One of the reasons I started this blog was to have a place to keep track of memories. I seriously have THE WORST memory! At least once a day, either talking with coworkers, friends, or my husband, someone brings up something from the past that I should surely remember and I have almost no recollection of it. There are obviously things that I do remember, but the details of events are always hazy the further from the event I get. Old age? Whatever the case may be, I thought it would be great to have a place to jot things down so I could look back at the details later.
I actually took notes in the notes section of my phone while we were in the hospital getting ready to deliver Rocco because I knew I would forget the details later.
I was due on Monday November 11, 2013. I had been having my weekly checks with my OB and the week before had no progression so I figured there wouldn't be anything new on that Monday either. At that check I was only dilated to a 1cm. We scheduled 2 non-stress tests for that week to make sure all was still well and we also scheduled an induction for that Thursday. The non-stress tests showed that everything was still ok, but we opted to go ahead with the induction.
Looking back I wish I would have waited it out a little longer to give my body a chance to go into labor on its own...but I was just so excited to meet him or her (we hadn't found out the gender ahead of time), that I got ahead of myself and scheduled the induction the first chance I got.
Joe and I were both excited and nervous the morning of the induction as we got ready real early in the morning. We checked in at the hospital around 7a.m. Once we were admitted and set up in our delivery room they checked me for the first time (8a.m.) and I was 3cm dilated and 60% effaced. I was really excited that I had made some progress on my own since Monday!
The nurse started the Pitocin at 9a.m. I didn't really know what to expect so we just hung out and watched t.v. waiting for something to happen. The Pitocin was increased every 45 min to an hour and finally at noon I started having contractions. At first it was exciting to feel the contractions because I knew that meant we were getting closer and closer to delivery. However, they quickly became really strong and really close together. By 1pm I was 5cm dilated and at 1:15pm the resident broke my water.
At this point my contractions were consistently 1 min long and 1.5min apart. I had TERRIBLE back labor and it seemed as if nothing could relieve the pain. It felt like I had no time between contractions to catch my breath. The nurse showed Joe how to put pressure on my low back during contractions...that helped a tiny bit, but not enough to really get any relief. I tried sitting on the exercise ball but that seemed to make things even more intense.
I knew from the very beginning that I wanted an epidural, but for some reason I had it in my head that I had to wait a certain amount of time to get it. So I pushed through the contractions until I was in tears telling Joe I needed the epidural 30 minutes ago. I made it to 3:30 which is the time I had in my head that I would wait until before asking for it...I have no clue why I was set on that time though. Of course the resident said she wanted to check me again before the epidural and at that point I was to 6cm.
After what felt like FOREVER, the anesthesiologist and his assistant finally arrived. I know it wasn't anyone's fault, but the whole epidural process was incredibly frustrating. My contractions were so close together and so strong that I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then they asked me to sit on the edge of the bed and bend forward "at the waist" (!!!) what waist exactly?!? My almost 41 week pregnant "waist" with monitors stuck to it that felt like knives were strapped to it stabbing me in the belly every time I bent forward?? They kept telling me I wasn't bending in the right place but there was nowhere for that huge belly to go! Eventually I was able to do what they were asking after I insisted that the monitors come off while I do it so I would stop being stabbed.
Although I had never heard of this before I head the anesthesiologist talking to his assistant about the tattoo I have on my back (very stupid 18 year old decision haunting me 12 years later!!) and how he didn't want to put the epidural through the ink (??). So he decided he would put it up higher than normal and thread it down but he "couldn't guarantee complete coverage". Excuse me?!?! The epidural itself didn't hurt at all, or maybe I was too busy focusing on the contortionism I was practicing while in intense pain while panicking about the fact that after all this I may not have the epidural I dreamed of during delivery!
30 minutes after the epidural I did start to get relief. I could feel the pain slowly becoming less intense even though I was watching the monitor and knew I was still having contractions just as consistently as I was before the epidural.
The nurse came back in and checked me around 6:15pm and I was 7cm dilated and 90% effaced. We were getting closer! I did notice at this point that I could feel the contractions in the right side of my back and abdomen, but not on my left side. The nurse suggested that she prop me up onto my right side and "let gravity" help the epidural get to the other side. I was skeptical, but it 100% worked! Within just a few minutes I had total relief again.
I was so comfortable at this point that we just hung out, watched t.v., texted with friends, and visited with a friend who works in the hospital that I delivered in. Around 9pm I was checked again and was told I was 10cm and 100% effaced, we made it!! I told the nurse that my epidural was so strong I literally couldn't feel a single thing and wondered if I would even be able to push. She suggested we wait just a little bit and let my body naturally help the baby descend and she would come back in a little while.
She came back at 10pm and said we would do a "practice push". After that push she said we were ready to go! Since I couldn't feel anything at all, we would just watch the monitor for the contractions. In between pushing we were all joking around and watching Grey's Anatomy that happened to be on the t.v. in our room at the time.
After just a few pushes, at 10:41p.m. Rocco Louis was born! Joe was the first to see the gender and was able to announce that we had a BOY! It was definitely so surreal and exciting!
I got to hold him right away but they quickly scooped him up as they didn't like how weak his cry sounded. They didn't seem overly concerned, but they did have an extra nurse come in to check him out. In the end he was totally fine and they got him cleaned up and handed back to me to try nursing.
There were some complications after delivery for me, but I'll spare any future readers the details. It all seemed to happen very fast and was very scary, but after what felt like an eternity was under control. Once things settled down we were so excited to spend time just the 3 of us and just stare at and snuggle this sweet little guy!
Much Love,
B.
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