I was all set to begin official bed rest when school began on January 7, 2013. I spent the end of winter break staying off my feet and limiting my chores and activities. The first sign labor was near was on Saturday, January 5th as I lost my mucus plug. Although this is not a sign that labor is about to begin, I knew my body was preparing and so I should as well. I immediate did some laundry so I had a bag packed just in case we needed to leave for the hospital.
That night, I did not sleep well at all. I never had any contractions throughout the pregnancy, so I wasn't really sure what they might feel like. I was awaken every hour over night, and it wasn't until about 5am that I realized I had been woken by contractions. By 5am, I knew exactly what they were. The pain began in my lower back and spread through my lower abdomen. They weren't very consistent - maybe ten minutes apart, but they weren't going away, either. By 7am I was out of bed because a few of them were very painful and they were coming closer together. By 9am I was in tears during those painful contractions, which were averaging about 6-7 minutes apart. I called the doctor, Jeremy packed the car and off we went.
By the time we arrived at the hospital around 10am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart and I was dilated to 1cm. Because I was only 37 weeks, the nurses wanted to stop my labor. We were taken to a triage room and I was given medication to slow down the contractions, as well as some pain relief. The pain meds made me very sleepy, but didn't do too much to take the edge off the pain. Because of the high blood pressure, I was required to lay down on my side during the entire time I was in the hospital. The contractions did slow down to about 20 minutes apart...but then quickly picked right back up. By the time the nurses moved me to a delivery room around noon, I was dialated to 3cm. The contractions were 2 minutes apart, quite painful, and I was beginning to feel them at the top of my stomach as well as my lower back and belly. It felt as though someone was taking me above both hip bones and wringing me out like a wet towel needs to be squeezed to release the water. And even though I could feel the contraction fade away, the pain still lingered for quite some time before I felt any relief.
The anesthesiologist was in the delivery room within just a couple of minutes. We didn't have to wait very long at all. I'm not sure if that is just how responsive the staff is, or if my high blood pressure made everything move so quickly. Jeremy had to leave as they put in the epidural. I waited through two contractions as she got everything ready. Three contractions later and I could barely even feel them anymore. I was still required to lay in bed on my side to help my blood pressure and ensure the baby was receiving enough oxygen and nutrients. The earlier pain medication was still in my system and I spent most of the day sleeping. According to my husband, the labor must not have been too bad as I slept through the whole thing!
About two hours went by after the epidural, and I was still at 3cm. They began pitocin to speed up the process a bit. It did help dilate to 5cm about two hours later, but they were having a difficult time monitoring the contractions. Apparently laying on my side to help my blood pressure made the external monitor very difficult to read. The on call OB came in and they used an internal monitor to have a more accurate reading on the contractions. This allowed the nurse to better control the amount of pitocin in my system.
Apparently something was working at that point...the next time I was checked, the nurse stated there was a small piece of my cervix still in the way, but I was just about ready to begin pushing! I was hoping to be at a 7 or 8cm...both Jeremy and I were shocked at how quickly things went from "waiting" to "baby"!! At this point the epidural was working so well that I couldn't feel my legs at all. The nurse and Jeremy had to physically roll me over to my other side. Jeremy stepped out of the room and heard the nurse on the phone with the doctor stating I was at a +1.
Within a half an hour we were doing "practice" pushes. I was worried about the epidural causing complications during delivery, but the nurse quickly assured me that I was doing everything correctly. Despite not feeling anything the entire labor, I now could feel the contraction starting at the top of my stomach and the pressure down low. With three pushes per contraction, and a contraction every 3-4 minutes, it was maybe 30 minutes total before the doctor came in the room for the final push. (Can't believe he gets paid all the money and yet the nurse did all the work!). Apparently the way the little guy was situated meant he needed a little more room before coming out. Just before the last push, Dr. Woods pulled out the scissors. Jeremy saw him snip three times, I pushed once more and out he came. Such a strange sense of physical relief, visually seeing my stomach disappear and then a screaming purple cone headed baby boy laying across my belly!
Back in the triage room, we were warned that babies born this early might need oxygen at delivery. Based on the way he was screaming, I'd say he had plenty of oxygen! Jeremy and the little guy moved over to the warmer as the nurse checked on him. Dr. Woods finished delivering the placenta (no placenta smoothies or pills for me!). Something happened with the cord (already completely out my body) ... not sure if it came unclamped ... but all of a sudden there was blood splattered across the floor, the computer monitors and onto the ceiling! The nurse was not as amused as Dr. Woods was as she had to clean the monitor off!
This little guy was born on Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 8:40pm at 37 weeks 2 days gestation. He weighted 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 and 1/2 inches long.
