Xpost: My (long) birth story - back labor, weird epidural and vacuum
My little one is here! Lucy Rose came into the world on 10/23/10 after about 24 hours of labor. She was 3 days early - shocking to me since my doc had all but convinced me I would be late.
My labor started at home around 8 p.m. on Friday with some bad back pain. I started timing the pain and they were coming fairly regularly, 5 to 6 min apart, but varying in length from 30 - 60 seconds. I waited until 11 p.m. to call L&D and they suggested waiting a few more hours to see if they came closer together and/or consistently 1 minute in length. By 2 a.m., I was in horrible pain and told DH we should go, but after calling L&D again, they suggested trying a warm bath and waiting a few more hours in the hope the contrax would be 2 - 3 minutes apart. This left me feeling kinda defeated, because the back pains were so bad, no position would help. Finally, at 6 a.m. I told DH we were going whether L&D said to or not. Off we went, and on my first internal exam I learned I was at 3 cm - amazing since I had been at zero when I visited the OB on Tuesday! I was in obvious excruciating pain due to the back labor, and an ultrasound revealed my fluid looked a bit low despite my water bag being intact, so they decided to admit me. I held out on an epidural until my next internal - I was only at 4 cm then, but let me tell you, each contraction was agonizing. I wouldn't wish back labor on my worst enemy!
Along with the epi (which, BTW, was the best. thing. ever after those horrible back spasms) they also gave me some pitosin to further my dilation due to the fears about the low fluid. I progressed well until 5 p.m. when they wanted me to start pushing. Now, I have heard that epis can make it difficult for you to feel the sensation of pushing, but something really weird happened to me: each time I pushed, I felt no pain or sensation in my lower body, but I would immediate feel a horrible deep pain in my sternum area afterward. I mean, it was like back labor in my chest - like a giant rock was grinding against my sternum. As such, pushing was total agony and I couldn't breathe, and the doc couldn't determine why this was happening. They decided to adjust my epi, which helped loads with the pain but slowed the contractions. Baby's heart rate dropped, and after 2 hours of pushing, my options were to try a vacuum-assisted birth or go straight to a c section. Both scared me, but I went with the vacuum - and thankfully, she was out after two good assisted pushes, with minimal tearing for me and minimal damage to her head!
So in a nutshell, labor was totally different than I thought it would be - I never felt much pain in my belly, it was almost all focused in my back. I wish I could have felt more of the pushing process but don't regret getting the epi or having them increase my dose because without it, I know I wouldn't have gotten that baby out! I was thankful that the docs gave me clear choices on my options and left the decision to me. I'm equally thankful for my awesome, awesome hubby who kept me calm through the whole debacle!
Re: Xpost: My (long) birth story - back labor, weird epidural and vacuum