We got to the hospital around 6:00 am and had to go through the ER to get registered. I had already pre-registered, so I thought this would go quickly... unfortunately we had the slowest possible lady entering us into the computer. She typed with her pointer fingers only! So, after 45 minutes of sitting there while she looked at the computer we went up to the labor and delivery floor. We found my mom there waiting for us with breakfast for Asa and looked for the nurse who would get everything started.
I was put in labor and delivery room 4, given a gown, and told to give a urine sample (that ended up sitting there the entire day). The next step was to start an IV with fluids. I had never had one before, so I was nervous about it. It hurt a little bit and it was uncomfortable. They had someone from the lab come in and draw what felt like a ton of blood for some tests. After she had drawn the blood and was packing up, the nurse came in and said they forgot some. So, she had to do it all over again. I don't like having blood drawn and this lady was not very nice about it. It hurt. They also hooked my up to a blood pressure monitor that would take my blood pressure every 15 minutes. And then they started the pitocin at around 7:00 am and we waited.
I was barely feeling anything when Dr. Hill came in around 8:30. She broke my water (which I couldn't even feel) and told me that I was still about two and a half centimeters. She also estimated that we would have the baby around 5:00 that evening! Now there was really nothing to do for a while... After my water broke, the contractions started to get a little stronger. Around 11 I asked for a rocking chair to move around a little bit. Asa's family was at the hospital by now and so was Mimi. Rocking was really nice, since the main place I was feeling pain was in my lower back. At 12 the nurses asked me to get back into bed because Dr. Hill would be there soon. When she got there she checked me again and I was about 4 centimeters. She also put in internal monitors for me and the baby so they could keep better track of the baby's heartbeat and the strength of contractions. Now we could actually see the contractions coming and how strong they were. I got back in the rocking chair until about 12:45 when I couldn't handle it anymore. I told the nurse I wanted the epidural.I was really scared about the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in (with an intern) and they explained a little bit about what was going to happen. I didn't want to know much. They let Asa and my mother stay in the room during the procedure, which I had never heard of. I sat over the side of the bed leaning against Asa while he tried to start the epidural. After two unsuccessful attempts, they had the nurse take Asa's place. Apparently I was not leaning over far enough. I was in a lot of pain from the contractions and from what he was doing. I was crying really hard, but trying not to shake and mess up the procedure. It was really hard to handle all of it, but eventually he got it and everything felt much better.
We hung out for a few more hours until the nurse came in around 3 to check me. I was only to 5 centimeters... I wasn't discouraged yet, but things were definitely moving slower than expected. So, we all took a nap. Around 6 Dr. Hill was back to check me. 5 centimeters... which was not good. During the afternoon we had seen the baby's heartbeat drop blow normal and I had been put on oxygen. The fact that I had not dilated in at least three hours, the baby's head had not moved down, and the baby's heart rate was dropping meant that a c-section might be the best option. Dr. Hill said she would give me 30 minutes to think about it and she would be back, but she really recommended it. I was devastated. I really wanted to have the baby vaginally, and I was terrified about the surgery and recovery. But I knew it would be best for both of us. So, before the 30 minutes was up, I had the nurse go ahead and let Dr. Hill know that I wanted to go with the Cesarean. Then I cried. For a long time. I was scared about not being able to enjoy my baby while I was recovering from major surgery, missing the bonding time right after you have the baby, and the pain.
At about 7 they turned off the pitocin and started getting everything ready for the c-section. As soon as the contractions slowed down I could tell that the baby had moved back up. Almost immediately after that I felt a lot of pain. My lower back was hurting, but I still had the epidural so I just waited. The contractions gradually got worse and worse. They were coming stronger and it was hurting so bad that I was in tears. I told the nurse several times that the epidural was not working and she kept saying that I was about to go in for the c-section and they would fix it then. Finally, after about 30 minutes of intense pain she asked if it was pain or pressure. I still think it was pain, but she said that if it was pressure she would check me. So, she called Dr. Hill to ask if she could and Dr. Hill said yes.
So, at about 8 pm I found out that I was 8 or 9 centimeters and the baby's head had moved way down! As excited as I was that I had made progress, I was completely drained from crying and being in labor all day. I still didn't want to have a c-section, but the thought of having the baby in an hour was great compared to a few more hours of labor and then an hour or two of pushing. Dr. Hill said she would give me 30 minutes and check me again to see if anything would change, but I said no. I was way too tired and I just wanted to meet my baby after all this work. So, about 8:30 it was time to go to the operating room and meet our baby. I was soooo nervous, but soooo excited!
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