The one thing I did do that day was make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, which would come in very handy after delivery since I hadn't eaten anything. The doctor even ate some (after he had cleaned up and come back to check on me). I told him he could have one, even though I thought even offering was gross considering everything that had just gone down in the delivery room. But he took one and then took another, because he said they were yummy. If I say so myself, I do make a mean oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
7:30 am
Thursday, July 10 started out like a normal day for us. I had one of my weekly doctor appointments, and Alex didn't have to go to work until noon so we were going about each of our morning routines. As I was getting ready, my water broke. Alex was outside with the dogs, and I ran through the house and yelled to him, "I think my water just broke! Yeah, it definitely did!" Then I proceeded to run around the house like a chicken with its head cut off. I thought I had my wits about me, because I even thought to grab the iphone charger and throw it in a bag with a few other random things, but hours later when my phone died, I realized I had grabbed an ipad charger. Sigh. But as it turns out, labor is terribly painful, so I wouldn't so much be needing a phone or really anything other than the labor and delivery nurse and my husband's hand to squeezefor the next few hours.
8:00 am
When we got to the doctor's office, they checked to make sure my water had indeed broken (but first they had me wait in the waiting room for a little bit... looking like I'd peed my pants about 4 times... awesome). They confirmed that yes, it had broken, but I was nowhere near going into labor, and since my blood pressure was pretty high, I would need to be induced, and that it would most likely be a slow labor, 24 hours or more. I remembered somewhere in the recesses of my mind other women mentioning that being induced can make contractions worse since they don't start naturally. But I quickly pushed that aside and reminded myself, "You're getting an epidural as soon as they'll let you. It will be fine." To say I was unprepared for the way my labor would happen is an understatement!
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| Me, before labor really started. I was texting a picture of my new haircut to my friend Rachel :) |
11:00 am
Before Alex got back I started having contractions. "These aren't so bad," I naively thought to myself. "I'm just a little crampy. It's kind of cool that they're already coming 5 minutes apart." Let's just say I was 100% not mentally prepared for labor. Not. At. All. Alex got back shortly after they started, and we just talked a little bit and waited some more.
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
My contractions got more and more uncomfortable. The nurse checked to see how far along I was around 3:00 pm. I was only 1 cm dilated, so she said (again) that it was going to be a LONG day. I asked about the epidural, since I knew I wanted one and the contractions were starting to get more uncomfortable (side note: if you can describe them as "uncomfortable," they aren't as bad as they're going to get... I had no idea). They explained to me they don't like patients to get an epidural yet when they aren't very far along, because that can slow down labor, and my labor was already going to progress very slowly (I think they jinxed me by saying that SO MUCH). I agreed and decided I could tough it out a little longer, since that was their recommendation. Now I know to be more assertive for next time.
4:00 pm
It got bad really really quickly. Like, the nurse had to get in my face to yell at me to stop panicking, because I wasn't breathing and I just couldn't deal with what was happening. So, through this terrible pain, I was thinking, "I must be a total wimp, how can it be this bad when I'm only 1 cm??" They still wouldn't give me the epidural, but I did get some of the IV pain meds that don't do too much except make you really loopy, but at the time, it was enough to help me calm down at least.
5:30 pm
The IV medicine wore off and the contractions were SO BAD. I have never felt pain like that. I asked for more of the IV meds. The nurse said, "Well, we can give you more, but it doesn't usually work as well the second time." I asked about the epidural again, and she said she'd have to check to see how far along I was, which she didn't want to do because of the risk of infection. I don't know if I eventually just wore her down, or if she was tired of me freaking out from the pain, but a little while later, she said, "I'll check again, but you probably won't be very far along."
6:00 pm
So, she proceeds to check to see how far along I am. When she finishes, she doesn't say anything right away, and she starts getting a lot of stuff in the room moved around. Then she says, "Well. You're 9 cm, almost 10, so I'm going to get the doctor so you can start pushing." Um, excuse me? This whole time, you guys have been telling me I can't get the epidural because it would slow my labor down, and I ended up going through everything without one?? I was in too much pain to be frustrated. And then I said, "Can I have the epidural now at least?" The nurse told me I had already gone through the most painful part of labor without it, but if I still wanted it they would call the anesthesiologist. I didn't think I had the mental ability and physical strength to push while also in that much pain, so I asked for the epidural anyway. It's easy now to say I wish I hadn't gotten one, but honestly, I know it was the right decision for me, in the amount of pain I was in.
**Side Note: The nurse was awesome, and she would hold my hand and breathe with me through contractions, since I wasn't mentally prepared for a natural childbirth. She was a total gift from God for my labor experience!**
6:30 - 7:00 pm
So, they called for an epidural. Don't tell a woman in the end stages of labor that the anesthesiologist will be there in 1 minute, when in fact, it will take him 15 minutes. That's 15 contractions. So, finally they had to call a second anesthesiologist, because the first one never came, and they gave me the epidural. It helped my contractions in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly go... everywhere it needed to. So they had to readjust some things and we waited another 15 minutes. Basically, my left side and leg were totally dead, and the right side pretty much felt everything. At that point I didn't even care, I just wanted to be done. Apparently, I wasn't the best at pushing, and they had to use a vacuum to get Luca out. The doctor said I was a couple of seconds away from having to have a C-section (I had preeclampsia, and he needed to be delivered pretty much right when he was). I'm so thankful he came out when he did, at exactly the right moment! I'm fine with a C-section, but if I ever have one, I would prefer it to be planned and not after hours of labor!
7:26 pm
Luca Alexander Batista is born! :)
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| After he is all cleaned up and back in our room! |
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| Holding him for the first time! :) |
My heart is full of thankfulness! And wisdom for next time! :)
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| Our little sweetie pie on his first day with us :) |
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| Alex getting to know Luca. He's such a good Papa! |
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