Induction - Labor and Delivery

Well, Aidyn is now almost 5 days old so I thought this would be a good time to update the blog. I have several "posts" to add, so we'll start with this one. We were supposed to arrive at the hospital Monday, Jan. 26th at 6am to be admitted, IV and pitocin (to start contractions) started. My dr was going to come between 8-9am to see how I'd progressed and break my water if it hadn't broken on its own. We got there a little early and were in the room by 6am; they said the nurse would be there shortly to start everything. At 7:15am we still hadn't seen a single person - no one! Ben was getting mad and so was I bc the dr was coming in 45 minutes and nothing had been done! I paged a nurse to ask for ice chips (can't even have water according to the anesthesiologist (sp?) and told them I'd been there over an hour and hadn't seen anyone. When the nurse brought the ice chips she said - we've had two emergency c-sections so we're behind. I was ok with that, just wished someone would have come and told me.

Being the case, nothing had been started when the dr came. She broke my water anyways and then they started an IV at 9am. Braking my water felt like a normall pelvic exam they do at the dr to see how far dilated you are. It was uncomfortable and hurt a little, but nothing major. The worse part was that I saw her open the tool she was going to use - ahhh! Wish I hadn't seen it. :) I thought the IV was the pitocin until another nurse came in at 11am and said, "Ok, here's your pitocin." At this point I figure we're 5hrs behind schedule for starting contractions and I wasn't very happy since I figurered that ment a much longer day!

Side note: you can't eat anything after midnight (and not even water) for an induction incase they have to do a quick surgery i guess and you get choked or throw up. However, with as much water as I drink, my dr said..."IF you do drink water before you come in, just make sure you tell them no." Sounded good to me. I figured, for people who eat dinner and do their normal thing and then go into labor naturally - you never know when the last time they've eaten and it's always fine. Soooooo, I was so hungry before we left that morning (at 5:15am) I ate half of a pear fruit cup and 5 goldfish crackers. I didn't want to over do it, ha, but I was starving and new it would be a while before I could eat again.

So anyways, before the dr left after breaking my water she checked and I was 2cm. I had increased 1cm on my own over the weekend. She said she would be back at lunch to see how things were going. Dr came back around 11:30-Noon and said I was still 2cm. She asked the nurses to increase the pitocin and said she'd be back again after the OB/GYN office closed around 5pm unless they called her sooner.

While there she asked if I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural or wait. I was pretty uncomfortable, but nothing terrible. She assured me that I could get it at any time and didn't have to "be a hero"; that it might help me relax and sleep a little. I said sure, let's do it. Shortly after that the anesthesiologists (2 docs) arrived to do the epi. I was totally nervous about it just because of the possibility of paralysis and other side effects, not to mention the size of needle and idea of something being inserted into my spine. I didn't see any of the tools (I purposely didn't look when they were getting ready) which helped, some. In the end, the IV they gave me in the morning was much worse than the epi. Sure, it stung for a quick second like when they are going to draw blood at the dr, but that was it. Wow! I was amazed when they said - ok, we're done.

They stayed in the room for prob 30 min periodically checking my blood pressure, temp, heart, etc to make sure everything was ok before leaving. Then I was able to sleep. :) Before laying down the nurse said, "Ok...let me give you my little lecture. The worst part is getting to 4cm because we don't know how long it will take. Then you can expect 1cm per hour to the last 10cm." Great I thought. 6hrs minimum and I'm still 2cm. At this point it was after lunch and I knew we were in for a long day.

Next thing I knew I was being examined again by a nurse at 4pm - about 2 hours later, maybe a little more. I was 4cm (yea!) and the baby was -1 (which means he was decending into the birth canal. They start with -3 then 0 means baby is in the birth canal and back up to +3 which means baby is coming out!

So 4pm I was 4cm and -1...6cm and 6hours to go...looking around 10pm. Ugh!
Knowing the dr was coming back around 5-6pm, Ben headed down to the cafeteria to get a snack and I was still trying to sleep. I was beginning to get more uncomfortable, even with the epi, just because you can feel pressure (not pain) pushing down - the baby ofcourse. Ben was gone and the nurse came in about 5:15pm to check. Only 1 1/2 hr later (from the 4cm) she said I was 8cm and the baby was +2!!!!!!!

I began to freak inside because we figuered we had all night. Ben was eating in the cafe and my parents were at home (only about 5-10 min. from the hospital). I quickly grabbed my phone and texted Ben, "8cm". He then called me and all I could say was, "I can't talk", because of the pressure. I was beginning to be WAY uncomfortable. With this progress, the nurses decided to sit me up in bed so that gravity could work to pull Aidyn the rest of the way down and I could dilate the last 2cm. Not fun. Within 30 min to an hr I had reached 10cm and the dr was there. Around 7pm they said I was ready to push.

I will not say it wasn't painful. The contractions got strong, but weird enough, they only hurt until I was able to push through them. You can feel the contractions coming on with LOTS of pressure. When it begins to max they told me to push. I think I "couldn't feel" because my focus was on pushing and listening to the dr's instructions. It actually felt better to push then sit and feel the pressuer and contractions peak. At the same time, Ben on the left and my mom on the right pushing my knees to my chest, I pushed with all my might. I'm not sure how many pushes it took, they just kept saying, "You're doing great! He's right here...we can see his head and hair. Come on, Whitney, give it all you've got!"

I was, and it was exhausting, and in between when I could just breathe I thought, I just want to sleep (and I think I thought I could) until another contraction came. Being a teacher that tells kids, "You're doing great!" to boost their confidence when they may not be doing great...I didn't believe the nurses, ha. Go figure. I began getting tired and the dr said, "He's getting tired, Whitney. Come on, you're gonna have to push and get him out. He's wearing down." I just knew they were going to have to do a C-section. And as Ben reminds me, even though his head literally WAS right there!

Luckily, the dr did an episiotomy (sp?) and within 1-2 more contractions - he was born! It was the strangest feeling and I let out a sortof scream when he came out. My mom said it wasn't a pain scream, and I think it was more of a cry of relief. I did not think I could have done it much longer! I have SO much respect for women who do it naturally and/or have to push for an hour or more! I just read Sarah's blog (Edisto Surprise to the left of this page) and she pushed for 1 1/2 hr! I don't know how she did it!

Aidyn Garland Evely - Monday, January 26, 2009 @ 7:36pm. He weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. He seems teeny tiny, and yet HUGE at the same time when I look at him knowing he was INSIDE me. He absolutely had to have been totally squished!

While the dr worked on cleaning me up, stitching up the episiotomy, and deliverying the placenta, Ben cut the umbilical cord and watched closely as the nursery nurse cleaned Aidyn up, measured him, and so on.

I think it took about an hour between the stiches and placenta being delivered.
Listening to Aidyn scream and cry was amazing! I couldn't believe it and it was almost like it wasn't really happening - I can't explain it. Then...the next thing I thought - Can I eat now? Ha... I was totally starved!