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Alex's Birth Story |
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My due date for this third pregnancy was April 27, 2000. Although we had discussed induction before that date, I really wanted to go into labor on my own. But it just didn't look like it was going to happen. So my induction was scheduled for May 2, 2000 - almost a week past my due date. I called the hospital in the morning, but they were full. So it was a waiting game. Finally at 2pm I got a bed and was all checked in. |
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Me at 41 weeks pregnant. NOT FUN! |
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At 3pm they inserted Cervadil - a hormone - up by my cervix. Hopefully this would prepare my body for labor and maybe even get things going. I was only dialated to 2cm + at this point -- a long way from the 10 I needed to reach! Well - it certainly did jumpstart things! It overstimulated my uterus and I started having contractions every minute apart or so. And although they weren't painful - they certainly weren't comfortable either! At 4pm they had to remove the Cervadil after only one hour. Unfortunately this did not stop the labor. I kept contracting every minute or so apart for several hours. Finally at around 10pm - when my cervix was STILL 2-3 cm (ARGH!!!) they decided to give me some morphine and see if that would slow things down and let me get some sleep and reassess in the morning. I'm not sure how much sleep I got - but I did rest comfortably. Morphine is a FINE drug! :) At this point I was still hoping to avoid the pitocin induction. |
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Me AFTER my epidural! Waiting for Dr. Hallman. |
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In the morning I was still contracting - tho not quite as closely as before. At this point the doctor decided that pitocin was really my only option. Using the Cervadil again would produce the same reaction, and breaking my water wasn't really possible at this point. So after a shower and a SMALL breakfast (I'm HUNGRY!) at about 8am they started the pitocin in an IV. This was NOT what I had wanted! And BOY was I grumpy about it. They kept uping the dosage and by 1pm I was fairly uncomfortable. By 3pm I was downright miserable with back labor and was wanting to be DONE.
The nurse checked my cervix which hurt so much I just cried. But not as much as when she told me - I was STILL only dialated to 3!!!!!! But she thought at this point my water could be ruptured and the doctor agreed. So by 3:30 they had broken my water and I had requested my epidural!!! Breaking my water brought me to 5, and helped eliminate the back labor briefly! By 4:30 or so the anesthesiologist was there (thank goodness - childbirth class was 4 long years ago and I hadn't listened too carefully to the "natural childbirth" section).
The epidural was great except for the ZING I got down my right leg when they hit a nerve going in! THAT is an experience I don't want to forget! They put a catheter in and then checked my cervix again. I was now SEVEN!!! By about 5:15 I was feeling pressure, but was only 8.5 at that point. At 6pm I was complete - dialated to 10. But my doctor was still 30 minutes away, so I had to wait before I could push. I had a great epidural tho - thank goodness again! I could feel some pressure, but no pain. John and I watched "Friends" while we waited.
At about 6:35 Dr. Hallman showed up and I was set to go! At first I just wasn't having any contractions, but then they kicked in again and I was able to push. After a few pushes out came Alex's head!!! There was FAR less pain than with either of the last two. Since there was meconium in my water I had to wait while they suctioned the baby. Then it was time for the shoulders. I KNEW that these would be a problem, :) Sure enough I had to push REALLY hard, while the doctor PULLED and the nurse PUSHED on my stomach all at the same time. Finally, out came ALEX!!! He was born at 6:49 pm, only 14 minutes or so after I started to push. |
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Dr. Hallman with Alex - right after birth! |
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The hospital stay seemed all too short! Alex was a champion nurser luckily -- he got that down pat! He was veyr fussy his second day and the nurses and I determined that he had a low level reflux which was making him miserable. Luckily that seems to have settled down now. He is a joy and a blessing -- loved by his mommy, daddy and brother and sister alike!
Click here for more pictures of Alex! |
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