February 10, 2007, was the best day ever.
Michelle, Nathan and I woke up at about 5 a.m. to make the trip to the hospital for the induction. We had to be there by 7 a.m., and the drive was about 30 minutes or so. It wasn't exactly the frantic "I'm in labor, get me to the hospital now" drive I had envisioned, but it still had my heart going. It kind-of felt like Christmas morning!
Memorial Hermann, where Ella was born, is part of the Texas Medical Center, which is a huge center comparable to Mayo or the Cleveland Clinic. The hospital itself is also huge, so I was a little concerned it might have been impersonal or something. I was happily mistaken. The nurses were great, it was quiet, and very private.
Nathan dropped Michelle and I off, and we got to the Women's Center triage just before 7 a.m. There was a little surprise from the nursing staff that an induction had been scheduled for a Saturday. We hung out in the waiting room for a bit through a shift change. Then I went into triage to check in while Nathan and Michelle waited outside.We moved into the delivery room, which was beautiful -- very big, lots of room to move around, and very quiet. Also another plus -- cable TV, which we don't have at home. :-) I was given an IV (not fun -- least favorite thing #3 about the process) and hooked up to monitors, then the Pitocin was started at about 8:30 a.m. I also was given magnesium sulfate through the whole process because of the pre-eclampsia and to control my blood pressure. One consequence of the magnesium sulfate -- I was on strict fluid intake restrictions and could only have ice chips during the entire labor process. Ugh. (Actually, my fluids were restricted through Sunday afternoon while I was still getting the magnesium sulfate. How cruel is that?)
My doctor arrived around 10 a.m. to manually break my water (again, not fun -- least favorite thing #2 about the process). I always thought it'd be just a quick poke into the amniotic sac with the hook, fluid would be released, and that'd be it. Uhhhh ... no. It took quite a few tries and manuevering since I was only dilated to 3 cm. Ouch. But it was done, the Pitocin was working, and it was predicted I'd be deliving mid to late afternoon.
We listened to James Taylor and Stevie Wonder to pass the time. And as the Pitocin doses were increasing, so were my contractions. I sat in the rocking chair and on the birth ball to work through the contractions, holding "two fingers" with Nathan (and Michelle when Nathan paused to record the experience), and was generally doing quite well. The contractions were tough, but I was breathing, rocking on the ball, and thinking, "Yeah, I can do this!" Then my Pitocin dosage was upped again ...
About 12:30 or so, the Pitocin was really going in my system, and unfortunately, not giving me any breaks between contractions. They were intense and coming one right after another, and I didn't have a chance to rest. My mind was starting to get fuzzy, and just when one contraction was ending and I thought I could relax and breathe again to build up strength, another one came surging on. I was getting exhausted and couldn't work through the pain any more, and I gave in and requested an epidural.
The whole epidural process was definitely my least favorite thing #1 about labor and delivery -- not contractions, not pushing, etc. It was getting a needle and catheter inserted into my back. I had told Nathan during our birthing class that I was more afraid of getting an epidural than the whole pain of labor (I have a needle issue). The worst part was that I had to sit on the edge of my bed in a C-shape (hugging Nathan, of course), holding completely still during the process. Ummmm, holding still while sitting in a C-shape during painful contractions is next to unbearable. At least before, I could rock on the ball and breathe and flail as needed.
Not so when an anesthesiologist is trying to insert a small tube through a large needle into your back. But she was a superstar and very patient, I made it through, and within 30 minutes, I was blissfully relaxing and watching "My Best Friend's Wedding" through active labor. Not bad. Napping through active labor is not a bad thing either. The pain medication was actually continuously delivered to my body through a pump and the catheter in my back, so I got to control how much medication I was recieving. Nice. My lower body was never totally numb. I could feel pressure now and again, but no pain. I knew when my feet started tingling that I should ease up on manually pumping the meds. I also knew that pushing and delivery would go a lot more smoothly if I could actually feel some pressure, so I didn't want to overdo it.
Two movies ("Jerry Maguire" and "Men in Black") and about 4 hours later, I was getting a bit impatient. I was progressing, but of course, not as quickly as I would have liked. The nurses were FANTASTIC and came to check in every hour or so to see how things were going. It seemed like I was dilated at 7-8 cm forever. The nurses were getting disappointed, too, since a shift change was coming up and it seemed as if they'd miss the birth.
Finally, at about 7:15 p.m., I felt like I had to pass a very large poop (I was told that was a good sign) and I was proclaimed fully dilated at 10 cm. Yee hah!! My doctor was paged, preparations for baby started, and a new nurse settled in with me to help me start pushing, which was at about 7:30.
The whole pushing process was somewhat of an out of body experience for me. I was so completely determined to the best job possible and do everything I was supposed to do. When the nurse told me to push, I pushed. When she counted to 10, I pushed the entire count. I pushed through every contraction. I didn't argue with anyone, I didn't really talk to Nathan (holding my right leg) or Michelle (holding my left leg). I was just in a zone. I do remember some passing comments -- Michelle responding to the nurse about my excellent pushing by telling her I was "always somewhat of an overachiever" and hearing comments about my baby having lots of hair ("What?!?!?").
Dr. Drescher arrived just in time. Apparently, the baby's head was already crowning and I didn't have much further to go. I do remember feeling a contraction (pressure) coming on, and asking Dr. Drescher if I could rest through one. I just felt like if I could rest for more than 30 seconds, I'd have so much more strength for the last pushes. I think I pushed maybe a total of 2-3 more times before Ella was born at 8:03 p.m.
Dr. Drescher held up Ella for me right away so I could see her, and they quickly wiped her off and put her on my chest. I was in complete awe. She had a little spit curl like Superman in the middle of her forehead, and a little cone head (thanks to Mom's quick pushing, I think). Her little eyes blinked open and shut so slowly, and glanced Daddy's way when he leaned down to talk to her. I didn't even really notice Dr. Drescher stitching me up while I just stared at my new little girl. Okay, maybe I noticed a bit. There were apparently a few things to be stitched up (thanks again to Mom's quick pushing).In retrospect, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to witness Michelle deliver her daughters Emily and Hannah. I didn't let anyone videotape Ella's birth, and ironically, I feel like I missed out on "seeing" her born. It was such a surreal experience, but I was doing quite a bit of "work" and it's hard for me to remember and recapture her delivery. But I wouldn't trade her delivery for anything. It was perfect.
Nathan went with Ella while she was checked out and cleaned up, and Michelle accompanied me to my new room. Ella rejoined us about an hour later, and I feasted on grilled cheese, french fries, fruit and a Sprite (oooooo ... contraband fluid!). I tried nursing Ella a bit, and couldn't stop watching her and checking on her in her crib. I'm so happy she was able to "room in" with us. We ended the night about midnight watching American Idol Rewind with Nathan crashing on the air matress on the floor, and Michelle on the window seat.Hands down, best day ever.
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