Birth Story - Part One

After having a small glass of milk and a piece of Irish Soda Bread for luck, I headed into the hospital at 6 am. Induction is so much different than going into labor naturally. I barely slept the night before because of anticipation and nerves. My mom's alarm failed to go off, but I woke her up and she got ready in record time so she could go with us.

After checking in, we headed up to Labor and Delivery. The room was ready and waiting for me, however I had a long wait ahead. A 31 week abruption had come in right before me, along with 2 other inductions and a c-section. Needless to say, the nurses were busy. I changed into my hospital gown, robe and pink fuzzy slippers and waited. Wayne made a few phone calls for work, I tried to take a nap and my mom worked on the cross stitch she was making for Makenna. I poked my head out of the room at one point and looked for a nurse, because I was sure they'd forgotten us. Finally, around 9:15 am a nurse came in to get my history, set up the fetal and contraction monitors, start an IV and explain the process. We were going to begin with Pitocin, which I questioned because Dr. Aboveandbeyond had mentioned starting with Cytotec to ripen my cervix since I was only 1 cm and 50% at my last appt. The nurse assured me that he wanted to start with Pitocin so that began at 9:30 am, after a quick check to determine that I was still 1 cm, 50% and -3 station. I was shocked to find out that they would increase the dose every half hour and once it got to a certain point I wouldn't be able to get out of bed. I spent hours of my labor with Ryan walking the halls, and had assumed I'd be doing some of that this time as well. After the pitocin was rolling the anesthesiologist came in and we went through medical history again and I assured him that I wanted an epidural as soon as my water broke.

Around 10:15 Ryan came in for a short visit. Contractions had begun, but were still very mild, so I wasn't concerned about him being there. That said, he left about 20 minutes later so he could play with friends. (Thanks Jenna and Jacy!) For the next two hours we hung out, I managed to get in two Sudoku puzzles and everyone else took shifts for lunch. We also took some pictures, the most notable being a few that featured the size of my ankles and the swelling in my feet. Around 12:15 Pitocin was stopped. The nurse had called my doc, and found out that in fact she was supposed to start with Cytotec. It took all my energy not to yell "I told you so". Unfortunately contractions stopped when Pitocin stopped and Cytotec #1 was given at 12:45. Over the next 3 hours I had a visit from Kele, we played a hand of Rummy and contractions picked up again. By 3:30 they were every 2-3 minutes apart and looking pretty good on the monitor. At 4:45 Cytotec #2 was administered and contractions stopped again. I had my first ice chips of the day, after I asked, the nurse never offered me any. During my whole stay, she was the only nurse I didn't like, and I was glad to see her go that evening.

Ryan arrived back at the hospital and we all chatted for about an hour. He went home with my brother and stepdad around 6 and Wayne left not long after to get a shower and spend a little time with Ryan. Dr. Aboveandbeyond showed up about 7:15. He checked me and found that I'd barely made any progress that day. 2 cm, 50% effaced and -3 station. He said I should eat dinner, shower get some rest and they'd start Cytotec again at midnight. He also suggested some Ambien to help me rest through the night. Hmmm, this was beginning to sound very similar to my labor with Ryan. My mom went out and got us a light dinner and we watched a little TV. Shannon came in to visit, hoping to see a baby. Of course there wasn't one, but we had a nice visit anyway. I was having minor contractions this whole time, but nothing that led me to believe I was making any progress. Wayne came back and my mom ran home for a shower and change of clothes while I showered. Ambien and sleep arrived about 10 or 10:30.

To be continued...