The Labor Story

I also have written this in the notes section of my facebook profile.
I've been waiting for a free moment to sit and write out the story of how Samuel's birth went, for those of you who are interested.
Last Thursday (nov. 2) I went to my doctor for my 39 week appointment. I was really hoping for some answers as to how soon I would have this baby. Yeah right. He gave me nothing to stand on (obviously), but he did say that if I go over my due date we would talk about induction. Then he said it was better if we didn't have to do that. He asked me if I knew the tricks I could try to get labor started and proceeded to tell me I should wash windows, clean the house, go for walks, etc. and I would be guaranteed to go into labor soon. I wasn't so sure, but I was willing try, even with my extreme lack of energy.
So, after that appointment, I went home and started with the cleaning and working around. I did get sore, but I really think that's what started the whole process. I mean, I was obviously ready for labor anyway, this just got things moving a little quicker.
So, then Sunday morning (nov. 4) I got up early early, as usual, and went online to check my email. I was browsing around my sites a little bit and then had a pretty strong contraction and thought I would start timing. The first one was at 6:10am. They were pretty regular, as far as I was concerned, but how can you tell? They were approximately 6-10 minutes apart, with some variations here and there. And they continued all morning. Finally we figured we should call someone to come and look after Murielle, and then we went to the hospital to get everything checked out. I think that was around 10:00am.

I have to say, it was so disappointing to find out I was only dilated about a cm and that I had to go home. But I'm glad we went home, cause that would have been a very long and boring day in the hospital. So, at home I tried to get around as much as I could, but I had to breathe through every contraction and I couldn't focus on anything else. So I just tried to relax a bit. I tried napping, but I woke up at every contraction (every 10 min). Mark started timing contractions for me at noon cause I just couldn't focus on anything and I was getting sleepy. The whole time I was just wishing things would go the same as my labor with Murielle so I could at least know I was going into the hospital for sure. I really wanted my water to break. The nurse told me it could go either way - the contractions could pick up and I'd end up in the hospital that night, or they could go away completely and I wouldn't have the baby for another few days. Yikes. I didn't like to hear that.

So, we waited and waited to see what would happen. Everytime I had a strong contraction I would wonder if I should go to the hospital or not. My mom, sister and Titus arrived at around 9:30pm and I had had a couple REALLY strong contractions just before that. Once they got here, the contractions got so much stronger. Mom thinks I was waiting for her to arrive. That is very possible. I really wanted her to be there for the whole experience. About an hour after they arrived, they all thought it was a good idea for me to go in to the hospital because of the pain I was feeling. Good thing I did. By the time I got there, I was already 6cm dilated. So, those contractions were doing their job, that's for sure. They put me in L&D right away and said if I want the epidural I should get it now - the anesthetist was coming in for another lady, so it worked out perfectly. So, from 11:00pm to 12:30 or so, we waited through contractions until the dr. got there. I should add, that at this point the nurse said if my water had broken, I wouldn't have had time to get the epidural. It's kind of ironic that the whole time I was just wanting my water to break, but if it had happened, I would have had to go through the whole thing without some kind of pain relief. That is something I don't think I ever need to experience. :o)
Anyway, they gave me a pretty high dosage of epidural, so I felt like I was going to pass out (or throw up) during the rest of the labor. I have never been so exhausted in my life. Even before the first push, I wasn't sure I would have enough strength to do even one push. But let me tell you, feeling that way was much better than the contractions I was feeling earlier.
On a side note: for those pregnant women who are scared to get the epidural, don't be. The IV(s) they stuck in my arm were 10 times worse than getting the epidural. That was a piece of cake.
So, after the epidural we all just tried to rest and wait for the contractions to pick up more. I guess we waited all night long. I couldn't sleep a wink cause I felt so yucky. Mom and Mark waited with me the whole time. I am so glad they were there.
The nurse kept coming back in to check if my contractions were strong enough for me to start pushing. Finally at around 6:00am they said I could start pushing. I ended up having the Dr. on call come in to help me (my Dr. was not on call that weekend) and he was great. At 6:30am, after I don't remember how many pushes, our 9lbs 5oz baby Samuel was born into the world! I was so glad, as you can imagine! I still didn't sleep after that. I don't think I slept until that night once they got me into my room. Even then, Samuel kept me up most of the night. At 3:00am I finally got a few consecutive hours of sleep. It was great, and I felt wonderful in the morning. We did a few of the routine tests babies have, on Tuesday and then went home at noon. It was so good to get home and see everyone. There's the story. Hope you enjoyed it.