A Birth Story, Part 2

Check out Part 1 if you missed it!

So on to part two... 

So we're in room 3, the best room...
I changed into a gown and got into bed at 1245. Becky checked my cervix for progress. The hospital's policy is not to admit a patient unless their cervix is dilated to a 4. I was a 2 at my last appointment a week before, so I was hoping I was at least a 4 now. According to her, I was dilated to 3 and 80% effaced. I was a little disappointed and worried they would send me home. Becky asked me if I would like to go home for a while longer or stay and of course I said stay! I wasn’t giving up Room #3! =)

So we made ourselves comfortable and prepared for a long night. Although the contractions were painful, as long as I was walking, they were bearable. There was a moment when I felt like as long as they let me walk, I could handle them indefinitely. Ha! Although I was feeling mighty tough, I knew I really wanted an epidural and didn’t want to miss the window of opportunity for it. I informed my nurse of this so she agreed to come back and check me in a couple of hours. In the meantime I walked, breathed, facetimed with family and laughed with J and mom at the crazy German TV shows that air in the middle of the night.

When Becky came back in to check me at 2:40, I was 5 cm and 90% effaced. The pain was beginning to get pretty intense and I was terrified of missing out on the epidural (this had happened to my friend just two weeks before), so I told Becky I was ready for it. The CRNA arrived at 3:30. When he walked in was pacing the floor, laughing at something J had said. He looked around, said he must be in the wrong room and turned to go. We laughed and called him back in. He said his patients weren’t normally up walking around, laughing. Getting the epidural was an interesting experience. As a former operating room nurse and scrub tech, I had seen countless epidurals placed. One of my best friends is also a CRNA and I had talked to him about it. I knew it would be uncomfortable, and it was, but I underestimated how difficult it would be to have to sit still during the process. The contractions were bearable while I was walking, but so painful while sitting still. The sharp shooting pains down my legs wasn’t anticipated either. Afterward though, I was very thankful for the wonderful numb feeling.

At 4:15 the doctor came in for the first time since I’d arrived. She was about as friendly and animated as a rock. I sincerely hoped she wouldn’t be the one to deliver my baby. Luckily, she went off duty at 7:00 and /i knew I probably wouldnt deliver by then. She checked me at I was still at 5 cm. She said my water was bulging, so she decided to break it to speed things up a bit. Thankfully, due to the epidural, I didn’t feel a thing. Becky suggested we all try and get some rest while we could and she would be back in a couple of hours. I actually slept for an hour, but I was too excited to sleep more. I had fun trying to keep J awake by throwing ice at him. So far the worst part of labor? The hunger pains! I was starving. The popsicles and jello just werent cutting it.

At 6:15 Becky checked me again. I was only 6 cm. Unfortunately, the epidural had slowed my progress. They decided to begin a low dose of Pitocin to try and get my progress back on track, so at 6:25 they started the drip. After 20 minutes, Becky increased the dosage. At this point, I began to feel the contractions again. All I could think was, “Uh oh.” I knew this wasn’t good. I wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything. The contractions continued to get worse and as they did, I realized that I could only feel them on the left side. My right side was still numb, but I could feel everything on the left. Each and every contraction. I tried pushing my pain button, but that didn’t provide any relief. It sucked having to lie in bed during the contractions when all I wanted to do was walk.

Thankfully J was with me. He was awesome! He encouraged me, helped to keep me focused and kept me grounded. He is a funny, funny guy but never once cracked a joke. We’d made a deal beforehand that he wouldn’t make any jokes, complain or eat in front of me. Not that he would ever complain, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have a reason to hurt him. =)  I did let him eat eventually. I didn’t want him to pass out during the big moment!


Stay tuned for Part 3, the big event, coming next week.....