Around 37 weeks, I had a breakdown. Sobbing, couldn't get out of bed, breakdown. My OB decided it would be a good idea to have an end date with this pregnancy. So my induction date was set for May 23rd.
The week leading up to the induction, I was having second thoughts because I just didn't think she would be ready to come out and I was worried about the consequences of forcing myself to go into labor. However, I was so uncomfortable and in so much pain that I could barely walk and I need to be done.
I called the hospital at 6am on Monday, May 23, to see when to go in. I was told to call back at 11am because there was no room. We spent the morning at home playing with Charlee. Around 11, I called back and still no room and was told to call back at 2pm. So we walked to the park to play with Charlee. While Charlee was napping, we got the call to head to the hospital by 3:30pm. After saying goodbye to our little big girl, we headed to Meriter.
The drive was much calmer than it was when I was in labor with Charlee. We got to relax and talk as we drove, instead of rushing. I was a big ball of stress because I didn't know what was going to happen or how fast it would go. We got checked in and then sat in our room until 5pm when we got to start the pitocin. It took 3 nurses and 4 tries to get the IV in. So that was fun.
Needless to say, my body didn't really respond to pitocin. We watched tv and chatted while I felt nothing. The nurse kept asking if I was feeling the contractions, but I felt absolutely nothing. So we kicked it up a notch. Shortly after doing that, Emme's heart rate began to increase, so the pitocin was dropped down again. And we sat. I bounced on a ball for a bit because my pelvis hurt so much. I walked back and forth to the little kitchen down the hall to get crackers since I couldn't eat much of anything while in labor.
At 8pm, nothing was happening and I was still sitting at 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Dr. Cardwell suggested trying to insert a balloon to get me dilated further. He tried 3 times and it only dilated me to 3cm and hurt like hell. After that, I was able to get an early epidural. That was an adventure too. The anesthesiologist had to try 3 times to get the epidural placed. It. Was. Awful. My epidural had to be placed higher, so I had to be very careful about how I was laying so it didn't get up to my chest and make it hard to breathe.
By 1am, I was still at 3cm and 70% effaced. Dr. Cardwell came in and broke my water to hopefully move things along. Within an hour, things were picking up. I started feeling a lot more pressure in my pelvis. With each contraction, it felt like she was coming out. At 2:20am, I told the nurse that it was starting to hurt more. She said that they usually check the cervix every two hours, so she could either check me then or wait until 3am. I told her I would wait until 3am. As soon as she left, the pain got worse and my contractions picked up. The nurse came back 10 minutes later and I told her that the pressure was a lot more intense. She checked me and said it was time to push. Dr. Cardwell was called back in and said that she would be born in about 10 minutes. I started pushing through one contraction as Dr. Cardwell was getting suited up and he told me to stop as her head was crowning. One more contraction and she was out! 5 minutes and 5 pushes through 2 contractions was all it took.
At 2:47am on Tuesday, May 24th, our sweet little Emme was born at 8lbs 2oz and 21.5" long.
Charlee came to visit later that morning and was so excited to meet her baby sister!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.