Super Long Birth Story Part 2

My MIL and I got to L&D around 4:30 pm and they took me to a nice labor room. The really sweet nurse I had tried twice to start my IV and both failed. Thankfully another really nice nurse got it on her first try (my 3rd poke). She hooked me up to the monitors and asked me tons of questions. The cervadil was placed around 6pm. It was pretty uncomfortable after that doctor had checked me the last time. My in-laws stayed with me until my husband got there around 7:30 (with dinner thankfully!) A little while later we were moved to a different room and then it was a waiting game. The on-call doctor came in around 9 pm and said I could have an Ambien if I wanted to help me sleep since the next day would be a long one. I got the Ambien around 10:30 pm, but it really didn't help. I don't think I slept at all. I started having contractions around midnight, and while they weren't super strong they were still painful. I had horrible shooting pains in my back every time I had a contraction.

Needless to say, neither of us got my sleep that night (maybe an hour or two). At 6am my new nurse (who was AWESOME!) who I had all day came in and took out the cervadil. There weren't any orders at that point, so I was able to eat a little bit of breakfast and take a shower (which felt wonderful on my back). My doctor showed up (I was so happy he was on called for the next 24 hours!) and checked my cervix. Still about 1cm, maybe 2 and about 80% effaced. Very little progress made! The pitocin was started around 9am and slowly increased. After about an hour I could feel my contractions intensifying and the back pain was almost unbearable. I do not exactly like pain, but I can handle my fair share. I knew from the beginning I wanted the epidural, it was just a matter of when.

The doctor came back in around 11:30 and checked me again and said I was almost 3cm and I could have the epidural if I wanted. Yes please! I'm thankful I asked for it then because they had a c-section to do and it would have been another couple of hours! The epidural was very weird going in, and the first catheter had an extra hole, so he had to remove it and start over. Seriously!? Hubby was holding my hand and I was leaning over the nurse trying not to hyperventilate. He finally got it placed correctly and within about 15 minutes my legs started going numb and I could barely feel my contractions. It was heaven! My MIL showed up at that point and I told hubby he should go eat lunch, that way I could try to rest a little. Sleep did not come easy to me with the nurse checking on me, the monitor beeping, IV beeping, etc. I was good and numb though, and after about an hour my legs were so heavy (right side more than left, very weird). My doctor came in around 2pm and broke my water. I couldn't feel him actually breaking it, but I could feel the fluid coming out.

(Lack of sleep, plus epidural makes me look funny:)
So we waited at that point. We tried to rest, but couldn't. I was too excited about meeting my baby boy. The one thing I am sad about is that once the epidural kicked in I couldn't feel Ethan move around anymore. The doctor came back around 4:30 or 5 and said I was still about 3cm, maybe 4, but Ethan was still up extremely high. He just wasn't dropping down like he should have. They kept upping my pitocin to make my contractions stronger. The nurse commented that the pattern she was seeing indicated that Ethan was posterior, or sunny side up. That explains why he wasn't dropping very well.
Nothing much happened after that. My doctor checked me a couple more times and at 9:30 he said I was still 4cm and we had two options. Go ahead with a c-section or wait a couple more hours to see if any more progress would be made. We decided to wait a couple more hours because I really didn't want to give in right away. At 11:30pm on June 15th, I was still 4cm and it was decided we would have a c-section since I had been laboring for 24 hours and my water had been broken for 12 hours or so. Everything moved very quickly after that. The anesthesiologist came and put a lot of extra medicine in my epidural which made me feel very weird.

They moved me into the OR and I started shaking uncontrollably. My arms and face HURT because I was shaking so hard and nothing would stop it. Once they brought my husband in I started feeling very nauseated and ended up getting sick a couple of times. Bless his heart for holding my vomit pan :) I remember the doctor singing "happy birthday" LOL! I was SO tired at this point, it was all I could do to hold my eyes open. I heard the doctor say he was having a tough time getting Ethan out and he would have to use the vacuum! My child is stubborn and did not want to leave his nice, warm home! He finally pulled him out and we heard the most beautiful cry! He definitely let us know his lungs were working!! Ethan Dale was born at 12:18am on June 16th, weighing 7lbs 5 oz and 19.5 in long.


This was our first family photo taken in the recovery room. I was so drugged at this point, and then given even more stuff to calm my shaking down. I was SO extremely tired and could not keep my eyes open. I was actually afraid to hold Ethan! The nurses were wonderful though and said I was just fine and I could sleep if I wanted to LOL
The shaking finally stopped and I was able to hold Ethan skin to skin which was the most amazing feeling in the world. I even got to breast feed him for a little bit.

We were taken back to around room around 2:30am and my in-laws were able to come meet their first grandson! We got a few hours of sleep that night and I felt like a new woman when I woke up! I was up and in the rocking chair at 11am, and when my catheter was taken out around 3:30pm I was able to finally shower. The pain was bearable thanks to the meds they were so kindly giving me. I ended up being in the hospital from Monday afternoon until Friday evening when they discharged us. Recovery from my c-section hasn't been that bad. I was having pain on the right side for a while, especially when I would sit down or stand up or get in and out of bed. Now 2 weeks later it is finally feeling better. I still have some discomfort, especially if I move the wrong way.

I would do it all over a million times to have my little boy!!!!!