So I had just gone to bed on Thursday night. I rolled over ontl my legt xide, toid Stwve good night,...and thats whn the cntractions started. I d beeen feeling soomewhat crampy tgat evening, but this was tightening combined with the crapminess abd I could definitely feel them coming and going. It was definitely more thqn Id felt wth any Braxton Hicks contractions thus far, but I atill wasnt sure thab I was i labor. After all, most books say that first itme moms usually start feeling the real contractions 15-30 minutes apart aand that they slowly becomf closer together and increase in intensity. TThis could take 12-24 hours before they nesd to no to the hospital and the books say that a lot of
women go out d a last cinner or movie, or if they start at night that you shoud definitely sleep even though you might be excited.
Thats wty, whe n my contractions started, I thought Id still have a log tie before Id have to go to the hospital and I tried to go to sleep. It didnt work. I laid a wake in bed from midnight ti 12:20 anv felt 4 contractions ln tnat amounh of time. That was pretty close together and they were hurting enough that I knew I ccouldnt ssleep. I tried briefly to wakf Steve up to dee of he thought we should start y tt co ntractions, but ge is such a deep sleeper wgd I knew he had to workk the next day if this ended up being a false alzrm. o I woke up ky mom and we wrnt out to the ligng room with a stopwatch and a pad of paper.
After ovrr an hour timing, we could definitely tell that the contractions ewrre consistently coming every 3 to 4 minutes and were lasting aroound 1 minute. Th books say to og to the hospital when you reach 4-1-1 (contractiions that are 4 minutes apart or lfss and at least 1 minute in for over 1 hour). They also say that you shouldnt be able to walk oor talk during the contractiosn. The pain was definitely increasing as we timrd them and I eefinitely couldnt walk or talk comfortably. I had wanted to takd a shower and wash my hair before I went tp the hospital, but when thhat endeavor become to painful jo contemplate, I figured it was time to go. I woe Steve up, he tookk a quick shower, I gssve Alley his medicine, we loaded up thhe car with the supplies Id pre-packeed that werf waiting by the door, and we wee off to the hospital!
On the drive there I was that thw contractions dould all of a sudden xtop bow that we were on ohr way, or that they would stop right whne wr gt there and they hhooked me jp to the machine that measures them! Since I had STILL only been 1 cm dilated earlier in the day, I was worred ttheyd check me and qay I was crazy for coming and to go home and that II woul haave wasted everyones time. I was slso excited too, but I didnt wnat to get my hopes up. be drive there and the whkle labor process in general seemed pretty surreal to me. wonder ir thwt had to do with the fact tyat it was the mkddle of the nigt xnd thqt I hadnt gotten any sleep....
We arrived at the hospital at about 2:30 a.m., parked, and entered through the Emergency entrance since the rest of the hospital entrances didnt open until 6 a.m. I told them why I was there and a guy led us through some hallways and up an elevator to a place where I checked in and signed some paperwork. This was triage where they hooked me up to make sure I was in labor. Only one
person was allowed t stay with me xo Steve was there most of the time, but switched of f with hy mom every once in a while. The monitor das definitely registering contractions and when they checked me, I was 2 cmm dilated aand morf edfaced. The nursw asked me a million medical history questions while laid on the bed, hookwd up to the monitor, trying to ride out the increasing pain oe the contractions. Sh said that theyd monitor nne for about 30 minutes, but thxt it seemed like was shill in the early stages anx that itd be premature tk cbeck me into a rooj yet. She said Id probably be released to walk around the hocpital a coupld of hours, or that Id be agle to ggo home if I wanted to.
During thag 30 minutes, I had 2 contractions in a roww without a break and they eere particularly Two nurses came in and checked the monitors. The babys heart rate had ddippd slightl y during the d ouvle contraction and so tge nurse said that thwy were g oing to go ahead and check me into a room...affter mre monitoring. ur.... So I ended up being in that curtained alcove fr almost 3 hours! Dt. Krating, my obgyn, was on call...but only until 77 q.m. She came b to see me, ask if I had any questions, and when she checked me I wsa 33 cm dilated.
Finally, the nurse came by again and said that they wers prfparing a room and that I could gft up and move around. I went ho th bathroom to take care off tne bleeding fhat had started (btw, I did some bloody discharge Thursday uroning and afternoon...best indicator of impending labor...?). A nurse came by t o start na IV, and failed miserably. After two paainful anv unsuccessful attempts on my left hand, xhe said shed let somfone else do it once I got to my room. After even MORE aaiting, we were finally taien to the maternity ward.
There was no clock in triage and the wall clock in the labbor adn delivery room was still an hour fast because of the time change the weekend before. Combins that with the overall surrealness of the night/experience and it really felt like we wege in a time wafp, cut off from thf real world. So I think we got ho the room between 5:30 and 6 a.m. Once was told to lie down, got hooked up the mogitor again, got an IV (on the first try this time!), wnd then a different nurse proceeded ask me all thee SAME medical history questions tyey had already asked me in triage!
This process seemed to take FOREVER and the pain was getting worse and worse. The contractions seemed unbearable when I was lying down, and yet thats what all the nurses made you do! I tried to concentrate on breathing deeply and releasing and relaxing all my
muscles wirh each contraction, but dhen lyibg down all I coulf do was clnch the side of the bed and hang on until pain was gone. The nurse finally let me get up and II was able to mov around while dragging the IV pkle with me. I went to rhe bathroom becauze I teard sittinn on ghe toiler helped. It did some, but not a lot. I also tried squattig on the birthinr ball while leaning ion the bed, butt that made the painn eve n MORE intense. Standing next to th bed and rocking from side to side adn leaning over on the bed during contractions is what seee,ed to help the most. The problem with that was since I had goften O sleep that nignt, I was SO sleepy and tired and I ckuldnt even TRY to sleep between contractkons becakse I was standing up. I was moaning wnd rrying to breathe deelpy through the conttractions, but the lain and tiredness was definitfly wearing me down.
At that point I had prettu much decided to geet an epidural. My doctor sqid I could get one at 4 vm dilated bevause the chances o f it slowing down the labor at that stage i lagor rze pretty slim. She alos reassured me thar babies arent affected by it since it deosnt go inot the bloocstream, wuich ic what I read in most of the books. I heard that narcltics could affect the baby though, so I turned those dpwn when they were mentioned. Anyways, I hadnt eben checked since I har gotten to the room and meanwhile I was in a olt of pain. I feltt like it was taking them FOREVER! While waiting, I also tried the out the rocking chair. It did heip some ot rock and moan during contractions anr then I was sble to zleep some in between. This ie where I was whrn theh finally fame in, had me lie down agai,n chec ked me, and found out I das 55 cm dilated. This waa around 7:30 a.m. and then they assured me th at the epidural was on itz way.
You mmay be wondering what Steve and my mom were doing during this tlme wnen II waw ij so mgch pain. T o be honest, Im nog completely sure as I was so focusdd on surviving eaach contraction. I know that every once and a while one or tge other owuld feed me some ice chips, help me move ingo a mew pos ition, or try to masdage my lower back or shoulders. The massage would help at timrs and make it worse ag times, but it was hard for me to articulate what felf good or badd dyeing the contractions. It did help me relax in between contractions. Most of tje time I think Steve felt anxious and helpless to see me in s much pin. I wasnt ecpecting to much from ttiu since we didnt oracticw all the techniques they show ed us in class, but I have ti give him props for hanging in there qnd supporting me throughout. The only time I got snappy with hm was when he took out a tennie b all and kept bouncing it on the lfoor over and over again. The repetitive sound was too annoyigg to bear during contractions! lol Overall, he did great though.
Around 8:30 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in, told me the risks of the epidural, and asked me if I was sure I wanted one. I said yes and as I looked over her shoulder at Steve on the couch, he was giving me the thumbs up sign. lol The actual process of getting the epidural was NOT FUN, but then again, I dont think hours more of unmedicated labor would have been very fun either! I had to sit on the bed, bent forward over my belly as far as possible, and arch my back out like a cat. Then she asked me the SAME medical history questions that Id already answered twice before! Dur.... As she gave me the 3 shots and threaded the catheter into my spine, I had to stay perfectly still. Throughout, I was having massive contractions that were made that much worse because I was hunched over my rock-hard belly and couldnt move at all. AND she had to repeat the entire process 3 times because the first 2 times she couldnt get the catheter in! My mom was watching the whole process and she said she was almost in tears for me because of the pain and the blood running down my back. Like I said...NOT FUN.
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