Justus' Birth Story-Part 2

(Continued from previous post)

……………We arrived at the hospital to find that it was completely tranquil and no other patients except one 6 week old baby in the nursery with some acid reflux problems. This was a welcome find since our other hospital birth had been on one of the busiest days where the unit was strained to the max and nurses were cranky and rushed. We were given the nicest delivery suite and treated like we were in a hotel. I got into my hospital gown and then they checked the baby’s heartbeat and my contractions via the monitors. Not knowing what was going to transpire, I continually wavered between laughter and light-heartedness, even watching a comedy on the TV, and tearing up and thinking I couldn’t make it through. I had no idea what to expect since my body is so unpredictable. Was I at a 9 and too late for drugs or was I having the longest bout ever of “false” labor? I was guessing I was at a 6 or 7. So, I was completely unprepared for the nurses’ announcement that I was about at a 3, only about 50% effaced and a cervix still pretty high up there. She hadn’t been able to get a real accurate measure as I am horrible about relaxing for cervical checks, so she had another nurse come in who had smaller hands and she confirmed the 3cm. I felt cheated and frustrated. After all, I had endured around 25 hours of regular contractions over the last week and just a few days before at my last Doctor’s appt. I had been told I was a 2 or a 3 with a soft cervix. The Doc who had last checked me had predicted when I did hit real labor I would go fast. FAST?

Given my history, they weren’t about to release me just yet and tell me to go home. They said we’d wait a while. I had the neatest, calmest nurse who was unhurried and very peaceful and she put me at ease. The doctor on call was a guy from Jackson, filling in since there is such a shortage in our town right now. I liked him better than any of my town’s doctors. I was frustrated with my body because lying in the hospital bed immobile made my contractions spread even further and there was a big 18 minute gap between a couple. I wished I could make myself pick up the pace or at least fake some on the machine so they wouldn’t send me home. I asked the nurse if there was something she could do to get me going harder. Water breakage? Pitocin? As much as I didn’t want Pit I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a little if I could “get this pony show on the road!” I really began to feel that I would be in labor forever! She said we’d wait a while and see what was going to happen. A couple of the contractions showed that the baby's heart rate was dropping a lot during some of the bigger contractions so they said they'd definitely want to keep me under observation for a few more hours because of that reason.

She informed me that if I wanted to have an IV started in the waiting that it would be easier to get some fluids going so that I could have an epidural when active labor came. She also informed me that I could have the epidural NOW if I wanted it, as they usually start it around 3 or 4 or after. I felt weird about getting it then since the contractions seemed to be so infrequent and I still had this niggling fear that we would be sent home. I didn’t feel like I was experiencing enough pain to really merit one at that point but I okayed the IV. She got an IV started, which really hurt. I’ve only had one once before, when I was bleeding after Jer’s birth and at that time I was so out of it I never even felt them put it in. She put it in my hand, which made things quite difficult for going potty since I had to manuever, with King Jo’s help of course, two cords from the monitors, an IV pole, my gaping hospital gown, and only one hand!

The doc came in after a couple of hours and did a cervical exam, which ended up being one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt. This is when I thought my mom was going to start crying and lose it too as they were on either side of me holding my hands and trying to get me to concentrate on them. The reason it hurt so bad was he declared me finally in active labor, at a 5 and decided to stretch the cervix a bit and strip the membranes with his hands to try and really get things going. I was crying and shaking and in agony through that. When it was over I said I wanted the epidural right away. I had originally wanted a spinal but they said an epi would be better since we didn’t know how long it would take me to deliver and spinals wear off after a couple of hours.

I guess I was getting to the point that the pain was getting more intense with contractions and the stripping procedure had hurt so much I was done with pain! He also said they would soon get worse now that he had stripped the membranes.

To be continued tomorrow...............