Surprise 37w5d induction- My 8.5hour, not-as-planned, birth story

**XP from Dec.11**

(Warning- this got really long, but I included all the details because I wanted this for me too, I wanted it all down so I don't forget.)

Welcoming Alexa Nicole

First, the stats: Born at 37w5d, 8lbs1oz, 20in, 9/9 apgars.
11/21/11 @ 4:44pm ~  8.5 hours of labor, 1/2 hour of pushing. 

Next, the LONG version:
Backstory is I developed gall stones with this pregnancy and had been having increasing attacks both in frequency and severity. On Saturday 11/12 I had an attack so bad I ended up in the hospital on a morphine pump for two days. At that point I was a few days shy of 37 weeks and we made the decision NOT to induce then because my enzymes weren't high enough to warrant concerns of pancreas infection and it was more about pain management, so I was released on the 14th with plans of trying to stick it out until at least 39 weeks when we would re-discuss induction. I changed my diet completely and cut out all fats and known trigger foods, and it worked. For a week. Until a salad sent me into another scream inducing gall stone attack at 2am on Monday 11/21. Finally at 4am I was at a 10 on my pain scale again and just writhing in pain so we headed back to the hospital expecting another round of morphine & blood work. 

Once at the hospital, they got me into a L&D triage room and drew some blood, but instead of hooking up an IV for pain meds they gave me a shot of Nubain in my leg. It took a bit to work, but actually took the pain away more than the first shot of morphine did last time & I was relaxed enough to send my husband off to work at 5:30am. Shortly after he left a nurse came in asking where he was and then asked if I would have a ride home then. I told her he could be back whenever if need-be and asked when they planned on discharging me, but she didn't know. She just said they were waiting on the lab results and a consult with my dr. At that point I was kind of relieved not to be admitted again, and I texted DH to let him know I might need him to come get me sooner than expected. 

Half an hour later another nurse, one that had been there the last couple times I was, came in with a portable ultrasound machine. She said she wanted to check the position of the baby so they knew what to plan for if I were induced that day. At that point I was totally confused. I told her I thought the plan was to wait until 39 weeks for induction talk, and that the other nurse had just mentioned me being discharged soon. She told me my lab work came back this time with not just elevated liver enzymes but pancreatic enzymes too and most likely had a blocked duct that was starting to cause infection in my pancreas. She said now it's not just about pain management, but an actual threat to the mother so my Dr. might feel differently about waiting than she did earlier in the week. Baby was head down and when she checked I was already 3cm dilated. (I had been a fingertip at my Dr. appt 5 days earlier.) Once she left I texted DH again and told him he might actually have to come back for a different reason- it might be baby day!

At this point it was only around 6:30am, an hour after I sent DH to work, and the nurse came back in with a big smile and simply said "Today". Today? "Yup, baby. Today. Are you ready?" Turns out my Dr did agree that the benefit outweighed the risk and made the call to get the baby out sooner rather than later. They told me since I was already dilated they really didn't need to do anything in the way of cervadil or anything to "ripen" my cervix, they were just going to break my water and start pitocin. This is where things started to move fast. Instead of texting DH this time I picked up the phone and called him and told him to head back- we were having a baby. And then I called my mom & dad. And then the nurses came in to move me from Triage to an LDR room.

It was about 7am at this point and when we got to the LDR room my Dr was there waiting for us. We got everything set up, and a bunch of papers signed, and then around 7:30 she broke my water. At 8 they hooked up the pitocin and DH arrived shortly after that (he had gone home to shower & stopped to pick me up Jolly Ranchers and a chapstick since I hadn't brought a hospital bag or anything.) My dad got there some time around 9:30 and we sat around and talked and watched TV and DH & my dad seemed to enjoy watching the contractions rise and fall on the monitor. Around 10:30 the contractions were literally on top of each other and I was starting to get miserable. This is when I posted on here that I was in labor, and it was a good distraction but also the last time I remember feeling "on top" of the pain... I started spiraling downward shortly after that. The pitocin was crazy. When the nurse came in I told her I needed a break, the contractions were like 30 seconds or less apart, and sometimes would literally be back to back with no break at all- just as one would start dropping another one would start and I'd never actually get a chance to breathe. She turned down the pitocin and that gave me some relief in between although the contractions continued to get stronger. She checked me and I had only dilated a centimeter from where I started- I was at a 4. 

Finally around 12:30 I had had enough and asked for the epidural. It was never my intention to go natural, I had just planned on waiting until the pain outweighed my fear of the giant needle in my back. I was totally at that point. It took an hour for the anesthesiologist to come and I was to the point I was barely conscious of what was going on around me during the contractions. Between when I asked for the epi and when he finally came they did give me Nubain again, but unlike with the gallstone pain earlier, it did NOTHING for me that time. I was SO relieved when they started sitting me up for the epidural. I remember him pressing on my back telling me I would feel a little pinch and burn while he numbed my back up first (I didn't feel either) and then I remember feeling a tickle on the right side of my back and I tried to reach to itch and they yelled at me not to move. Then he stuck tape on my back and said he was done and I didn't believe he had done anything until my legs started to tingle. I really felt nothing at all of the epi going in which shocked me- I had been so scared of that. 

It took a couple more contractions for the epi to take over, and I noticed that it made my right side completely dead but I could still feel the left enough to move my leg. I didn't mind too much though, it took enough of the edge off that I was able to kind of wake up from the pain fog and talk to people again. I mentioned that I was still feeling the contractions though and they said it was normal- epidurals were only supposed to take away about 70% of the pain they said- and I definitely felt more than 70% improvement so I went with it. My mom walked in shortly after that, but the nurse kicked her and my dad out and said she likes for the parents to sleep for the first hour after an epidural since it's the best chance to rest. So DH laid down on the couch and we tried to sleep. It was about 2pm then. I know I dozed off, but I remember each contraction waking me up and I kept thinking I shouldn't be feeling this. At first it was just pressure, but then I was feeling pain again- more and more with each contraction but I was still dozing back off as soon as they ended for a while. Finally around 3 they were back to full force and there was no more sleeping- I called the nurse to tell her the epi stopped working.. I realized at that point my legs weren't even a little numb, the epi had 100% worn off & I was a little scared. 

The nurse came in and said it was normal for it to wear off a bit and I kept insisting it wasn't just coming down it was GONE. My contractions were horrible again and I swore I was feeling a lot of vaginal pressure so she checked at I was only a 5. She tried nubain again and called the anesthesiologist to come back up and give me more medicine, and I remember slipping back into the pain fog where I was very zoned out of what was going on around me. I just kept asking why it wasn't working and begging them to fix it. I also kept saying how much pressure I was feeling but she kept blowing it off saying I was only 5cm and its usually 1cm an hour at that point and she would check again then. I kept wondering why they weren't fixing my epi, (DH told me later that they said the anesthesiologist never got the first page and they had to call him again.) and I must have had my eyes closed the whole time because I just remember darkness and voices around me. I was moaning through the contractions and they kept telling me not to moan but to blow and breathe through them but vocalizing just felt so much better- the deep repetitive sounds were helping focus me. I couldn't believe the pressure I was feeling and finally when I said I had to poop the nurse decided maybe she should check me again.

In 20 minutes I had gone from 5cm to 10cm! They cancelled the anesthesiologist and told me it was time to push and I went into full panic mode- I did NOT want to do this without medication... I did not want to feel this much. No one seemed to be listening to me though, and they had me roll onto my back (I had been on my side clinging to the railing) and try to push. I thought it would feel good to push since I've heard so many people say that, but it did not feel good. After one push she told me to stop, that I had a little lip of cervix still that had to go away before I could keep going. Meanwhile my body had other ideas- it wanted to push SO bad, each contraction was excruciating trying to fight both the pain and the urge to push. It felt like it took forever for that "lip" to go away- it was definitely the longest part of the whole labor & I wanted to crawl out of my body and run away. 

My Dr came in around 4 and they started prepping the room- rolling out trays and pulling down lights. She checked me and tried to push the lip back while I pushed again but it didn't budge. She had me blow through a few more contractions and then said it was time to go. She had my DH take a leg and the nurse had the other and she told me to put my hands behind my legs but I did not want to let go of the railings. A contraction took over and even though I didn't want to, my body made me push. I screamed and told them I couldn't do it. I kept saying I had to poop so bad- I swore I was going to, and I even kicked a Dr. In training out because he looked like he was 17 years old and he was just standing awkwardly at the end of the bed gawking at my crotch. I said I'm sorry you have to leave, no boys, you can't watch me shiit the bed, please go. (I kinda feel bad now LOL he looked hurt as he turned and walked out) I had pushed maybe twice and she said she could see the baby's hair and that she would be out soon- and I asked how soon & she laughed and said some people push for 2 hours to get to that point and I could have her out in minutes. 

In total I pushed for about a half hour, but strangely it felt like three hours and three minutes all at the same time. I yelled so much while I pushed, DH said someone from outside came and very quietly shut my door- I must have been scaring people. I remember him telling me her head was almost out but I didn't believe him- it felt like she was just hitting a brick wall, I couldn't feel anything but pressure and I didn't think she could fit through. I asked at one point for a c-section and DH laughed and said her head was almost completely out at that point. I also remember telling the Dr that someone needed to hold my butthole in because it was about to fall out. At one point I had a contraction that I screamed bloody murder through at the top of my lungs, then all the sudden she said her head was out and I still didn't believe them- I had to ask DH over and over again is it really out? Another push and I could feel the pressure of her shoulders but it didn't hurt as much as her head. That's when it actually felt good to push- the burning had stopped and I actually felt like I was doing something when I pushed on her shoulders. Another big push and I felt them pop out then this big slither and they put her on my chest. 

She was born at 4:44 and I remember looking down at her in total shock. It was so surreal, I knew I was pregnant and having a baby but all the sudden there she was- a REAL baby and it was kind of a holy crap moment. I just stared at her, then asked if she was still a girl and everyone laughed and said yes. I remember the placenta coming out and her stitching me up while I was just staring at this baby on my chest. I had a 2nd degree tear, but most of the pain was centered in my butt- she had broken my tailbone on the way out. (I broke it several years ago and this was just a re-break from the stress.) I remember people saying as soon as the baby is out all the pain goes away and I kept wondering why mine wasn't- I couldn't believe how bad I still hurt. It actually took several hours for the pain to come down, but when I held the baby it definitely made me focus on it a lot less. Another nurse came in and washed me up down there and they put the bed back together and left us to bond. My parents came in and my DH got to hold her, which was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I didn't cry until then. After about 2 hours they got me up to pee and then we moved over to our mother/baby suite and the rest is history. 

Finally the fun part- Pics! 
DH & Lexi

Eyes open already

My sleepy girl