The Birth Experience (Will I ever take the easy way?)

     Wednesday February 24th at 7:00 pm, I went in to have an induction for my pregnancy.  I signed in at the hospital and it took a little while, but they put a drug called Cervidil behind my cervix to get it to "ripen".  This supposedly will dilate the cervix to a 3 so that they can give pit.  However, the cervidil has to be in place for 12 hours (which I did not know).  My dear mother and my sweet husband spent the first night with me.  It was actually very fitful as I was both nervous and excited about the "quick" birth I was about to give.  Dr. Leavitt stopped in to see me and we discussed that I would most likely give birth at around 10 or 11 the next morning.
     I was on my way!  Until...when they checked my cervix the next morning, and found that I was not dilating much at all.  I was barely to a 2 and Dr. Leavitt decided to put me on pit anyway.  So, We did pit for the next day uping the dosage every 15-20 minutes until I was at 20 units per hour.  When I was at the 20 and still not feeling the contractions, Dr. Leavitt came and checked my cervix and found that it was only at a 2.  They decided to turn up the pit to at least 30.  Normally the idea of going to 30 would have been awful for the normal woman, but I still was not feeling a darned thing!  After this did not work either and I was still not dilating, he decided to break my water at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  That was literally the most disgusting thing that I have ever experienced in my entire life.  I was the little girl who potty trained myself at 18 months so that I would not be wet.  I hate being wet, and the gushing from the breaking of the waters was almost more than I could handle...until I actually started feeling the contractions that had been happening all day.  Almost immediately the nurse offered up an epidural and I am an idiot for not taking it at that very moment.  They also offered me some IV pain meds and refused those.  What was I thinking!!  By the time I had them call the anesthesiologist I was in tears and basically frantic.  My hubby was amazing during this time holding my hand and doing his best to read my mind.  But the worst was yet to come.
      The anesthesiologist came in and discussed what he was about to do and I remember asking him how many of these he had done.  I mean, we were talking about my spinal cord.  Well, I was in so much pain that by the time they got me into position for the epidural, I was screaming in agony.  My husband left the room, and my mom sat across the room so that I wouldn't be alone.  Because of my inability to sit still during this time (mind you I am still on a pit drip of 30), the first epidural failed.  I know that part of the right side of my body was affected because I remember my right thigh being numb.  Also, I remember running goo from all of my orifices; nose, eyes, waters, and my mouth was thick with crap from crying which ended up on the nurse.  Yep! I believe that goo all of these types of goo ended up on poor Lisel, the nurse.  So after a little while, I really couldn't tell you how long because I was pretty out of it by this point, another anesthesiologist came in and convinced me to redo the epidural.  I was afraid to try again, but really had nothing to lose.  So I did.  This time I had had some IV drugs and it wasn't so bad.  I remember sitting as still as I possibly could the second time around because I was thinking that this was my last chance for pain relief.  The second one worked.  I remember telling the anesthesiologist, the second one, that I loved him.
     It was a crazy night after that.  They were hoping to get me dilated past the 6 that I was at by that point.  I remember my sister-in-law, Donalee, being there all night by my side.  She would get me ice chips and talk me through any of the things that I was thinking.  She was awesome!  This way my sweet hubby and mother were able to get a little bit of sleep.  I also remember that at some point my other sister-in-law, Lisa, was there and the ladies were sitting around talking.  I know that someone came into the room at around 3:00 am and checked my cervix.  It was still only at a 6 and so they called Dr. Leavitt.  By this point I had had it, and was up for anything.  I remember talking to Dr. Leavitt on the phone and asking him if this was what he would do if he were me.  I had a C-section at 5:00 am.

 

 

     I slightly remember them rolling me into the O.R. and them telling me that they had to reset everything in the room because it was all prepped with Latex, of which I am allergic.  I also remember needing to throw-up and telling the anesthesiologist this.  I barfed in a blue bag that had a strange opening. Then I remember Dr. Leavitt coming in.  After that I remember thinking that I wanted to sleep, so I tried.  At some point my dear Nathan was there staring at my face from above me.  Then in the end I remember them pulling back the curtain in front of me and getting to see Justin for the first time.
     The most horrendous part was that as Dr. Leavitt was sewing me up, the right side of my body was coming out of the epidural.  I literally felt him put my uterus back into my pelvic area, and I could feel them sewing me up and then beginning to staple me together.  The anesthesiologist gave me something at this point that completely knocked me out, and the next thing that I remember I was in a transition room where apparently the cleaned me up and I was able to see Justin and my family.  He was 7 lbs. 14 oz., 21 inches long, with almost auburn hair and entered the world at 5:35 am.
     The hospital is an okay place to stay.  The food wasn't nearly as bad as everyone says it will be, and the nurses were really good to me.  However my complaint would be that they gave me percocet or oxycodon and I was overdosed for a while.  Because I had never been on a narcotic before we didn't know that the normal dose for a person is too much for me.  I know we stayed in the hospital until Monday, I remember meeting the pediatrician that we are going to, and I remember seeing Dr. Leavitt on Sunday because he was in a suit.  I also know that feeding my baby was really tough with all the junk in my system.  The trauma that I had just been through made it so that my milk was not coming in like it would for a regular birth.  I believe that it was Saturday night that I did not sleep all night because Justin just wanted to eat and I let him.  By the time we were leaving the hospital I was supplementing formula, and Justin had lost 13 ounces.  He was 7 lbs. 1 oz. on our doctors visit Tuesday March 2nd.