Labor and Delivery

I've been wanting to tell the labor and delivery story but always feel like I don't have tons of time to devote to telling it well. So I'm going to skip telling it well and am just going to tell it quickly before more details of the experience slip away. . .

OK, so I went in on May 6th for my regular 38 week OB check and an ultrasound. Remember, Abe had been measuring small for awhile up to this point and my doctor wanted to make sure everything was looking OK. The ultrasound technician and doctor assured me that everything looked good but that Abe was still small. He had been in the 25th percentile at around 35 weeks and now was around the 5th. I was very surprised when my doctor didn't even let me go home to get my stuff together and make sure Adelaide was cared for. She told me to go immediately to the hospital and not to even take time to grab lunch or anything. They wanted to have Abe on continuous monitoring.

We followed her instructions though I think I was in shock for awhile, got checked in and settled. Rocky ran home to get our bag packed for the hospital and get Adelaide ready to stay with some friends. Thankfully we had friends at our house at the time (cleaning my bathrooms for me no less) who immediately called off everything to take responsibility for our kiddo. It's funny how nothing with either of my labors really went as planned. Even who Adelaide wound up staying with was different from who I'd had in mind.

Meanwhile back at the hospital, things were fine. Abe showed no signs of distress. His heartbeat was reactive and strong. I was only dilated to a 1 and not really that much effaced so they decided to start me off with cervadil the night before my induction to help prep my cervix and not send my body into shock with pitocin. Some girlfriends came to hang out that night to visit with me and we even watched a chickflick and enjoyed Tiff's Treats. It was a nice evening off.

Around 11 I took two ambien and hoped to have a restful night's sleep in preparation for the hard work the following day. I did have a nice sleep, 3 hours of it. I woke up at 2am and could not go back to sleep for anything. I was thinking about Abe and labor.

Around 5am my nurse came in to wake me up (though that was unnecessary) and get me ready for the day. I even got a shower in. Around 6am they started pitocin. Unfortunately the cervadil had done nothing for my cervix so I was starting labor pretty much from scratch; I was still at a 1 but a little more effaced. My doctor told me that this would probably make labor a little difficult.

At first it wasn't more difficult but soon the contractions got pretty intense. They were about 3 minutes apart but I felt like I was handling them alot better than I was able to handle my contractions during my labor with Adelaide. I sat on the birthing ball alot because it was the only place I was comfortable. However, because I wanted to remain mobile, the nurse was having a hard time getting readings. So she came in after a few hours of labor and asked to do a pressure catheter to measure the intensity of the contractions. I was hesitant because I wanted everything to remain as wireless as possible but she convinced me. It wasn't that big of a deal though getting around was alot harder at this point. At the same time they inserted the catheter they also broke my water. A pressure catheter goes between the baby's head and the uterus and measures the intensity and duration of contractions really accurately. The catheter showed that my uterus was doing a great job. It was actually quite interesting to watch because I could anticipate my next contraction really well. I also felt justified when I saw the intensity go off the charts a few times when I felt like I was going to die. It made me feel like I wasn't just being a wuss but that it was indeed really difficult.

Things definitely progressed a lot faster this time than it did with Adelaide. I was at a 4 around 12pm I think. Around that time my doctor and nurse came in and requested that I get a internal fetal monitor put on Abe. His heartbeat wasn't registering on the monitors because of the position I was laboring in. They tried moving the monitors around but it didn't help. This really wasn't something I wanted to do but for the well being of Abe, I decided to do it. I definitely wanted to know if he was getting distressed.

Well, this was where my labor went from intense to off the charts painful. My nurse tried to attach the monitor. I won't paint a picture for you but all I'll say is that Abe was still at a -2 station meaning his head was not that low, and I was only dilated to a 4 so attaching a monitor to his scalp was not an easy or painless task. Not only was it probably the most painful I've been through but the first nurse couldn't reach so she had to get another nurse to do it because "her fingers are longer." Yikes. Luckily she was successful.

Abe's heartbeat was fine. He never really ever got distressed. We were alot more worried about him because he was so little. After the monitor was inserted I was pretty much done. The pain of the contractions had escalated so much due to all the meddling. Before I was breathing calmly sitting on the birthing ball. Now I couldn't get past the pain enough to even get back out of bed. It wasn't long after this that I told Rocky I needed an epidural.

Like a good labor coach, he tried to reason with me and make sure I was making the right decision. I did not want to hear it. I was in so much pain. Finally after making me wait through a few more contractions to see if I still wanted to make that decision and to see if maybe things would calm back down a little after the monitor was in, he called the nurse in and requested the epidural. She came in and said she wanted to check me first to make sure I wasn't super close. I wasn't, but I had dilated from a 4 to a 6 in about 20 minutes. The next hour was probably the longest hour of my life.

The anesthesiologist took about 40 minutes to get to our room. They didn't have any meds ready for me, and she was busy with something else at the time. Rocky was an amazing coach. Last time in labor I didn't want him to touch me or talk to me. This time I wanted him to be with me pretty much the whole time. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived but I was having a hard time getting in the proper position; it hurt so badly. It took a couple contractions I think before she got it all done. But the pain was still so intense. I kept waiting for it to get better but after twenty minutes or so it still hurt alot. I never had to push the button to increase numbness the last time so I didn't anticipate having to do it this time. I had to though. The epidural didn't even really take the edge off until I pushed the button twice.

I thank God that once again I had the "ideal epidural." I was able to still feel contractions and even move my legs all the way through. My contractions were so intense at this point that the nurse turned off my pitocin all together which was great. My nurse remembered that I had told her last time things progressed super quickly after my epidural so she began prepping things right away for delivery. Shortly after the epidural finally kicked in I felt the urge to push. This was probably only 30 minutes after I got the epidural. I told the nurse and she checked me. Sure enough. I was fully dilated, and Abe's head was about to crown. She immediately called the doctor and got the mirror. Chalasani came in and asked to see how much control I had for pushing. She asked me to push when I wasn't even having a contraction. So I did. She told me to do it 2 more times and there was Abe. It was awesome.

I began crying immediately. It was so beautiful to hear Abe's cry. His apgar score was a 9. He was just fine. He was little but just fine. I got to hold him right after delivery. I think those moments immediately following delivery are some of the sweetest in life.

I think it was less than an hour from when i got my epidural and was dilated to a 6 to when I was holding Abe in my arms and starting to nurse him.

He was born at 2:10 and weighed 5 lb. 15 oz and was 19 inches long.

Labor is an amazing thing. It is absolutely one of the hardest things I've ever been through but my labors and deliveries are also some of my fondest memories. I'm so thankful that I've been blessed with 2 amazing and healthy children. Now if I can just remember that every day :).