I began feeling contractions around 12:30 am on Tuesday morning (July 14th). Ted was asleep by that time - the earliest either one of us had fallen asleep in a long time - and I didn't want to wake him because 1) I wasn't exactly sure I was feeling labor pains and 2) I didn't think things would progress that quickly anyway.
During the night, I tried to time the contractions. They seemed to come every three minutes or so, but they were short, which meant a trip to the hospital was not yet in order. Sometime around 9 am, Ted woke up, and I told him that I thought I was having contractions. He took the news in stride. We got ourselves showered and cleaned up, Ted moved our luggage downstairs, and we had breakfast. I took care of some last minute school business and was able to nap most of the afternoon. By early evening, the contractions had pretty much stopped. I thought I might be in the clear for awhile.
Well, around 12:30 am or so on Wednesday morning, the contractions returned, and this time, they were more painful and longer. I timed them at about 10 minutes apart for a couple of hours; then they came every 5 to 6 minutes. Ted talked me through them, reminding me to breathe and not fight them. I don't think I could have dealt with them for as long as I did without his coaching.
Night turned into morning. We got up around 7 am, took showers, got dressed, and loaded up the car. First stop: campus - we had to take care of a financial aid issue. From there, we picked up breakfast. I ate what I could while Ted tried to eat enough to keep his strength up for the rest of the afternoon.
We then headed to the hospital, where I tried to answer questions about insurance, my doctor, my history, etc. in between contractions. Then, they sent me to triage, where it was determined I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. In other words, it was time to check me in and bring on the epidural!
The above happened between 9 am and 10 am - the same time my parents were due to fly in. Ted got a hold of them, directed them to take a cab to our condo, and told them where to find the key and the directions to the hospital. Meanwhile, I was hooked up to machines, had blood drawn, and tried to stay comfortable until the anesthesiologist arrived. He came a little while later and hooked up the epidural. I felt like I got immediate relief, though he claimed that it takes about 15 minutes for it to take effect. Pardon me, but I beg to differ. (The clock in my room was broken, so I'm not sure what time it was when all this was done.)
I was told when I was admitted that I should deliver around 3 pm. Great - that meant I might actually get to enjoy the baby, rest, and eat dinner that evening (can you tell where my priorities were???). At 1 pm, my doctor came to check on me. By that time, I had dilated to 7 cm. He broke my water and started me on Pitocin to induce contractions and move things along. By this time, Ted was trying to rescue my parents and get them to the hospital - as a result of lack of sleep (they took a red eye flight from So Cal), excitement, and an oddly located hospital, they got a little lost.
Shortly thereafter, the family arrived and kept me company. We chatted, enjoyed Blue Bell popsicles, and waited. As 5 pm neared, the nurse checked me. I was still at 7 cm and had not yet had adequate contractions to move things along. Also, each contraction would put the baby in distress. So, they started to "flip me" every few minutes and put me on oxygen to correct the issue. At one point, after the nurses sat me up to move me, they both let go - a move which caused me to flop back onto the bed. It was actually pretty comical since I am used to being able to support myself but could do absolutely nothing to keep from falling back (thank you, epidural). Luckily, Ted caught me and helped me up.
My doctor came and checked on me again around 5 pm. He said that he believed the Pitocin would work and that I would have a regular delivery - no need to worry about a cesarean. I just needed time to work up to strong enough contractions. That was all good news, except now I had to deliver with a doctor I did not know (Dr. Becker's day was over at 5 pm). Dr. Becker told me Dr. Bagnasco was on call that evening - great news! He's the same doctor who delivered little Miss Clara Getz.
So, we continued to wait for Little Ted to arrive. Some time around 6 or 7 pm, the epidural wore off, and I started to feel lots of pressure. The nurse told me that I should be able to push soon, but I could have more pain meds if the contractions were too strong for me to handle. The only catch - I might have trouble pushing if I was too numb. Not wanting to delay things any longer, I decided to tough it out and deal with the pain.
The contractions grew stronger, at which point my parents decided to move to the waiting room. By this time, I really wanted to be numb again, but something told me that I should be able to push. Ted went and got my nurse, who was just finishing up her shift. She brought her replacement in, and before I knew it, there seemed to be nurses everywhere. They prepped for delivery, stopping every couple of minutes to help me through contractions and pushing. That was the hard part - they wanted me to hold up my mostly numb, heavy feeling legs as I pushed and hold my breath at the same time. The two actions combined made me feel like I would pass out.
I didn't - I just closed my eyes and focused on pushing while Ted held my head and talked to me and the nurses counted. Their prediction: the baby should be out in 20 minutes. I'm not sure how long it actually took, but it seemed like an eternity. The doctor finally showed up, prepped, and got to work. He told me I could have the baby out in just 10 minutes with some good pushing. I figured I could endure just about any amount of pain for 10 minutes and kept at it. Before I knew it, I was pushing his head out, followed by the rest of him.
Little Ted was just as beautiful as could be. The doctor wiped him down and tried to get him to cry. It took a while because he had swallowed a lot of fluid during delivery. The nurses took him and got him cleaned up and checked out while the doctor attended to me. During delivery, I had gotten three good sized lacerations and needed stitches. He numbed me and stitched me up while Ted took pictures of the baby being measured and attended to. He got to hold him and brought him over to show me.
As I was being worked on, the baby got his first bath. He had to stay on the warmer to get his body temperature up before I could hold him. At about this time, Ted went to get my parents, who got to see him up close and personal before me. In fact, I don't think I was able to hold him until a full hour had passed. By that point, the doctor and all the nurses had gone, with the exception of the one who was attending to me, and Ted left to escort my parents home and pick up some dinner for us. Little Ted and I enjoyed some quality time as we waited for his daddy to come back. When Ted returned with Whataburger, we were moved to another room. We gobbled down our dinner, which had gotten cold by this time, and the three of us settled in for the night.
Overall, the experience was a good one. I was well cared for in the hospital, and it was nice to have my parents around to keep me company. And I couldn't have asked for a better coach. Ted stood by me the whole way, encouraging me and letting me know that I could do it. He was my rock the whole time even though I know he hated to see me in pain and was worried about how I was doing after the delivery. He (and the baby) even bought me some beautiful flowers for all my hard work (see below).
No comments:
Post a Comment