Elective induction set for 39 weeks (I was ready to be un-pregnant). However, unlike most inducees I wanted a drug free delivery (this is your fault Kristin)... Brett wanted a pain free delivery... we got a little bit of both... read on.
2:00pm Started pitocin - dilated to a "2, almost 3cm"
3:00pm Watching Sherlock on Netflix
5:00pm Water broken "3cm+ 90% effaced"
5:30pm Stopped watching Sherlock
7:00pm "4cm, 90% effaced, 0 station"
7:30pm Baby's heart rate dropping with each contraction - put on oxygen
8:oopm Turned off pitocin to give baby a "break" - continued contracting on my own however, and baby's heart rate came back up. My Mom came.
9:00pm "5cm, very ripe"
9-9:30pm Contractions getting to be too much... I thought I still had at least a couple hours of labor left.
9:30pm Called for the epidural.
9:45pm Epidural in place, but wow! Time to push! Like right now! This baby will wait for no one! (Epidural takes about 10 min. to take effect)
9:48pm Baby boy delivered!
9:55pm Epidural starts working and I can't feel the stitches or the nurse sitting on my stomach to clamp everything down.
So I had a natural delivery with an epidural for the after stuff. Yay! If only they had checked me one last time before they started working on the epidural... then we wouldn't have to pay for an anesthetist... oh well.
Brett's sister asked me if Brett was a good birthing coach and I said no... but really that's not fair. He questioned why I'd want to go "natural" when there's such a beautiful thing as an epidural. But he supported my decision nonetheless. We weren't one of those couples who practiced breathing together or really prepared for this, so in that way he wasn't much of a "coach." Brett didn't want to see me in pain and so he'd occassionally say, "It's okay to get the epidural, if you want... just sayin'." Stuff like that. But he was a great supporter, both literally and figuratively. He helped me when I needed it with some counter-pressure on my knees and hips (we had a great nurse who gave us some last minute tricks, that really helped). He was the one who physically picked me up and got me into a laying position when I froze during the pushing stage. I could not move. They told me to lay down, but I couldn't pick myself up from the edge of the bed where they were putting in the epidural. Brett was also the one to run grab my mom from the waiting area. She stepped out during the epidural procedure (she didn't think she could handle the needles, but handled the rest of it okay... weird). When the pushing urge began, all I could say were one word sentences. "Pushing!" "Help!" "Mom!" When Brett heard "Mom" he realized she wasn't there and ran out to get her just in time. I told Brett it was like an "out of body experience" - my brain could do nothing - my body totally took over. It was a really weird experience for me. Interesting also that at that point there really was no pain, just this crazily strong urge to push with each contraction. Once I was in place they checked me one more time. I heard the nurse say, "Oh, he's right there!" Then about 3 pushes later he was here.
This was probably a once in a lifetime event for me. Although know that I know that the hard part is only going to last about an hour... maybe I could do it again...
Brett's still voting for pain free in the future - and I can now say, "I did it once... I know I can... Sure I'll relax this time!"
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| Last 3-person family photo |
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| Ignorance is bliss |
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