Caution: This post is going to be a long detailed account of my labor and delivery. I wanted to write everything before I forgot some of the details. Don't read if you are easily grossed out!
Pre-Labor
At 37 weeks gestation my cervix I was 3 cm dialted. The doctor told me that I could go into labor anytime but some people stay dilated for weeks at a time. I had been having contraction in the late evenings and early morning but nothing that intense. They mostly just felt like the baby stretching in all direction. At 38 weeks I was now 4 cm dialated. Martin and I kinda got our hopes up that I would go into labor that week, but it didn't happen. At week 39 I was still 4 cm dilated. The doctor decided that I was a good candidate to be induced and scheduled my induction for July 25. I was relieved that I was definitely going to have a baby at the end of week 39. I was done being pregnant! The doctor also predicted that Charlotte would weigh around 7 lbs and be long and thin.
Labor Begins
I started having contraction Thursday July 24 around 6 a.m. At fist I thought it was just a bad stomach ache but couldn't get back to sleep. Finally around 9 a.m. I woke up Martin and asked him to start timing the contractions. The contractions were about 1.5 minutes long and 5 minutes apart. These initial contractions weren't too intense but did hurt to walk and move around. We dcided to head for the hospital around 10:30 a.m. We arrived at to Triage around 11 a.m and I was hooked up to the monitors. The nurse determined that I was having contractions but wanted to see if my cervix would dilate more than 4 cm so she sent us on a walk. I was 90% effaced at this point. We walked around the hospital for about 45 minutes. At the end of the walk I was stopping every 20 feet because the contractions had become more painful. The nurse checked me agian and determined that I hadn't made any progress and she sent us home. I felt hopeless. The contractions were painful and they weren't doing anything....I was doomed. We went home and I tried to sleep. I had no luck sleeping, the labor pains were too uncomfortable. We decided to go back to the hospital at 6 p.m. when the nurses switched shifts.
Labor Continues
We arrive back at the hospital around 6 p.m. All the Triage rooms are full so we have to wait in the lounge for a room. I was really uncomfortable. Finally we get a room and the nurse checks me again. My cervix still wasn't dilated past 4 cm. by this time my contractions were so intense I was squeezing Martin's hands and a lemon Martin found in my purse. The nurse sent us on another walk. I couldn't even walk 10 feet before I was grabbing the railing and leaning over it. We decided to just sit in the lounge. The nurse checked me again and I was still just at 4 cm and 90% effaced. I started crying. The pain was intense and it wasn't doing anything. The nurse decided to call my doctor and see if she could send me home with pain killers. It just happened that my doctor was in the hospital. She told the nurse that she wanted me to stay and that she would break my water. Martin and I were so happy! I was so relived, there was an end in sight.
Labor>>>>Delivery
So with this news we just had to wait for a room to open up. The contraction were still pretty intense, I was squeezing my lemon and in the fetal position. We were transfered to the delivery room at 9:16 p.m. The nurse said we were lucky because we got the princess suite. The room was huge! The doctor came in and broke my water at 9:30 p.m. It didn't hurt at all and felt like warm pee. The doctor also said that my membrane was abnormally thick. After my water was broke the doctor ordered my epidural and the nurse hooked me up to an IV. You have to have 1 liter of fluid before you can get an epidural. Then the doctor and nurse both left. My contraction monitor wasn't working so the doctor kept messing with it but I don't think it ever worked right. My dad called and said he wanted to come say hello. While my dad was in the room my contractions started to become more and more intense and closer together. I was grabbing the bed and and pulling the rails. My dad left at about 9:45 p.m. Right after he left I rolled over to my side and had the fist contraction that felt like I needed to push. It was so painful! I told Martin to call the nurse. he thought I was crazy but he did. The nurse came in and checked me. This what she said, "I can't feel your cervix, I think you are at 8 cm. I am going to get your epidural right now." My doctor rushes in and I tell her it feels like I need to push. She checks me and says, "If it feels like you need to push then push." The pain is so horrible that everything is a little fuzzy from then on. I remember all of a sudden 2 nurses are in the room, one with a cart for the epidural and one with some other cart. During contractions the doctor tells me to push. The anesthesiologists appears from somewhere and the doctor tells him, "She is in active labor there is no time for the epidural is there anything local you can give her?" The anesthesiologist replies, "I could do a saddle blocker" The doctor turned asked me if I wanted it. I asked her how long the pain was gonna last. She replied, "It depends on you not me." I really didn't want to move or sit up because it hurt so bad that I tuned the saddle blocker down. After I turned it down I realized that
my worst nightmare had come true....labor with no pain medication. My contraction monitor wasn't working so I had to tell the doctor and the nurse when I was having a contraction. In between the contraction the doctors and nurses were crazy organized. They broke apart the bed, suited up, and got carts of medical supplies ready. All I really remember is everyone telling me to push through my bottom and breath. I was having a really hard time breathing and kept throwing up and then having to swallow it. It was disgusting. They gave me a thing to spit in but I couldn't' push, breath and spit puke out. My only thought was "make this pain go away" I was willing to do whatever it took to stop the pain. Then I remember Martin saying, "She has black hair.....I can see her ears." Then I felt like I was gonna pass out so the doctor decided that she needed to cut me, I couldn't even feel the cut. The push right after the cut Charlotte came out! I looked at her and she was beautiful. The doctor put Charlotte on my chest. She wasn't even all goopy like I thought she would be. I looked down and Martin was cutting the umbilical cord. She arrived July 24 at 10:16 p.m. I was so relieved the pain was over I kinda forgot about why I was going through it all. I was also worried about the pain when the placenta came out but luckily my doctor just pulled it out. So now I had a baby a crying baby on my chest. Martin said I looked flabbergasted. Meanwhile the doctor was stitching me up and stuff was gooping out of me. Yuck! I couldn't believe I did it!
Aftermath
I was so shaky. I couldn't stop. They put like 4 heated blankets on top of me and kept bringing me juice. I just laid there and stared at Charlotte and shook. About 10 minutes after she was born they had me nurse her for the first time and surprisingly she knew exactly what to do.
Perfect 10
Right when Charlotte came out I remember the nurses and doctor commenting on how pink she was. I didn't know if that was good or bad. It is good. Charlotte ended up getting a 10 on her APGAR (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Response), the first 10 our nurse had ever given. She was so adorable, I remember he laying in the heater stretched out with her legs crossed and her arms over her head.
After carefully evaluated the negatives and positives of pregnancy and childbirth, I have decided it is well worth the pain and suffering. It is truly a life changing experience. I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
