I did the same thing for B, and I wanted to make sure I have a record of C's story. Disclaimer: I'm not holding back details and terms that are common when discussing labor and delivery.
Let's go back two weeks, when I started working from home. I had had on and off Braxton Hicks up until that point, but they were pretty mild and I barely even noticed them. The day I started working from home, the Braxton Hicks started to become stronger. And by stronger, I mean that they were definitely more uncomfortable and noticeable, but not terrible. This went on throughout the week, with no consistency.
On Saturday, October 12, I started to pass my mucus plug. I will spare the icky details on how I knew, but I knew, even though I had not passed it (at least not that I'd noticed) with B. My BH contractions were feeling stronger, and starting to hurt in my lower abdomen and back. They still weren't what I would consider "painful", but they were coming consistently every 20 minutes for several hours. We both thought that this was the beginning of labor, and that things would start to progress, but then, all contractions completely stopped.
I continued to pass more of the mucus plug the next day, but only had a few sporadic contractions. I was starting to feel defeated. I continued to work throughout last week, and my BH contractions continued to come and go randomly. Although they were not consistent, they were becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
My check-up was on Thursday, and I was at least happy that I had progressed from 1cm the week before to 2cm. On Friday, I noticed more bloody show, and was a little hopeful that labor would begin soon, but not holding my breath. I was also having period-like cramps (a good sign), but they were pretty mild, so I figured it was just more of my body preparing itself.
I woke up on Saturday morning disappointed that nothing had happened during the night. We started to make a grocery list, and showered for the day (thank goodness). I went to the bathroom and had more bloody show, only this time, it was about a tablespoon's worth of bright, red blood in it. I wavered a little on if it was normal or not, and decided to call the doctor's office to be safe.
They asked if it could be my mucus plug, but I told them that had started coming out the week before. They asked me to come in to Labor & Delivery to get checked out, just to make sure nothing serious was going on.
We arrived at the hospital around 10am. K stayed with B in the waiting area (until our friends could come pick him up). I went into an observation room, where I was hooked up to a contraction and heart rate monitor. The nurse checked my cervix and I was 3cm dilated. After about an hour, she came back and asked, "Can you feel those contractions?" I told her I could, but that they weren't what I would consider "painful", just "uncomfortable". She then had me get up and walk around for an hour to see if that made my contractions stronger.
After walking for an hour, I was again hooked up to the monitors. At first, the contractions felt the same, but then they slowly started to feel stronger, and were fairly consistent. She checked me again and I was a little more than 3cm. They monitored me for another hour, and then the nurse checked in with the OB. Another nurse walked in and hooked me up to an IV and they told me I was going to be moved to another room shortly.
All the while, we had been thinking that they were just making sure everything was ok, and that we'd be sent home. Surprise! This was around 12:45pm.
Once in the new room, I was hooked up to the monitors. The doctor came to check me at 2pm, and I was 4cm. They continued to monitor me at that point. They asked about an epidural, but I was handling the little bit of pain well at that point, and I didn't want to get one too early.
At 6pm, the doctor came back, and I was still at 4cm. She decided to break my water. The intensity of the contractions changed within minutes, and I asked if I could have an epidural. The anesthesiologist was called, and they started to prep the epidural cart. By the time he got there, my contractions were insanely painful. I hate to say it, but I was that woman somewhat screaming through the pain (not at anyone, no obscenities...just screaming out loud). He had to keep pausing and do one step at a time quickly in between my contractions because I could not sit still.
During my last two contractions, I started to feel the urge to push, but could hardly speak as I was trying to be still for the epidural. He got the catheter in, and as they went to lay me down, I told the nurse I had to push. She checked me and I was at 10cm. They rushed to get the doctor, and the peds team (there was meconium). The anesthesiologist quickly hooked up the starter dose for the epidural, hoping it would take even a little of the edge off. They quickly had me roll to my left, then my right to try to get it to take, but when I started pushing, it hadn't had time to set in.
I was honestly ok with it, because my epidural with B had made me so numb that I couldn't even feel the urge to push. With C, I felt it, and in five pushes, he was out at 7:16pm! And, to the amazement of the doctor and nurses, I quickly went from screaming from the pain to smiling and talking, even as they finished up on me.
I only tore a little with this delivery (as opposed to the most severe tear with B), so she only needed a few stitches. My epidural kicked in shortly after I delivered (of course). We had some time for skin to skin contact (love!), and then they took C to the nursery for his newborn tests and to get cleaned up. K was wonderful enough to go out and get us dinner, as it was almost 9pm by then. After eating, the nurse helped me get cleaned up and use the restroom, and then I was moved to our recovery room on the other side of the wing. We got in a few more hours with C, then sent him to the nursery so we could get a little rest.
C is doing great. He's taking a bottle every 2-3 hours, and eating like a champ! He loves to snuggle, and he already tries to hold his head up and look around. My stitches pain is gone, and my bleeding has gone down significantly. I had a bit of stronger pain from my uterine contracting on Monday evening, but woke up feeling great yesterday. Unfortunately, my milk came in, and as I have chosen not to breast feed, I am feeling quite a bit of pain in my chest right now. Yesterday, I also felt generally ill and my arms were in pain from the flu and TDAP vaccines I was given on Monday. I can handle the pain ok during the day, but I was writhing last night. The doctor prescribed me strong Motrin, which helps take a little of the edge off, but I think I am going to call and ask for something stronger today, just for the evening. (If you don't know me that well, I don't like to take medicine if I can avoid it.)
So there it is! We did not expect to have C this weekend, but I'm so glad we did!
No comments:
Post a Comment