Labor story ( VERY LONG) with pics to share!
I woke up Saturday morning around 9 a.m. to my 3 year son yelling, " I have to PEE!" So out of reaction I jumped up out of bed quickly to make sure he was alright and as I stood up my water broke. If I had to describe it, it felt like I peed myself but with no control. I actually thought that I did pee myself until I sat on the toilet to see what looked like vernix all over my wet panties. Then I when I wiped I had my bloody show. I yelled for my Husband and I don't think I have ever seen him get dressed so quickly ever. LOL. Let's just say I was calm and he was not. While I waited for him to pack the van up I sat on my birthing ball. I had no contractions. About 15 minutes into sitting on the ball I started feeling crampy but still no regular contractions.
We got to the hospital around 11 a.m. (a little over 2 hours after my water had broken). They were already expecting me since my OB had called ahead to them. I was in my Labor and delivery room within 10 minutes of arriving with gown on. My nurses did some kind of vaginal swab on me to make sure my membranes had actually ruptured. When it was a go they then started all the questions, started I.V. and fluids, strapped me to monitors, and they did a pelvic exam to check where I was at with labor. I was only 1 cm and 80% effaced still. I had been this way for 2 weeks now. So when my OB came in she asked me if they could augment my labor by using a catheter balloon. Basically they put this catheter in your cervix and then fill it up with water to form two balloon shape balls which will help you dilate to 4 cm (active labor) and then it should just fall out when you reach your 4 cm. Okay, so NO pain and then they pace the catheter and add water to the balloons inside. Immediate pain! So we knew it was working. My contractions started becoming very regular and the pain was intensifying. I felt a lot of pressure no more than an hour later and thought I had to go pee. So my Hubby took me to the bathroom and I sat there holding onto him and all of the sudden I had the urge to push and out came the catheter. My nurses were so happy. Let me tell you also...immediate pain relief after the balloon came out. So I was at 4 cm within 1 hour and they asked me if I wanted my epidural. I was feeling better so I said not yet because I could breathe through the contractions now just fine. Well, I went from 4 cm to 7 cm within 2 hours and by 7 cm I was crying every contraction which were only a minute apart at that point. I got the epidural. I was sooo scared to get it! I am sooo happy I did. My pain relief was so quick and I was completely numb! The only part of the epidural that hurt was the small stinging of the numbing medicine she placed first. After that I felt nothing! I even asked her if she had already placed the epidural needle in and she said, “Honey, I’m just taping you up now, all done!"
The epidural did slow down my contractions ( was at a stall of 7 cm for about three hours) and lowered my BP quite a bit ( 98/37) so they put me on Pitocin (which I did not notice) and they had me flip side to side while breathing into an O2 mask. I was also put on an antibiotic at one point for the BP being so low. After I received the Pitocin though I went from 7 cm to 10 cm within an hour. Pushing was the hardest thing I have ever had to do! They were not kidding when they called it labor. LOL. I did not have any pain but my epidural had worn off some to were I felt tons of pressure so I knew when to pu**** took me just under 30 minutes to get her out! I was told that this was good for being my 1st baby delivered. I did not get skin on skin contact with her at first because my cord was too short and she was having troubles breathing at first because her head got stuck. I ended up getting a vaginal internal second degree tear. No tearing on the outside though. So while my OB was stitching me up (which I did not feel at all still) they got my baby screaming and cleaned up some. I held her finally after about 15 minutes of having her. All I could do is cry, "I just want to see her, I just want to hold her", but I understood that she needed a bit more medical attention first. Anyways, she’s perfect and we are so very happy! BTW, my baby is almost 1 week old now and just now healing up fine. I went shopping all day today and felt so much better than I did while I was pregnant. I also only have about 10 pounds to loose now since giving birth to get back to pre pregnancy weight. Everything is going fine and I can actually say I can’t wait to have another precious baby! Good luck to all of you ladies out there who are pregnant and or trying to conceive. I know how hard it is to conceive (tried for 10 years) and I hope your labor goes as smoothly as mine did. I think the man upstairs was gonna make it a bit easier on me since I had to wait so long! Lots of pics to share, so scroll down please!
Chelle
Congratulations! 
Cheri
M/C 10/18/10 9w2d...forever loved
