go ahead and schedule you to be induced in a week." It was so shocking because I never knew that was going to be an option! So of course that entire week was excruciating. We set up the crib with my bff. Put the final touches on her room. And did whatever I could to get labor going. I had an exercise ball and while Rachel and Loren were putting the crib together, I sat on the ball and bounced and rolled. That sounds really funny to say now. I walked a lot. I ate spicy food. Had sex. And even tried castor oil. Ew. That's the grossest thing ever and doesn't work at all!
Well, nothing got labor going, so we went in as scheduled on September 20th at 5:30 am. We pre-registered so checking in was pretty quick. They got me hooked up to an IV and a nurse asked me all the standard questions. One funny question was "If this happens to be a boy, do you want circumcision?" HA!
They started me on pitocin, the drug that kick-starts labor at around 7:30 am. Some of my family was there at that point. My mom had come up for the birth so she was there. As well as Loren and Rachel. My brother and sister and dad ended up coming a bit later. Throughout the day, the nurses checked me for progress. I was actually progressing just fine. My doctor had intended to be there to break my water around 8:30 or 9 but she got stuck in morning traffic on 440. So she finally got there around 10 am and broke my water for me. I got my epidural shortly after that. Things were coming along really well. I only felt a few really bad contractions before I was able to get the epidural so it was a great labor experience.
At one point, I did have to have an oxygen mask on because Theona wasn't getting enough. Her heart rate had dipped a little. They had me lay on my side for a while too. But after a while she was fine. I even took a short nap while my labor was progressing. Around 1 o'clock, the doctor came back in and started getting set up. I was ready to push, well...according to her. I couldn't feel anything at all, thank the Lord! The family left, except for my sister, mom and Loren. And the pushing began!
It didn't take long. I pushed for less than 20 minutes and she was here! 6lbs 14oz, 19 3/4 inches long. She was on my chest for less than a minute, but they had to clean her up and make sure she was okay. They did that in the room while Loren and Rachel took pictures. I have to say, if every labor experience could be that pleasant for all of my friends, I'd be ecstatic! It was calm, almost pain-free and very sweet. From the time the pitocin was administered to the time she was born was about 7 hours. It would've been 5 if the doctor wasn't stuck in traffic, but I honestly can't complain one bit!
4 years later, and a different doctor, I was going in to the hospital to be induced with Kaden. Very different experience I'll tell ya! The only similarity was the length of labor, at about 7 hours! I was 5 days overdue. And miserable because it was August and Africa hot!
They had me come in at 7:30 this time. Loren and Rachel came with me. They decided to break my water after hooking me up to a regular saline IV. I started having mild contractions as soon as the iv was put in. And once they broke my water, labor kicked in pretty good. They gave me the option to get my epidural line put in before I was heavily contracting. They would leave the line in, but would wait to start the meds when I was in more pain. But first they had to test it to make sure it was going to work. It was working and took a while to wear off. Once it did, they had me get up and walk around to help labor along. Oh, I forgot to add...I was already 5 cm dilated when I went in that morning.
If I had not had to wait for the test run of the epidural, the labor would've been 2 hours shorter, just like with Theona. When labor got to the point where I was contracting constantly, they started the epidural. That was the only thing that was better about this experience. I didn't have to get the big needle put in while I was in the middle of a big contraction. The Olympics had started the week before so we spent most of the day watching different events.
Around 3:00, I started feeling some pain in my thighs and pressure in my pelvic area. I hadn't felt anything like it before. I told the nurse what I was starting to feel and she tried to get the epidural guy back in there, but he was in an emergency c-section. So, I tried to let that information sink in. The knowledge that I'd be pushing without any pain medication. I didn't really have time to be nervous or scared about it. By 3:40 or so, it was time for me to start pushing. I had no clue how big Kaden would be. I did have two ultrasounds, but they were both halfway through. At 18 weeks, I had the official ultrasound where they did all the measurements and found out he was a boy, but they called me back in the week after that because they didn't get a good enough look at his spine the first time. But after that we never got another look at him to gauge how big he'd be.
So I'm pushing and feeling it all and it's hard to concentrate on breathing and pushing at the same time. In the movies, they show women in labor screaming at the top of their lungs in pain. I didn't quite scream, but I was kind of grunting loudly. The mid-wife (whom I had never met before) kept telling me not to be so loud because it would scare the baby. I would've kicked her in the face if she were even close enough to me. She was standing a couple feet back, just kind of rubbing her hands together. The nurses were awesome. Loved them!
I had to push about 5 or 6 times, really hard. But after that, he was out. The biggest feeling of relief swept over me. They put him on my chest and I was crying and happy and laughing and just overcome with emotion. I still didn't know exactly how much he weighed at the time. Once they took him and cleaned him off, they told us his weight. 9lbs 5oz!! 21 1/2 inches long. I had given birth to a toddler with no pain meds!
The military hospital experience was terrible. The labor and delivery was challenging, but precious and such an accomplishment! I am choosing to go with an epidural with this labor, but I know now that if for some reason I couldn't get one, I could definitely give birth! And I'm back with my old doctor which is a huge comfort. I know for a fact she won't let me go over with this one. That in and of itself is a relief. I can't wait to add a new labor story!!
No comments:
Post a Comment