L & D

Things have been very crazy since my last entry obviously since now we are parents. I had 2 appointments the week before Adelaide's birth. The last was the Monday before the 42 mark. Although things were encouraging-- 2 cm dilation, 50% effacement-- Dr. Chalasani suggested that we go ahead and schedule an induction for the Wednesday morning, 2 days later. She would be on call all that day and night so she could be there to deliver our little one. Although we hoped to not have to induce, we went ahead and scheduled the induction since things become more risky after week 42.

I still tried more ways to induce but it didn't seem to be doing anything. I was having more braxton hicks contractions Monday and Tuesday but nothing "real." Then at 2:30 am Wednesday morning, the morning I was going in to get induced, I woke up with strong cramps. At first they didn't hurt very much, felt alot like the worst menstral cramps I'd ever had, but soon they began to be painful. I couldn't go back to sleep. Then I noticed that the "cramps" would go away and then come back. I began timing them at 3 am. They weren't regular but they were consistent.

I woke Rocky up at 3:30 and let him know I thought I was in labor. He, half asleep, thought I was joking and that it was just time to get up and go to the hospital. When I said it again he asked what time it was. He began to believe me when I told him it was 3:30. He got up and helped me time them for awhile but I told him to just go back to sleep. I hoped to get some rest as well, but lying down made the pain worse so I just sat in a chair. Around 5 am, the pain got quite a bit worse so I took a bath. After that, I pretty much decided that I would get ready, get breakfast, and then head to the hospital at 7 am as scheduled.

Rocky and I went to Rudy's for breakfast tacoes and then went to check in to the hospital. Contractions began to spread out a bit but were still pretty intense. Once we made it to the maternity floor, we met Eunock our nurse. I was instantly more tense and frustrated with her. As soon as I got into the room I began having a contraction so Rocky told her that I'd gone into labor on my own. Even as I was in the middle of the contraction, she began asking me questions. Then she told me to put on the hospital gown. I told her I didn't want to and she said "you do something for me, i do someting for you." What the heck does that mean? Wanting to pick my battles, I conceded and put on the gown.

It only got worse from there. I felt so proded and poked. It's never fun to have blood drawn, IV inserted, exams done, paperwork filled out. It's especially not fun having it done in the middle of contractions. It made it really hard to relax, the very thing that I needed to do. Just by looking at Rocky he could tell what I was thinking and he made a request for the nurse who had done our hospital tour, but there was no one else available. The l & d floor was completely full.

Eunock immediately started the IV and wanted to start the pitocin. I told her to wait until Chalasani came in since I was in labor on my own. She was seemingly ticked but waited. Chalasani didn't show up til 9:30 am. When she checked me, I was hoping for some serious dilation but she told me I was still a 2 and 80% effaced. Since I was in labor on my own she decided to break my water and see what that would do to progress things. She did that and told Eunock to take out my IV and set me up on intermident wireless monitoring. Once again Eunock griped about the hep lock and wireless monitoring but did it regardless. She also kept saying how she didn't think breaking my water was going to do anything and that she thought pitocin had gotten a bad rap. I really did want to kill her at times.

After I became wireless, Rocky and I began walking around a bit. The contractions didn't get any closer together but they did become more intense. I had 30 minutes to walk around between monitoring. It almost seemed more difficult with the intermident monitoring because I had to be restrapped up so often. Chalasani came back in around 12:30 to check my progress. This time there was alot to speak of-- 4 cm dilated, 100% effaced. I was so pumped. We decided since things were going so well that we'd just continue on without pitocin. Eunock even said she was surprised at how things were progressing.

Between the exam at 12:30 and the next one at 3:30, things got really rough. The only positions I could find relief in were kneeling or being on all fours. I spent lots of time on the couch kneeling on it and leaning against the back. So much for the 2 positions Bradley talks up so much. Those were pretty much unbearable for me. All Rocky's coaching was thrown out the window. I didn't want him to touch me or say a whole lot, but I did want him near me especially to fend off the crazy nurse. The contractions were coming pretty much without break and I was making all kinds of crazy noises trying to help out with the pain. I was also sweating like I've never sweat before. I was pretty much drenched from head to toe from all the hard work.

At 3:30, I was expecting big results after all my hours of laboring, about 13 at this point, but was disappointed to hear there was absolutely 0 progress after 3 more long, difficult hours. At this point Chalasani recommended starting the pitocin since things were going so slowly now so we agreed. Eunock hooked it up as I kneeled on the end of the bed and held Rocky. There began to feel like there was no break at all in between contractions. I was in pain consistently. I began telling Rocky I couldn't do it. He kept encouraging me that I could and that I needed to relax. I couldn't relax. I just held him tighter and at one point I bit Rocky's neck. I think it was around that point that Rocky started to realize I was serious about getting an epidural. After waiting it out a while more, I asked Rocky to get me an epidural.

About 15 minutes Dr. Dill came in to give me the epidural. It couldn't have seemed like a longer 15 minutes. Eunock curled me up into a ball and held me while Dill inserted the needle and catheder. I didn't feel much but a leg twitch when he inserted it. i didn't instantly feel relief but it came very quickly. I was very surprised by the effect of the epidural. It didn't completely take away the pain but made it bearable. I had the epidural set on the lowest possible setting so I could still feel every contraction. I was able to rest a little bit now though.

I was on the epidural for about an hour, it was around 5 pm, when Eunock decided to check me herself. She asked me how far along I wanted to be. What kind of a question is that? Of course I wanted to be there, 10 cm. I really didn't expect what she said next. She called Rocky over to see Adelaide's head! The hour of being on the epidural sent me from a 4 to a 10! There was a little lip left at that point but she told me to start pushing whenever I felt pressure. So around 5:15, I started pushing and a mere 35 minutes later I was holding my little girl.

The bed was in a sitting position and with each contraction, Eunock would hold one leg up and Rocky would hold the other. I would also pull my knees and neck in. I'd pull in 3 breaths and push through each of them. When the nurse originally asked me if I wanted the mirror I wasn't so sure, but now I'm so glad we got it. It helped me have incentive to keep pushing especially when I could see Adelaide's head and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Once again I was amazed at how much I could still feel. I was able to move my legs entirely on my own and I could even feel the nurse cleansing the area with antiseptic and even knew when I pooped the table. Ick! Not like I cared at that point though.

Chalasani came in to check on me around 5:35 and just stayed since things were progressing so quickly. it was amazing to see her change from cute office outfit to baby delivering outfit in like 5 seconds. She used olive oil to massage the area and help minimize tears as she went. She was great at encouraging me to push through the pain-- the ring of fire as she called it. I could definitely tell why. Things happened so fast it was hard to take it all in. Next thing I know Adelaide's head was coming out and Chalasani asked me if I wanted to help pull her out. I reached down and caught her shoulders as they came out. Immediately I pulled my girl to my tummy and held her. While we were staring at her, Chalasani clamped the cord and Rocky got to cut it. What an amazing experience!

Afterwards, Chalasani asked me if I felt disappointed in my decisions and I didn't know how I could be. I think my decisions were wise. It seems like the epidural was just what I needed to get my body to relax and get things going. With everything going so smoothly I couldn't complain, that's for sure.