Avery's Birth Story
Well, I ended up having to be induced. I went for my 41 week appointment on Friday 10/15, and the doctor thought that she might be breech all of a sudden. He told me he wanted me to go to the hospital Saturday morning for a sonogram in the labor and delivery department, and if she was breech, we'd do a c-section. Then I asked if she wasn't breech what would happen since I was already 6 days overdue. He said if she wasn't we'd go ahead with induction.
Soooo... we got there, she wasn't breech, so they started me on pitocin at about 8 am. By about noon, I was having some pretty painful contractions, but they were tolerable with breathing. I really thought the breathing was so stupid until I actually had to do it.
Then at about 3pm, the contractions were really painful, and they checked me again and I was only dilated to 3cm! After all those hours of pitocin and contractions, I had progressed one centimeter! I was really frustrated, obviously. At that point the doctor came in and broke my water, and since I'd heard that it's much more painful after your water breaks (I was already really in pain because the pitocin causes stronger contractions that are closer together than what your body normally produces) I asked for some pain medication, and they gave me something called Stadol (sp?) which made me really loopy. I honestly didn't like the feeling, because the contractions weren't really less painful, I just didn't care as much because I was sort of in a dream state. I kept thinking I was going to do/say something off-the-wall and I didn't like the out-of-control feeling it gave me. At one point I told my mom, husband, and sister that I could hear the nurses in the nurses' station talking about me. ???
That wore off in about an hour or so, and then the contractions were really, really hard. They hurt a lot, but what helped me get through them was that I knew they wouldn't last a super long time, and I knew that I could get an epidural when I was 5cm dilated.
At the time of course it was SO painful, but I think I was delirious because it went by pretty quickly and now when I try to remember it, I can't remember much about how long it was or how painful it was. The hardest part of it all pain-wise went by the fastest. Then, at about 5:30, I got the epidural, and I actually was able to just be myself again. I was feeling tightness in my abdomen, but not pain, and I actually fell asleep for a while. When I woke up, they checked me and I was dilated to 7cm. Then I rested for a while longer, and when they checked me again, the baby's head was visible. The lady jokingly said, “Don't sneeze, the baby will fall out of you.“ I couldn't believe that this part of it all was seemingly so easy -- made possible of course by the epidural.
So there I was, ready to push, but of course, my doctor wasn't there -- they had to call him in. I ended up pushing only 6 times and honestly, because of the epidural, the pushing part was the easiest part for me. It was amazing how fast it was.
During the pushing phase I did have to have an episiotomy, which has been the worst part of all of this for me. The doctor told my mom it was a 3rd degree episiotomy, but honestly, others I've talked to didn't have nearly as much pain as I have had! If I could have slowed down the pushing phase and given my body time to accommodate the stretching it needed to do, I would have rather gone that route.
Overall, if whether or not you'd do it again is any indication of how tolerable/awful my experience in L&D was, it must not have been that terrible because Avery will mostlikely not be an only child!
Soooo... we got there, she wasn't breech, so they started me on pitocin at about 8 am. By about noon, I was having some pretty painful contractions, but they were tolerable with breathing. I really thought the breathing was so stupid until I actually had to do it.
Then at about 3pm, the contractions were really painful, and they checked me again and I was only dilated to 3cm! After all those hours of pitocin and contractions, I had progressed one centimeter! I was really frustrated, obviously. At that point the doctor came in and broke my water, and since I'd heard that it's much more painful after your water breaks (I was already really in pain because the pitocin causes stronger contractions that are closer together than what your body normally produces) I asked for some pain medication, and they gave me something called Stadol (sp?) which made me really loopy. I honestly didn't like the feeling, because the contractions weren't really less painful, I just didn't care as much because I was sort of in a dream state. I kept thinking I was going to do/say something off-the-wall and I didn't like the out-of-control feeling it gave me. At one point I told my mom, husband, and sister that I could hear the nurses in the nurses' station talking about me. ???
That wore off in about an hour or so, and then the contractions were really, really hard. They hurt a lot, but what helped me get through them was that I knew they wouldn't last a super long time, and I knew that I could get an epidural when I was 5cm dilated.
At the time of course it was SO painful, but I think I was delirious because it went by pretty quickly and now when I try to remember it, I can't remember much about how long it was or how painful it was. The hardest part of it all pain-wise went by the fastest. Then, at about 5:30, I got the epidural, and I actually was able to just be myself again. I was feeling tightness in my abdomen, but not pain, and I actually fell asleep for a while. When I woke up, they checked me and I was dilated to 7cm. Then I rested for a while longer, and when they checked me again, the baby's head was visible. The lady jokingly said, “Don't sneeze, the baby will fall out of you.“ I couldn't believe that this part of it all was seemingly so easy -- made possible of course by the epidural.
So there I was, ready to push, but of course, my doctor wasn't there -- they had to call him in. I ended up pushing only 6 times and honestly, because of the epidural, the pushing part was the easiest part for me. It was amazing how fast it was.
During the pushing phase I did have to have an episiotomy, which has been the worst part of all of this for me. The doctor told my mom it was a 3rd degree episiotomy, but honestly, others I've talked to didn't have nearly as much pain as I have had! If I could have slowed down the pushing phase and given my body time to accommodate the stretching it needed to do, I would have rather gone that route.
Overall, if whether or not you'd do it again is any indication of how tolerable/awful my experience in L&D was, it must not have been that terrible because Avery will mostlikely not be an only child!