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Alex's Induction
My due date of September 14th, 2006 came and went with no baby. On Monday September 18th, I had an OB appointment. I was checked and was still only 1cm dilated. I was told that if I hadn't progressed by then, I would be induced as my uterus had been measuring big throughout the pregnancy and they expected me to have a big baby. The induction was already scheduled for the next day, so I thought I would be leaving my appointment to enjoy one more peaceful night at home, then go to L&D the next morning. Wrong! The appointment was at about 3pm and I was told to be at L&D at 6pm. DH and I called the family and some friends to tell them what was happening. We went home and since my bag was already packed, silly me thinking I would be fed at the hospital sometime during the evening ate just a small sandwich.
I arrived at the hospital, changed in to my lovely gown and was soon hooked up to the typical bells and whistles. The administered the cervadil around 7 or 8pm. I was having some contractions (according to the monitors) but couldn't feel anything. The next morning, the nurse woke me up at 5am to let me shower. When I got done, I was told to get back in bed (although I hated that bed already!) and the pitocin was started at about 6am. My doc came in just after 8am and broke my water. It was pretty painful for me, but then she said it was done. I remember thinking "Well, that wasn't anything special," but then she removed her hand and gush, gush, gush! I felt like I had peed myself and started laughing. The laughing would create another gush, which would make me laugh more. It was a never ending cycle for about 10 minutes.
My contractions became progressively worse. Around 10am, the nurse let me go to the bathroom. When I returned, I asked if I could sit in the rocking chair so I could get out of that stupid bed for a while. The nurse okayed that, but said I would have to get back in bed if I wanted any meds. I spent the next hour rocking and breathing through contractions until I couldn't take it anymore. I returned to the bed and they administered some IV meds (not sure what because they never told me). The IV meds absolutely knocked me out! I was pretty much passed out until around 2pm. The contractions were coming so hard that I would wake up crying just long enough for the duration of the contraction, then pass back out. At some point I begged for an epi. They told me that the doc would be back around 3pm to check my progress and I could have it after that. She finally got there around 3:30 and I was only 4cm.
The anesthesiologist came in a short time later. Because I broke some vertabra in my lower back years earlier and also have a lower back tattoo, he aimed for the middle. The epi was great, but again I passed right out. I remember waking up once in a while and at some point heard talk of a C-sec. 1 1/2 hours after the epi was administered I was checked again and was fully dilated. Because I was now relaxed, I had dilated the last 6cm in only 90 minutes. Again, because I was so out of it, I'm not really sure of what happened, but before I knew it I woke up with an oxygen mask on and they were telling me to start pushing.
At this point I actually started waking up a little, though still groggy. I didn't know it at the time, but one of the nurses turned off my epi because I had to "feel some pain to know where to push." Well, I could feel enough to experience one of the more embarassing moments of my labor and delivery. Between pushes, I suddenly gasped and said "Oh my God, I'm pooping on the table!" The doc, calmly assured me that it's okay, everyone does it to which I replied "I know. But I didn't think I would know when it was happening!" After an hour and a half of pushing and now being able to feel everything Alex's little head and shoulders came out. After being suctioned, the Dr. told me to reach down and grab my baby. So from the chest down, I was able to deliver the rest of him by myself. What a beautiful experience!!!
I didn't think much of it at the time, but he really didn't cry much. They took him to the warming area to clean him up, do apgars and such. Finally after a couple of minutes, he let out a weak little cry. Apparently during the delivery, I had spiked a fever of 102 and passed it on to Alex. DH and I were allowed to hold him for a couple of minutes each before they took him to the nursery. I was stitched and cleaned up and ready to tend to my baby and hopefully start breastfeeding. However, they kept him in the nursery for another 4 hours! I was getting very upset and emotional not having this precious little boy with me for the first few hours of his life. But when he was cleared by the pediatrician, they finally brough him back to us. Alexander David was born on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 6:54pm. He weighed a very healthy 8lbs 12oz.
DH and I are planning on trying for #2 around June of 2008. I have already decided that when contractions become painful and difficult, I'm going to skip the IV drugs altogether and go straight for the epi. Hopefully in doing that, I will be able to remember more of the labor. I also hope that with the next baby, I won't have to be induced!
I arrived at the hospital, changed in to my lovely gown and was soon hooked up to the typical bells and whistles. The administered the cervadil around 7 or 8pm. I was having some contractions (according to the monitors) but couldn't feel anything. The next morning, the nurse woke me up at 5am to let me shower. When I got done, I was told to get back in bed (although I hated that bed already!) and the pitocin was started at about 6am. My doc came in just after 8am and broke my water. It was pretty painful for me, but then she said it was done. I remember thinking "Well, that wasn't anything special," but then she removed her hand and gush, gush, gush! I felt like I had peed myself and started laughing. The laughing would create another gush, which would make me laugh more. It was a never ending cycle for about 10 minutes.
My contractions became progressively worse. Around 10am, the nurse let me go to the bathroom. When I returned, I asked if I could sit in the rocking chair so I could get out of that stupid bed for a while. The nurse okayed that, but said I would have to get back in bed if I wanted any meds. I spent the next hour rocking and breathing through contractions until I couldn't take it anymore. I returned to the bed and they administered some IV meds (not sure what because they never told me). The IV meds absolutely knocked me out! I was pretty much passed out until around 2pm. The contractions were coming so hard that I would wake up crying just long enough for the duration of the contraction, then pass back out. At some point I begged for an epi. They told me that the doc would be back around 3pm to check my progress and I could have it after that. She finally got there around 3:30 and I was only 4cm.
The anesthesiologist came in a short time later. Because I broke some vertabra in my lower back years earlier and also have a lower back tattoo, he aimed for the middle. The epi was great, but again I passed right out. I remember waking up once in a while and at some point heard talk of a C-sec. 1 1/2 hours after the epi was administered I was checked again and was fully dilated. Because I was now relaxed, I had dilated the last 6cm in only 90 minutes. Again, because I was so out of it, I'm not really sure of what happened, but before I knew it I woke up with an oxygen mask on and they were telling me to start pushing.
At this point I actually started waking up a little, though still groggy. I didn't know it at the time, but one of the nurses turned off my epi because I had to "feel some pain to know where to push." Well, I could feel enough to experience one of the more embarassing moments of my labor and delivery. Between pushes, I suddenly gasped and said "Oh my God, I'm pooping on the table!" The doc, calmly assured me that it's okay, everyone does it to which I replied "I know. But I didn't think I would know when it was happening!" After an hour and a half of pushing and now being able to feel everything Alex's little head and shoulders came out. After being suctioned, the Dr. told me to reach down and grab my baby. So from the chest down, I was able to deliver the rest of him by myself. What a beautiful experience!!!
I didn't think much of it at the time, but he really didn't cry much. They took him to the warming area to clean him up, do apgars and such. Finally after a couple of minutes, he let out a weak little cry. Apparently during the delivery, I had spiked a fever of 102 and passed it on to Alex. DH and I were allowed to hold him for a couple of minutes each before they took him to the nursery. I was stitched and cleaned up and ready to tend to my baby and hopefully start breastfeeding. However, they kept him in the nursery for another 4 hours! I was getting very upset and emotional not having this precious little boy with me for the first few hours of his life. But when he was cleared by the pediatrician, they finally brough him back to us. Alexander David was born on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 6:54pm. He weighed a very healthy 8lbs 12oz.
DH and I are planning on trying for #2 around June of 2008. I have already decided that when contractions become painful and difficult, I'm going to skip the IV drugs altogether and go straight for the epi. Hopefully in doing that, I will be able to remember more of the labor. I also hope that with the next baby, I won't have to be induced!
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