Three weeks ago I went to the OB for an ultrasound and exam. The ultrasound showed the boy as 8 lbs 2 oz, and still no real progress in the cervical department. My OB thought we should schedule an induction for Thursday, before he got significantly bigger. I was ready to get this show on the road, so I agreed. At this point, everyone still thought I'd wind up going into labor on my own.
Thursday morning showed up, and I was still pregnant with only mild contractions. Rick, my mom and I headed to the hospital at 5:30 am, only to sit in the waiting room for about 3 hours. Then we filled out insurance paperwork and sat in the LDR (labor, delivery and recovery) room for another hour. Finally, at 10 am, they got my IV in and started the Pitocin drip. As of 10:02 am, I was officially in labor.
The contractions weren't bad at all--just strong menstrual cramps. Nothing I couldn't talk through, much less anything I had to work through. After about two hours of this, the doctor broke my water and turned the Pit up to 16 (it had previously been at 6). That's when things got interesting. The contractions were much stronger, and I started really having to concentrate, grabbing Rick's hand and moaning through each one. Still, as long as I was sitting up, I could handle the pain. I kept my body relaxed and took full advantage of each rest period. Then things got bad.
I went up to go the bathroom, and all my fluid leaked out. When I got back in bed, the nurses rushed in. The baby's heartrate had started to decelerate during the contractions, going down to almost half what they were when I wasn't contracting. They had me put on an oxygen mask and lie down on my left side, and things started improving a little. However, when I was on my left side, I couldn't relax my body enough to deal with the contractions. I asked to sit up, but the heartrate continued to decelerate anytime I wasn't on my left side. After about an hour and a half of this, I asked for an epidural.
Part of me felt like a failure, but then again, by this time I'd made it through five hours of labor on my own. I tried to remember my reasons for not getting an epidural--I didn't want to be hooked up to an IV; I didn't want to risk stalling labor and needing Pitocin; I didn't want to be confined to one position and not be able to move around. Well, by this time, all three of those were happening anyways, and I knew the only reason not to get an epidural now was my pride.
It took them almost an hour to get the epidural in. Even at this point, while I was sitting up and curved over while they threaded the catheter into my back, I could deal with the contractions. They weren't easy and I had to work my way through them, but I was coping.
Once the epidural was in, I went back on my side. They'd had to turn the Pitocin drip off, so labor was stalling. I could hear my mother asking what happened now. The nurse said that some babies just couldn't tolerate labor, and they might have to do a C-section. But first they'd try an amnio infusion, replacing my lost fluid with some saline to help buoy the baby's weight and get his body off the cord (which is why he was having the decelerations). At this point, I knew the epidural was a good thing. I could have made it through the contractions on my own, but I'm not sure I could have dealt well with contractions and a vaginal catheter. And it was looking more and more likely that I'd be needing a C-section.
Fortunately, the amnio infusion worked, and they were able to turn the Pitocin on up again. Believe it or not, I was able to get a little bit of sleep at this point, which would serve me in good stead when it was time to push.
At around 9 pm, I started feeling some pressure. The contractions had been getting a bit more intense, and I was needing to focus again to get through them. My OB came in, and pronounced me fully dilated. "Now your labor begins," she said. The nurse walked me through the procedure--when I felt pressure, my mom would lift one leg and Rick would lift the other. I'd pull my legs back and as far apart as I could while they supported the weight, and then I'd bear down and push as hard as I could, for 3 sets of ten seconds each.
Pushing was like nothing I've ever felt before. At the time I don't think I would have said it felt good, but my memory of it was that it felt great. It was the most satisfying physical work I've ever done. After about half an hour, I had Rick and my mom just keep my legs up, since the urge to push was so constant. I was pushing for 4 and 5 sets. The nurse was pretty impressed, but I had no choice in the matter. It was like I was swept along in the current of a wild river. They brought over a mirror so I could see his head start to crown, but I couldn't watch. I was so internally focused that I couldn't bear any sort of distraction.
I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes--at 10:19 pm our son Samuel Jacob was born. When the OB told me to stop pushing because his head was out I didn't believe her. I thought I'd only been pushing for about 20 minutes, and couldn't believe it was over so soon. She suctioned his mouth, and then I gave one last push and they plopped him on my chest. It was surreal. There was this warm little person, fresh from inside me. After 9 months, he was here at last.
WOW! that is *AWESOME*! you are so my hero.
and I *love* the name you two settled on. it's beautiful. and i'm sure he is too.
congrats!
Posted by: Janette | November 19, 2007 at 05:57 PM
I'm so proud of you! Go Momma Amy!
Posted by: Michelle | November 20, 2007 at 05:26 PM