My Labor Story

At 41 weeks, I was scheduled to be induced at 5:30 am on Thursday morning (March 23rd). On Wednesday afternoon, I called my doctor because I hadn't felt Caleb move much at all the whole day, and I was concerned. Dr. Duff sent me to the labor and delivery triage center for a fetal monitoring test. I called Marcus and he met me there. When we arrived around 3:30 pm, the nurse hooked me up to the monitors, took my blood pressure, and then casually asked me how long I'd been having contractions. I, thinking she had misunderstood why we were there, replied that I was not having contractions. She said, "Oh yes you are honey. Look at the monitor." I was indeed having small contractions every 4-5 minutes. By the end of the 30-minute test, I was just beginning to feel them. Since Caleb appeared to be fine and my labor was just beginning, they sent us home for the evening. My contractions continued for the next six hours, gradually becoming stronger and closer together. Around 9:30 pm, the contractions were painful enough that I was ready to go the hospital. It took another hour and a half to get everyone out the door. We arrived at triage for the second time that day around 11:00 pm. Dr. Greene, the on-call resident, checked my cervix and proclaimed me to be a measly two centimeters dilated. It was a busy night and being only two centimeters put me third in line for the next available labor and delivery room. I was extremely dismayed, to say the least, when the nurse suggested that I "walk around for a couple of hours," until more rooms became available. By now, the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes, and they REALLY hurt. I ended up laboring in the labor and delivery waiting room (instead of walking around) for the next 2 hours, until they finally gave us a room. Those two hours were definitely the worst part of my labor. I made Marcus call the other hospital in town to see if we could go over there instead. I was disgusted that they didn't have a room for me. One of the other people in the waiting room (there were 10 or so) asked me if I shouldn't get a room or something. I said, "They're out." He was pretty shocked.Anyway, once we got in a room around 1:30 am, things started happening. The anesthiologist came around and quickly became my favorite person in the world. They only let Marcus stay for the administering of the epidural. I squeezed his hands very tightly and concentrated on not moving during the five minutes or so that the doctor was working. The pain of the contractions began to subside immediately, and within an hour, my legs were numb.Shortly after I got the epidural, a nurse came in and started me on Pitocin because my contractions were lessening in strength and frequency. Dr. Greene came in again and checked me, and I was dilated 3 cm. By now, it was about 3:00 am, and all three of us were exhausted. Marcus folded out the chair that was supposed to pass for a cot and slept for a couple of hours. I also drifted off for a couple of hours. When I woke up around 5:00 am, someone was there to check me, and I was happy to hear that I was now dilated 5 cm. Another doctor, I don't remember the name, took this opportunity to break my water. For the next couple of hours, we just chilled out, waiting for Dr. Duff to arrive. The nurse had told us that Caleb would probably be born Thursday afternoon or evening, based on the progress I'd made, so I wasn't looking for anything to happen soon. I was just happy that I wasn't in pain :) Dr. Duff arrived around 7:30 and checked my cervix. His eyes widened and he didn't say anything, so I said, "What is it?" He said, "What would you like it to be?" I said, "10!" to which he replied, "Will 9 cm do?" I was ecstatic! We were soon going to see our little one! Dr. Duff was in a shirt and tie, so he said that he would go change and be back in about 30 minutes. He said that when he got back, it would probably be time to push. True to his word, he came back a little after 8:00 am, proclaimed me fully dilated, and whipped out the stirrups. Marcus and the nurse had to life my legs up and put them in the stirrups, because I had no feeling in them at all. I pushed for a total of 23 minutes, which is not long in the laboring world, but felt like forever to me. My nurse, who had been downright rude several times throughout the night, was not very helpful during this stage. She didn't count, or give me any idea how long I was supposed to be pushing. Instead, she constantly interjected little confidence-boosters like "Now push HARD this time" and "Okay, now REALLY try." A few minutes into the pushing stage, Dr. Duff told Marcus to suit up. I remember feeling excited because I knew Dr. Duff was going to let Marcus help deliver Caleb! I probably would have ended up pushing longer, but Caleb's cord was wedged between the birth canal and his head, and the closer he came to being born, the more his oxygen supply was being cut off. His heartrate slowed enough in those 23 minutes that Dr. Duff decided to do an episiotomy to hurry things along. I, of course, didn't feel a thing. A few minutes later, Caleb's head was out. I think Dr. Duff delivered the head, but during the next push, it was all Marcus. I opened my eyes to see Marcus lifting up a squalling infant. I couldn't believe it was over and he was born! It was 8:36 am. My first thoughts were: "That cord is huge!" and "He's not bloody at all!" They put him on my stomach and I gazed into his little face, amazed at his perfect form. I don't remember much after that, except that Dr. Duff told me to push once more to deliver the placenta, and then immediately said, "Never mind, there it is." So I didn't even have to push :) I also remember us all guessing his weight just before they put him on the scale. Susan though 6 lbs, Marcus thought 6.5, and I thought 7 lbs. He shocked us all with his 8 lbs, 5 oz. He didn't look like a big baby, but the scale said he was.This is my labor story as I remember it. Overall, it was MUCH easier than I was expecting, and I am extremely grateful for that epidural!