A Labor Story
As you all know it started with the lost plug...at least that is where I left you. It came out some more later that day, followed by a slow trickle of water with each contraction...I thought for some reason the contractions were hurting so much they were making me pee a little...so when there was a nice ring on my red sweats I took them off and did what any laboring mother would do...I smelled them. It was not pee!
Mike got home after work at about 5 and I had been charting contractions at about 7-12 minutes apart since one that afternoon. I told him about the fluid and we called the doc, she said to wait until the contractions were worse and then to head in, if they didn't get worse I was to go in in the am to be induced. We ate some Papa Ginos--I was starving! Mike starting his nesting routine--getting the car seat in, throwing the stuff for the hospital bag in, washing all the 0-3 month clothes...I started pacing the apartment, folding some clothes and the contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart lasting a good 60-90 seconds and making me stop and breath heavy...so we decided at about 10 pm it was TIME!
Hopped into the Jetta and we were off on our whopping 5 minute adventure to the hospital! We got there and were triaged, sat in the waiting room for a bit, and then they moved us back into the ER and we waited for the infamous cervix check--thank the Lord she did it with a speculum and just "looked..."
I thought for sure I would have dialated more with all of the intense contractions since the appointment Friday, but I was in fact only 1.5 cm dialated, but as I scooched down the table for the check there were some big bursts of fluid..."Yup, you're ruptured!" As soon as she left the room I turned to Mike and said, "Thank God they can't send us home!!" I had been keeping my little sister Rachel who was going to be in the delivery room with us posted since the contractions started...I was going to tell her to wait until 6 am to come down after a good night's sleep because there was no way this labor was going to progress too quickly, but by the time Mike got to her she was already on her way...
Ok, so now we are on our way up to the labor and delivery floor and I told them I could walk...but as I started down the hallway in my little Johnny I was like, "Ummmm...I'm going to leave puddles in your hallway the whole way here if I go this way...I recieved my first pair of the ever-lovely, oh-so-attractive disposable panties and a nice big pad...let the fun begin!!
We made it up to our room, room 16, on the end, and I met the two coolest nurses ever, there names were Kay and Rachel and they were just GREAT! About my age, bubbly, and loud...they took some of my info and sent me into the bathroom because I had to pee...meanwhile I hear them say to Mike, "You're the Daddy? What's your name..." and in all of his glory he responded, "Mr. Michael D--------..." all formal like...I started lauging in the bathroom and the nurses were hysterical--he was laughing at himself too...so from here on out they refered to him as that, and every time the nursing shift changed the story had to be carried over and we all got to laugh at him again...
They hooked me up to the IV--something I have always liked because I don't think I ever let myselft get that hydrated and it has always felt good for this chronic kidney stone sufferer. They started me on some pitocin--a 4 which is out of 20 and immediately my contractions became more regular--they had slowed since I arrived at the hospital! They told me I could have either the epidural or some IV pain meds whenever I wanted, just to ask. I don't know why I opted for the IV pain meds, I guess I thought I should hold off on the epidural...by this time Rachel had arrived and it was getting to be about 2 am...they put the Stadol in and I was immediately loopy...and it is not that it makes the pain go away, it just makes you so delerious that you don't care that it hurts. I said it felt like I was drunk and my eyes were slow to respong...then I proceeded to try and give Rachel directions to my apartment so she could get some shut eye...we were going to sleep it out and there was only one comfy chair for Mike...so I say, "Rachel, first, don't listen to Mike...he'll confuse you...go out of the hospital and take a right at the light that you came in from..." then Mike says, "At the Burger King you are going to take a left..." now my directions were getting more complicated and she had listened to Mike....ergh, I was frustrated and she ended up getting lost with my drugged up navigational system....oh well, she did make it there and back...I slept on and off until the Stadol finally wore off, they then called anestesia in for the Epidural...I had to sit up and roll my back out, as I have seen a million times on TV, but with the contractions all I wanted to do was lean back, lean back...no such luck. Well, the Epidural man was AMAZING! Kay the nurse was in my face telling me everything that was going to happen...he'll wash your back three times, then you'll feel a little pinch and a burn...not bad, that didn't hurt...I winced and bit and she said that was the worst part...a little pressure and BAM, you're done. She was joking saying he was the fasted draw in the west and swore that he could "Get her" even if she was running down the hallway...they put me on my side to let the medicine wear in and then came to flip me from there on out (I could do it on my own up until the last dose) every 20 minutes...this is where labor gets boring...
I would lay there on my side and talk to Mike about life and how cool it was that we were having a baby, and then they would roll me so my back was to him and I would sleep for a bit, then roll back and talk some more. Repeat through two "top-off" epidurals until about 11 am when the doc came in to check and said I was 5 cm and 90% effaced with her head at a -2 station...great, labor was progressing! Repeat the rolling process with a little bit stronger of an epidural and the next check was at 12:45....I had started to feel like I had to poo...they said that would be the first sign she was ready...the doctor stuck her hand in not too far and said, "Are we ready to have a baby?? You're 10 cm, fully effaced, and her head is at +3...we're ready to push...." But Rachel was in the cafeteria...oh no!
It was ok because she was due back any minute, funny thing is she walked in to my legs up in the air on the first set of pushes and she was like, "Whoa, we're pushing already!!!!"
I had to concentrate and get all of the pushes down low...not in my face, because I have seen too many moms with burst blood vessles and swollen faces...I did it. I was about 20 minutes into pushing when I felt like my esopagus was going to blow...I told the nurse my pushes were ineffective because my heart burn was killing me...she gave me some IV Zantac and we waited for that to kick in about another 20 minutes...I was SO hot Mike and Rachel kept getting me face clothes, and finally decided to fill a glove with some ice and that did the trick! Baby girl got pretty far down and had a few minor decelerations in her heart rate and she was squished in there pretty good...plus the epi had almost worn off completely...so I said to Mike, "The epidural is almost gone, that is my motivation!!!''
...to be continued, the little chicken is needing to eat!
So I left you with Emmie in the birth canal and me about to push...the Zantak started to kick in and all of a sudden I could push with all my might without feeling as though I was going to puke...ahhh...my toes were starting to tingle, I could feel my legs a bit, and I knew if I didn't get her out soon it was going to hurt more than I could imagine. I had a different nurse by then and she was kind of mousy...her name was Lori and she would just say thing calmly, like, "That's good...great...good pushing...that's it..." but the everytime the doctor came in she would yell and say things like, "Harder, harder, c'mon, you can do better than that, yes, yes, there we go, keep that up...GREAT work!" She was like a drill sargent...she kept coming in and out of the room so I knew we weren't really that close, I was excited to see her put on the damn scrubs and get ready to catch my little package, I never knew that 10 seconds could feel so long...I had to push for 10 seconds three times for each contractions...
I was so happy when people started putting on masks and scrubs and getting all worked up because it meant we were close. Mike kept saying, "She's almost here, keep it up..." and he was doing some pretty perfect calm counting (although at one point he did skip 6 and I made sure to let him know at the same time he was letting me know...he he he). So, she was crowing and everyone was sure she would come out with the next contraction, but the countdown ran out and the contraction went away and she was still there...the next contraction came, Mike said he was nervous because he just kept seeing more hair and no face! She was just pretty molded and cone shaped, her head popped out and I had to keep pushing while the doc did some pulling because she had some broad shoulder and pop--out she came, and she came and she came...it was like I thought the body would feel like one big mass, but I could feel shoulders and a stomach, and her hips and finally her legs...Mike cut the cord and got some blood on his pant and then...
"It's a BIG one," said the doc, "I bet 9 and a half pounds at least..."
I don't know if you remember but I was kinda dreading telling people how "big" my baby was....but she was out and beautiful and made me realize I could care less what the number was, she was here, she was mine, she was SCREAMING, and she was gorgeous...I was still a little happy when they weighed her and she was a nice 8lbs. 6oz...in the waiting room for the ER I had made Mike give me a guess and I gave mine...mine was 8lbs. 6 oz. 21 inches long...his I think was 8lbs. 3oz. and I forget the length he said, but they told me they would measure her the next day when she "streched out" a bit...I was anxious to see if I had been correct, and it was the first thing I asked the pediatrician...20.75 inches...I told him about my guess and he said he would go back and strech her a little more if I had some money riding on it! 
At this point I was staring at my little girl as they cleaned her up...her apgar scores were 8 and then 9 and she was beautiful. She was staring at me across the room...yes I know she couldn't really "see" but we had some kind of connection going on. They delivered the placenta which made me feel SOOO much lighter...she came out and I still felt a little full, that came out and I grabbed my tummy and was like...oh, it's empty. It is funny then they push on you and fluid just pours out...oh the things you'll say once you've had a child. I had a little 1st degree laceration and they had to use three stiches to fix me up, but at that point I could have cared less. They wrapped her up and handed her to Mike who was so in awe...he brought her over to me and we just kept saying how cute she was...she was wide awake and staring, she came out perfect...none of that cheesy stuff, very little blood, and just a little wet looking. She would give a little hiccup and it would scare her a bit and she would cry, but a little pat on the bum, like I did when she was inside me, and she would calm in an instant. We stayed in the L&D room for a good two hours, and they came in to tell me to start breastfeeding. She took to it like a champ...but she is a little tounge tied so she it leaving me a bit sore still, but we'll get the hang of it...they finally wheeled us upstairs to our room and "borrowed" her for a bit to give her what they joked to be a "buff and fluff..." The nurses kept coming in to tell us how beautiful she was and one said to Mr. Michael, "Your in trouble, your daughter is loving the shampoo. I can just see the spa bills later!" Too cute...
That was when the visitors started coming in...I had done it, they brought her back to me and I was in awe...still am today.
Ok, I miss my chicken, she's in her swing again...I might go rescue her!
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