Birth Story Part II

So I found some time...

Part II:

Once settled into L&D, things got rolling right away. My stupid IV was finally put to good use when the Pitocin was started as well as a bag of fluid to keep me hydrated around 6:45am. I wasn't allowed any liquid anymore, just ice chips, which are less than fulfilling. I now measured at just 1-2 centimeters, 70% effaced and a -2 station. Not exactly moving along quickly. At 8:30am, the resident doctor decided that he wanted to insert a Foley catheter between my cervix and the baby to help stretch me a little. I was given morphine to make the procedure a little more comfortable. That was an interesting little ride. Only an hour later, the catheter broke inside of me. First I thought it was my water, but it was the fluid from inside the catheter that was leaking out of me. The doctor and nurse inserted another catheter and it wasn't long before I felt more fluid. The doctor and nurse checked me again and found that the fluid I was leaking was not water, but blood and lots of it. They told me that they had never seen anything like that happen before. Paul and I were both terrified. They finally got the bleeding to stop and determined that it was probably bleeding from my cervix since the baby's heart never dipped and he never showed any distress.

I decided to go ahead and get an epidural around 10:50am when the contractions started becoming a little stronger. The epidural was SO easy. Nothing to be worried about at all. Seriously, the IV hurt worse. Once in, I felt relief in about 20 minutes. Life was good.
I continued to be checked throughout the day, and was progressing along. Family came in and out and visited and Paul and I napped and watched TV. This is also where Paul neglected his logging duties, so I am a little fuzzy on the details, but nothing major really happened. My doctor, Dr. Shondel was due to go home at 7pm that night and was really pulling for me to be 10 centimeters by then. Our favorite nurse Tricia was also in the same boat. Around 5pm, I was at 6-7 centimeters and then at 7pm, I was at 9 centimeters. Dr. Shondel introduced me to Dr. Zwart, who would be delivering Mason. I was sad since Dr. Shondel had been my primary OB the entire pregnancy but I trusted her when she told me how wonderful Dr. Zwart was. Somewhere in there, my epidural began wearing off for the first time and had to be topped off.

Somewhere around 9:00pm, I think, I was ready to push. Dr. Zwart and the nurse gave me a crash course and I REALLY started feeling contractions again. My epidural wasn't working AGAIN. I was topped off, but it only lasted around 20 minutes. I was pushing and feeling every single contraction. I am not kidding you when I say that is the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. It felt so good to push. I just wanted it to be over at that point. One thing I neglected to mention above was that Mason was sunny side up, which can add what feels like a pound to the baby when trying to push it out. We had been trying to get him to turn all day, but to no avail. Paul and the nurse held my legs and I gave it everything I had. I felt like my head might pop off of my neck. I pushed three times a contraction, holding it for as long as I could. At one point, Paul pointed out that Rudy Guiliani was on the TV. Nice. It was all so surreal. I was given oxygen after a while to make sure Mason's heart rate stayed positive since he was under so much stress. After an hour and a half of pushing my brains out, the doctor checked me. He told me that the only thing that was moving was the swollen spot on Mason's head. He wasn't budging, my pelvis was too small and with him being sunny side up, that wasn't helping. The doctor told me he would give me two more hours to push if I wanted to try and prove him wrong, but that he felt that we would end up in the OR either way. I was devastated and could see the fear on Paul's face. I couldn't imagine pushing for two more hours and felt that it wasn't worth putting the baby and I through that much stress. At 10:37pm I told the doctor I was ready for the c-section. I had no epidural left and no strength either.

From there, everything was put into high gear. I was outfitted with a surgical cap and Paul was handed scrubs and told to move our stuff to the waiting room with our parents. I kissed him through tears and was told he would meet me in there. I was scared. So, so scared.
I have never had any type of surgery besides wisdom teeth and had never even stayed in a hospital before. This was all so new to me and I really didn't know what to expect. Meanwhile, the contractions were becoming unbearable. I was crying, trying to breathe through
them and saying, "Oh God, oh God" with every one. They kept getting worse and worse. I was
told I would be getting a spinal in the OR and to hang in there. A new nurse wheeled me down the hall as I cried and breathed through the contractions, which were probably about 1-2 minutes apart. I was transferred onto the operating table and stayed sitting up in preparation for my spinal. A nurse held my hand and rubbed my back as I cried through more contractions for what seemed like years. I watched as the the nurses prepare all of the surgical stuff and wondered where the doctor was. I was then told that I would not get my spinal until just before the surgery since my epidural had been wearing off so quickly. I think this was around 11pm. The pain was unbelievable.

Part III coming up. This is the best part. I promise!