On Wednesday night, August 31st, I got in bed around midnight but couldn't fall asleep until 1am. At 2am I woke up to use the bathroom, when I laid back down the contractions began. I laid there in bed for an hour before I woke Carl and told him that I thought this was it. We were both so excited we couldn't sleep (big big mistake). We got up and he started putting the rest of the hospital bag together. From 2am to 5am I worked through the minor contractions distracting myself from them with some TV and breathing. At 5am I called my doula (Laurie McDuffee) and she began preparing to come over. She arrived at 8am after I told her I was ready for her to come. From 8am to 8:30pm Laurie helped me get through the contractions at home. I got in the tub, took walks, did lunges, used a "tens unit", and other pain relieving methods. By 8:30pm my contractions were so intense I was crying through most of them. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. We packed the car and headed over. I thought for sure that I was 7+ cm dilated. Laurie told me to be prepared for 4-5cm of dilation. This was a discouraging thought to me but little did I know that this would have been great news. We arrived to the hospital and I was in tears. We got placed in a room and was checked for dilation. I was rudely awakened to the news that I was 2 1/2 cm after 17 hours of labor! I started sobbing because I couldn't fathom having to deal with this level of pain much longer. On top of that they didn't even know if they were going to admit me to the hospital at only 2 1/2. Praise the Lord my water broke right there on the bed while the nurse was out checking to see if I would be admitted (after your water breaks you can't leave the hospital because you are at a higher risk of infection). After my water broke I immediately went to 3 1/2 cm which was encouraging. Once we knew that I would be admitted the hospital staff insisted that I get an IV port in my arm in case of an emergency so I did despite my major fear of needles. From there I moved into the tub again for 2 hours, the tub really seemed to lessen the pain of the contractions. They checked me again and I moved to 5 cm. I did another hour after that sitting on a birthing ball. It was this hour that I became dizzy and almost unable to function. At the 25 hour mark they checked me again and I had only moved to 5 1/2 cm and I threw in the towel and begged for the epidural. Fortunately for me the anesthesiologist just got out of the OR and was able to come in and take care of me cause I did not want to feel one more contraction. Oh and that fear of needles I once had…yeah that’s gone. Once the epidural was in place I felt almost immediate relief. Once they got that epidural in my back the hospital staff attacked me all kinds of attachments to monitor me and the baby. I took advantage of the pain relief and spent the next 5 hours resting as much as I could. At around 7:30am the nurse came in to check my progress. She informed me that I had not moved at all and advised me that I should consider getting pitocen to help make my contractions stronger and closer together. I agreed to do it and went back to resting. From there things picked up and dilation progressed nicely. Around 3pm I got the great news that I was complete. Since I felt that urge to push that’s just what I did. I did this for 1 hour and 10 minutes total but it few by quickly. As I pushed little Elsa out it became evident to everyone why it took so long to get this little girl out…she had placed her left hand on her right cheek making a less than streamline exit. Evidently this little hand was the reason why I couldn’t dilate on my own. All that to say, it was ALL worth it! Elsa Faye is one of the best things thats ever happened to me and we are a blessed family to have such a healthy, happy little girl.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Labor & Delivery: The Full Story
On Wednesday night, August 31st, I got in bed around midnight but couldn't fall asleep until 1am. At 2am I woke up to use the bathroom, when I laid back down the contractions began. I laid there in bed for an hour before I woke Carl and told him that I thought this was it. We were both so excited we couldn't sleep (big big mistake). We got up and he started putting the rest of the hospital bag together. From 2am to 5am I worked through the minor contractions distracting myself from them with some TV and breathing. At 5am I called my doula (Laurie McDuffee) and she began preparing to come over. She arrived at 8am after I told her I was ready for her to come. From 8am to 8:30pm Laurie helped me get through the contractions at home. I got in the tub, took walks, did lunges, used a "tens unit", and other pain relieving methods. By 8:30pm my contractions were so intense I was crying through most of them. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. We packed the car and headed over. I thought for sure that I was 7+ cm dilated. Laurie told me to be prepared for 4-5cm of dilation. This was a discouraging thought to me but little did I know that this would have been great news. We arrived to the hospital and I was in tears. We got placed in a room and was checked for dilation. I was rudely awakened to the news that I was 2 1/2 cm after 17 hours of labor! I started sobbing because I couldn't fathom having to deal with this level of pain much longer. On top of that they didn't even know if they were going to admit me to the hospital at only 2 1/2. Praise the Lord my water broke right there on the bed while the nurse was out checking to see if I would be admitted (after your water breaks you can't leave the hospital because you are at a higher risk of infection). After my water broke I immediately went to 3 1/2 cm which was encouraging. Once we knew that I would be admitted the hospital staff insisted that I get an IV port in my arm in case of an emergency so I did despite my major fear of needles. From there I moved into the tub again for 2 hours, the tub really seemed to lessen the pain of the contractions. They checked me again and I moved to 5 cm. I did another hour after that sitting on a birthing ball. It was this hour that I became dizzy and almost unable to function. At the 25 hour mark they checked me again and I had only moved to 5 1/2 cm and I threw in the towel and begged for the epidural. Fortunately for me the anesthesiologist just got out of the OR and was able to come in and take care of me cause I did not want to feel one more contraction. Oh and that fear of needles I once had…yeah that’s gone. Once the epidural was in place I felt almost immediate relief. Once they got that epidural in my back the hospital staff attacked me all kinds of attachments to monitor me and the baby. I took advantage of the pain relief and spent the next 5 hours resting as much as I could. At around 7:30am the nurse came in to check my progress. She informed me that I had not moved at all and advised me that I should consider getting pitocen to help make my contractions stronger and closer together. I agreed to do it and went back to resting. From there things picked up and dilation progressed nicely. Around 3pm I got the great news that I was complete. Since I felt that urge to push that’s just what I did. I did this for 1 hour and 10 minutes total but it few by quickly. As I pushed little Elsa out it became evident to everyone why it took so long to get this little girl out…she had placed her left hand on her right cheek making a less than streamline exit. Evidently this little hand was the reason why I couldn’t dilate on my own. All that to say, it was ALL worth it! Elsa Faye is one of the best things thats ever happened to me and we are a blessed family to have such a healthy, happy little girl.
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so proud of you and the amazing effort you made to bring this little girl into the world~ I cannot wait to meet her and hear more details of the process in person. Maybe now we could go get some flu shots together...or a tattoo! ;)
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