Samuel's Birth Story
We arrived at the hospital on April 15th a little after 8am. It took a few minuets to get into my room, where I put on the lovely hospital gown took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom to the awaiting nurse who was popping her gum like a teenager. She hooked me up to monitors that watched Samuel's heartbeat. She couldn't find him down low where he usually was. She asked me if we were sure he was head down. That had me a little freaked. She finally found him. He was really high up, which told me it was going to be a VERY long day.
I was there the day before but found myself answering the same questions. It was a little annoying. They finally let Patrick into the room and we wait for the lab downstairs to send up the Pitocin so we can get started with the induction.
It was 9:10 when the nurse hooked me up to the Pitocin and cranked it up. I wanted to see how far I could push my pain threshold before I cried Uncle and called for the epidural. I went 2 hours before I couldn't take it anymore. They were really ramping up the pitocin so my contractions were really intense. To make matters worse, the contractions were on my left hip. It really felt like my ovaries were going to explode. At 12:00pm I cried Uncle. It was 1:00pm before I felt any relief. It took that long for "uncle" to arrive in the room and once he put the epidual in there I was feeling no pain!
I managed to sleep most of the afternoon while Patrick paced the floor. Watching my blood pressure, heart rate and Samuel's heart rate very diligently. Doctor Rister came into the room to check how far along I was. He wanted to make sure I was feeling good from the epidural before the check. The check is almost as bad as actual labor! The first check he did nearly sent me threw the roof. At the time of the afternoon check I was 2 centimeters dilated. He told us that it would happen today and he wouldn't be surprised if it was between 4-6pm. He said once I hit a 4 everything would move fast. That is what we were hoping for…Didn't happen.
After the check we knew it would be awhile before anything happened. Patrick left the hospital for lunch and I slept. Not too long after Patrick left, the nurse came in and said that Samuel's heart beat was dipping with my contractions so she put me on an oxygen mask. You can imagine Patrick's surprise when he walked into the room and saw me with an oxygen mask on. The worry was written all over his face as he walked up to my bed. He relaxed some after I told him it was ok but that only made him watch the monitors more closely.
The nurse came in what seemed every 15 minutes or so and upped my Pitocin. At 6:00pm, my nurse asked if I was feeling pressure down there and of course I wasn't. She left at 6:30 and I was sad to see her go. I really liked her. The next nurse I got wasn't very bright. She was sweet but…
She arrived at 7:00pm, asked some of the same questions I had answered 3 times now and then checked me to see if I had made any progress. The last time Dr. Rister checked me I was at a 4...well, she checked me and said I was at a 2!! I was like Huh?! It had been 2 hours since I had seen the docter and knew it was getting time to see him again. Well, he came in not but a few minutes after she left the room. I told him that she said I hadn't made any progress at all. He said "Oh no, let's check". In only 2 hours I had progress 1 centimeter. I was now a 5. I was so let down. He told the nurse to crank it up more. Thank God for my epidural!
Now, I was starting to feel the pressure. It really felt like I needed to have a bowl movement and it was getting intense. I couldn't feel the contraction but the pressure was getting more intense with each one. Patrick was watching the monitor was they were happening. He said one got over 200!
The nurse checked me again to see if I was ready. She said I was still a 5 but I knew better. The pressure was just too much for me to still be at a 5.
Things happened really fast now and I don't know the time of it all. Next thing I knew, he doc was back in and telling me to push at the next contraction. Then he told me to stop! I said, "Are you kidding me?!, Are you kidding me?! You want me to stop pushing!" He replied, "Just until I get my booties on. Then you can push all you want." He ran out and ran back in and then it was on. I didn't even know the time Samuel was born.
I was exhausted, weak and didn't know if I even had the strength to push. But, with God's help and the help of Patrick and my doctor who cheered me on and kept me pushing I got it done. I was squeezing Patrick's hand so tight that I thought I would hurt him. *laugh* I didn't let go until much later. As in, they were handing Samuel to Patrick so he could hold him.
I ended up with a 2 degree tear that hurt like the dickens when Dr Rister was patching me up.
That's all folks.
