Warning - this has lots of medical and girly part references (I'll try to keep it mild), so just be aware that this is our birth story so it may be a bit TMI :)
So, once upon a time I had this grand idea about having a natural childbirth. I never really blogged about it and tried not to be on my soapbox about it too much (but admittedly so, I probably was more often than I would like to admit), but then I went about 10 days over my due date and we decided to call it a day and be induced. We knew in all likelihood going natural was getting less and less likely, but off to St. Anthony we went.
Tuesday night (December 13th) - 6 PM - arrive at St. Anthony, get checked in and wait for room (they were full and had 5 births the night before - dang!).
9:30 PM - got our room and got ready to start this whole labor process.
11:00 PM - started Cervidil - which is meant to soften and dilate the cervix as I was high, hard and closed (yes, words I loved to hear at the doctor's office).
After this, I had to stay in bed for an hour and be monitored, then I could walk around after that. We paced the halls trying to get things going, but my contractions were still 6-10 minutes apart and not that bad.
Wednesday morning (December 14th) - 5 AM - the Cervidil was removed, and we started Pitocin. Ugh. Everything anyone says about Pitocin is true. I was a 1 but the Cervidil had done its job, so they increased the Pitocin every 20 or 30 minutes and within a few hours my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. I was trying to walk, sit on the exercise ball, lie down, relax, etc., but there wasn't much relief. It was like period cramps but times 307.
This is where time gets a bit fuzzy...
I got a new nurse, and I decided that I couldn't make it through the remainder of labor unmedicated. We first stopped the Pitocin, which slowed down the contractions but they stayed the same intensity. In essence, I could have labored for days since after being taken off the Pitocin my contractions got slower and slower.
Then came some Demerol. I was less anxious and there were fewer tears, but the pain level was the same. I think around 11 AM I officially threw in the towel and asked for an epidural. I was at a 3/4 at this point in time.
From this point, I was in bed, sleeping on and off, and saying how cold my legs were and that they felt swollen (neither of these things were fact, but I felt pretty funny). The epidural was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be (or the horror stories led me to believe), and off we went with the Pitocin to really get labor going.
Around 3 or 4 that afternoon, I was dilated to an 8, but Cam was still high. We had the option to break my water, but it sounded risky as she could drop suddenly and fall on her cord, which would be bad news and result in a c-section.
So we waited.
Around 10 PM, I felt my water break, but it was only the top portion of it, a big bubble was still cushioning Cam's head. Within about 30 minutes, the remaining portion broke and it was time to push.
11 PM (still Wednesday), we started pushing. Long story short, 2 AM rolled around and we were still pushing. Cam was stuck on my pelvis and not making much progress. My doctor was at home monitoring me while the nurses helped me push. About this time he arrived, and about 10 other people came to the room (not exaggerating, there were nurses every where and a resident).
I am guessing at about 2:30 AM (Thursday the 15th), my doctor watched me push and told me I had two options - use a vacuum to get her the rest of the way out, or move to a c-section since she wasn't fitting through my pelvis. I opted for the vacuum, and after I don't know how many pushes, out she came at 2:42 AM. Her cord was wrapped around her neck, so she was pulled out pretty quickly, and it seemed like an eternity until she finally made a peep. I had to have some stitches, so they focused on me for about 20 minutes (and removed the epidural, blah blah), and Matt got to hold her after about 30 minutes (it was probably much shorter, but it seemed like forever) **I am now amending this after Matt read it. It was only 10 minutes before he got to hold her. Like I said, things were fuzzy... I got to her hold her shortly after that. She fed immediately and our moms got to meet her at about 4 AM something.
Cameron Claire Earles
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
2:42 AM
7 lbs, 13 oz.
21" long
We got to come home the next afternoon (so Friday the 16th just after lunch) and we've been figuring it out ever since.
Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers - we are so glad to have her here!
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