So, my friends, the day has come and gone! I went in Saturday evening to be induced and am now blessed with the most precious little boy. It was a three day process (never thought that would happen to me) but if I had to go back, I’d do it all over again. I’m going to share my experience so this might be a long post but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible!
Saturday:
I was told by my doctor to call Labor and Delivery around 3-4 and that I’d be admitted around 4:30-6. I called right at 3pm and they told me to call back at 5. I waited impatiently. Once I called them they told me I could come in but to make sure I ate well. Me eating well means that I had a pb&j sandwich with some Cheetos, haha. I wanted something that wouldn’t be so bad if I got nauseous and threw up. Once I showed up (around 5:40pm) they put me into my delivery room and told me to dress into the gown. I was extremely anxious, so much so that my heart rate was in the 130’s. Took a while to come down but eventually it did. They asked me if I wanted to take pills or to do the foley balloon to start my induction since I was only dilated 1.5cm. I chose the balloon because I’m not really a pill taker and I’d rather do something a bit more “natural”. Stupid decision. The foley balloon is supposed to fall out once you get to 4cm. It hurts BAD when they put the balloon inside of you. Once it’s in though you can’t feel it. It’s uncomfortable though because there’s a tube that hangs out that they tape to your leg. It’s so annoying especially when you have to get up and use the bathroom, which happened a ton for me. Also after getting the balloon in I had very painful contractions. I felt like I handled them well by breathing through them. Eventually they died down so I wasn’t feeding them during the night. Anyways, long story short my balloon never came out so after having it inside of me for 24 hours, they had to take it out.
Sunday:
They removed the foley balloon *enter sigh of relief*, so I was just on pitocin and it was being increased every half hour. I actually can’t remember if they started that while I had the balloon in or after they took it out. Anyways, after they removed the balloon they checked me and I was 4cm. The balloon never fell out even though I had been dilated that much! Talk about frustration. The evening went on, and I never really felt my contractions. A doctor came in and did mention to me about wanting to break my waters around 3:30am if I didn’t dilate any more since I had only dilated up to 5cm this entire time being there. I was nervous but also excited to get this show on the road.
Monday:
3:30am rolls around, and it’s water breaking time. Talk about more excruciating pain. My nurse mentioned to me that after breaking my waters I’d feel contractions either within 30 minutes or a couple of hours. Uh, yeah, I started to feel them within ten minutes. And they were strong. I eventually asked for the nitrous to help me with the contractions because I wanted to avoid the epidural as much as possible (remember it’s because I was afraid of it). I also hated being in the hospital bed so I chose to stand and lean over the bed and sway back and forth to help me bear the pain, using the nitrous with every contraction. This went on for about 3 hours and they only got stronger. It also didn’t help that a woman next door to me was screaming her lungs out in pain during her labor. It completely messed up my focus. Eventually I had had enough. I was exhausted. Standing up was starting to get old but I didn’t want to lay back in bed and being on the floor on my knees bent over the couch was very uncomfortable because anything touching my stomach just made the pain worse. I was nearing my end of being without the epidural. So I caved. I eventually asked for it. I remember crying to Jesse because I didn’t want it but I also couldn’t do it anymore. Once I asked for it they told me I had to wait because the woman next door was before me. I hated her at the time. I hated that I had to wait for the epidural. Once the woman came to give me my epidural I was so relieved, but she irritated the crap out of me so I hated her too. It was around 7am when I received it. Once I got it I still felt contractions on my left side but once I rolled over they went away. I was finally pain free but felt like a giant elephant. I could move my toes but my legs were completely numb and felt like tree stumps. When they checked me I had only dilated to a 6 during all of that. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I never got the epidural? Would I have been in that pain until 3:32pm, the time I delivered my son? I don’t think I would have been able to handle that and I honestly don’t know if they would have let me do that to myself without suggesting a c section. I eventually went to sleep and slept through most of the day until it was time to push. I was exhausted. When they checked me and I was 10cm dilated I was going to wait until I felt pressure to push but I suddenly started not to feel well and my temp went up to 100.5. Probably to avoid infection, they wanted me to start pushing. This is where I’m not sure what time it was that I started pushing. Pushing was probably the easiest part of this entire process. I felt no pain at all. The only issue I had was that I was nauseated so sometimes I had to stop pushing because I could feel that I was about to throw up. I think I only pushed for about an hour? But I’m not completely sure. Jesse held one foot and a nurse held the other. Jesse would whisper to me how good I was doing and was being amazing. Side note: he was amazing the entire time we were at the hospital, even the hard night with the contractions. He would rub my back and would get me anything I needed or unplug me from the machines so I could use the bathroom. Couldn’t have asked for anyone better honestly. Once Levi arrived, I had this feeling so relieved and happy. I couldn’t believe the tiny human on my chest actually lived inside of me for the past 9 months. My little boy arrived Monday, April 23rd at 3:32pm weighing exactly 8 pounds and was 20 inches long. Absolutely perfect.
It was a crazy experience and I swore I thought I’d have him on Sunday. Although things didn’t go as I had exactly wanted them to, they went the way the were meant to go. I’m glad I chose the options I did while I was there because I got to experience them. At first I felt like I had failed by using the epidural but I didn’t.
Well it’s 12:21am and I am one exhausted mama. I’m currently criticizing how Jesse is feeding Levi, ya know, because I’m a pro mama now ;P
Day of induction, last pregnancy pictures:
Liz With Type One 