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Birth Stories always make me cry. Even when I go back and read the story about my second child being born almost three years ago, I get tears in my eyes. I am a Mom and here is my story... (Note: this post was originally published on my personal blog in June 2009).
Sunday, May 24, 2009
5:00 AM – I can’t sleep and I am tired of lying awake in bed so I head downstairs and find something to eat. I turn on the TV but nothing keeps my interest. I am scheduled to be induced in two days, but I am having second thoughts (and some anxiety) about inducing. During this pregnancy, I have felt that it is important to let labor begin naturally. The baby (and my body) will tell me when it is time to go into labor and I still have another week until my due date. My main objection about induction is the medical intervention, so I turn on my laptop and search for information about the side effects and risks of inducing labor with Pitocin. I remember how it made me feel when I had S and I don’t want to feel that way again. Although he will probably be disappointed, I decide to tell my husband that I have changed my mind about my scheduled induction on Tuesday.
4:00 PM – My husband, S and I arrive at some friend's house for a Memorial Day cookout. Several friends are there too and S is excited that she gets to play with some other kids. Soon after we arrive, I think I feel a contraction so I glance at the clock - it reads 4:16 PM. (I tell my friends that we almost went to the hospital on Friday night because I was having contractions and they were pretty strong. However they went away after about an hour and I fell asleep). Over the next hour I feel several more contractions – although I am not sure if that is really what they are because I did not have any contractions with S.
5:16 PM – Another strong pain, which I believe is a contraction now. I find a pen and paper and start to keep track of when I feel them. The girls are sitting in the kitchen eating dinner while the guys have been gathered around the grill or in the living room watching TV. Knowing this could be my last chance to eat for awhile; I finish my plate of food and eat S’s leftover dessert. Around 6:00 PM, I tell my husband that I have been having contractions for almost two hours. He is surprised and asks if I am sure (a valid question due to the fact that I still am not sure if this is what if feels like to be in labor). The girls convince me that it is probably time for us to head to the hospital. I want to go home and get my bag and the cameras in case this is the real deal. My friend offers to watch S until my husband’s parents can come pick her up.
7:30 PM – We are officially checked into the hospital. It is a slow night; I am the only patient in labor and delivery. I am dilated to 5 cm and having contractions every 6-8 minutes. The nurse puts in my IV (I have to look away – I really hate needles) and tells me that I can have an epidural whenever I am ready. It is my intention to go as long as possible without IV meds – including Pitocin. My contractions are stronger but I am able to breathe through them. I make several phone calls to my mom, my sister, and my grandmother to let them know the baby is on his way. My husband and I make bets about if the baby whether the baby will be born before midnight (I say yes, he thinks no).
8:30 PM – I have reached the point where my contractions are painful so I call the nurse and ask them to page the anesthesiologist. My husband is having a hard time watching me in pain, but he sits beside me the entire time and talks me through it. By 9:00 PM the epidural is in and the medicine begins to take the edge off the pain. The nurse is shocked when she checks me and I am dilated to 9 cm already. She pages the doctor on call to go
