Just over a week ago my Little Stinker was born. He is perfect. He is beautiful. He is yummy. Just scrumptious. But man, oh man! He did not make things easy for me!
With Owen, my contractions started on a Saturday morning, and just like my experience with Oliver, they disappeared when I got out of bed. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! I was really thinking that wouldn't happen to me again. And this time it went on even longer! It wasn't until Thursday morning that we went to the hospital. And I rolled out of bed and into some clothes, hair a mess, no makeup, no pictures... from the start Owen was getting different treatment than Oliver. I was sent home, even though I was insisting that even the first time around my contractions got no closer, I had needed pitocin, and the contractions were extremely painful (gee...sorry I can handle them well I guess).
When we got home I figured I'd take a nap before breaking out the breast pump to get things moving. As soon as I lay down I felt a contraction that made me cry out, bang on the headboard, then jump because I felt a strange pop...I had a feeling of what had happened, but when the contraction was over I dozed 10 minutes until the next extremely painful one. By my third contraction I got up to use the bathroom and...SURPRISE my water was broken! Back to the hospital we go, where they gave me a room right away.
I told them I had an epidural last time and would want one again (and I considered going natural this time...ha!). The nurse told me to stand in the shower with Nate holding the water to my back to move the baby...for an hour! Then she'd come do my IV started so I could get one bag of fluid down and then I could get the epidural. After 20 minutes I was about to send Nate to tell my mom to get that damn nurse in immediately with the IV...but my momma is on the ball and had done so on her own.
My contractions were getting closer and really intense. I was so ashamed of myself for crying out during them. I had been looking forward to my labor and delivery thinking everything would go as smoothly and wonderfully as Oliver's had. I was so relaxed when I had Oliver, pushed only 25 minutes and my epidural had been absolutely magical. Not the case this time!
Since being admitted I had not been checked to see if there had been any change in my cervix. The last time I had been checked was when they sent me home 3 hours earlier and I was about 3cm and almost fully effaced. Well I was feeling pressure that had me thinking I was close to pushing so the nurse finally called in the midwife to check me. I was at 7cm. And then she asked where the water was...like I faked it breaking just to get the room. "Oh there it is, must be a leak." She seemed so disinterested. And I had thought that I liked this midwife. I saw her for the first prenatal appointments for each boy... after that I saw other doctors and midwives as the scheduling of my appointments happened to play out. I had even seen an episode of a Baby Story where this midwife delivered and I was impressed by how things went. I was so upset with her but too exhausted to let that register. My mom, however, made it clear.
I delivered at Yale-New Haven Hospital. I love that place... for the most part. I know that if anything were to happen to my or the baby, we would be at the right hospital. It's a teaching hospital, and I have no problem with that, I will always allow for my care to be a teaching opportunity... but I expect that to be explained to me. When the anesthesiologists finally came in, one took the lead and another seemed very quiet, so I figured that's what was going on. Then another came in and spoke over the one that had initially seemed in charge. Ok so she's learning too. But nothing was said to me. In the past there's always been an introduction and a question if it's ok. Not this time. Well they failed to help me out.
I could see Nate getting more and more concerned and angry from the chair they stuck him in during this sterile procedure. My mom had to leave the room and was panicking seeing more and more doctors enter. Then Nate had told her to come back in when the epidural was in... but as soon as she was in the door he had to tell her to leave again because they had to re-do it.
Someone else finally came in and announced it's very few people that don't feel any change, and I could tell he was proving his skill to the others who had failed. So he re-did the epidural and doubled it up with a spinal block.
All of a sudden I was having contractions that were pushing me up off the bed while I was sitting up to get the pain meds. When I lied down I couldn't stop pushing and felt huge gushes of water coming out. I was panicking "I'm pushing...I can't stop...I need him out now!" because I had been told not to and seriously had no control over it. So the nurse calls the midwife back in, and from what Nate reports she rolled her eyes at me saying "She THINKS she has to push". Bitch. "I'd be surprised" says the midwife. Well guess what... I KNOW that I AM pushing and that I can't stop no matter how I try to relax my now completely numb body.
I was at 9cm and was allowed to push. "If she wants to push, I'll let her try". Ugh, again...bitch! And now thanks to that lovely spinal pushing was incredibly difficult. I couldn't feel anything other than the pressure letting me know
I was having a contraction. I had the hardest time finding my muscles and using them to effectively push. I had basically gone natural through the entire labor and finally got relief...but it made things harder. Well at least it didn't hurt... I even dozed between pushes. An hour later... Owen made his entrance. Sunny side up. Because that made things easier for me!
