On Sunday, May 17th, Matt and I headed to L&D at the hospital so my cervix could get softened via some kind of gel. At this point, I was still only finger-tip dilated (barely) and 75% effaced. The midwife who did the gelling seemed pessimistic that it would work (she is not part of my OB office). And she kinda talked down to Matt and I like we were stupid kids, which pisses me off more than anything. We may be young, but we are well-educated and informed. ANYWHO, so she did the gel and then I had to be monitored for 30minutes. That was boring and it was so freakin' hot in the room. And then the cramps started... they hurt, but it was more of an annoyance than anything--heck, I even drove us home. Later that night, though, the contractions became stronger and more frequent, but never enough to go back to the hospital. Besides, I was able to sleep through them so I was sure it was nothing major happening.
On Monday, May 18th, Matt and I headed back to L&D for our 8:00am "appointment". I got changed into my gown and hooked up to the fetal heart and contraction monitors. The doctor came in at around 8:30 to see what was going on. At that point I was 1 cm dilated and 90% effaced. The Pitocin was then started around 9:30am. And we waited... around some time my parents and sister came (my mom and sister were my 2 other support people). The doctor came back around 11:30 (I think) to see where things stood... and I was 3cm and 95% effaced (hooray)! And she decided to break my water to get things moving a little faster. The whole water breaking thing was not as bad as I had expected (the hook thing looks very terrifying) but the exam by the doctor was more painful. And then we waited...
A few hours after the water was broken, the contractions started to get worse. But it was all in my back... and back labor is the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. I endured an hour or 2 of that pain but it was a constant pain and no matter how I moved or what I did, it never went away. At that point, I asked for the epidural, thinking it would take the anesthesiologist awhile to get to me... but it didn't... she was there within 20 minutes. And the relief was pretty instantaneous. However, I will state that getting an epidural is probably the scariest thing I did that night. All it takes is one little slip and BOOM, that's it. But it was probably the best thing I did... it allowed me to relax and enjoy my time there (I could still feel the contractions but they were dull and I couldn't feel the back labor anymore).
Throughout the whole night, I had a couple different visitors. My dad stopped in a few times, Matt's mom came in and out, Rose stopped by and so did Stevie and Amber. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without them--they kept my spirits up and just plain entertained me. Especially Stevie, who sat by the contraction monitor and let me know when I was having one (even though I could still feel them) and when the blood pressure cuff would go off. I don't know what I would have done without his help... haha. And they were all very eager to get the show on the road... they didn't want to leave the hospital. So when I was checked at 10pm-ish and found to be 8 cm, almost completely effaced, things looked promising that I would be delivering within the next 2 hours. SIKE.
Things went... differently than we all thought from then on. I can't really remember times anymore. I do know that when I was checked again in 2 hours, I was starting to feel some pain. And I hadn't gotten any further. I had what is referred to as an "anterior lip" which is where the cervix is almost completely gone, except one tiny little portion that would disappear with each push but would come right back. The problem with that is that with all the pushing, the cervix can become swollen and you really don't want that. So they had me do some practice pushes, not all out pushes, to see if that helped with the cervix. And we did that for a few hours. At this point, I'm tired and hungry and testy. I was ready to have this baby!
Around 2 AM, I had to start pushing. By had to, I mean there was no way I couldn't push. They checked me again and I was in shape to start! The baby's head was still high but that just meant I would have to work harder to get her down. I started pushing; it was difficult at first, I'm not going to lie, but it wasn't too bad. And so I pushed. And I pushed. After pushing until 4am (yeah, 2 hours straight), I was hopeless. Luckily, my mom, Justina and Matt kept reassuring me that I could do it. At this point, the midwife, Renee and my L&D nurse Becca decided it would be best if we took a half hour break, try to get some sleep, as the baby's head was still high. Then they started talking about other options, such as the vacuum or c-section. (More on that then.) Somehow I did manage a 25 minute nap, as did Matt. Meanwhile, Mom, Dad, Justina, and Matt's mom were all waiting in the waiting room. Rose, Stevie and Amber had gone home a few hours prior.
When we woke up from our nap, I couldn't stop pushing. The pain and the immense pressure I was feeling was unbelievable. There was no way I could stop. So Becca went and got Renee out of surgery (she was assisting the doctor in a c-section) and they told me to go for it. After another half hour or so of pushing, Cadence Faith FINALLY made her appearance at 5:09am after almost 3 hours of pushing. And as soon as she was here, all the pain and pressure and everything else went away. After Matt cut the cord, they placed her on my chest. And she was (is) beautiful. She was nice and pink, had a good crying going on. And I told her "It's about time kiddo." Then they took her to the warmer and to get her measurements. Those were a shock: 7lbs 13.6oz, 21" long. ??! Almost 8lbs... they were predicting a big baby but good golly! She was breathing a little irregularly so we did some skin-to-skin time and she shaped right up.
We spent some time in the L&D room, I was FINALLY able to eat breakfast (confession: I had 3 breakfasts that morning). Then we went up to the 9th floor to our "home" for the next 2 days. My OB came in to see me... she couldn't believe it had taken all night. Cadence was in the nursery; her doc came in to tell us that she was beautiful (I'm sure they say that to all new mothers but it still felt great to hear). Cady did have a hematoma on her head, but it was probably from all the pushing and would go away on its own (and it has). The doctor thought he heard a small heart murmur but I didn't believe that for a second. With as many ultrasounds and NSTs we had, if she did have a murmur, I'm sure one of those tests would have picked up on it. So I just dismissed that. And then we slept. Slept as much as we could anyway... nurses were in and out to check on my stomach/uterus and bleeding situation (I think I bled more during delivery than is normal). And that is my labor and delivery story! It was hellish at times... but soooooooooo worth it.
she is sooo beautiful! congrats. are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding?
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