Here it is! I've spent some time over the past few days writing this post. I wanted to write it while it was fresh in my mind but many of you know that when you have a newborn (and a toddler) you don't have much disposable time. So I stole a few minutes here and a few there to write it. I hope you find this story as entertaining as I do. I hope it makes you laugh. It still makes me laugh every time I tell it and no, I cannot believe I did half the things written here. Had I not lived it I never would have believed it. At the time it wasn't funny at all but looking back over it, I truly question my judgment. I'm apparently not the brightest person, or at least not while in labor. But I did somehow manage to keep my sense of humor through the whole experience, I kept those nurses laughing when I wasn't screaming out in pain. Or maybe it was the morphine, either way, here goes:
As you've probably read in a previous post, at my doctor appointment on Friday, July 29th I had one contraction. We did not check to see how far dilated I was but on the previous Tuesday (July 26) I was 3cm. Before leaving his office on Friday, Dr. L saw fit to mention that he was on call over the weekend and I should call if anything should start to happen - I expressed my feelings on the matter by saying, "see you on Tuesday" - famous last words.
On Friday night I began to lose my mucus plug and I continued having some mild contractions throughout the weekend. They really weren't painful at all, just some tightening of the uterus, and they certainly didn't last long. I was hopeful that something was starting but being as I didn't want to deliver until August 2nd at the earliest, I was happy that it was only small things happening.
I carried on with the weekend, went to bed Sunday night had a really uneventful night's sleep and woke up to make breakfast for Y and myself around 8:45am. At about 9am I had my first contraction of the day and even though it wasn't extremely painful, I could walk and talk through it, I knew it was different from the contractions I had felt over the weekend. I continued to have these contractions throughout the morning but there was no consistency to them whatsoever so I just continued about my day. Sometimes they would be 10 minutes apart, sometimes 20 or even 30 minutes and at one point I didn't have a single contraction for an hour and a half.
Over the course of these contractions I called two people that I needed to have on alert just in case something started happening. Both of these ladies described contractions as an intense pain that sort of wrapped around and was mostly located in their back. So after talking to them and reading a bit of information from the prenatal classes we took when pregnant with Y, I came to the conclusion that I'd know when I was in labor when I started feeling the pain in my back. I'll add a note here to remind you that I was induced with Y and I had an epidural through most of the pain of it, AND it ended in a C-Section. So I didn't really have much of a clue as to what I was supposed to be feeling.
B was home from work by 2:15ish and Mondays are typically our grocery shopping day. I had been texting him all day about the pains I was having and had told him that if I were still feeling these pains then I'd send him to do all the shopping on his own. Well when he came home I was only really feeling the pains when I walked around and only very mildly while I was sitting. But I decided to go grocery shopping with him because there wasn't a whole lot which we needed to buy anyway and I wanted to make a stop at a store to buy a last minute item for the baby.
About halfway through our grocery shopping I reached a point in my walking where when one of the pains hit I'd have to stop walking. I should add that throughout this I found great comfort in just going to the bathroom and squatting over the toilet, it brought huge relief. But at the same time I felt as if I were passing an abnormal amount of gas so I began wondering if maybe the pains were just gas pains. We kept about our shopping and by the time we were done grocery shopping at had reached the baby store that I wanted to go to I had to bend at the knees with every pain that hit. I felt that maybe I should pay attention to the amount of time between each pain but then I'd remind myself that it wasn't in my back and could just be really bad gas. I then started to wonder if maybe I had eaten something bad that was causing me to react like that.
We generally eat out on Monday's because after grocery shopping it's just easier and I had told B that he could eat whatever he wanted because I didn't have much of an appetite and likely wouldn't eat much of it anyway. He, predictably, chose pizza! We went to pick it up and then drove home to have dinner and put the groceries away. I had a very difficult time making it up the stairs. I decided to take another trip to the bathroom and told B to go ahead and feed himself and Y. When I emerged from the bathroom I had already decided that since I would likely go into labor sometime that night, that I would be skipping dinner. I did sit with them at the table for a while, while they ate. And then the tears came. B noticed them first and then Y noticed them. The tears initially had nothing to do with the pain, I was crying because I honestly had no clue what was causing them. I had convinced myself that I couldn't be in labor until I began to feel some sort of back pain, and I just wasn't feeling it. Every pain that I felt was front and center and low in my abdomen.
Then a pain hit and the tears came harder. I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand, I couldn't walk, all I could do was bend at the waist and clutch my knees and scream and cry until it passed. Y was visibly upset at watching me, she was worried and very concerned and so I told B to take her to our friend's house who were going to watch her until his parents could come to get her just so she wouldn't see me in such pain. He then told me that if I was in that much pain then I should just go to the hospital. I decided to time the contraction and see how far apart they were. The next one lasted 75 seconds and there was 4 minutes between the start of it and the beginning of the next one.
I received a message on my iPod from B's sister who was asking how I was feeling and she mentioned that her parents were just planning on coming because they figured I wouldn't last through the night. I called them to see if this was true and then a contraction hit and I handed the phone off to B. I don't know what was said during that conversation because I made an attempt to leave the room hoping Y wouldn't follow me, but she did and she persistently wanted to know what was wrong. I told her that Baby Q was coming soon and so mommy would have to go to the hospital. All bags were packed with the exception of the toiletries that are used everyday so I told B to start packing them and I called my doctor's office. The office was of course closed so the answering service transferred me to labor and delivery. I told them that this was my second child but the first I had been induced and it ended in a C-Section and that I was pretty much clueless as to knowing at what point I should go to the hospital. I then told them the timed info about the contraction and she informed me that for second time mothers they tell them to come in when the contractions are between 5-7 minutes apart or when the pain became unbearable (and since I had a contraction while on the phone with her, she pretty much knew I needed to be there and commented as much). B made one last phone call to our friend and we left.
Fortunately the hospital is only about 5 minutes from our house and B decided that it was best if he drop me at the hospital first then take Y to our friend's home and return to the hospital afterward. Initially I protested that and thought we should just drop her off first but once another contraction hit I caved and figured he was right. When he dropped me off at the ER door and the security guard came to whisk me away to L&D in the wheelchair a contraction literally started the moment I sat down. Apparently he was timing the contractions for me because before the elevator doors opened to the L&D unit I was having yet another contraction and when he saw the nurse he told her that they were coming 2 minutes apart.
The nurse took it from there and they didn't even bother admitting me first, they took me straight to a room and told me to put on a gown. I told the nurse that my husband would be up in a few minutes and explained that he dropped me off first and then needed to take our daughter to a friend's house. She commented that he had made a wise decision. I then asked to use the bathroom, all I wanted was the relief that I had found earlier while sitting on the toilet. They allowed me to go but said under no circumstances was I to push while on the toilet. And then it all hit me like a brick wall. I had assumed earlier that the relief I had felt while on the toilet was because of the gas and the gas pain but instead it was because I had a seat with a huge hole in it that allowed me some relief - I WAS IN LABOR!!!!
I put on a gown. I laid on the bed. The nurse checked me and she had this shocked look on her face while calling the other nurse by name and saying, "Oh God, she's 8 (cm) and the baby's at 0 (station)! Get a doctor!" I have never seen so many people fly into a room so quickly. The doctor checked me and said I was actually only at a 7 and the nurse started going on about something or other that made her think it was an 8 and so someone else checked and affirmed that it was indeed 7 (as if I found that any more comforting).
My first question was, "Can I have an epidural, or is it too late?" The nurse who had initially checked me told me that there would be no time. Meanwhile there are 2 more nurses on my left side trying to find a vein so they can do blood work, a fourth nurse was on the phone trying to get in contact with Dr. L because apparently since I was attempting a VBAC and he is my doctor he HAD to be there for the delivery. This added an extra cause for worry because all anyone knew was that he had left for the day, was not on-site but said he'd be there as fast as he could and I could literally deliver at any minute. All of this I was taking in through the conversations going on around me but the one thing that I was most grateful for was knowing that when they had my doctor on the phone and he heard my screams in the background he told them to give me the epidural, ASAP!! The nurses then started explaining to me that they were sending my blood down to the lab to have some blood work done and that would take approximately 30 minutes, but after that was done and as long as I had not reached 9cm then I could have the epidural. I had a shred of hope!!! But there was one nurse who was the voice of reason and calmly explained to me that it might not happen so they would give me a "nip" of morphine in my IV in order to "take the edge off."
The morphine did absolutely NOTHING for me except make me a little loopy between the contractions. And then, even that was gone because at some point during it all I had a contraction that somehow made me rip the IV lose and run leaking down my arm - they did not bother trying to re-administer it.
At some point B arrived and the contractions got worse and worse. I begged for them to hurry with the epidural. I screamed over and over again that I could not do this!!! The nurses kept trying to reassure me that I could and that I was doing great - none of the crap I wanted to hear. They then started telling me that if I could walk around the grocery store (I had told then how much of an idiot I had been earlier) and not come to the hospital until I was a 7 then I could definitely do what I was about to do! I didn't wanna hear that crap, I wanted DRUGS!!! I was literally clinging to the side rails of the bed (you know the ones those hospital beds have) as if it would ease my pain. The nurse attempted to hold my hand but I didn't want it, I found my relief in punching the bed over and over again through each contraction. B looked scared.
And then the heavens opened! The nurse rolled the machine in that would be used for the epidural and while watching her prepare it I felt another contraction coming. Still clinging to the bed, the heavens closed and the gates of hell opened! Because another nurse thought it was time to check me again. I rolled to my back and she checked me, her response was that I was "10 and bulging" (bye-bye epidural). At that exact moment the contraction of ALL contractions hit, I rolled back on my side to cling to that side rail again and I yelled, "HEEEELP! I. NEED. TO. PUUUSSSHHH!!!" and then I pushed and that is when my water broke and they sent in the on-staff doctor.
She wanted me to roll onto my back. I told her I couldn't. She told me I could and that it was time to push. I told her that I didn't know how to push, that I had pushed during my last labor but I had an epidural and couldn't feel anything then and that it hadn't done any good anyway because I had ended up with a C-Section! B stood up to help and the nurses started to explain what I needed to do when pushing. I pushed once and I did a pretty poor job of it. They explained that instead of screaming through each push I should hold my breath, count to 10 while I pushed with everything in me and repeat for as long as the contraction lasted (generally 3 counts of 10). And then in walks Dr. L who made some sarcastic comment to me for which I made a sarcastic response (such is the nature of our relationship). I assume the on-staff doctor made an exit because I never saw her again. Dr. L took over. Apparently he was concerned that Q would be large and cause a tear so he gave me an episiotomy, which I had no knowledge of until afterwards when I saw him with a needle and thread (or whatever they use to give stitches). I think I pushed through 4 or 5 more contractions and she was out. I had one more contraction and then the placenta was out. I had done it!
My legs began to shake rather uncontrollably but they assured me that was normal. Dr. L seemed a bit concerned because I was bleeding a bit more than normal. He began to rub my abdomen really hard. Apparently he was concerned that there could still be a part of the placenta inside and that could cause lots of issues if not taken care of. After about 5 minutes of some very hard rubbing and intense pain he found that there were a few blood clots in the uterus and was able to get them out. Finally it was over, I had done it, accomplished what I thought was surely impossible and after she was out I felt like I could do cartwheels one after another without stopping.
She was born on Monday, August 1, 2011 at 8:09pm weighing 8lbs 1oz and 20½ inches long. My doctor and all the nurses in the room kept commenting on how "easy" that was for a VBAC. I don't know what the typical VBAC is like but I assure you it was anything but easy and there were several instances when I screamed as much by saying, "I should have chosen the C-Section." While Dr. L was stitching me up he said to me, "well you said you wanted a VBAC, you got it." My response to him was, "You know that saying, 'veni vidi vici,' (I came, I saw, I conquered) well that's exactly how I feel. Next time we'll stick with the C-Section." Hahaha! Now while the comment did provide for some comic relief, I don't know how true it is. I'm not even thinking of the time in the future when we'll have our next child but I would definitely go for a VBAC again, only next time I won't be so simple minded and I WILL get to the hospital on time and I WILL have an epidural! With that said, I must be honest and admit that there is
a small part of me a HUGE part of me that feels pretty dang proud of myself for having given birth without an epidural. But that doesn't mean I feel the need to EVER do it again! VENI VIDI VICI!
And to add a side note, I know that reading this it probably seems like I was in the hospital in labor for a super long time but in checking my discharge papers I found that they documented my arrival at 19:10 (7:10pm) and Q was born at 8:09pm. Just in case you were curious of the span of time covered.
