I've been trying to get this up for days but DD is sick with a cold and fever and I've been trying to keep Connor as germ free as possible so it's been a bit nuts around here.
One week ago today, I was hoping and praying to go into labour on my own as I was scheduled for induction the following morning at 9:00. Nothing but a few contractions happened so I knew I was going to have to do it the doctor's way. On September 5th I called the hospital like they'd instructed me to make sure they had enough staff/beds/etc. to induce me that morning. I was told I'd have to call back in 1/2 an hour as there weren't enough nurses at the time to take me. In the end I didn't get in to the hospital until 12:30 that afternoon.
The nurses got me settled in my room while my husband and daughter waited with me. At 1:50 the doctor came in to break my water (which my husband watched and I felt a little weird about). Shortly after DH left with DD to take her home and wait for MIL to stay with her. The nurse who was with me asked me if I wanted the pitocin right then or if I'd like to walk around first to try and get things going on my own. I jumped at the chance. Since DH wasn't there to keep my company yet I took my iPod and walked all over the halls trying to get the contractions started. After about my 3rd round I started feeling discouraged because I didn't feel much happening. About a minute later I took that thought back as I was having to stop every few steps with the pain! All I wanted to do was listen to my music and let nature take its course but I guess not many people have seen labouring women before (not even in the maternity ward oddly enough) because I kept having people stop me and ask if I was OK. Ummm, yeah. Just trying to have a baby here, thanks. I gave up trying to zone out with my music and went back to my room to sit on the birthing ball. I had a new and wonderful nurse in there waiting for me and she talked me through the contractions because by now they were getting really intense. She had me get into bed to check my dilation and to my misery I had only gone from a 3 to an almost 4 in the past 2 hours! All that walking and those contractions that were stopping me in my tracks weren't doing much at all.
My husband still hadn't returned and I was in too much pain to even try walking again. It was getting to be too much so I caved and asked for an epidural. This time I got one right away which was awesome! With DD it had taken hours before they could get to me. So they started the meds and shortly after that the nurse gave me the bare minimum of pitocin to see if that was enough to get the contractions going. They'd been intense for quite a while so she thought I'd probably just need a little boost. She was right.
DH came back in after I was settled in bed with my epidural and pitocin and I was able to relax and chat for the rest of my labour. The nurses checked me around 4:00 pm and I'd gone from 3 to 7cm in about an hour, which shocked me. From that point I was trembling uncontrollably but other than that I felt fine. My nurse went on break at 5:30 and told me she'd come back and check me at 6:00 but if I felt pressure or an urge to push call someone right away. Well not even 10 minutes later I felt pressure so I told DH to call the nurse in. They came immediately and checked me, and told me I was 10cm and it was time to push so the doctor, a resident and a couple of other nurses came in. I pushed for 15 minutes and it felt like I wasn't making any progress but all of a sudden the doctor told me to look down and I watched my beautiful baby boy come into the world. He cried good and loud right away and they placed him on my chest for a cuddle and he stopped immediately and snuggled up to me. I told him over and over that I love him.
I had a small tear so the resident stitched me up while the doctor took care of helping deliver the placenta. With DD I'd had fragments left in my uterus which caused me to hemorhage 10 days post partum and it was on my birth plan that I was concerned it could happen again. The doctor and nurses took excellent care of me and made sure that everything on my birth plan was done. They were extra cautious with the placenta and explained everything they were doing. I could not have been happier with this birth experience!
Connor Michael was born on September 5th at 6:02 pm. weighing 7 lbs 14 oz.
(I can't figure out how to reduce the size yet, sorry for the huge pic!)
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Connor Michael's birth story :)
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I wouldn't mind betting it would have made a big difference to my labour, though I accept it probably would have still ended in c-section because of what had happened with the cord.
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