Monday, September 2nd (labor day) at 8:50 pm I arrived at the hospital. I was only 39 weeks pregnant, but because I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, the doctors advised being induced.
We (my wonderful husband and marma and myself) were in our room by 9pm, trying to get situated and comfortable- or as comfortable as one can get in a hospital.
At 10pm they gave me the miso capsule, in hopes it would start to thin my cervix and help me go into labor. So in the meantime it was about trying to get rest. Now those of you who know me, know how little I sleep when I am out of my own environment, but adding labor anticipation into the mix made me beyond restless. Luckily our wonderful nurse was able to track down a tv with dvd player on it, since the birthing rooms don't have a dvd player connected to the tv, and I was able to watch one of our seasons of Seinfeld and Friends.
By 4am on Tuesday Sept 3rd, they checked me and said I was about 80% effaced, but still sitting between 1 and 2 cm of dilation. So they hooked the pitocin up to my I.V. starting with 2 units and raising it 2 units every half hour. The pitocin gave me heavier contractions, but at 10am, I still had not dilated. Once the doctor was able to make it to my room around noon, they gave me the option of placing a catheter inside me with a bladder (they fill the bladder up with water) and then tie a weight to the other end to put pressure on my cervix and help it dilate. I was all about speeding up the process! So I had what my marma calls a mid-evil torture device on me with a weight hanging off the bed, and I was up to 16 units of pitocin. Within a half hour my contractions were back to back! Lasting about 1 min and 45 sec, with 30 sec in between, and the majority of my pain was in my back. I remember my marma and husband telling me to relax through the contractions, breath, relax my face.. All I could do was pray. The pain was so intense i just kept whispering "I need a break".
Around this time my aunt Shirley showed up, and she was wide eyed watching the contractions and seeing how intense my pain was.
After what seemed like forever, the nurse came in to lower my pitocin because my contractions were too heavy and too close together. I became overwhelmed with nausea from the pain, and the nurse got out the throw up bag just in time. My wonderful Hubby held the bag for me as I threw up and managed through a contraction at the same time. It was then that I asked for I.V. pain killers for the first time. That stuff hit me like a ton of bricks!! It took a slight edge off pain, but the 'may cause drowsiness' made my eyes shut instantly. I was still coherent, just unable to open my eyes, and unable to rest from the contractions.
At 1:30 pm I felt warm water coming out of me, and I got mine and everyone else's hopes up that my water had broke!!.. FALSE ALARM, the bladder had burst because the doctor overfilled it by 10mL hoping that by overfilling it, it would make me dilate faster.
The doctor came in shortly after that giving me some options. He said I could try the miso capsule again, which really only helps thin the cervix. I could turn up the pitocin again, or I could try the catheter again, but with the proper amount of fluid. Every fiber in my body wanted to choose the miso capsule just because it didn't cause horrific pain, but I looked at Spencer, knowing he would suggest the right option. He looked at me with sympathetic eyes and said "I think the catheter would be the most effective" I agreed, responding with a simple nod. So once again I was set up with what looked like a torture device, but this time the pitocin remained low.
A little after 3 pm I could feel the catheter sliding out of me. Unsure if this was suppose to happen I started mentioning "um, it feels like something is coming out...??"... "yup, it came out!" This meant I had FINALLY dilated 3cm, so they could FINALLY break my water!! I just had to wait for the doctor to be out of surgery.
4:45pm the doctor came in to talk to me about breaking my water. He checked me, and I had dilated to almost 5cm!! They asked if I would also want to get my epideral at that time before the anesthesiologist went home. I said absolutely! I just wanted to make it to my water breaking. And the anesthesiologist was awesome! Spencer was the only one that was allowed to stay in the room, and I was so amazed he was able to watch the whole thing and he didn't feel woozy once! (I was truly blessed with an amazing husband, who takes amazing care of me)
5pm my water was broke!! And the epideral was incredible! They turned the pitocin back up, but I couldn't feel the contractions any more. I was finally able to rest! The on-call doctor stopped in to tell me he was only 5 min away if something should happen before he was back on shift, but he was guessing it would be after midnight.
Hours seemed to pass, and once again every half hour they were turning the pitocin up 2 units, and I was stuck at 6cm. They were having to switch whichever side I was laying on every hour because the epideral makes your legs numb, and they would check to see if I had dilated more while they were at it.
12am Wednesday Sept 4th, I had reached 8 cm. and 90% effaced. The nurse turned up my pitocin more hoping I would dilate to 10. She had contacted the doctor and he suggested to turn my epideral down, and we were all hoping I would be able to start pushing by 1am.
1am, I was almost 9cm, still 90% effaced... not able to start pushing yet. The hourly checks continued, with no progress.
5am I was 9.5cm dilated, and still 90% effaced, the nurse said she was going to have me start pushing through contractions. They told me 3 pushes durning each contractions, trying to push as long as I could each time. It started out with my husband by my head, with my marma pushing against one leg and my aunt pushing against the other because they were still vey numb. I was relying on others to give me a heads up for when my contractions started because I couldn't feel them that well yet.
6am: I was starting to feel exhausted from pushing, and it seemed like there was no progress being made. I continued to sing worship songs to myself, and pray. And as the epideral was wearing off, I was offered the I.V. pain killer once more which I accepted without hesitation. After another 30 min of pushing, I remember looking at my marma and asking "is anything happening yet?" She just smiled at me. By this time Spencer had moved to help with my legs so my marma and aunt could trade off and take breaks.
7:20am: The doctor came in with some options; keep pushing for one more hour, use the vacuum (but that would need to be done immediately while the operating room was still available) or c-section. Again I just looked at my husband, knowing my instinct was favoring my exhaustion. He looked at me lovingly and asked if I was able to push for one more hour. Again I responded with a nod. At this point it was also shift change for the nurses, and as much as I loved our nurse during the night, the day nurse, Jaime, was a pro at delivering babies! He gave me orders, and I blindly followed them. My eyes were closed, and I just listened to those around me. After a couple of contractions I could hear Spencer and my marma getting excited, it was at this moment my body started to take over. I no longer waited for contractions, my body just felt the need to push. Suddenly I opened my eyes and I saw my doctor coming in along with other nurses prepping the area where they measure and weigh the baby. My eyes closed again and I continued to push and then I heard Jamie saying "Brandi, look down! open your eyes Brandi!!" I opened my eyes just in time and saw my baby. :)
8:04am: Micah was born! 35 hours of induced labor, 3 hours of pushing, and he was worth every second of it! I was beyond exhausted when they finally placed him in my arms, but I didn't care. I wanted to soak up every moment with him. 9 months I had waited to hold him in my arms, and he was finally here!!
Micah James Stillwell; 7lbs 11oz 21in. long
September 4th, 2013 @ 8:04am
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