So she's finally here...yes, I made it through the labor and delivery of our third child -- Victoria Fernanda. Yippee! (For the record she was born on April 7 at 8:29 p.m., weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long.)
I have to say it was the most painful but probably the most natural and fastest delivery of all three kids.
It all started when I went to my scheduled doctor's visit on the 7th in the morning for a possible 'natural' induction (stretching of the cervix). The doctor thought that due to my age and the fact that I had a mild case of gestational diabetes, I should get things started earlier than my predicted due date of April 11. My husband and I tried our own form of stretching the cervix in the the, ahem, privacy of our own bedroom, but that didn't yield any productive contractions, though I had plenty of Braxton Hicks false ones! I knew there was a good possiblity that my water could break in the office, so I came prepared with my hospital suitcase.
However, when the doctor took a sonogram of the baby, he said the amount of amniotic fluid looked significantly lower than it did when he examined me earlier that week. To avoid potential risks to the baby, he wanted me to head over to Long Island Jewish Hopsital to get induced.
The induction would be done through the vaginal insertion of either Cervadil or Cytotec. The purpose of doing this would be to begin contractions and ripen the cervix. This could take, the doctors predicted, up to 12 to 24 hours.
After filling out paperwork and waiting two hours for a pre-delivery room, I was seen at about 2 p.m. by a resident doctor, who inserted the Cytotec. My mom was with me the whole time. We both whiled away the time talking, reading and listening to music. She was reading a Sonia Sotoymayor biography and I was listening to itunes on my husband's ipod.
Around 3:30 I started to get regular contractions every 2 to 5 minutes. This went on for a good 3 hours. Overall I would say I was pretty relaxed. During this time period my cervix stayed dilated for about 2 cm.
Around 5:30 the contractions started to get more painful, and the doctors made the choice not to insert another Cytotec pill because I responded immediately to the first dose. I had to resort to exhaling a succession of quick puffs of air (something I learned in a Lamaze class over 7 years ago), and having my husband massage acupressure points on my body on my prompting. It was getting quite uncomfortable, though not unbearable, not yet anyway....
At around 6:30 p.m. I heard a sudden pop and my water began gushing all over the hospital bed mattress. More water continued to flow out. Gush, gush, trickle, trickle. The pain began to increase, and one of the nurses asked if I wanted pain relief yet, such as an epidural, but that would mean they would have to bring me over to labor and delivery. I said I was ok and that I would try the breathing and acupressure for the time being. That didn't last too long -- around 15 minutes.
A resident doctor's examination showed now that I was more than 5 cm dilated. At this point I insisted on an epidural, but they told me I had to wait because there was no delivery room available.
Then it happened. It was around 7:30 and I felt this enormous pressure in my pelvis. The contractions were so strong at this point I could hardly move or talk, but I could curse.
"It hurts like hell! S&*^t! F*&*! Do something!" I screamed to whoever would listen.
Susan you were brave not to demand to the nurse to give you the epidural. i remember my delivery it was good until my epidural wore off and my placenta would not come out on its own. The doctor had to remove it manually and boy did it F*&* hurt!
ReplyDeleteThank God all turned out fine and you have a beautiful daughter! All the best to you and your family. When you have your next meet up perhaps I can come by with my daughter.