Obviously, before labor. There are very few pictures of me after :)Lot's of people have been asking about about Emma's birth story. I figured I'd just post it here for everyone to read! I'll do a separate post about Emma's journey in the hospital. Enjoy :) Oh, and if you want kids...you might want to skip! Haha, just kidding.
Last Tuesday evening I was admitted to the hospital to go ahead and get things started. They started the Cervadil around 7pm. I was still just about 1 cm dilated. They hooked me up to all the monitors, IV's and gidgets. They monitored my contractions (apparently, I was having some but didn't feel them - a memory I would long for later). They also monitored Emma's heartbeat. It filled up the room with sound! I loved hearing it. We recorded it on a little recorder so we will always have it! They gave me an Ambien (sleeping pill) and told me to get some sleep. I hear this Ambien is the same pill Tiger uses when he goes on the "prow" so to speak. Well, I'm not sure why he would! It certainly didn't put me to sleep. Maybe I was just anxious. But I was wide awake all night. They say "Oh, get some sleep." But please. The anticipation of meeting Emma not to mention labor itself was enough to keep me awake and occupied.
Around 3am Wednesday morning the nurses came in and started having me change positions. Miss. Emma's heartbeat was getting low. They said she had likely went to sleep. I guess she got the Ambien. Her heartbeat didn't pick up so they said they would need to remove the Cervadil. For the most part, it had thinned out my cervix. But I think it didn't completely. Hence, the rest of the story.
After removing the Cervadil they started the Piticion (sp?). They are mimicking what the body would naturally do on it's own so they don't crank it up high speed at first. It's gradual. I didn't feel anything for the longest time. Later in the morning, the doctor came in and I was still around 1-2 cm! Not much progress. He came back after lunch and I had dilated some more - enough to break my water. I'll spare details here. But I am certainly glad that I had my water broken at the hospital...and it didn't happen at home or in public. At that point the doctor said if things didn't get rolling we would have to look at other options - like a c-section. There was no use keeping on, keeping on if progress wasn't being made, he said. This was Thursday at 1-ish. Remember that.
Sometime in the evening my contractions started to get bothersome. So I opted to take pain medicine. I didn't want to get the epidural too soon because I was afraid it wouldn't work. The pain medicine worked for a while but later on I would get the epidural. Looking back, I don't think the epidural ever really took affect in my whole body - particularly my tailbone. The only thing that ever seemed really numb was my booty. And it was numb.
Around 10pm on Wednesday the nurse said it was time to PUSH! But as soon as I start pushing she said stop! Apparently, homegirl nurse doesn't know her centimeters. I wasn't at 10. But she said it was just around the corner. The baby nurses came in and started to set up their stuff and get ready for Emma. I thought for sure it was almost over! The nurse came back around an hour or so later and said it was definitely pushing time. Great! Get ready, set, .... Opps, Vanessa still can't feel her booty and can't push! Can't push, that's right!
Around 7am (yep, pushing/not pushing/whatever it was since 10pm) Kimberly my lovely nurse informs me she is leaving and I will get a new nurse. New nurse Darla. Sweet girl. Young girl. Not sure she is up for my booty. But she works really hard with me. We push at each contraction. But somewhere in the midst of everything the epidural is GONE! I mean GONE! I am feeling every pain in every inch of my body. It particuarly hurt in my tailbone. I swear it was on fire and no one was telling me. I don't remember every minute of that span of time...I swear because I was probably passing out in pain (sounds dramatic but remember, I'm dramatic at times). Darla made the decision because I was in so much pain the dr. needed to come in and boost up my epidural. Unfortunately, it only lasted a short period of time and ended up going all to my booty. Apparently, booties like the numbness. We tried pushing every way possible - on the side, using the bar, sitting up. Nothing. I wasn't making any progress. Finally, Darla called my doctor (Dr. Newman - who by the way is the best doctor ever) and had him come over. He told me the baby was low - low enough they could see her head - but it was likely due to what the contractions were doing, I wasn't pushing her. He said we could try vacuum or go directly to c-section. I wanted to at least try vacuum and he thought it was a probable solution. Unfortunately, it didn't work. As he assessed everything he thought Emma was getting caught up on my tailbone and she would not come out through vaginal birth. Oh, and here's a story for you. Right after the dr. tells me I am having a c-section he pauses and says "Vanessa, how mayn kids do you want?" To which I replied, "Seriously, Dr. Newman you are asking this NOW! Adoption is clearly the way for me!" It was a slight moment of humor in a tough situation. He went on to say subsquent pregancies will be c-section.
Off to OR I went. I won't go into details about the c-section except to say it was less painful than labor (thanks to drugs that work) but it isn't painless.
I should pause here to say how great Hai and my mom were through the whole thing. They were very supportive. And I know it was hard for them because the labor was so long and it wore on them as well. I wasn't the nicest at times and they still stook around. They should get street creed for that! Also, the nurses at University are stellar. If you are going to deliver I would most recommend there. They are so nice and supportive.
In less than minutes after the first cut Miss. Emma came blazing out. I was so relieved to hear her cry. She only cried for a brief period. She has a signature cry - hard to explain but very cute. Very dramatic cry at first then she stops. Little cries until she get what she needs. I think she MIGHT have my personality. All of the nurses loved her hair and said how pretty she was. I thought so too! I knew she would have tons of hair...and she DID!
The experience of labor is like nothing else. I was in no way prepared for the pain. I thought epidurals were a cure all and I wouldn't feel any pain...and if I did it would just be slight pain. Despite the pain, tears, and agony I would go through it all again to have Emma. Honestly, during my pregnancy I worried if I could possibly love a baby with all my heart. It's strange. I carried her for 9 months...and though the reality of her life had hit me I don't think it truly did until she was born. From minute 1 of Emma's life things changed. I could love her with all my heart - probably more than that - and certainly did. Suddenly, life before Emma seemed so distant. How did I go this long without her in my life? She completed that one piece of my life that was missing - that a year ago I didn't even know was missing. And it's not just a piece - it's a big piece!
No comments:
Post a Comment