Tuesday, November 28th; I had an ultrasound and a non stress test to check on baby boy. I'd been having them weekly since finding out my fluid was low, and I actually had been able to get my fluid from 6cm to 14cm in about 2 weeks. But by the next week it dropped to 9cm and on the 28th it was at 4 something. That's really low! So my OB talked with me and said that I should immediately go and chug water, all day and to come back the next morning to check my fluid again. She didn't think my water had broken (neither did I) so it was just to see if I could raise my fluid enough to make it to the weekend. Baby passed the non stress test with flying colors, so we knew he was still doing okay.
Wednesday, November 29th; I went back for another ultrasound and my fluid was at 5 something. Still really low, still not good. So my OB said it was time to evict my little man, at 37w3d because of the risks of leaving him in with low fluid. I was scheduled to appear at the hospital at 7:30pm for the cervidil (read: cervical ripening agent... read: medicine from HELL) and start the induction process.
I called hubby and told him about everything (of course he knew it was a possibility because we had talked the night before after my last OB appt..) and he said he'd be home by 4pm to help me get ready. We had packed our bags mostly the day before, and I had Abi all ready to go to my cousin's house so that was good. I texted my cousin to let her know what was up and went home to cry and eat lunch. Once I had gotten Abi from school and hubby was home we packed up the car and headed to dinner. Our last dinner as a family of 3. Then took Abi to my cousin's and spent a little while getting her settled in before heading to the hospital.
The hospital didn't seem to know I was coming at first, but they had a room all set up for us and got me in right away. The first nurse I had got all my information and went over my birth plan with me. Unfortunately since I was being induced, much of it went out the window.. like wanting to be up and walking around, not being constantly monitored, not haiving an IV and having a hep lock instead.. etc. But I knew going in that night that my original birth plan (that I didn't have time to update) would be somewhat useless. I remained flexible and told the nurse I understood that with the circumstances I would not get my every wish and I was fine and would do whatever was necessary to bring a happy healthy baby into the world. I think she was glad for my flexibility.
The IV insertion went well this time, thankfully. (P.S. I now have a matching little scar right next to my first scar from my IV when I was induce with Abi) I saw the resident, who was nice and she did a quick ultrasound to make sure little man was still head down, because of course otherwise I would be scheduled for a csection. Thankfully he was still head down! Then came time for the medicine. But OH. MY. GOD. The insertion for the cervidil was TORTURE. It was so painful! Unfortunately my cervix was pretty high still and so they had to push and reach to place the medicine and it was just awful!
So after that ordeal, we got settled in and waited for the contractions to start. At this point I wasn't on the pitocin yet, as they were waiting for the cervidil to dilate me. The contractions started off slowly, thank God because they eventually got to the point of every few minutes and were extremely painful. I hadn't taken a lamaze class or any birth class but I knew I had to try to breathe through the contractions. I did ok for a while until the pain got so intense I just moaned and cried. I am a big baby with pain, and I honestly never knew pain like this before. See, I always thought contractions were supposed to start in your back and wrap around your abdomen to the front. But these were concentrated in my pelvic floor (Duh to dilate me..) but it was so concentrated there and eventually I couldn't relax at all. The bulk of the 29th was over, since we had gotten there at 7:30 at night. But by the next morning the contractions were intense and coming more regularly and so I didn't really get much sleep.
Thursday, November 30th; I had been monitored externally this whole time, then I had a stupid blood pressure cuff on and off every hour (it got worse once I got the pitocin.. then it was perminantly on. ouch) The nurses and I fought all night to try to keep baby on the monitor, we kept having to move it around and eventually a nurse came in and found the perfect spot! It was just right and no matter how many times I had gone to the bathroom, when I came back to the computer baby was still right in the same spot and we didn't have to mess with them. With the numbness in my arms and hands I can tell you that there was no real comfortable position for me to be in. And with the horrible contractions I was just miserable. About 8 or 9 am they took out the cervidil which I was so grateful for because *I thought* that the contractions would subside without that medicine there. NOPE. They slowed a little bit but they still stuck around which told us that I was officially in labor. Once it was out I was allowed to take a quick shower and eat breakfast before getting my epidural. Well, hubby called for the cafiteria to bring me a delicious sounding breakfast and I hopped in the shower, which was hard as hell to do. I had to keep my IV arm out of the water and on top of that I was contracting. Trying to balance keeping my arm dry and wash inbetween contractions was hard. Not to mention I was trying to use little shampoos and in a tiny shower.
Once I was back in my hospital gown we realized that my food hadn't come yet. But I was in such pain at this point that I didn't care and asked the nurse to bring my epidural. Well, she then informed me that I had to be back on the monitors for a whole HOUR before I could get my epidural. At which point I broke down and cried... I had been crying on and off for a while, but that was just too much. I watched the clock like a hawk. A nurse came in and wrote on our white board Archer's name and what both hubby and I were guessing would be his birthday and stats. Hubby said 7lbs 5oz and born Nov. 30th. I said 8lbs and born Dec. 1st. I was not confident that he was going to come any sooner. I wanted him to be a December baby since hubby had just gotten me a beautiful birthstone necklace with March and December birthstones... But not only that I was in so much pain that I was sure it would last another day! After an hour on the monitors I begged my nurse for the epidural. I was originally going to get the nubain first so that I could relax through the contractions during the insertion of the epidural however, the nurse said that she needed an order from a dr. before she could submit the request for the drugs. I wasn't waiting any longer. I told her I didn't care and that I would do what I could to sit still and to just get me the epidural. I'm not ashamed of it, I needed the pain relief to be able to relax and let my body labor without fighting it. The girl (technician?) who came in to do my epidural was super nice and very informative. Hubby and I asked a lot of questions throughout this whole process and the nurses and techs and drs were amazing in answering everything, patiently. I don't remember specifics at this point, what questions I was asking and so forth.. but I know that she was very kind and answered everything. She prepped my back and would wait while I suffered through a contraction to do anything so that I would be less likely to move. Thankfully it went without a hitch and soon I was laying on my back waiting for the medicine to bring sweet relief. This epidural was different from my first in that I could still kind of feel and move my legs! That was cool because last time I was so numb in my legs and it was just really strange not to be able to feel them or move them. I kept up on pushing my bolus dose button this time so that it didn't wear off again like last time. And it didn't! Yay! But.. laying on my sides in order to get baby into a happy position was bad on my arms as they kept going numb. But thankfully, now that I had my pain relief I was able to sleep and get some rest! I have to say this was probably about noon or 1pm by the time I was really able to settle in and sleep.
I was up and down for the next several hours, though nurses kept coming in and out every hour to check vitals and such I would wake up and answer questions but then fall back to sleep. It was bliss to be able to sleep! At one point I got a little worried and asked the nurse if it was okay that I kept falling asleep while she was talking to me/doing tests etc. She said that it was okay, especially since I hadn't slept in about a day (From the time we came in to the time I had my epi I had not slept) and that it was good I was getting some rest to have the energy when it came time to push.
At some point my OB came in and broke my water. Not much came out, but it was clear so that was a huge relief. After that she checked me and said she needed to go do a few csections and check on another mom and would be back later. I spent most of the night resting and watching tv when I couldn't sleep. Hubby had been up and down, playing games and going out for his meals/checking on the cat at home etc. He was as helpful as he could be when I was still up and having contractions. He pushed on my back, rolled a tennis ball on my hips, provided counter pressure etc. Nothing helped for long but God bless him he tried. And for that I am grateful.
Friday, December 1st; Around 6am I think, my OB came to check me. I was around 8cm dilated and soft so that was good. She went to check on another patient and ended up having to take her to surgery. Just before she went she came to check on me again and said she'd be back ASAP once done with the other patient. I told her it was fine and I was ok waiting, letting the contractions hopefully continue to dialte me and push baby further down while we waited. Around 730 or so she was back and checked me again. She said I was soft enough that she thought she could push my cervix around baby's head and help with delivering him so ... we went for it. I began pushing and let me tell you, it's hard when you don't have a monitor to tell you when you're having a contraction, but I did have some feeling so between me, the nurse and my OB we were able to determine when a contraction was and I pushed with all my might. I did not want a mirror, but one was brought out for me. I had kept my eyes closed because I felt it helped me focus but my OB thought that once baby's head was visible it would help me to keep my motivation. I still had trouble watching, but I did see him crowning and start to come out.. but I had to stop pushing because his cord was wrapped around his neck so we waited a bit and very soon the cord was off and he was out! At 8:23 AM Archer made his debut after 45 minutes of pushing! It didn't feel that long (but then again it did!)
This whole process was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I don't know how women do this without pain relief! But he's here and he's healthy and I'm so totally in love with him. He is now 5 weeks old (tomorrow) and I can't imagine life without him!
