Birth

Kaitlyn was born 9/24/10 at 2PM and weighed 7lbs 12oz.  Things went very fast. I went to the hospital for induction at 8pm on 9/23/10. I was 1-2 centimeters dilated at the time. They inserted Cervidil at about 9pm which is used to help the cervix dilate and soften. About an hour after the Cervidil was put in I started getting regular contractions. Nothing that hurt too badly, more like annoying achy period cramps. Annoying enough that I did not sleep that well because the contractions kept waking me up every 15 minuets. At 8:30 am they took the Cervidil out and the nurse checked me, I was 2 centimeters but my cervix was a lot softer and ready to start Pitocin. My doctor came into the room around 9am and I was then dilated to 3 so she broke my water and a Pitocin drip was started. Breaking my water was the most uncomfortable thing ever since my cervix was still so high. My doctor told the nurse that I was her only patent for the day and that she needed to be aggressive with the Pitocin and up it every 15 minuets. After the first 15 minuets I could really feel the contractions. By 10am I was having contractions every 2 minuets, they were painful but not as painful as I was expecting them to be. This is when I started freaking myself out that I could not handle any more pain than I was already in. I started crying and when the nurse asked what was wrong I told her I was scared of the pain to come. She said I could get an epidural at that point so I would not have to experience any more pain. I then continued to cry and tell her I was scared of getting an epidural. She talked me thru everything involved with getting the epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived and administered the epidural all the while my nurse helped me relax and get into position. Surprisingly enough getting the epidural was not as bad as I had hyped it up to be but it did not work out like it should have. My left side was completely numb, I could not move my left leg at all. My right side was only partially numb, I could still move my leg (which was great) but I also could still feel the contractions by my hip. But overall it was still better than the contractions I was feeling right before I got it. I told the anesthesiologist that it was only working on my left side but all he did was up the dose which only made my left side even number and did nothing for my right side. I actually think David was more relieved than I was that I got the epidural. He really did not like seeing me in pain. I labored like that for two hours and at about noon I started feeling a lot of pressure in my butt, it felt like my butt hole was about to blow out of my body. I told David to call the nurse since she stepped away for a few minuets. The nurse came in about a half hour after we called her and she checked me - I was complete and ready to push! The nurse called my doctor who ended up telling her to let me labor down the baby for at least an hour then check back with her. During that hour I felt like I should have been pushing a little with each contraction to help the process out but nobody told me to do anything other than lay on my side. I could feel the baby coming down with some of the contractions but at that point the nurse turned the pitocin way down and I stopped feeling the baby move down. She just stayed where she was. At 1pm my doctor showed up and checked the baby's position and said I can start pushing with the nurse and that she will be back. I pushed thru a few contractions (which at this point were about 4 or 5 minuets apart). I did not feel like the pushes were doing anything and asked if I could be put in a more of a sitting up position to help. She barely put the back of the bed up a few inches which did nothing to help me out. The doctor came in at 1:30 and was not happy with my progress. She coached me thru some contractions and finally said, "we need to get this baby out, your pushes are not productive" I had already talked to her about this before and requested the vacuum be used in this situation. On the next contraction with the help of the vacuum and an episiotomy Kaitlyn's head was half way out. I went ahead and pushed without a contraction to get the rest of her head out. Then one more huge push (I think I blacked out a little with that one) her shoulders were out and she slid the rest of the way out. I remember feeling instantly better after she came out but after the placenta came out I felt great, like a weight had been lifted. I survived! The doctor spent a lot of time stitching me up, not sure exactly what she did down there, I am too afraid to look but it does not hurt that bad. The next two nights at the hospital were pretty bad. Kaitlyn would not sleep and cried all night long, none of us were comfortable at all. Since we have been home things have been great. Kaitlyn is a pro-nurser and lets me sleep a couple hours at a time during the night. She is so beautiful!