If you're interested in the grusome details... continue. If not... disregard :).
It all started on Monday, February 22nd. Thuc had worked all day and was on call. We were supposed to be there at 8pm to be admited for "cervical ripening" but since he didn't get home until 645, we got there a little late. As luck would have it, he got paged on our way to the hospital and he did not get done working until around 1am. :( Good thing my mom & sisters were there to keep me company until I took my sleeping pill!
I was awaken at 6am by the nurse who asked if I wanted to "get cleaned up". Since I had showered not even 12 hours prior, I wasn't too excited about being woken up... but as the day progressed and I felt more and more disgusting, so I was pleased that I got up to at least freshen up a bit.
The pitossin was started around 8am (after a little IV mishap at 630). I was 2cm dilated at 10am. Dr. Simmons came in to break my water and just as I was changing position, I told her that I had either peed my pants, or my water broke on its own... and it did. My contractions started picking up & we called for my epidural. Dr. Heine had those honors. I guess it took him a little longer to come up. Thuc had left the room and when he came back, said that he went to see what Dr. Heine was up to & had said, "do we need to get someone else".. Jeeze man! Don't make the dude more nervous!!
He came up and was my knight in shining armour! Having another anesthesiologist standing over your shoulder as you place an epidural in his wife who is having his child and feeding you crap is no easy task! "You leave your sharps on the bed? What if you have to lay someone down quickly"? "You sure make a mess". Dr. Heine's reply, "take a nap grandpa". I love it!
What a difference an epidural makes! I have A LOT of respect for women who labor and deliver without any pain medications... but that is just not for me! I was laughing, talking, and really enjoying my experience. The one issue: I wasn't dilating very far very fast. In fact, at 2pm, I hadn't dilated any more. I was disappointed. Of course knowing maybe just a little too much, I kept thinking, "should I have waited so I could have walked around more?", "I better be okay with a c-section", etc, etc. I put my bed straight up & down thinking that that would put more pressure. By 4 o'clock, I was 6cm. Phew! But, I also started having a lot of left sided pain. Thuc told me to push the bolus button for my epidural, but I told him that I wanted to "feel labor pain". That desire quickly ended and I pushed my button & also had the nurse call to get another bolus (or two)!! Dr. Simmons came in at 5 and was going to check me before she went home. May family went out into the hall.
"Your complete, are you ready to push".
Me: "You're kidding".
Dr. Simmons: "I don't kid about that". "Should we tell your family or should we surprise them"
Me: "Lets surprise them".
And so it began. I couldn't feel a thing after those boluses. I had a bum right leg that I had no control of.
Me: "I don't know if I'm going to know how to push"
Dr. Simmons: "Have you ever been constipated, you'll do fine".
Thank goodness for those nurses who coached me. They were fabulous! "You've never done this before"? "Wow! great job... he's going to be out in not time".. etc, etc. It was not what I expected at all. My only live birth experience was in nursing school and so that was very chaotic in my mind. This was not at all. It was very calm. Everyone was standing around me. Since I couldn't feel my contractions, they had to tell me when I was having them and when to push. In between contractions, we talked about Creighton basketball, work, etc.
17 minutes later, I had a beautiful baby boy in my arms. It was a feeling that you just can not describe. One of true amazement, beauty, and awe. A miracle.
The rest is all fuzzy. There was a knot in the cord, but his apgars were good (8&10) so that was reassuring. He was very quiet when he came out... so much so that I was nervous that he wasn't breathing, but since no one else was freaking out, I took some reassurance. I didn't hear a real cry until he sneezed which startled him! He didn't even cry when he got his Hep B shot until it was over. Such a trooper.
We had a great hospital stay. Immanuel has queen size recovery beds which are AWESOME! I highly recommend delivering there.. not just for the awesome care... but for the beds! We had lots of visitors which we just loved (thanks for all of you who were able to visit!) as we really enjoy showing off our new little bundle!
