Way back in April we were given a due date of December 30, 2010. If you would have asked either Randy or I years ago we probably would have said the only month that we would try to avoid having a baby would be December. So when I first saw the due date, I have to admit I was worried about my baby having a holiday birthday and all the things that come with that. But overall I was thankful to be pregnant and thinking of all the ways I could spin a Christmas baby into the best birthday ever, after all, to share a birthday with Jesus, that is special! I also was preparing myself to think that it could be January, thinking that 1/1/11 would be a great birthday. Even though my tax accountant husband was thinking that 2010 would be better. All in all, I am so thankful that I had such a non-eventful pregnancy. I was healthy and happy throughout. I was nauseous for about 4 days and overall just really excited for the baby, who we didn't know at the time if baby was a girl or boy.
Anyway, my last day of work was supposed to be 12/23/10, and I started having some very mild contractions on 12/22/10 while at work about every 10-15 minutes. I thought that I didn't want to be stuck in Ann Arbor if things progressed so I brought enough work to have something to do at home on the 23rd, and I would be more comfortable there. Driving was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and so was I. Well, I continued to have these 'contractions' although not painful, I was hopeful that they would start to get more painful and closer together at any minute. Fast forward through Christmas and I had more contractions on the 29th and there were some that were sort of painful and they got to be about 6 minutes apart, but didn't get any closer than that or any stronger than that. We even packed the bags and got the car seat in the car that evening and I thought that I would wake up from the pain of the contractions getting stronger that night, but instead I woke up nearly every hour from a contraction, that wasn't that bad and I just had to pee. I was incredibly frustrated that morning (my original due date 12/30/10). I stopped paying attention to any contractions and would focus on walking, eating pineapple, and everything and anything else that was said to 'induce labor naturally.' Nothing worked. I just kept having weak contractions at regular intervals.
Finally we made it to my last scheduled OB appointment, 1/4/11 and they said that I was 2-3 cm and 50% effaced. It could happen at anytime, but at that time they also scheduled an induction appointment for me at the hospital for 1/6/11 at 6am. I kept hoping that I would go into labor before that, but was relieved to know that I wouldn't in fact stay pregnant forever. (Although I was feeling like I would be.) I was happy to think that January 6th could be my babies birthday and at the very latest, January 7th.
I was home and made my labor playlist and focused on other things until eventually it was the night of January 5th and I tried to sleep as much as I could, only getting up to go to the bathroom. And eventually it was 4am on 1/6/11 and I called in to make sure they had a bed available at 6am and they said they did, so I ate some breakfast knowing that once I got there I wouldn't be able to eat, and then got about an hour more of rest before getting up to shower and get ready to have my baby!!
So this is where the whole experience started getting surreal for me. I have never been in a hospital as a patient. I typically do not like going to hospitals. Therefore, walking into the hospital and checking in, felt weirdly out-of-body. Actually looking back on the entire time that I was in the hospital before Cammy was born, is weirdly out-of-body for me.
Ok, so we got there at 6am, checked in and they had me change into a gown and get into the hospital bed. Another weird calm before the storm feeling, I remeber thinking that that was the last time I would be wearing my maternity clothes for this pregnancy. Once I got into the gown, there was no going back. So we set up at the hospital, preparing for a long day, but hoping that it would go quickly. I had my iHome with my iPod loaded up with my playlist, we had the laptop and I played solitaire at some point. The doctor checked me shortly after we got there, and said I was 3cm and 70% effaced, and already contracting on my own when I got there, so all these were good signs. They started me on an IV of pitocin and fluids. I was also informed that I couldn't drink water, but only have ice chips. This was a bummer because one of my comfort items was my trust purple water bottle that I had used the entire pregnancy.
At 10am the doctor came in and I hadn't made any progress, so they decided to break my water. This is when contractions started getting more intense (I think they also upped the dose on the pitocin) and closer together. I had decided to try to go as long as I could without getting any pain medication, and I was starting to need Randy's support to get through contractions. I was sitting on the ball, leaning over the bed, and trying any other upright positions I could, all while being tethered to an IV and monitors for the baby and contractions. Randy used massage and counter pressure to get me through each contraction, and things were getting pretty intense for me. I kept thinking that all this was good, and that the pain was purposeful and trying to remain as relaxed as possible. At about 1:30 the chief resident came in to check me and said that if I hadn't made any progress, they were going to put internal monitors in because they were having trouble tracking the baby and they would be able to tell the strength of my contractions. When he checked me I was still at 3cm and 80% effaced, I was really bummed. I was hoping that the past 6 plus hours of working through the pain had gotten me closer to my baby, but I was just not progressing. He went ahead and put in the internal monitors, which meant I was even more tied to the bed. At this point, I just didn't think I could go on without any pain medication. I had hit my wall and talked to Randy about getting the epidural, and he was more than supportive. Once I decided that I would get the epidural, they couldn't come soon enough. It's interesting to me that nobody could really describe the pain of labor to me when I was pregnant and now looking back I can't exactly remember what it felt like to put it into words, but it was definitely intense and before I had the epidural, I was vomiting from the pain. I couldn't imagine going through that with such little progress for any longer than I did. I think that if the doctor had said I was 7 or 8 cm I think I could have kept going. But the mental set back along with the physical pain was just too much for me to bear. I am thankful for the anesthiesiologists, although not completely happy with my epidural experience, I don't know if I would have made it without one.
For the most part the pain was in control after the epidural and I was able to relax and rest as my body continued to to its work. This is where the details get fuzzy for me. It seems every hour or so the doctor would come in and check me and at about 5pm (when my doctor was done for the day) she said I was 7cm and 100% effaced. She thought I was going to deliver before she left, and said it shouldn't be long now and was very positive with her check.
I was excited by her positivity and knew in my head that once I was at 7cm, that I was in 'transition' and that was supposed to be short like an hour and then pushing would be an hour. I was hopeful that I would be meeting my baby that day!! Then another hour went by (it was 6pm) and it was about time for my nurse to go home so she checked me and said I was 7-8cm and 100% effaced. She was hopeful that it would happen soon for me and said that she was on the next day and better not see me still in that room (and was pretty sure that she wouldn't) I kept changing positions and hours kept going by with no progress. My next doctor came in about 7 and checked me and said I was only 7cm and 90% effaced. He had the nurse increase the pitocin because we needed more progress. He was worried about me stalling, which wasn't good when I was that far into it. After another hour or two went by he checked me and I was 8 cm. Dr. Meyer wasn't positive at this point and said that if we didn't have more progress we would need to start to consider 'reality' We went along like this with him checking every hour and finally at 12am I was 10 cm but the baby wasn't quite ready, so he had me labor down for an hour to see if the baby would drop and that would make pushing easier, and after an hour and nothing happened, he had me start pushing at 1am.
Now began my next mental battle. I started pushing and everyone kept telling me that I was doing great and that I was doing the right thing. Dr. Meyer said that if I wasn't doing good he wouldn't let me keep going. I just remember that I kept looking up at the clock between contractions and hours were melting away. I thought that pushing was only supposed to last up to an hour! At about the 2 hour mark I was almost ready to give up. My epidural had worn out on my left side and I was feeling pretty much the entire contraction on that side. I wasn't believing anyone that I was pushing correctly because it was taking entirely too long. I was losing focus and couldn't relax between contractions because my side hurt constantly. At that point is where Randy really saved me. He got in my face and told me that I had to do this and I was doing it and there was no giving up. I started saying over and over, I have to do this, I have to do this... and somehow focused on that. I knew what I needed to do, and became very demanding to Randy and my nurse. The pain was better when my legs were being held up, so they didn't put them down in between contractions. I was in control and finally believed that things were going to happen once they uncovered instrument trays and more people appeared in the room. I was over the hump! And then all at once in the same contraction, 2 pushes my baby's head came out and then her body. It was a girl!! We had a girl!! I was hysterical and had immediate pain relief once she was out. Photos were taken and then the rest is a blur... we had our daughter! What a huge blessing!
