Induct Me

After contraction for HOURS on Tuesday night, absolutely nothing was happening by the morning, so we were off to the hospital. Luckily we had our induction scheduled for early in the morning. Pitocin was in by 9:30 and we were contracting along at a good pace. No progress was made for hours, but Drew and I did watch the movie “Stardust” — my SIL gave it to me, and it was mildly amusing. I was trying to envision my cervix as a flower, but apparently the flower was not ready to bud. 🙂 As a side note, we had amazing help with our kids. It’s so nice to know that they’re at a place that they feel welcome and safe. Big props to my friends Pili and Rowena who helped out on that end. It is by far the worst part of living away from my parents at this time.

At around 2:00 I decided that I was going to be contracting every 2-3 minutes, for most likely forever and I might as well get an epdiural. It was in by 3:30, and again — no progress. At 4:30 she came in and asked me if I wanted my water broken. I think most of my blog readers are well aware of how petrified I was of commiting myself with her breaking my water. I finally OK’d it, and hardly any fluid came out anyway. Around 6:30 she checked me again and I was at a 6 (so about 2 cm’s in 2 hours) but the baby was still high. {big sigh from me}. I actually wrote in my journal at that time that I expected her to come between 8:30 and 10 that night, we were calling our babysitter, trying to figure out what to do with the kids, etc. Then, at about 6:50 I had a lot of pain in my left hip (this picture was taken at 6:38 — just like 20 min. before she’s born — you can tell I’m starting to feel more than I would prefer). I was trying to adjust myself (which was difficult since apparently the epidural catheter was feeding straight into my right leg — it was SO numb, I couldn’t move it at all) so that the epidural might flow there. I finally put the head of the bed down and with a monumental amount of effort put myself on my left side. That is when I said, “Drew — you need to call the nurse, the baby is coming NOW.” He called her — and I remember thinking “you need to act more urgent with this” (but again, he had just heard from me that the baby wasn’t coming for like 2 hours). She came in, and saw me. By this time I was shaking, wanting to throw up and die at the same time. She called for the doctor, some resident came in (although, I think all the residents were midly afraid of me — because she left as soon as the attending came in) and said I was complete and the baby was +2. So, in like 20 minutes she’d basically flew-down the birth canal and was ready to come.

I was feeling everything, and I wanted it done. They quickly gowned up for delivery while I did some tiny pushes and then she was born within 3 contractions from then — 7:02 pm. I mostly remember I kept asking if I was bringing her down and how many more pushes they thought it would take. I also remember the Dr. asking if I wanted an episiotomy and she could get her out — yes, I wanted it but I said no — I could do it. It was like crack cocaine out in front of me — I wanted the episiotomy so bad, but I knew it would be bad for me in the long run. 🙂 I also was VERY glad that this is my big finale of childbirth because let’s just say that kidney stones was a mild annoyance compared to how I was feeling right then. I ended-up with a 2nd degree tear, because her head didn’t mould at all, it’s perfectly round — I think she did all this so she could look amazing in her photos. Stinker. Of course, everyone commented on how perfect her head was — all at my expense (still really sore, I didn’t expect that on #3).

I also wanted to mention that the job that I do is a very important one. I think sometimes I forget how much a nurse can do for a patient, because it comes naturally now. But knowing that someone is on your side, that she’ll help you get through it — it’s invaluable. Here’s my main labor nurse, Kelly. She did a great job and I really appreciated her. The one with the hat on is the attending who delivered Miss P (if you want to know the actual name look on facebook or email me — I’m a little paranoid about the blog right now). She also did a great job, and I can’t imagine I was the easiest patient (shocking, I know). SO glad it’s over, SO glad she’s safe. APGAR’s were 9/9 — oh, and did I mention she has a lovely round head?