A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER: OUR LABOR STORY
During the night last Wednesday, September 20th, I began having what I assumed were very mild contractions. Then, throughout the course of Thursday, they became a bit stronger and more frequent. Because my blood pressure was a bit high, the doctor had put me on brief bedrest until I delivered, so I spent the majority of Thursday in bed with hubby waiting on me hand and foot. Let me just say - I’m very thankful that I ended up being on bedrest for pretty much only one day; it wasn’t easy staying down and out! Women who are on bedrest for much of their pregnancies have my utmost sympathy. Anyway….that afternoon I decided to take a bath, mainly because I wanted to shave my hairy legs before going to the hospital! That evening, we were watching TV and I began noticing that the contractions were getting significantly closer together. For the next hour or so, we timed them and by 7:30 PM, they were about five minutes apart - and stronger, but not really painful. At that point, we packed up our last-minute things and headed to a hotel that was five minutes down the road from the hospital. We wanted to be able to get there quickly in the middle of the night if we had to, so opted for the hotel since it takes a good forty minutes to get from our house to the hospital. Got to the hotel around 9:00 PM and watched a movie on TV. After that, we fell asleep. At 3:00 AM, I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back to bed Scott asked me how I was feeling. I told him I couldn’t really tell yet, so we timed the contractions again. Two to three minutes apart! So off we went to the hospital!When we got there, they put us in a triage room where they monitored my contractions, my blood pressure, and the baby’s heart rate from 4:00 AM til almost 11:00 AM! Seemed like we were in that tiny room forEVER. After checking my cervix and finding that I was still only one cm dilated, they were debating on whether to admit me or let us go home. I would have screamed if they had let me go home, especially with all those contractions that had been going on already! Because my blood pressure readings were consistently high all morning, they did admit me and we moved into the labor and delivery room (room 285). They decided it would be necessary to induce me because I wasn’t dilating very quickly on my own. (My cervix, however, was 50% effaced at this point.) So as soon as they got us in the room they started me on Pitocin. The room was pretty nice - a long pull-out couch for Scott to rest on, nice curtains on the window, a big wood cabinet with a TV in it. I think the floor may have even been wood, but don’t quote me on that. Well, by about 1:30 PM Friday afternoon, the contractions were getting to be too strong to handle so I asked for an epidural. A few minutes later, Dr. Hoochiepootie (I’m not kidding!!) came in and administered the epidural, which was uncomfortable but not terrible. The next two hours were delightfully pain-free and I was a happy girl, thinking this was gonna be a piece o’ cake. WOWWWWW, I would soon find out that I was wrong!!!At about 2:45 PM, Doctor Strohmayer came in and broke my water and apparently that REALLY got things moving! By about 3:30 PM, the epidural appeared to be wearing off or something; my lower back contractions became excruciating - and increasingly so as time went on. Whenever a contraction came (about every two minutes with very, very little relief inbetween), I literally pulled at chunks of my hair to try to distract myself from the pain even a tiny bit. Finally I just started crying. I was absolutely beside myself with agony. I told the nurse that I honestly didn’t know how much longer I could handle it and she said she’d send in the anesthesiologist to see if I could get the epidural medicine increased. After what seemed like an eternity, the anesthesiologist finally came in (not Dr. Hoochiepootie this time…it was a new lady) and said she would give me a little more epidural medication, but couldn’t give me much more because the level was already very high. I wanted to kiss her feet. However, at this time I also told the nurse that when the contractions hit, I had a TREMENDOUS urge to PUSH. In fact, pushing was the only way I could get through them. So she said, “Okay, on your next contraction, go ahead and push and I’ll try to feel what’s going on in there.” So I did. And much to my surprise, she said that I was fully 100% effaced and was, indeed, very ready to start pushing! They had told me that we probably wouldn’t be seeing the baby until Saturday (ya know, til after midnight). Here it was only 7:00 PM Friday night and she would be born soon!! The nurse called in the troops and we went to town.With Scott holding my left leg, a nurse holding my right, and my own hands pulling my thighs up toward my chest, I pushed for three intervals of ten seconds for each contraction. Took my glasses off because my face was too sweaty for them to stay on and I had an oxygen mask on for most of the time. Kept sweating really bad underneath that too, though, so eventually Doctor S. told me I could ditch it and I did. Well, I pushed and pushed and pushed. I had quite the cheering section, too. There were five nurses and my doctor in there yelling for me to give it all I had and to “Come on, make this one count!!” It was the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done, as I knew it would be. At one point, they said that the baby’s head had shifted to the side and we needed to get it straightened back out in the birth canal, so they had me lay on my side and push that way. That was NOT easy! I held on for dear life to the rail on the side of the bed while I pushed. Finally they said her head was straightened out so I got on my back again and continued to push…and push…and push! The pain was huge as her head tried to make its way out. At about this point, Doctor S. said that there was green fluid present which meant that the baby had pooped in utero. That can be dangerous if it gets into their nose, mouth, lungs, and stomach. Her head finally came out and (though I didn’t see it), she did indeed have the green fluid in her mouth and nose. Before she was even the rest of the way out, they were siphoning her nose and mouth like crazy. The rest of her came out at exactly 9:00 PM, Friday September 22nd. Scotty actually cut the cord, which surprised me since he's verrrry squeamish! I was SO proud of him!! They rushed her to the other side of the room and continued to get the miconium out of her nose and mouth. I got to see her about twenty minutes later. When they handed her to me - all bundled up and with a little hat on - I could not BELIEVE how GORGEOUS she was!!!! I mean, she was BREATHTAKING! Perfect little features - beautiful blue eyes, a button nose, and a little rosebud mouth that looks exactly like her daddy’s. And dark brown hair!! I’m sure that will lighten up gradually! Both our families visited. Soon they took Alyssa to the nursery and performed some tests and procedures to fully remove ALL the miconium from her lungs and stomach. Late that night they moved us to a postnatal room and the rest of our hospital stay is kind of a blur! Family visited again, Scott and I had a filet mignon meal, and I got about three total hours of sleep in two days. I was running on pure adrenaline and could not take my eyes off of our new baby girl!! I am ADDICTED to her!! On Sunday afternoon we came home. Alyssa Belle is the hugest blessing I have ever received. She is my little angel girl and I look forward to every second with her. Our lives will never be the same, and I would not have it ANY other way.
During the night last Wednesday, September 20th, I began having what I assumed were very mild contractions. Then, throughout the course of Thursday, they became a bit stronger and more frequent. Because my blood pressure was a bit high, the doctor had put me on brief bedrest until I delivered, so I spent the majority of Thursday in bed with hubby waiting on me hand and foot. Let me just say - I’m very thankful that I ended up being on bedrest for pretty much only one day; it wasn’t easy staying down and out! Women who are on bedrest for much of their pregnancies have my utmost sympathy. Anyway….that afternoon I decided to take a bath, mainly because I wanted to shave my hairy legs before going to the hospital! That evening, we were watching TV and I began noticing that the contractions were getting significantly closer together. For the next hour or so, we timed them and by 7:30 PM, they were about five minutes apart - and stronger, but not really painful. At that point, we packed up our last-minute things and headed to a hotel that was five minutes down the road from the hospital. We wanted to be able to get there quickly in the middle of the night if we had to, so opted for the hotel since it takes a good forty minutes to get from our house to the hospital. Got to the hotel around 9:00 PM and watched a movie on TV. After that, we fell asleep. At 3:00 AM, I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back to bed Scott asked me how I was feeling. I told him I couldn’t really tell yet, so we timed the contractions again. Two to three minutes apart! So off we went to the hospital!When we got there, they put us in a triage room where they monitored my contractions, my blood pressure, and the baby’s heart rate from 4:00 AM til almost 11:00 AM! Seemed like we were in that tiny room forEVER. After checking my cervix and finding that I was still only one cm dilated, they were debating on whether to admit me or let us go home. I would have screamed if they had let me go home, especially with all those contractions that had been going on already! Because my blood pressure readings were consistently high all morning, they did admit me and we moved into the labor and delivery room (room 285). They decided it would be necessary to induce me because I wasn’t dilating very quickly on my own. (My cervix, however, was 50% effaced at this point.) So as soon as they got us in the room they started me on Pitocin. The room was pretty nice - a long pull-out couch for Scott to rest on, nice curtains on the window, a big wood cabinet with a TV in it. I think the floor may have even been wood, but don’t quote me on that. Well, by about 1:30 PM Friday afternoon, the contractions were getting to be too strong to handle so I asked for an epidural. A few minutes later, Dr. Hoochiepootie (I’m not kidding!!) came in and administered the epidural, which was uncomfortable but not terrible. The next two hours were delightfully pain-free and I was a happy girl, thinking this was gonna be a piece o’ cake. WOWWWWW, I would soon find out that I was wrong!!!At about 2:45 PM, Doctor Strohmayer came in and broke my water and apparently that REALLY got things moving! By about 3:30 PM, the epidural appeared to be wearing off or something; my lower back contractions became excruciating - and increasingly so as time went on. Whenever a contraction came (about every two minutes with very, very little relief inbetween), I literally pulled at chunks of my hair to try to distract myself from the pain even a tiny bit. Finally I just started crying. I was absolutely beside myself with agony. I told the nurse that I honestly didn’t know how much longer I could handle it and she said she’d send in the anesthesiologist to see if I could get the epidural medicine increased. After what seemed like an eternity, the anesthesiologist finally came in (not Dr. Hoochiepootie this time…it was a new lady) and said she would give me a little more epidural medication, but couldn’t give me much more because the level was already very high. I wanted to kiss her feet. However, at this time I also told the nurse that when the contractions hit, I had a TREMENDOUS urge to PUSH. In fact, pushing was the only way I could get through them. So she said, “Okay, on your next contraction, go ahead and push and I’ll try to feel what’s going on in there.” So I did. And much to my surprise, she said that I was fully 100% effaced and was, indeed, very ready to start pushing! They had told me that we probably wouldn’t be seeing the baby until Saturday (ya know, til after midnight). Here it was only 7:00 PM Friday night and she would be born soon!! The nurse called in the troops and we went to town.With Scott holding my left leg, a nurse holding my right, and my own hands pulling my thighs up toward my chest, I pushed for three intervals of ten seconds for each contraction. Took my glasses off because my face was too sweaty for them to stay on and I had an oxygen mask on for most of the time. Kept sweating really bad underneath that too, though, so eventually Doctor S. told me I could ditch it and I did. Well, I pushed and pushed and pushed. I had quite the cheering section, too. There were five nurses and my doctor in there yelling for me to give it all I had and to “Come on, make this one count!!” It was the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done, as I knew it would be. At one point, they said that the baby’s head had shifted to the side and we needed to get it straightened back out in the birth canal, so they had me lay on my side and push that way. That was NOT easy! I held on for dear life to the rail on the side of the bed while I pushed. Finally they said her head was straightened out so I got on my back again and continued to push…and push…and push! The pain was huge as her head tried to make its way out. At about this point, Doctor S. said that there was green fluid present which meant that the baby had pooped in utero. That can be dangerous if it gets into their nose, mouth, lungs, and stomach. Her head finally came out and (though I didn’t see it), she did indeed have the green fluid in her mouth and nose. Before she was even the rest of the way out, they were siphoning her nose and mouth like crazy. The rest of her came out at exactly 9:00 PM, Friday September 22nd. Scotty actually cut the cord, which surprised me since he's verrrry squeamish! I was SO proud of him!! They rushed her to the other side of the room and continued to get the miconium out of her nose and mouth. I got to see her about twenty minutes later. When they handed her to me - all bundled up and with a little hat on - I could not BELIEVE how GORGEOUS she was!!!! I mean, she was BREATHTAKING! Perfect little features - beautiful blue eyes, a button nose, and a little rosebud mouth that looks exactly like her daddy’s. And dark brown hair!! I’m sure that will lighten up gradually! Both our families visited. Soon they took Alyssa to the nursery and performed some tests and procedures to fully remove ALL the miconium from her lungs and stomach. Late that night they moved us to a postnatal room and the rest of our hospital stay is kind of a blur! Family visited again, Scott and I had a filet mignon meal, and I got about three total hours of sleep in two days. I was running on pure adrenaline and could not take my eyes off of our new baby girl!! I am ADDICTED to her!! On Sunday afternoon we came home. Alyssa Belle is the hugest blessing I have ever received. She is my little angel girl and I look forward to every second with her. Our lives will never be the same, and I would not have it ANY other way.
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9:43 AM
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