Ashley was being too stubborn to come out on her own so we made it all the way up to our induction date. The whole experience was pretty traumatic, but well worth it.
I was admitted at 9pm on July 6th and the nurses prepared me for labor. First was the IV. The last time I had an IV was when I had my wisdom teeth removed five years ago. However, at that time I was put to sleep before the IV was placed. This is my first IV I've ever gotten while I was awake. The nurse used a very large needle and jabbed it into the back of my right hand just behind the base of my thumb. The vein she had targeted seemed elusive as she chased it around for a while with the needle...ouchie. She eventually penetrated it and within seconds, the vein blew...ouchie. She pulled out the needle and began squeezing the blood out that was pooling under my skin. I didn't realize that I was hyperventilating, I felt pretty calm but in a lot of pain. However, I began to feel faint and nauseated. The nurse let me rest for a few minutes while breathing into a bag. After I began to feel better, she tried the IV again, this time with a smaller needle (why she didn't use the smaller needle in the first place is beyond me). Attempting a different vein on the same hand, she was successful right away. The antibiotics and pitocin were added to the IV machine and I was left to rest for a while. Nurses came in periodically throughout the night to replace the antibiotic bag and increase the level of pitocin.
Contractions started within minutes. I could feel them, but they were not painful at all. It simply felt like a tightening sensation. I was able to sleep through them pretty easily. The only thing that made it difficult to sleep was the fact that I truly had to pee every fifteen minutes. The IV fluids combined with the contractions made my bladder very uncomfortable.
The pitocin dosage was increased in small increments every couple of hours until the nurses were satisfied with the intensity and frequency of my contractions. I decided not to receive pain medications until I felt I really needed it. For most of the next day (July 7th), I did just fine without pain medication. The worst part was the fact that I was not allowed to eat from the time I was checked in. By the time I delivered, I went about 26 hours without food. By about 2pm, my contractions had become very painful, but not intolerable. The nurses and my doctor all marveled at how I was able to handle the very intense contractions without pain medication. I felt I was starting to lose my energy due to the pain, though, so I asked for a quick shot of pain meds in my IV. That stuff was great! It knocked me completely out in under a minute. I woke up an hour labor in serious pain. By then, me strength was almost completely gone. Both exhausted and starving, I was losing my battle with the pain that was draining me. At 4:30, I yielded to an epidural. That was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal. I was asked to lay on my left side to be given the epidural. At the time, I was in the middle of the most intense contraction thus far. Laying on my side increased the pain by about 400%. I was crying hysterically. The anesthesiologist had an emergency C-section he had to get to right away, so he had no time to numb me before inserting the "drill bit" into my spine...while I was still in that horrible contraction that I was already in the most terrible pain for. I had no idea what to expect from the epidural. I had no idea that the worst pain of my life laying on my side there was about increase dramatically. Again, there was not time to numb my back before inserting the needle, so I felt everything. I felt the very large needle penetrate my back, and then my spine. As it entered the spine, I felt and heard several popping sounds. I thought I was going to die. I don't know how I did not pass out from the pain. After he finished, I was rolled back onto my back. It took a few minutes for the medication to kick in. Once it did, I was still able to feel very intense contractions, but it took the edge off. My legs went numb right away. At 4:40, I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. At 4:53, after about 5 pushes, she was born.
The labor and delivery experience was terrible for me. I often have nightmares about the experience. I suppose I probably have mild post-traumatic stress. But again, it was worth it. I feel I went to hell and back to bring this baby into the world and I would do it again...hopefully not anytime soon.
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