We went to the patient registration area and got checked in, then headed up to the 4th floor to Labor and Delivery. Once there, we were guided to our delivery room and met our day nurse. I changed into my fancy hospital gown (pictured below), and the pitocin was started around 10:30 am.
Once I was hooked up to all of the monitors, the nurse asked me if I knew that I was already having contractions....um, nope, couldn't feel them. But boy, was THAT about to change!
After the pitocin was started, Dr. Bass came in to say hello and to give us a brief overview of how the induction would go. Pitocin would be started, I could get an epidural at anytime that I wanted (as long as I could sit still for the needle/catheter placement), and we'd go from there. Sounds good to me.
A few hours later the contractions started really kicking in, maybe somewhere around 1 pm or so. They were about every 3-4 minutes and started to get painful, but I could breathe through them. The nurse checked me and I was about 5 cm dilated. I told her I was at about a 7 out of 10 for pain and could she start to contact the anesthesiologist for the epidural. No problem, she said, and off she went.
I got the epidural about 20 minutes later and immediately started feeling better. The pressure was still there, but the pain was gone. The anesthesiologist also gave me a little button to push that would give me more medicine if I needed it-- only had to press it once!
I did sort of have a weird reaction to the epidural, and was shaking a lot and was cold-- nothing a few extra blankets couldn't fix. I also was getting a shooting pain down my left buttock and hamstring with every contraction. We found out later that the catheter from the epidural was most likely resting against a nerve causing that pain. It felt much like a Charlie Horse and I had to have Brian rub my muscles down to make it feel better--but it'd come again with each contraction.
Around 4:30 pm I started feeling a BIG urge to push-- I asked the nurse to check me as I had a feeling I was ready to go. She checked me and I was about 9 cm. She said she'd call the doctor to let him know and then we'd do some practice pushes.
We did a few pushes and then Dr. Bass came back in the room for the delivery.
Brian was an amazing coach throughout the whole thing. He'd tell me to squeeze his hand, tell me how great I was doing, was encouraging me the whole time. I couldn't have done it without his support. He got a "Front Row" seat and held my left leg during the hard labor. Pushing was the most exhausting thing I've ever done in my life. It's amazing how much energy it takes!
I pushed for just under an hour, and Emma was born at 5:55 pm! Brian asked me if I remember what the first thing I said was once Emma was born.... of course I do! I distinctly remember saying, "Just tell me that it's a girl!" Ha!
So, start to finish, labor lasted a total of about 7-8 hrs. Not bad for a first-timer! :)
The whole experience was so surreal. I look at Emma every day in awe. Not only of her and how perfect she is, but in awe of myself for being able to birth her. The human body is an amazing thing.
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