The Labor Story

Since the whole birthing story is just so freaking long, I decided to break it up for you. I didn't want you to fall asleep while reading it. It would have then caused you to drool on your keyboard, which would short out your computer and then you would go blaming me...so, because of this, the story is broken into two parts. Without further ado, the labor story.

The Water Braking

First, being the smart person that I am, I stayed up until 2:30am on Thursday night reading a book I was really into. At 4am, I woke up with my water gushing everywhere. I seriously was shocked. Everyone said that when your water broke, it wasn't that much. Mine was like an unstoppable geyser! I threw the covers off myself, trying to keep the mess to a minimum. I screamed for Ian, who responded by throwing the covers back over me. He then realized what was going on and got me a towel. Problem was, the stuff was still coming. So, I made a run for the bathroom, getting it all over the carpet in the mean time. Finally it stopped and I showered myself off. Ian, being the wonderful guy that he is, scrubbed it out of the carpeting and changed the bed. I noticed that my waters were green, but didn't think much of it. Knowing that labor was coming, I decided we should get some sleep. As soon as I laid down, I decided I needed to call the hospital and ask about the color of the waters being that they were green and not clear. They told me I needed to come in and get checked out. So, Ian and I scrambled out of bed and headed for the hospital. We brought my hospital bag, but both of us thought I was just going to get checked out and sent back home.

The Hospital

At the hospital, I was sent to a ward to be checked out because labor and delivery was full. While being checked out, I found out I was 2 cm dilated and wouldn't be leaving the hospital until the baby was born because of the meconium in my water (which made it green). Since the ward was quiet, I was admitted into a room of my own, which was nice. We were told as soon as a room opened up in labor and delivery, I would be transferred over there...that ended up taking 12 hours! In the mean time, I got to eat some wonderful hospital meals, get hooked up to a tens machine (which basically sends electric shocks into your back which supposedly releases endorphins in your brain and help you cope) and went for a walk around the hospital grounds. In the 12 hours since I had been in the hospital (and 14 since my water broke), my contractions were only up to once every 5 minutes, but lasting over a minute long. Just as I was eating my dinner, a midwife came to take me to labor and delivery. She told me she would give me a couple minutes to eat my food, as I wouldn't be allowed any once I got to labor and delivery.

Labor and Delivery Ward

When Ian and I arrived into the labor and delivery room, I got a little emotional. It was a weird (good weird) feeling knowing my baby was going to be born in that room and that the wait was finally over. Once in the room, things started happening fast. I got check over again, and discovered that even after 12 hours, was still only 2 cm dilated. I found out that since there was meconium in the water, there were going to be some unpleasantries about the labor that I didn't necessarily want. I had to strip down and put on a hospital gown, in case I needed an emergency c-section, due to how long it had been since my water broke (oh, wait a minute...wasn't it YOU who made me wait for a room?!?) and there being meconium in the water. Also, because of this, I had to be constantly monitored (which I didn't want) and get the dreaded pitocin. They hooked me up to the pitocin and doubled the dose every 15 minutes...this really got my labor going! Since it was really important that the baby be monitored, I was bed-bound. And since every time I leaned forward, the machine lost the heart beat, I had to be lying back a bit. It was quite uncomfortable for me to try to endure labor this way without meds! After feeling like I was totally loosing control, and not wanting to, I decided WHAT IS MY FREAKING PROBLEM?!? GIVE ME THE EPIDURAL! I got the epidural when I was about 9 cm dilated, which I am told they wouldn't even do in the states. But, I had just had a constant contraction for almost 5 minutes, and I think they were feeling sorry for me at this point...oh and also at this point, the midwife noted my contractions were "too hard" and they needed to lessen the pitocin...you think?!? Trying to stay still to get the epidural was definitely hard, but everyone around me (2 midwives and Ian) helped me through it. After the epidural, things turned to bliss for me. I quickly hit 10 cm, but then waited 2 hours to push, to have the baby do some of the hard work for me, by dropping down on its own. Right when it came time for me to push, the midwife handed me a cup of water to drink. As soon as I drank it, I felt sick and asked for a bowl. But, as soon as I asked for the bowl, I threw up all over myself and the bed...it was pretty! They had to cut my gown off me, as I was hooked up to so much stuff, and change the sheets on the bed. Oh, and wipe me down, because the stuff (my dinner from earlier) was everywhere!

And with that beautiful picture in your head, I will leave you to ponder before the posting of the delivery...