We went to the hospital on Wednesday, August 9th at about 5:30. We checked in and went upstairs, where a nice nurse named Jennifer took us to room 15. She got me hooked up to the monitors to keep track of baby's heartrate and my contractions, and installed a heplock to be used for my IV in the morning. At about 6:30 she put in the Cervadil, a gel that was supposed to help ripen my cervix, which was still showing no signs of opening. The plan was to leave the Cervadil in all night, then in the morning we would start the pitocin and the doctor would break my water. Not long after the Cervadil was in, I started having mild contractions. They didn't hurt at all and it was exciting to think I was actually starting labor!
At about 8:30, Mom and Dad and Kathleen came by to visit. I was in a great mood - excited to be having contractions but not in pain. It was fun to see the contractions on the monitor. At about 9:30 the family left, and I asked Charles to find Project Runway on the tv so I could see who got bid Auf Wiederschien by Heidi. No sooner than he had found the channel but my water broke! For some reason I found this extremely funny - it just seemed absurd! We called Jennifer and she confirmed that my water had indeed broken, although I had no doubts. She said it was clear, everything looked good and that she would have to take out the Cervadil. I was happy because I at least got one spontaneous labor thing - I was definitely not expecting that!
For the rest of the night I had contractions about every 7 minutes - not too bad but just enough to keep me awake. By about 4 am I was started to wish I had taken them up on the Ambien they had offered me, but I was still hoping to stay drug-free. Every time I had to use the restroom Charles would have to unplug me from the monitors and then plug me back in. It was nice to hear Zachary's heartbeat all night though - he was a happy camper. At some point Jennifer left and Donna came on - she was nice too but she kept waking me up!
How did I get myself into this pickle?
Finally it was morning, and I had another new nurse, Beverly. She checked me and said I still had not dilated at all. This was a little frustrating considering I had been up all night, but apparently I was not really in labor yet. She hooked the pitocin into my iv and almost immediately I was like 'Oh, so THAT's a contraction!' They started pretty hard and fast, and before I knew it they were coming in waves of two or three at a time with very little time in between. The next hour or so is kind of a blur now - I was really in pain. Mom came in at some point and was helping me with my breathing, and Charles was great too. I was still hooked up to the monitors so I couldn't get up and walk around. I think that would have helped a lot, but I guess because of my high blood pressure they wanted to keep me continuously monitored. Zachary was still happy though, his little heartrate stayed steady at around 145 bpm.
Around 11 am Dr. Schneider showed up. She checked me and said I was dilated to 4 cm now. She said 'Okay, we can go ahead and break your water now'. We all said 'What?! It broke at 9:30 last night!' It was a little unsettling that she didn't know! I wonder if they would have done anything differently if she had known, but I guess it doesn't matter now. In any case, I knew I couldn't keep going with the contractions I was having, so I asked for the epidural. And I was not sorry! One of the reasons I didn't want to get one was so I could walk around and sit on a bouncy ball like in the birthing movies we saw in class, but since I was pretty much stuck in the bed anyway, I figured what the heck, why be a martyr.
Within about 20 minutes the anesthesiologist came in. He said his name but it sounded like Dr. Bobo to me, so that is what I call him (we really like the Petsmart commercial where the dachshund is getting a new toy, and the checker says "where's Bobo?"). Dr. Bobo was kind of grouchy, but I didn't care as long as he made the pain go away. The epidural was not pleasant, but I survived. The blood pressure cuff decided to do it's thing just as he was sticking the needle into my spine. Beverly said 'Hmm, your pressure is a little elevated.' 'Gee, I wonder why!!!'
Dr. Bobo got me all taped up and situated, and the next thing I knew I could still see the contractions on the monitor, but I couldn't feel them anymore. It was great! The tradeoff was that my legs went completely numb so I had to get a catheter since I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom anymore. But I didn't care, I was numb! I also started shivering and chattering because of the drugs, which was a little annoying but still better than the pain.
The next couple of hours were great - Charles and I both took a nap. Finally Beverly came back in and checked me and I was 9 cm! Getting close!
An hour later she came back and I was still 9 cm.
Another hour later she came back and I was still 9 cm. What the heck! She had me turn from side to side periodically to help the baby come down. I couldn't really move my legs at all, so Charles would have to hoist me from one side to the other.
This went on for a while and I still wasn't progressing, and now the epidural was starting to wear off. I could feel some pressure but not really pain yet. Beverly said maybe we should try pushing and I was all for it. She had me push through a couple of contractions but I didn't really feel like anything was happening. Meanwhile, each contraction was starting to hurt a little more, and with each one I felt like I had to pee a little more. I told Beverly this but she said it was just pressure - there was nothing really coming out of the catheter so I was most likely dehydrated. She said Dr. Schneider should be there soon so we decided to wait for her.
More contractions, more pressure on the bladder. It was getting so uncomfortable I was about to cry. I didn't even care about the pain, I just needed to pee! I told Beverly again and she decided to try to reinsert the catheter to see if she could drain anything. Keep in mind the epidural is not doing much at this point! I didn't care though. She did it but still couldn't get anything to drain. Now Beverly's shift was ending so a new nurse, Maria, was coming on duty. Beverly told her the situation with my bladder so Maria decided to give it a try and redid the catheter again (number 3). Nothing. They told me to just let it go, which I had already been trying to do, to no avail.
Finally Dr. Schneider came in - she checked me and said I was still at 9 cm and that the baby's head was still up high, but she could feel a little conehead, so he was really trying to come down but just wasn't making it. She decided we should try to push again, so we did, but baby didn't budge. He was still happy in there though so that was good. I really didn't feel an urge to push, but it did relieve the pressure somewhat. We explained my bladder situation and Maria told her that she could feel some swelling there, so Dr. Schneider tried the catheter again (number 4), but she couldn't get anything to drain either.
Now another doctor from the practice had gotten to the hospital, Dr. Landwermeyer. I had had one appointment with her so I knew her already. She came in and surveyed the situation and decided she wanted to give it a shot, so she did the catheter again (number 5!!). She didn't have any better luck though. They were all standing there just looking at me, and Dr. Landwermeyer says 'Hmm, you're a weirdo!' Not really what you want to hear when you're in labor and really have to pee! But at least they agreed that my bladder had an issue, so I was not crazy.
Hey, all the celebrities are doing it...
Dr. Schneider was giving me a look and I knew what she was thinking. Apparently baby's head and my bladder were at an impasse. She didn't think he was going to come out. By now I just wanted some relief so I didn't care what she did. She said, ' I think we need to do a C'. I said 'go for it!' It was now 4:00 and she said they could get me in at 4:45. In the meantime, they turned off the pitocin so the contractions stopped, and I got more drugs in my epidural, so I was elated! Never mind the pain, I couldn't feel my bladder anymore - yay!
The next thing I knew, they were wheeling me to the operating room. Charles stayed back to get his cap and gown on, then met me in there once they had me all set up with my sheet. Dr. Schneider had another baby to catch, so Dr. Landwermeyer ended up starting my surgery. Dr. Schneider came in at the last second and assisted. We had a new anesthesiologist now, Dr. Fritz. He was really nice (unlike Dr. Bobo) and he and Charles had a nice banter going, which kept my mind off the fact that they were cutting me open on the other side of the sheet. I could tell they were doing something over there, and before I knew it I could feel them pulling the baby out.
It felt so weird - I could feel him getting pulled out of his snug little spot where he had been ensconced for the last few months. I started laughing, it felt so weird, then he was out! I peeked around the sheet and saw him, and my laughing turned to laughing and crying - he was so beautiful! He didn't look gross at all like the babies on A Baby Story often do. He was just pink and gorgeous! They whisked him over to clean him up and do whatever they had to do - Charles went over to take pictures and I peeked around my sheet. Then they wrapped him up and brought him over to me and I couldn't believe how beautiful he was.I realized right then that all my worrying about having the perfect delivery had been wasted effort - they could have pulled that baby out of my ear and I would have been just as elated!
They still had to stitch me up, so Charles went with Zachary to the recovery room where my family was waiting. I joked around with Drs. Schneider and Landwermeyer while they sewed me up. They said my bladder looked fine - all they could figure was that Zachary's head was pinching my urethra shut, but once the pressure was gone it drained just fine.
Finally I got to go see my baby in the recovery room. My family was all there with him. I was still shaking and chattering quite a bit from the drugs, but they brought him over to me and let me nurse him. It was so amazing - such a perfect little thing! Unfortunately all the drugs finally got the best of me right then and I puked. Hopefully he will forgive me!
After that I was fine, and the drugs gradually started to wear off as I held him and I could wiggle my toes again. Within an hour I had all the feeling back in my legs but I was still feeling no pain because of the morphine they had given me. Jim came in with the boys who brought me flowers and balloons - it was so sweet. They were excited to see their new cousin. Finally everyone left and Charles went to sleep for a little while. I had him put the baby next to me and I just stared at him, which I have been doing ever since!
Thanks to all the wonderful nurses at Seton Southwest! Especially:
Jennifer
Donna
Beverly
Maria
Becky
Kessa
They were all great!
Thanks also to my doctors:
Dr. Schneider
Dr. Landwermeyer
Dr. Bolbock (I looked it up)
Dr. Fritz
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