I was scheduled for an induction on Thursday (4/8) at 6am. I was convinced that the only way I was having a baby was if they induced me. I had plans for the next day...running errands, bringing my dad his birthday present on his birthday, going out for a "Last Supper" at BoneFish with Bill. So, Bill and I settled in for a mellow night and watched LOST.
Around 10 o'clock, we went to bed. And I started feeling what turned out to be contractions. I wasn't convinced however so I tried to sleep. I quickly realized that I wasn't comfortable enough to sleep but I tried to rest. I had a handy dandy Iphone app to track my contractions (yes there is an app for that). I started pushing the button and realized that my contractions were on a time table around 12 minutes apart. I went into the 2nd bedroom so I didn't wake Bill up, because I felt the urge to walk around during each contraction. By around midnight, the contractions were about 7 minutes apart. So, I woke BIll up and put him on alert. By 2:30am I was not a happy camper. The contractions were coming every 3 minutes but were only 3o seconds long. I woke Bill up and got in the shower. Bill called the doctor and we were instructed to head into the hospital. Holy Crap...this was it.
I don't remember much of the car ride in. I was having contractions every 3 minutes so I was more focussed on those than the actual trip. I was just hoping that I would be dilated enough to get an epidural when I got to the hospital.
We checked in around 3:30 am. They checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced! I immediately requested an epidural (before we even got into our room LOL). The epidural was put in and I was feeling great! I couldn't feel a thing. I got a kick out of watching the contraction monitor and realizing that I was having a contraction but couldn't feel it ;). Bill left the room with the nurse to get me some ice chips and my water broke! The nurse was very surprised and so was I.
About and hour and a half later, I started to actually feel some of my contractions again, which I wasn't thrilled with. They checked me and said I was 100% effaced and 6cm dilated. This was going pretty quickly. The doctor ok-ed me for another dose of the epidural since I was having "break through" pain. I was so excited to not feel anything again!
Sadly, that was not to be. I waited 15 minutes...still in pain. 30 minutes... in worse pain. 45 minutes...worse pain. Back in comes the doctor, who checks me and finds that I am at 9 cm already! The anesthesiologist is called back in and tells me that the epidural can't keep up with the progression of my labor. AKA- I am going to have to do this without pain meds. This was NOT my plan. I don't know if I would have been able to do it without Bill there with me. He was there by my side the whole way. He fed me ice chips, encouraged me, held my hand, held my leg up, and told me it would be ok. He was my sanity.
Needless to say the next few hours were miserable. By 7 am, I was fully dilated. Bill had called our parents and told them to be at the hospital by 9am. The nurse intimated that the baby might even arrive earlier!
So, I started pushing...without an epidural. And continued to push forever. I will say the actually pushing didn't hurt. It was the only thing that took away the contraction pain. The contractions were coming one after another , every minute or so. I kept pushing. And pushing. And pushing. At some point I told the doctor there was no way I could do this. She told me I could and I kept pushing. I pushed until I didn't even have the energy to pick up my own legs. I was exhausted.
At the 2 hour and 30 minute mark, the doctor stopped me. She very calmly told me that although I was doing everything right, the baby wasn't progressing any further down the birth canal. She said she didn't think I was going to be able to push Sophia out and suggested that I have a C section. Not my ideal outcome but at this point I just wanted the pain to stop and the baby out. I agreed and off to the OR we went.
I had to get a spinal tap because they were afraid that my epidural wasn't effective enough. This was probably one of the worst parts. Not because the spinal tap hurt but because I was still having contractions every minute, without pain meds, and I had to keep completely still for the spinal tap to be administered. Once I made it through that, I was pain free in under 3 minutes. It was glorious.
I don't remember much just them prepping me. And telling me I would feel some pressure. BIll was right next to me. And then all of a sudden we heard her cry! And we cried.
And I was a mom. At 10:38 a.m. on April 7th, 2010 (my dad's birthday) Sophia Jane Malstrom was born weighing in at 8 lbs 9.6 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.
Love doesn't even begin to describe it.
