So the last post before I had my little man I had my induction date set. Jackson decided that he was content to stay in my belly so I had to be induced to get him out! My doctor is actually not one to induce early at all-- she wants to make you get to 40 weeks if possible (unlike a lot of them out there that want to schedule early inductions at 38-39 weeks). That being said she typically will induce by 41 weeks because babies tend to have another growth spurt between 41-42 weeks and that often leads to a big baby that makes delivery more difficult and she doesn't like to do c-sections (another bonus point for her!) So anyway, that's where I left off :)
On the morning of November 20, 2012 we walked into the hospital. We checked in at the ridiculously early hour of 5:00am. I got changed into the gown and hooked up to monitors (I was actually having contractions already but they were the false labor variety). Then there was a lady that came into L&D at like 8cm sooo I was put on the back burner for a bit. At 7:00 they finally came in and started my IVs (fluids and pitocin) and the doctor came in to check me and break my water. At that point I was 1-2cm, 95% effaced, and at a +2 station (to quote her "whoa that baby's low!" lol) So after she broke my water and I got started on the pitocin things got moving. They started the pitocin very low and then kept upping it gradually every hour or so. My mom arrived around 8am. At this point I had her start to keep track of everything for me because I knew I'd totally forget the timetables!
So at the beginning I was handling the contractions decently well. I'd say by 8:30/9:00 they started really amping up. They were strong and pretty close together at this point, maybe 3-5min apart and enough so that I had to go into my happy place lol. I thought I'd want to be up and walking around (and in hindsight I probably should have because it might've made things go a bit faster) but I just didn't want to at that point. Partially because of the IV pole I'd have to drag along with me, but also because I was getting some back labor and also feeling the contractions in my hips and thighs (owww!)
At around 10 the nurse asked me if I wanted the epidural. I was iffy at this point. The contractions were painful and intense so I decided to have her check me to see how far along I was so I could judge if I'd need it or not. Well I felt a bit wimpy when she said I was only 3-4cm. So I told her that I'd go ahead and get it. She assured me that I wasn't a wimp but that it might help me dilate quicker when my body could relax. So at 10:30 the anesthesiologist came in. I was glad to see him at this point! ;) He was great and talked me through everything. He got the epidural in just fine and I was feeling pretty awesome after that! Family members were coming in and out to check in and visit and I was cool with that now! I felt like I had had a couple glasses of wine but I wasn't out of my mind or sleepy or anything. The epidural did take more on my left side so I couldn't feel the contractions anywhere but I could still move my right leg just fine... my left one on the other hand was completely numb. "Asleep" feeling. We got some good laughs at me trying to move my leg lol. At 11:19 the nurses put in a catheter which was no biggie cause I was numb from the epidural. At 1:00 my doctor came in again to check on me. I was 6cm and 100% effaced. They were having a hard time getting his heartrate on the monitor, and because of the epidural and picocin, my doctor opted to do internal monitors so she could keep track of it. It was no big deal but I joked I felt like I could be plugged in and lit up like a Christmas tree I had so many wires and things coming out of me lol.
Then at 3:00pm I was at 7cm and my epidural started wearing off. At first I noticed I could feel contractions in my right hip, then eventually it wore off pretty much from right to left until I was feeling EVERYTHING. When I noticed it wearing off I told the nurses but I ended up having to wait a little bit for the anesthesiologist to get out of surgery. So I did and during this little time frame I got a taste of natural labor. Yeah it was NOT fun. I was beginning transition so it was pretty darned painful! The anesthesiologist came to my rescue though and put some more of the good stuff in my epidural. I felt MUCH better after that!
During that transition period though a few WEIRD things happened. First of all I threw up. Twice. Once when the epidural wore off and then again after I was numb again. What was strange about it is I didn't feel nauseous but it was just "ok I'm gonna get sick". I also got the uncontrollable shakes and burst into tears completely randomly. lol CRAZY. The shakes and tears came right before I was ready to push. It was the weirdest thing and I had no idea that could happen haha.
Then at 3:30 my epidural started wearing off AGAIN. This time in addition to feeling the pain of the contractions, I also felt intense pressure. The nurse checked me and I was 9+ cm (just a tiny bit of cervix remained) They were back and forth as to whether I'd be able to get anything for the pain because I was so close to pushing but at this point they figured that I wasn't relaxing enough to fully dilate so the anesthesiologist came to my rescue again. He put something else in my epidural, not sure what, it wasn't as strong as before but it took the edge off enough I could get through it.
At 4:30 I was feeling the crazy pressure again and started getting the urge to push. I still hadn't completely dilated yet and he was facing the wrong way so they had me in all sorts of positions trying to get him to turn (he did eventually). At 5:00 I was finally fully dilated and ready to push. Pushing was harder than I thought it would be, well let me rephrase that, pushing RIGHT was harder than I thought it would be. After a couple times though I got the hang of it. At 5:10 they had me STOP pushing and blow through the contractions (yeah, that was fun), and at 5:15 my doctor came in. I pushed a few more times (though it felt like FOREVER). I was to the point where I honestly begain to feel like I couldn't do it anymore. Like I couldn't get enough air in between pushes. Then is when my doctor brought my hand down so I could feel his head and told me "he's right there, he's almost out!" That gave me the motivation to keep going! And finally at 5:33pm my little 7 pound 9 ounce miracle was born!
They put him on my belly right away and the feeling was completely surreal! After they cleaned him (and me) up and my husband and I held him a bit, I nursed him (he latched right on with no problems!) and then our family came back to see him.
It's amazing how in that moment your life can just completely change. I'm so in love with my little man, and as much as it makes me sad that time is going so fast and he's growing and changing so quickly-- I also get so much joy seeing him grow and learn every single day. He's my whole world!
We brought our little guy home on Thanksgiving Day-- definitely something to be thankful for!
Here's the video version I recorded when he was a week old! I also have a bunch of videos of Jackson and updates on my YouTube channel if you want to check that out!
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