Birth Story Part I

We left our house around 2:30pm on Tuesday, September 2nd to check into the hospital for my scheduled induction. The last song we heard in the car was Prince's 1999. I made sure that Paul documented this for Colleen's sake!I went into the hospital to check in while Paul parked and was take to my room (2103) in the perinatal ward right away. This would be my home until I was ready to start Pitocin on Wednesday. Paul finally found me and I settled into bed, very pregnant and very ready to get the party started.

Our first nurse, Julie, came to see me immediately and get all of the paperwork out of the way. Around 3:45pm, Julie started my IV which was a huge MASSACRE! I have rolling veins so the first attempt was unsuccessful and she tried the top of my hand instead. She got the IV started all right, and blood gushed all over the bed, thankfully onto a towel. What a mess! Paul and I hung out for a little bit after that and started singing Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" to the beat of Mason's heartbeat on the monitors. One wonderful thing about the whole process was that Mason's heart rate never dipped, there was never a flurry of nurses running in my room tell me to roll over or anything. He is so strong!

At 4:30 I took my first official in-hospital potty break. Paul made sure to document this! At 4:32pm, a resident came in to do a quick bedside ultrasound to make sure that Mason was still head down and it was safe to start the cervix-thinning Cervadil.I asked if he could tell how big the head was. He told me it took up the whole screen. Ha. Ha. We were good to go and the Cervadil was inserted. It was to stay in there for 12 hours. No turning back now! Paul informs me that there was no turning back 9 months ago. God is he smart! We attempted the hospital crossword puzzle around 4:45pm, but it proved to be too difficult. What was it I was just saying about Paul being smart? Kidding. My parents arrived around 5:05pm to hang out with us
and provide some entertainment. Since I was on the Cervadil, I wasn't allowed food, just clear liquids. The nurse recommended that I order a Popsicle, and being that I had GD I jumped at the chance for that yummy goodness around 5:40pm. We received our first phone call around 6:22pm...wrong number. My damn Popsicle finally came at 6:40pm and was a melted mess. I proceeded to drop it on my gown, the bed, and all over my arm. What a sticky mess. Paul's sisters, niece and parents arrived around 7:20pm. Party in my room!

Nighttime was fun, the helipad was right outside our window and there was a flight that landed in the middle of the night. SO loud.All of the hospital computer systems rebooted twice during the night as well. You can imagine all of the beeping and booting up that ensued. Once 4:30am rolled around, another resident came in to check me and make sure the Cervadil was working enough to send me to Labor and Delivery for the Pitocin. They told us that if I wasn't dilated any more and that if my cervix was still firm, there was a possibility that another round of Cervadil would be needed. That meant another 12 hours of waiting. Luckily, I had progressed nicely and the Cervadil was taken out. They told us to gather our things and I jumped in the wheel chair and was wheeled to Labor and Delivery room 9.

To be Continued...