I'm going to be semi brief. I believe in honesty but I also believe in too much info. People ask me all the time about what my experience was like- let me tell you all about it.
Keep in mind, this is from the memory of a person on a few meds ;)
The Story of an Induced Labor & Delivery
On January 14th, 37 weeks pregnant, I was sent to the hospital Labor & Delivery unit for a night of observation. My blood pressure had spiked and had been high for roughly 2 weeks. The previous weekend I was put on bed rest with hopes of lowering it. That Monday I was checked in, with the intent of finding out if I had developed toxemia or preeclampsia.
Luckily for us, after checking into the hospital- my blood pressure had significantly lowered and after all the blood work and monitors on my belly, the assumptions of developing toxemia or preeclampsia had disintegrated. We were sent home the next day.
The following Friday we met with my doctor and he informed us that even though it had lowered while in the hospital, we would be delivering no later than 38 weeks. (Despite wanting to keep Caroline in as long as possible for developmental purposes, this was music to my ears.) He had made it clear that based on the tests they ran and by previous ultrasounds that she was ready to come out. She had been practicing her breathing for quite some time and he believed that she was going to be close to an 8 pound baby. She looked good on the screens so he was confident that Caroline would be a healthy baby.
We met with the doctor again on Monday to go over the plans for the next few days and to receive my induction schedule.
We then had to make our phone calls to our parents to let them know what was going on so everyone could figure out when they were going to travel down. I asked my mom to come down in time to be going to the hospital with me- so she got there Tuesday afternoon. Then my dad and Joseph's parents were coming on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, January 21st I had a scheduled induction. I was told to go in at 5:00 PM to get my room. As we're driving to Winter Park, I get a phone call saying there is nothing available for us at that time (we knew it was a possibility but we were hoping that wasn't the case). We were told to be expecting a phone call before Midnight to come back when a room is available. So we turned around and went home.
The hours ticked by, slowly I might add. By 10 PM I had to go to sleep. I was exhausted, but I had my phone on loud right next to me. Joseph stayed awake incase the phone rang- he made it until about 3:00 AM before he passed out. At 5:00 AM on the Wednesday the 22nd we got the phone call to come in for my induction.
Around 11 AM I received my cervidil to start the process. Cervidil has to be in place for a minimum of 12 hours before you can move on to the next phase. So then we were just waiting. About half way through the day, I was put on pain medicine because of how uncomfortable I was. No shame on this end. At 11:00 PM that night, the cervidil was removed and I was then given the Pitocin drip.
After getting as much rest as possible, we were awoken at 7 AM on Thursday the 23rd. The doctor came in to break my water. With this being my first baby, I had no idea what to expect. My doctor was very professional about it, the nurse that assisted...not so much.
Let me explain: The nurses were in the middle of a shift change SO my nurse that I had gotten to know throughout the night was gone, my new nurse had not stopped by yet, so a random nurse that I didn't know came in for a brief minute to assist my doctor. She was rude and made me feel completely uncomfortable. This was the only bad experience I had at this hospital. After my doctor broke my water, he had to go to the office and left me in the hands of the nurse to take care of me. She basically threw a towel at me, told me if she was me that she would have been embarrassed if my water would have broken naturally in public, gave me no instructions on what to do, told me that for the rest of the day I'm going to feel like I'm peeing myself, and then went on her merry way. Ummmm? Really?
Poor Joseph. I was balling my eyes out - feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed, and very upset. He called the nurses for me for help but due to shift change, they said they would be there as soon as possible. That didn't help. After 30 minutes and no nurse, I called again and expressed how upset I was and that I needed someone ASAP.
It didn't take long to get someone after that. I then met my new nurse for the day. And poor thing, I probably freaked her out with all my emotions I was feeling at that time. But she was a blessing. I got extremely lucky in the nurse that was sent to my room to help me.
After fixing me up from the traumatic event I had just gone through, she got me set up and in line for my epidural. I waited patiently for it, there was a long line. I remember feeling completely uncomfortable and in pain and praying that the wait for the epidural was almost over.
Finally, it was my turn. The man distributing my epidural came in and we started going over all the info. (I was still focused on the embarrassing pee feeling that I felt from my water being broken, ugh.) He then asked me if I wanted him to go over the risks and then get the epidural or if I wanted him to be prepping and giving the epidural while he goes over it all. No brainer. Let's multitask.
People say that epidurals are painful. I can't contest to it. I don't remember much of it since I was concentrating on the 'water breaking issue' I was having. I do know that I didn't even realize he had already given it to me. So I guess it didn't hurt? I remember how still I had to sit and the awkward leaning forward positing you have to be in to receive it. I also know that immediately afterward, I didn't think about my water breaking experience anymore.
After that, laying back in my bed wasn't so uncomfortable. However, my left leg was completely numb. The nurses said it was normal and that it would go away soon. Well, after hours of not being able to move my leg by myself and dealing with the tingling feeling that was running through it, it finally went away and I could feel it again. It did take quite a few hours though.
All 4 of our parents were there & we even had some family friends that came by to see us and check on Caroline's progress. It was nice having the distraction of conversation to keep my mind off of everything that I was feeling.
One thing that I specifically remember is that after I reached a certain point, no more food or drinks were allowed. I didn't care so much about the food but because of all the medicine that was running through my body, I had extreme cotton mouth and all I wanted was water. Ice chips weren't cutting it. It was awful how thirsty I was.
After getting all my check ups during the day to check my process, I received word that my doctor was on his way to the hospital because we were about ready for delivery.
At 4:00 PM, it was time to get the process rolling. I was told to start pushing at 4:30 PM. I didn't take Lamaze classes so I was worried about this part but my nurse reassured me that it was no big deal and gave me a quick lesson on how we were going to do the pushing and breathing.
In the room I had Joseph & my favorite nurse. My nurse that had been with me all day and made me feel so comfortable and safe was actually almost taken from me to go down to triage. Luckily, we had all built a bond during the day so she made me aware of what I could do to keep her with me for the remainder of my labor & delivery. Thank goodness! This was not a good time to leave me with someone new. So thankful that she wanted to be with me just as much as I wanted her there.
Joseph had a big role in the birthing process. We weren't aware of it before hand but he actually held one of my legs during it. He was so good. I was so proud of him, he talked to me and comforted me the whole time.
After 2 of the 4 set rounds of pushing and my nurse telling me how good I was doing I decided to barter. More good pushing for a few sips of water in between my sets! I specifically remember her saying "as long as you keep pushing like that, you can have whatever you want!" I was so grateful for the water. After 3 more rounds of pushing, my nurse told me to stop so she could call the doctor into the room. She could see Caroline's head.
At 5:00 my doctor entered and suited up for delivery. While he was getting dressed my nurse did another round of pushing with me. Then, my doctor had to immediately rush over for the last round of pushing. He was there for 1 round with the 4 individual pushes and I was exhausted, I gave that round one extra push at the end and she came out! He was very surprised and had to catch her.
After 45 minutes of pushing, our sweet Caroline Ann was born at 5:15 PM on January 23rd weighing 7 pounds and 2 ounces. 5 toes and 5 fingers, we had a healthy baby girl.
I had a severe tear from such a quick labor. I lost a lot of blood and was stitched up for 45 minutes. In that time, I did get to have Caroline on my chest after she was checked out.
After I was stitched up, our family was able to come in and meet their Granddaughter. It was beautiful to watch everyone with her.
The nurse then needed me to get up so she could clean me up after the delivery process. (This part is a little hazy to me but with good reason.) Getting out of bed was difficult, then walking to the bathroom was more difficult and pretty exhausting. I then remember turning around to face the nurse and then I don't remember anything. I had fainted in the bathroom with the nurse. (This part comes from other people in the room.) I fainted and the nurse had to catch me and press the button to call for other nurses. Joseph had to pick me up and put me in a wheel chair and they had to wake me up quickly. Apparently I scared everyone that was in the room. I passed out because of the amount of blood I had lost during delivery.
Because of that little episode I had to stay in the recovery room for an addition 2 hours being pumped with fluids.
After that 2 hours, we were all moved upstairs to the Baby Hotel floor where we would spend the next 2 days.
All the family was in and out throughout the next 2 days. Caroline stayed in the room with us the whole time- minus when she got her first bath which Joseph got to watch.
We ended up having to extend our stay a little longer because of tests that I had to have done. I had to receive a blood transfusion, not a whole one though. I had to get 2 bags of blood to get my color and energy back. I was extremely pale and completely exhausted. But after receiving the blood, I felt much better.
So instead of being released in the morning, we were released later that night. We were then finally able to take our beautiful baby girl home.
That is our story of Caroline's labor & delivery. It was something I will always look back on with joy, even with all of the things we had to go through. We received such a heavenly child out of the process and we couldn't be more blessed to have been surrounded by people who love us during the process.
