As Chelsea's first birthday approaches, I find myself very reminiscent. I was reading through my old livejournal the other day, and came across my labour story. I'd like to post it here as well. It's long so I apologize.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday, April 11. I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant, but everything had been going well. However, that day, my blood pressure (BP) was up and my doctor was concerned. She told me to go to the hospital the next day and we'd do a BP check and a nonstress test (which basically just monitors the baby's heartrate and how often the baby moves). Easy enough. It should have been a half hour appointment at the hospital. I got to the hospital at 9:30 and was still there at 2:00!!

My BP was up and was not coming down and because I was already almost a week overdue, they wanted me to stay at the hospital to be induced. I finally convinced them to let me go home and get my things, tidy up a bit and get my husband. They agreed, but I had to be back and checked in for 4:30. We were going to have that baby! At this time, the baby was still very high up, I was not dilated nor effaced. Basically, my body was showing absolutely NO signs of being ready to go into labour. I was warned this might be a long, drawn out process. I don't think anyone had any idea how bad it was really going to be.

I got my first insert of Cervidil (google if you wish) on Thursday night. It started contractions that were about 4-5 minutes apart. Easy enough that I could continue to watch Grey's Anatomy on my laptop. But, the thing that surprised me was that I was having back labour. The contractions were killing my back, but I couldn't really feel them in my tummy. The shower really helped, but I was going to be having back labour for the rest of my labour. It was terrible!

That night at about 2:00 in the morning the contractions were about 4 minutes apart and getting fairly painful and the nurses convinced me to take a shot of Demerol so I could get some sleep and be ready for Friday - more induction. The thing with Demerol is it doesn't really control the pain, so you still wake up and very much feel the contractions, but you forget them and fall asleep in between each one. You feel higher than a kite (not that I've ever been high, but I'm assuming) and you sleep really well during your 4 minute break. I would have another 2 shots of Demerol during my time at Boundary.

Friday was more of the same with another 2 doses of Cervidil. I won't explain why, but I had a feeling the Friday morning dose had fallen out, but my nurse refused to check 'cause she told me it was virtually impossible. Imagine my frustration, when they check 12 hours later and indeed it had fallen out. A whole 12 hours with no meds causing contractions. This will be known as mistake #1. I don't remember much about Friday. Everything started to blur together. I was having contractions about 3-4 minutes apart that I could breathe through and my parents were out distracting me and keeping us company.

Saturday morning, much more of the same I think. Nothing was really working. I was now 50% effaced and 2 cm dilated. Really, nothing at all had happened. The nurses told me my water had broken, which was exciting, but then the doctor told me it hadn't (when really it had). This shall be known as mistake #2. Saturday night, they decided to give me a break because they would be starting the Oxytocinon or Pitocin drip in the morning. This is a terrible drug that causes intense contractions and I was not looking forward to it. We were told we could order in some pizza and just relax for the evening and get a good night's sleep to prepare for Sunday. WRONG! As soon as the pizza was delivered, I started getting contractions about 2-3 minutes apart that were incredibly intense. I think this is when I told Chris to shut up. :) I was mad because I had been promised a break and now I was in labour without the drugs. Grr. Anyways, I wound up begging for an epidural at around midnight. This was by far the scariest moment of the entire process. You want to put a needle and a tube in my spine? Sure?! Why not! It was good - great actually - for about 3-4 hours. I slept like I've never slept before. Then... mistake #3.

Apparently the doctor who did my epidural wasn't confident doing them. About 4 hours after my epidural, I started feeling the contractions more and more. When they came to do the pain test, they discovered that the epidural had shifted and was now numbing my legs, not my back or belly. This royally sucked because it meant I could no longer walk around, stand in the shower or change positions at all. I couldn't stand up. I couldn't do anything but lay there and endure the contractions. This is when I started using the laughing gas - which, by the way, doesn't make you laugh when you are in labour. So, on and on this went. Sunday morning they started me on the drip and things started to get even more intense. I was crying all day long, then vomiting some, then crying some more. It was ridiculous. By Sunday morning, I was at 5cm by the way. Not too bad, but still a heck of a long ways to go. I don't remember much about Sunday at all. Sunday night, after the worst day of my life, my doctor checked me around 10:00 and told me I was at a 9! (This will be referred to as mistake #4) Woo hoo! I could handle the pain and nausea and all that other fun stuff because it was pain with a purpose. I was almost done.

The nurse then had to check me for something and discovered that I was not at a 9, but a 6. This was confirmed by two other nurses. I was done. How does my doctor get a 9 and a 6 mixed up?!? I was done. I had been in intense labour for almost 24 hours for 1 cm. I said then and there that I was refusing to do anymore and I wanted a c-section. The nurses all pushed for this because no one could figure out why I hadn't had one days ago, but it was never given to me as an option. Minutes later, I was signing papers and being prepped for surgery. I was given a spinal, which numbed me from the shoulders down. It was the weirdest sensation ever, but at this point in time, a welcome relief. After a few minutes in the surgery, we were told we had a beautiful, healthy baby girl with a full head of hair. Now, I'm not saying that this made it all worth it, but at least now I had a baby to show for all my hard work. A baby. Man, oh man, I don't think anything about this labour and delivery went as planned or went well at all. It's ridiculous to think about all the mistakes and complications that happened. I just have to keep focussing on the fact that I have a beautiful baby girl who is healthy.



Wow - I'm so glad I had written that down shortly after I got home. Anyways, I'm sure there will be more posts as I get closer to Chelsea's birthday.