I was nine days past the due date and huge and miserable and ornery and anxious. The basinet was set up, my hospital bag was packed and we were ready to be parents.
Labor started at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night. It started to get intense about two hours later. Not wanting to be the "pregnant girl who cried 'labor!'," I waited to call the Doctor until my contractions were five minutes apart, lasting one minute each for at least an hour--these were my instructions. After an extremely long and painful night, I made the call at 6:00 Friday morning. I was told to head to the hospital immediately.
Upon arrival, I informed the nurse that I was hoping to be at least 3 centimeters. (I had been at barely a 2 for three weeks straight.) Come to find out, I was already at a 7! Jeez, no wonder I was in so much pain!
About ten nurses rushed into the room getting things prepared for the pending arrival. The anesthesiologist had me sign my life away before trying to administer the epidural. Then she stabbed me in the back with that bleeding needle several different times apparently trying to find my "space". I was about to call off the stinking pain meds when she finally poked me one last time and the medicine started working.
But that's when the waiting began. Everything slowed down and we had to wait for several hours. Finally I was ready to push. The nurse encouraged me to keep going even though I was absolutely exhausted. She said I could rest if I gave it one more big try. So I did. She yelled, "STOP!" and told me I had to wait for the doctor.
Stop? Seriously? Do you know how hard it is not to push when your whole body is trying to force you to do just that? She told me to pretend I was blowing out a big birthday cake every time I had the urge to push. This went on for a very long time. Finally, my lips were chapped, my body was exhausted and my attitude was ugly. That doctor sure was taking her sweet time.
Thirty minutes went by! That's a lot of pretend birthday cakes to blow out.
Finally, the on-call doctor arrived and Marley was born at 1:28 p.m. It was the most painful experience I've ever had to endure. What about the epidural, you ask? Well, the doctor started stitching me up and I screamed, "What are you doing?". I thought I was all done with the pain. She couldn't believe I could feel it. Oh, I could feel it. I told her she was poking me. She verified that she was indeed poking me but that I shouldn't feel it. Somehow, my epidural had stopped working for me sometime before I started pushing. How was I supposed to know the difference? I just thought this was how giving birth was supposed to feel. Imagine my shock and annoyance when I talked to other moms who said they couldn't feel anything while pushing.
Nevertheless. . .
Marley was a beautiful and perfect miracle. She was well worth the pain. And believe it or not, I'm ready and anxious to do it again!
Let the countdown commence.
7 comments:
Aww, how fun (and not fun) to look back on your first labor! I had a terrible one with Sophie too, and hope this goes smoother. Lord willing, with a scheduled c-section there will be less drama than labor, pushing for 2 hours and then a c-section like I had with Sophie! Hope your last couple of weeks go by quickly and the labor goes smoothly!
Hi Diana! What a story. I hope you have a much better time this go-around too. You deserve it. It is a good thing that we forget the pain, and the bad parts just make up for a good story, or else we probably wouldn't have more kids. Go waddle down to the beach today and get some sunshine. ;)
I'll bet this time will be much better. Keep us posted. We are having our baby on the 13th...
That story sounds a lot like when I had Kayleb! I was induced but the machine that kept the epidural medication kept stopping so they finally just turned it off so it only got me through my contractions, the actual labor was au natural! They told me I had to stop pushing too and wait for the dr., I told the nurse I trusted her to just catch the baby. I too could feel the stitches, it was the ONLY time I cried through the whole labor and delivery. My doctor told me he would "hurry", like that matters!
Mia's was a lot easier so hopefully it's the same for you! Good luck I can't wait to see your next beautiful baby!!
I don't think I had ever heard that story. Craziness. Hopefully this one is much better. I had a dream last night that you had your baby. I went to visit you in the hospital and you were walking around in skinny jeans looking gorgeous. I hope it's soon!
P.S. The "Walking with Dinosaurs" is a traveling show. If your nephews are into dinos they would surely love it!
What a story! I'm so sorry for you. Good luck with the next one.
I can't wait to see pics of your new little one!! Hope your labor is stress free and painless (this, of course, coming from a girl who has never given birth). :)
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