Last Thursday at my appointment the doctor gave me a sheet telling me to call in at 5:30 am to see if the hospital would have a bed open for my induction at 7:00 am. We made sure to have everything ready last night since it would be an early morning today...or so we thought. I called and 5:30 and wouldn't you know they were full! They told me to call back at 8:30. Russ and I went back to sleep for an hour before my dad came and woke us up wondering if we had missed the alarm to call the doctors. We assured him and mom that we hadn't missed it, but were just waiting to call again. We helped get Lily off to school and reminded her that we wouldn't be home for when she got home, nor for the next few days. She was bit sad and stressed but went to school anyway.
8:30 rolled around and I called the hospital again...no luck. I was told to call back at 11:00. By this point I was sad because I figured there was NO WAY I was going to get the fun birthday the doctor had planned for our little one. Stupid thing to be sad about, but at least it was keeping my mind of the upcoming labor. At 10:30 I got a call to come in, they finally had a room for me! YIPEE! We quickly gave Allie hugs and kisses and scooted out the door before she could put up a fuss. The hour drive went by quickly and we found ourselves parked on top floor of the parking garage. Russ made sure to park by the elevator so I wouldn't go into labor walking down four flights of stairs, LOL!
After the initial paperwork was signed the nurse tried to start my IV. I warned her that it was going to be difficult, which she agreed with when seeing my veins. She thought she had found a good one in my right hand and tried it. Almost as soon as she stuck me the vein blew and I ended up with gushing blood and bump the size of ping pong ball on my wrist. I didn't see it happen but Russ said it almost instantaneously swelled like that. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it! Anyway the nurse was a bit more cautious next time and got a good vein in my left hand....which if I remember right is where I was get them at.
Dr. Thompson came in and apologized that we were getting a late start on the induction. She said it is a rare occurrence for the hospital to be full but they had a few unusual cases come in that had filled up some beds. I wasn't too concerned since I was finally there. Now if I hadn't been able to get in today, then I might have been mad. She gave the nurse orders to go ahead and get me started on the pitocin. At 12:30 on the dot Bridgett {the nurse} turned on the pitocin. Within the first 15 minutes I started regular contractions! Every 15 minutes for the next 3 hours she turned the dose up on the pitocin. The contractions got more intense but I was handling them so I waited on my epidural.
About this time Doctor Thompson came in and broke my water. I've never had this done before epidural-free, and let me just say it is NOT comfortable at all! Not much happened even though she broke my water. In fact I asked if she had actually succeeded in doing so. She laughed and said yes, the baby is just holding most of it in. Things stayed the same for about 15 minutes until the baby shifted a bit. Then my water truly broke and the contractions intensified. By this time I was at 5 cm and felt pleased enough with myself for making it that far that I asked for an epidural.
The anesthesiologist started working it at around 4:00. The hospital had a rule that Russ had to leave for this which left me a bit uneasy, but I made it through. The anesthesiologist was quite informative and wanted to know if I knew that I had a slight case of scoliosis. Ummm...nope didn't know that. No need to worry though he said it didn't need treated unless the back pain bothered me. So that is why I have back pain! LOL! He also showed the nurse and pointed on my back where my other two epidurals had been. I had no idea they left noticeable divots in my skin. Anyway he did a great job putting it in fairly painlessly. Within 15 minutes it took affect. This epidural was different than the last two in the fact that I could still feel my toes and the contractions. The contractions weren't painful but I could still feel my belly tighten. It was weird but nice at the same time.
The anesthesiologist walked out the door when and the nurse decided to check me again. Still at 5 cm. Almost as soon as she was done I started shaking. Not just a little but the full on uncontrollable shakes. I thought I was going to get sick {since I did with Lily and Allie} but I just kept shaking instead. As soon as I started shaking the nurse said she needed to check me because I was probably getting close. Huh?! No more than five minutes had passed but she checked me again and I was an 8! She got on the phone and called for the doctor...who of course was delivering a baby. She requested that another doctor come wait with me "just in case" By then my room was being flooded with people who were going to "help out" Okay just three people but that is three more people than I had ever had with my other girls. Another five minutes had gone by and the "sub" doctor arrived. Nurse checked me again and I was 10! Can I just say how glad I am that I got my epidural when I did?
By this time the doctor was teasing me telling me "don't sneeze, cough, or laugh so Dr. Thompson can get here to deliver you". Ummmm....okay :) We waited about 5 - 10 minutes like this before my doctor came walking in. Three pushes later, Charlotte was born at 5:21PM! They handed her to me as soon as she was wrapped up. I love that I got to do this, it always reminds me of how I missed out on it with Lily since she was ushered away. The baby nurse let me hold her until I told her that she had wet on me twice and they figured she better get a diaper on her, LOL! Russ was great and remembered to take pictures this time. I heard the nurse talking to him about Charlotte's red hair and how big she was. It was fun listening to his responses as it was clear how excited and proud he was of our little one.
Doctor Thompson wrapped up her paperwork, told me congrats, and was amazed at how well I did with such a large baby. Hehehehe! She and all the "extra" help left us alone. The nurse stayed around for awhile longer to keep taking my vitals but in general left me and Russ alone with Charlotte. The rest of the night was a bit of blur, but happy blur. Both Russ and I were excited to finally have our little lady here with us!
It isn’t complete because my brain just can’t think that far ahead but it is started which is most important to me. Each month of the year I plan on focusing on a few things that I feel I have let slide in my life. Things I want to commit to. Each of those goals are broken down into smaller goals so that they are easily achievable. I like to set myself up to succeed and this is the best way I see possible. This is what I have so far….