And then there were three

Well, it's about time that I shared all the gory details of my labor story. Well okay I won't really share all the gory details because I just don't feel comfortable doing that on the internet. But seriously, any details that are not included you are more than welcome to ask me about. As a friend of mine always says, "I am an open book." And I am....ask away!

As you probably already know, I went into the hospital to be induced on Tuesday, April 6 because my doctor felt it would be best for Felicity to come on out. So, because I trust him because he brought both me and my sister into the world over 20 years ago, I decided to comply. Daniel got off work early and my sister Kristin and my Mom came over to help us to get things in order before going to the hospital. By 4 p.m. Daniel and I were at Northside Hospital. It took quite a while to fill out all of the paperwork and it left me wondering how people who are truly in labor have time and patience to sit and sign pages and pages of stuff. Hmm.

The first of many nice nurses who cared for me, Carol, checked me and confirmed that I was still indeed only 1 cm dilated so I would receive Cervidil to help my body to further dilate. At 7 p.m. the Cervidil was inserted. I was supposed to be able to rest all night while Cervidil did its job and then receive Pitocin in the morning to start the contractions, but alas, we did not go according to the plan! My contractions quickly picked up and occured about every 4 minutes at first, but were rapidly growing closer together and more intense, i.e. more painful. Daniel and I decided to watch Hannah Montana the movie. Haha I know this sounds quite humorous but we had started it the night before and just had to see what happened in the end. So, we rested in bed, watched the movie, contacted friends, and ate dinner still assuming that things would go according to plan.

The nurses had encouraged me to take Ambien so that I could sleep through the worsening contractions, so I finally agreed after some persuasion. At midnight I took the Ambien and was told I only had about 20 more minutes that I could walk around because walking is not adviced while on a medication used to make you sleep! So, I continued walking around as long as I was allowed because being up and moving or rocking in a chair was the only way that I could get some relief from the increasingly intense pain from contractions. Because the nurses told me I should be able to sleep through the contractions, I finally got in bed thinking either that a) the Cervidil was working much quicker than expected or b) I was a total wimp for thinking that the pain I was feeling was intense because I was supposed to have many many more hours of labor left and this was just the beginning of the pain! So, from about 1-2 a.m., Daniel slept on his tiny little couch-bed and I dozed in and out of weird Ambien/hippy dreams to be awakened for a minute-long contraction every 3 minutes. At 2 I finally woke Daniel up because the pain was increasing and laying in bed just seemed impossibly uncomfortable for me. For the next hour Daniel helped me to deal with the pain while I rocked and tried going to the bathroom several times (I felt like I had to go but nothing ever came out! Hmm...I knew labor was surely moving quicker than expected at the point, but the nurses seemed to think I was just being whiney!)

Finally at 3 a.m. a nurse agreed to check my cervix because the Cervidil has been in for 8 hours at the point. She checked me and was very surprised to find that I was already dilated to 5 cm. She removed the Cervidil and decided that it would be a great time to get my epidural. So, I was hooked up to the IV to receive some fluids to combat low blood pressure often brought on by an epidural. Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that I am not a big fan of taking any sort of medication for pain, sickness, etc. Thus, the reason I was initially opposed to getting an epidural. However, because of the anomaly on my brain (most likely not problematic, but it could be at some point in my life) my doctor said he would be more comfortable if I got an epidural, so I agreed to get one. I was slightly disappointed with this though because I wanted to be able to experience all the pain of labor, as crazy as it sounds! But, like I said, I agreed to get the epidural and had the nurse send in the anesthesiologist to give it to me. The anesthesiologist arrived at about 4 a.m. and had quite a difficult time giving me the epidural because at that point I was having intensely painful contractions every other minute and I had "the shakes" like crazy! Daniel and the nurse literally had to hold me down while I got the epidural. Because I was moving so much, the anesthesiologist missed on his first try and sent blood spewing out of my back (now doesn't that sound quite dramatic?!). But, he succeeded on his second try. Daniel, who has a passion for anesthesia (except he gives it to animals!), was quite impressed with the skill of the anesthesiologist. As I was receiving the epidural, I cried out that something was coming out of me that didn't feel like it should be. After receiving the epidural, the nurse decided to take a look and also to see how far dilated I was. Imagine our surprise (well I wasn't too surprised considering how I felt!) when the nurse saw that my unruptured bag of waters had come out! That is what came out of me that didn't quite feel right! The nurse was both surprised and giddy with excitement because apparently that rarely ever happens (when a woman's "water breaks", the bag of waters ruptures. If this doesn't happen before labor begins, the doctor usually breaks it.) When she checked me, she found that I was already dilated 10 cm. I went from 5 to 10 cm in an hour! In other words, it was time to push! This was great news for me considering the fact that I was resistant to the idea of receiving an epidural. Many women say that the transition phase, when you dilate for 7-8 cm to 10 cm, is the most painful part of labor and I was so glad that I got to experience that part of labor without an epidural! The epidural did provide some welcome relief though as I waited for the doctor to arrive and for the nurses to prepare for Felicity's arrival.

Speaking of doctors, my doctor was busy delivering another baby so we had the hospital's doctor on-call come to deliver Felicity. Soon after she came to my room, she had to leave to deliver another baby! It was quite a busy time a Northside Hospital! So, our wonderful nurse and Daniel coached me through most of the pushing! (Daniel was a most excellent coach, by the way.) I admit that I was an awful pusher though! Between having the Ambien and the fresh epidural, I could feel nothing and could hardly stay awake. I was literally falling asleep between contractions. After many minutes of pushing, the nurse suggested we take a break and I gladly accepted that offer. While dozing in and out of sleep, I asked Daniel to download "Eye of the Tiger" to inspire me as I pushed. Yep, seriously. So, he quickly got on I Tunes and obliged. Why "Eye of the Tiger" you ask? That song always makes me want to wake up really early and go running. Seriously. I never do, it just makes me want to. In other words, it gets me pumped up!!! So, the nurse returned and eventually the doctor came back and I continued pushing while "Eye of the Tiger" played on repeat in the background. After about an hour and a half of pushing, Felicity finally made her entrance into the world! It was a truly beautiful moment that I wouldn't trade for the world. After I held her for a bit, Felicity was quickly whisked away to be checked out by the nurse. She was brought back to me once they saw that she was healthy and I was able to feed her for the first time. What a blessing! And thus began our lives together....