FINALLY posting my birth story!

shari_rngleson · April 2009

on thursday, dec 18th?i went to bed really early.? i was feeling pretty bummed because my due date was?dec 16th?and i did not have a single sign thatlabor would start anytime soon.? i had a scheduled drs. appt?friday afternoon?so i was hoping i had progressed more than the 1/2 cm. i was at my last appt!??
i awoke at?2 am friday morning?to what i felt were contractions.? they felt a tad stronger than my BH contractions had been for the past 4 weeks, but i was still unsure.? i decided to time them since they kept coming.? for an hour they came about every 5 minutes, so i decided to wake my husband at around 3:30.? we started timing them together and by 4:30 am my husband made me call the dr.? (i was putting it off because i felt so bad for waking him up so early!!)? he told me to head to the hospital to get checked.? i took a shower, packed my hospital bag (just in case), and we arrived at the hospital around 5:30 am.
they hooked me up to check contrations and they were real!? i was so excited...but then after an internal i was told i was still barely? dialated.? we stayed a few hours and the nurses and dr. thought i was in false labor.....it was probably around 11 am when my contractions were really starting to hurt.? i told them that if they were going to send me home they needed to give me something because i was hurting a lot.? my dr. offered my morphine to help relax- but i had to stay at hospital while on morphine (i took it!)
by? 1pm. my contractions had slowed down but still present so it was suggested that i? walk around. ?my husband, sister and i? walked laps around the labor and delivery floor for a good 15 minutes. i think the morphine had worn off by then because i? felt serious contractions again and it was really starting to hurt.
i was moved to a delivery room at this point because they decided that i was indeed in labor and was going to have the baby before i left the ?hospital!? i was so excited that i was progressing.? it was about?5 pm?when i told my dr. that he MUST give me more morphine because the pain was increasing (about a 7 out of 10 now)...he decided to give me Nubaine....
i got another internal and at this point i was about 70% effaced, but only 2 cm!!!! i thought holy shiiite all this pain and only 2 cm???............

10 pm?comes around and my contractions are so strong that i am now throwing up when each one comes.? i scream at my husband that he needs to wake up and help me because i am going to die.? (pain is a 10 out of 10 and i am crying and there is nothing left to throw up--all i ate all day was a few scoops of orange sherbert which was now on my hospital room floor- sorry TMI)

dr. came in to tell me they were going to give me the epideral now...but the anethesiologist was with someone and it would be 1/2 hour.? OMIGOD- i said i am dying and cannot wait!....but i did indeed wait- about 45 minutes!!
the epidural was a piece of cake.? i had so much contraction pain, that a little needle felt like a pin prick!??

i sent my sister to my house to get some?baby clothes, my laptop, and some listerine.?then i pass out and am finally able to get some rest!

by 4:30am (now saturday) they decided to start me on Pitocin since i was not dilating anymore and was only about 90% effaced.? Pitocin worked...by 6am i was 4 centimeters, 100% effaced, and -1 station.? Dr broke my water at this point.???at 8:30 am my other dr. came to the hospital to check on me.? i was now at 5 cm....woohooo he said i would be having this baby between noon and 2 pm!at 9:40 am i started having lower pressure and dr. checked again and i was at 8 cm!!? i was finally in active labor and so relieved.??
at 10 am i started shaking like crazy...nurse said it was my homones and nerves.? i tried some deep breathing exercises to get my shakes under control!
By 10:42am the doctor returned and i was? at 10 centimeters!!?Dr. said I was about ready to start pushing and that it could take 1 ? -2 hours. ?He told nurse Margarat to come get him when baby?started crowning.For me, pushing was like trying to poop when constipated.?? i pushed for 10 seconds each contraction?and at?11:02am Nurse Margaret went to get my dr.??
i pushed a little more when dr came in and he tried to stretch me to get the ?head out....i was too small so he made a small snip to help me.?the dr. said there would be some blood splatter- and all of a sudden my husband whips his shirt off and puts a different one on. ....i am cracking up at this point because he didnt want blood on his favorite white shirt!
all of a sudden her head comes out and my dr. said don't push anymore....the rest of her body just slid out! dr. tells me to look down-her entire arm is out and he waves her hand at me!!!? he lays her on my chest and i instantly fall in love.

time of birth:??11:12 am sat dec. 20th.? wt:? 7 lbs 12 oz.? time of labor: 31 hrs!

i realize that i would do this again in a hearbeat!? good luck to all of you (if you have even made it to the end of my birth story!)