Surprisingly, despite my nerves {and giant belly}, I was able to get a really good night's sleep. When my alarm went off at 6:25am on Friday, April 22nd I felt nervous and excited, really excited. I called Labor & Delivery to be sure they had space for us and they gave us the green light! It was time to head to the hospital and have a baby!
We arrived at the hospital right at 7:30am and our room was ready and waiting for us. We met our nurse, Sandy, and loved her instantly. After what felt like a million questions were answered, the birth plan was discussed and the hospital gown was put on we were ready to get things going.
I got hooked right up to the fetal monitor to track contractions and baby's heart rate and then got an IV of antibiotics as I had tested positive for Group B Strep. Around 8am the doctor {not my doctor but another wonderful one from her office} came in for the first time. We went over my birth hopes and discussed our plan of attack. She checked my progress and I was still 3cm dilated and 80% effaced, same as I had been at my appointment that Tuesday. At 8:15am she broke my water. Outfitted in a giant pad and hooked up to one of those rolling IV thingys, Jason and I hit the halls in hopes of walking our way into labor. We were given two hours to walk and if nothing happened we'd have to start Pitocin {which I really, really was hoping to avoid}.
While it was nice to be up and moving around, I was leaking so much fluid that walking was pretty uncomfortable. We had to head back to the room every 15 minutes or so so that I could use the restroom and clean up. Really lovely. At one point Jason said "you have used the word 'gush' way too many times today." At 9:15am, Sandy, asked that we return to the room quick so she could check baby's heart rate. This time, she hooked me up to a mobile monitor so we could take it with us while we walked. After heading back out to the halls I started to lose it a bit. I was walking around hooked up to this machine with cords everywhere, the monitor beeping, the IV hanging and I just started feeling overwhelmed and like everything I was wanting to avoid was happening. I told Jason I just wanted to head to the room and at this point we pulled out the secret weapon...FRIENDS. I decided to sit on a birthing ball to see if maybe that would help my progress.
At 10:22am, with no contractions happening yet, it was time for the P word. I instantly tensed up, got emotional and felt scared. Sweet nurse Sandy sensed this right away and told me she'd start with the absolute lowest dose, so 6 drops of Pitocin it was. Shortly after the Pit was started, my mom arrived. We spent the next 45 minutes or so just hanging out, watching Friends and waiting for something to happen.
I did start to have some minor contractions but they weren't really painful or even really worth noting. I was happy to feel things happening but it still didn't feel like the real thing. At 11:01am {I love Jason's detailed notes}, Sandy came back and I had to hop back into bed. When I was on the birthing ball, baby's position changed into a spot where they weren't able to get a good heart rate read. Sandy fixed the monitor, looked everything over and then suggested we up the Pit again as the contractions were still weak and irregular. We once again we did 6 drops.
That seemed to do the trick because shortly after the contractions started to come fast and furious. Jason joked that of course it was 12 drops that worked because 12 is my favorite number. I had Jason start to track the contractions and was thrilled to find they were coming every 3-4 minutes, but weren't all that painful yet. It didn't take long for them to get stronger and soon I was asking that everyone be quiet during them, was standing, leaning over the little table tray, swaying my hips and chanting "owwwie, owwie, owwwwwie" which is the exact same thing I did with Kenley. Jason, my mom and nurse Sandy were all so encouraging with their words and made me feel like I was handling the contractions like a champ - it was such a positive and even fun atmosphere.
At 12:04pm, it was time for another check. This time I was 5cm dilated and 90% effaced. I was so excited that I was making progress. At this point we also talked about pain management. I told Sandy that I wasn't against getting an epidural and likely wanted one but didn't want it until I got myself to 7cm {one of my birth hopes}.
The contractions started getting much stronger and were right on top of each other. I felt them more in my back but the back labor was nothing compared to what I had with Kenley {she was sunnyside up} and I could feel a good amount of pressure as baby got lower. Once they got really strong I asked that we turn Friends off and I think that's when everyone knew we were really in business. Pitocin contractions are notorious for being stronger and more painful but honestly, the contractions I was having late in the game were the same in strength as my contractions were before even getting to the hospital with Kenley. I don't know if it's because my body had done it before, because I was in much better shape or what but I handled them so much better than the first time.
At 1:05pm Sandy checked me again and excitedly announced I was 8cm!!!! I cannot tell you the pride I felt! I had exceeded my goal! I gave going without an epidural some real thought, but the pressure I was feeling was freaking me out and when I thought about feeling everything as I was pushing I decided that I was just not interested in experiencing that. So with an excited tone in my voice I told Sandy "epidural me!"
The awesome anesthesiologist arrived about 15 minutes later. He was so cool and did his best to work around my contractions. He was also so positive and cheered me on as I worked through the contractions that were coming so fast. At 1:26pm, the epidural was in on the first try and I felt very little pain as it was inserted. Again, such a better experience than with Kenley. My left foot started to tingle instantly and within minutes I felt sweet relief from the contractions. I could still feel some pressure which I appreciated as I knew it would come in handy when it was time to push. The only negative side effects were that my legs each felt about 200 pounds and my boobs itched like crazy. Epidurals are so weird.
At this point, it hit me how unbelievably hungry I was. That "light but protein packed" breakfast I was suggested to have just was not cutting it and I had used every ounce of energy I had getting through those contractions. I drank an apple juice and ate a popsicle in hopes the sugar would give me a boost, but I was just spent. I also started to get more and more nauseas. My mom noticed the color had left my face and suggested a ginger ale. It tasted absolutely disgusting, but I choked it down anyways. After some time, the color returned to my face and I felt better, starving, but better.
Around 2:30pm Sandy gave me another check and I was thrilled to learn I was fully dilated with only a small "lip" of my cervix remaining. Because baby was still working on getting lower, we decided to let the contractions push him down versus starting to push too early. Because I wasn't feeling so hot, I was more than fine with just hanging out, resting and taking some time to regroup before having to push. The only downside to that was that our sweet Sandy was off duty at 3pm. I really thought I might cry when she left us. Our new nurse, Kayla, was also awesome so even though we missed Sandy, we knew I was in good hands.
At 4pm, we all agreed I was ready to push, but of course it was also time for a shift change between doctors. The doctor who had been with me all morning said the next doctor would be arriving shortly, he was down the street at one of the malls. We all found this hysterical and were joking about what he could possibly be shopping for to keep him from the hospital. It was decided he must be picking up something on behalf of Jason from Tiffany's {no such luck on that one}.
At 4:41pm the new doctor {who was actually the one I saw when I was trying to get cleared to fly to Colorado and was awesome} arrived and it was time to push! My legs were absolute tree trunks so in order to push I had to hold on under my thighs while Jason and Kayla each had a foot. As I was pushing I was seeing stars, everyone was cheering for me to push harder and I was telling myself if you push any harder you're going to pass out. In between pushes I felt so nauseous my face was either in a barf bag or an oxygen mask. As baby got low enough, the doctor noticed the cord was around his neck. I was instantly terrified but he assured me that baby was low enough that he could get him out quickly if needed. It turned out the cord was so long it was a non-issue, thank God!
With the doctor and Kayla cheering me on and my husband saying all the most perfect and motivating things, I pushed with all my might and at 5:28pm felt my son make his entrance into the world and heard his raspy little cry for the first time. I looked down and saw his face and have never felt more proud or relieved. He was here! My Nolan was finally here!
I got to hold him on my belly for several minutes while the cord finished pulsing. Because it had been wrapped around his neck, the nurse took him to give him a good once over. Thankfully, he was absolutely perfect! Nolan weighed exactly 8 pounds and measured in at 20 inches long, though we think he was probably a bit longer than that {based on his measurements at his 2 weeks appointment}.
We spent the first hour of Nolan's life, just the three of us. We were completely mesmerized by him and couldn't believe how much he looked like his big sister. We did skin to skin and let Nolan give nursing a try, he latched right away and even though he didn't eat for long, caught on right away.
For as nervous as I was to be induced, the experience couldn't have gone much better. I am amazed by what my body has done and feel a real sense of pride when I think about delivering both of my perfect babies.
