L & D

My due date was Saturday, August 18^th and my body and my baby were showing no signs of labor.  At my appointment on Friday, the 17^th, doc and I officially decided to induce labor the following Sunday, August 19^th.  The end was finally in sight!  Well, I guess more like the beginning.

Sunday August 19^th Kevin got up and went to work at 7:30, as usual.  The plan was for my parents to come to Savannah from Augusta to take me to the hospital at 4:00 p.m.  Kevin’s normal schedule is until 6:30 p.m. and we figured there wouldn’t be too much excitement between 4:00 and 6:30 so he could go ahead and work a normal shift because he had not accrued any paid time off.  His supervisor let him take half of the day off and make up the time later, so he was home in time to take me! My parents said they would still come on Sunday, just later in the evening.

We got to the hospital right at 4:00 p.m. and had to check in through the Emergency Room.  We made it up to the delivery room around 4:30.  I changed into my lovely gown and got hooked up to all of the necessary machines and a little while later, Dr. Toraya came in and gave me the cervadil to begin thinning my cervix, which was still at a whopping ½ cm dilated!  I had started having contractions on my own earlier in the day, but my cervix (and baby) still wanted to be stubborn.  Mom and dad got there around 6:00.  The cervadil took right away and by 8:00 I had dilated to around 6 cm and my contractions had become really strong.  Everyone was prepping the room and seemed to be under the impression that the baby might even come Sunday night instead of Monday morning.  Just kidding.

I got the epidural a short time later.  It was NOTHING like the old school horror stories that you used to hear about it.  I barely felt anything and REALLY didn’t feel anything afterwards!  My mom was amazed by how much it had changed over the years.  She who birthed 4 babies without an epidural laughed at me for getting it.  She's a tough old broad!

Around 4:00 a.m. Monday, the 20^th, Doctor Toraya came in and broke my water and started giving me pitocin.  Around 7:00 that morning we had a bad scare!  About 6 nurses came rushing into the room. One strapped an oxygen mask on my face and they began moving me and turning me all kinds of ways saying the baby’s heart rate had dropped from around 140 to 60 bpm.  I ended up having to stay on all fours, legs completely numb, until the baby’s heart rate came back up.  Lovely, right?  I'm glad we can laugh about it now!

As time went by and things failed to progress, other than painful contractions, Doctor Toraya came to the conclusion that a C Section was going to necessary.  My pelvis didn’t widen during pregnancy and he said there was no way baby’s head was going to move past it.  So, the positive side of that was that I never really waddled while I was pregnant, but now it meant baby wasn't using that exit.  Baby had also decided to turn himself around so he was now facing my back and not my stomach.  Brat.

Around 11:00 a.m. the nurses began prepping us for the C Section that was now scheduled for 11:30.  I was given a drink that was supposed to neutralize my stomach acid that was described to me as a mix between juice and battery acid.  They weren’t kidding.  As much as it meant to me, to have Kevin by my side and to have him be so strong, I don't know what I would have done without my Mom.  She understood that the frustration and exhaustion were getting to me and she knew exactly what to say make me feel better.   

Once we got into the operating room, I was given MORE numbing medicine.  Shortly after receiving it, my body began shaking and I couldn’t control it.  Apparently, this is a normal side effect.  Shortly after that, I threw up the delicious battery acid drink, while lying flat on the operating table with my arms strapped down.  Impressive, right?

BUT after all the frustration and complications, at 11:44 a.m. that morning we heard our baby cry for the first time!