I went into labor around 4:30 pm on the 4th of January .... I basically didn't notice until more like 5:30-6:00 because I had been having a lot of cervical pain/pressure over the past week, and I failed to notice that *this* pain/pressure was coming in cycles. I sat down with each one and then felt better but thought it was the sitting that was helping rather than thinking "gee I must be in labor." I even said to my mom "Stupid baby, if she's going to make me feel this rotten, why doesn't she just come out."
When we sat down for dinner about 5:40 or so, it occurred to me that the pain was coming at regular intervals and I had my mom time them. At this point, they were about 10 minutes apart but they varied. After dinner, I sat down in the easy chair and we continued to time the contractions. By 6:30, they were curling my toes. Joel and I went upstairs to our bedroom and my mom watched/entertained Ariana. Joel and I debated whether this was real for awhile and I sat in the tub for awhile to see if I could relax a bit through some of them. The tub cooled down after each contraction and didn't seem to be helping so I got out and got dressed in an outrageously matched black and red flannel top and green sweats that were comfortable but certainly not fashionable!
We called L&D about 8 to find out if the contractions had to be 5 minutes apart before we came in because at that point, the contractions were varying between 4 and 7 minutes apart but were pretty intense. I have no coping mechanisms beyond crying and Joel is clueless; since I was in so much pain that I said I wanted to go in even if I wasn't 4 cm because if they'd even give me Nubain, that would be helpful. Joel was skeptical, believing it was too soon to go in but I insisted. On the way to the hospital, we passed St. John's, the hospital I decided against, and Joel offered to stop there. I told him again that the field to the west of it was preferable and to keep going to Missouri Baptist. We arrived at 9:00 and had a slow walk to L&D, since I was contracting in a painful manner and needed to stop with each one and lean on a wall. Joel offered me a wheelchair but I couldn't even think about sitting down at that point.
I was only 3 cm at when they finally got around to checking me at 9:30 in the triage room. That stupid gurney in the triage room was uncomfortable and I just couldn't sit on it; hence I kept screwing up their baby and contraction monitors. Three cm was enough to check me in and get me set up for an epidural. I had two nurses helping at this point and one of them, who was very take charge and maternal, hurried me down to an L&D room. They hadn't heard from the OB but she said it was obvious I was in active labor and that they should/could get me some pain relief as soon as possible. Once I got to the L&D room, I was contracting almost continuously... ok, probably not, but it seemed that way. I was crying from the pain and the nurses were desperately trying to get me to breathe through them and not fight the process. My L&D nurse missed on her first try to get my IV in and the "take charge" nurse took over and put one in my arm. That was the worst of the pain in the whole epidural process. As I standing there, I started to leak amniotic fluid *or* I was sweating so much that it was running down my leg. I was sweating profusely and crying and asking why the contractions couldn't space themselves out to give me a breather.
The doctor had a hard time with the epidural because I wasn't in between contractions for a long enough time to get it done. She finally just asked me if I could sit still through a contraction, to which I replied "yes, I can do anything if it means relief." I must have squeezed the heck out of Joel's hand, but it got done. This doctor gives an intrathecal dose before the epidural dose to give immediate relief until the epidural kicks in, for which I was eternally grateful. They fussed about and propped me up on my side and told me they would make sure I rolled from one side to the other every hour. After that was done, they checked me and I was at 5 cm. I asked them if they had seen my birth plan and it wasn't in my file (big surprise, Dr. Shelton did not send it along with my paperwork). I told my L&D nurse that it didn't matter because I only had three important points...only female care providers, no episiotomy, and meds. Since two of three were already being met, only the episiotomy was in question. She asked me if I preferred to tear rather than get an episiotomy and I told her yes. I could tell that she cared about my preferences. She must have gone to look for the plan because she came back and asked me if I had another copy, which I did. I gave it to her but reiterated the three main points. At this point, the on-call doc put an internal monitor in me to monitor the contractions and popped my bag on my OB's orders. I was pretty annoyed about that since I didn't want AROM and it was in my birth plan, but since I was getting relief and I was tired, I figured it wasn't worth arguing. I did make some comment about her wanting to get a good night's sleep though. As time has passed, I have become more and more annoyed that she ignored an explicit request of mine for absolutely no good reason.
As I lay there, I got a terrible case of the shakes. Joel kept asking me if I was cold and when I kept saying "no," he touched my skin and insisted that I was freezing. The shakes were disturbing but not as unbearable as the contractions. All I could think about was that when I got the shakes with Ariana I was ready to push. The anesthesiologist assured me that it was normal and not related to the epidural.
By 11:00, I was ready to push. The OB on call came in and they asked how I was doing...they were going to turn me to my other side and insert an internal fetal monitor. I told them that I could feel the contraction monitor on each contraction and, although it didn't hurt, it was very uncomfortable. The OB looked at me quizzically and said that I shouldn't be able to feel the monitor but that maybe I was ready to push. She checked me and that was the answer. Everyone was sort of shocked. At that point, I quit whatever unconscious impulse I had to inhibit my own pushing. It was sort of covert, since they had told me not to push. I wasn't actually pushing... just letting my body do what felt right. The on-call doc and some of the nurses rushed out to call my OB and the L&D nurse positioned me to practice push. She asked me if I remembered how to push. I told her not really but that I had been coached once with Ariana and that was it.... so with the next contraction, I pushed, she corrected my efforts, and the baby crowned. She said "that's enough of that, the baby is crowning." Joel leapt up to see and confirmed it. They told me her head was right there and that she had a lot of hair.
The nurse said my doctor hadn't arrived and I asked if I had to wait or could I just have the on-call doc do the delivery (all time thinking "yeah, no Dr. Shelton"). She said of course and that the on call doc (Dr. Rockamann) was just outside my room. The other nurses and Dr. Rockamann scurried in and declared that the doctor was certainly not going to make it. On the next contraction, Dr. Rockamann assessed the situation and prepared to catch her while assuring me that I was not going to need an episiotomy. She stretched my perineum a bit, which was as uncomfortable as I remembered it with Ariana. Then with a contraction but no pushing, their assessment that my doctor wasn't going to make it was confirmed as the baby's head came out. Joel told me the head was out, which surprised me a bit since I hadn't pushed and it hadn't hurt at all. They told me not to push (duh, like I was going to start now) and her shoulders came out with the next contraction. She was born at 11:30 pm and came out squealing, peeing, and pooping. They suctioned her and placed her on my chest. All I could think was "she's so small." Dr. Shelton arrived about then as Dr. Rockamann informed me that no stitches were required (Hooray). On the next contraction, they asked me to push and the placenta came out. Dr. Shelton did not step in, so Dr. Rockamann really did the whole birth. Joel had predicted she would be born on the 4th and when we arrived at the hospital we figured she wouldn't arrive until the 5th but I guess she was in a hurry (especially after my bag was popped).
Everyone was debating her weight but when they weighed her, she was smaller than anyone's guess at just 5 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches. We spent the next 2 hours in the L&D room recovering and calling our parents. I was able to walk to the bathroom before the 2 hours were up and they moved us to a large room after that. The baby had her bath in the delivery room with us and went directly to my room with us.
A lot of the above details are jumbled in my mind... mostly I think
I got it in the right order but it all was happening so fast. I completely
recommend avoiding back labor (as in my first labor), doing the whole thing
quickly, not tearing, and having an epidural. All in all, I could
do this again. :)
Serena Caitlyn
