The funny thing is that Tuesday just happened to be Russell's, my sister Laurie's fiancé, birthday. His birthday has been stolen many times in the past and it had been a running joke among our friends that Clara would steal his birthday for good! Turns out everyone was right. So we celebrated his birthday Monday night and I ate as much as humanly possible because I knew I would need my strength for the next day.
Tuesday morning I woke up early as I was having a hard time sleeping because I was so excited. I decided not to go running since I ran the day before and decided to elliptical instead and watch the news. Then I ate even more food to give me strength for the day and we headed off to Kaiser in Fresno.
By the time I was all checked in at the hospital and had gotten my IV which took three different people a total of five tries to put in (apparently my veins roll and it wasn't a pleasant experience) it was already 11:00. The nurse started the Pitocin and they started at two milliunits and then increased by two more every half an hour. I got to ten milliunits and then they noticed that every time I had a contraction the baby's heart rate dropped after the contraction. Apparently this isn't normal and the nurse became concerned. The doctor said it was nothing to worry about as he was sure that her head was so low that it was squeezing her uncomfortably and that was what was causing the decrease in her heartbreak. But he still let the nurse decrease my Pitocin by half back to five milliunits. This is where I stayed for the rest of the time but I was already having tons of contractions so I don't think it mattered.
I don't think I was really aware of time during my labor. But at some point maybe 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, my contractions got progressively worse. I was having back labor and it was worse than I thought it would be. I had to brace myself with every contraction and tell myself it would be over soon and then I would be pain-free for a couple of minutes. Needless to say this didn't work forever. Every time I went to the bathroom, I would look in the mirror and I could tell my pain was increasing just by the look on my face. It didn't help that I had to be in bed the entire time. Since they had induced me I had to be monitored nonstop so there went my plans of walking and doing different positions to take away the pain. Instead I just sat in a bed and tried to bear it.
I had always said that I wasn't worried about labor because either I would handle the pain or get an epidural if it became unbearable. I'm not sure what point I started entertaining the idea of an epidural. I never said anything to Kevin I think I just started daydreaming about it. Around 5:30 my family, who were all in the room with me, decided to go to dinner. As soon as they left I just blurted out that I wanted an epidural. I think Kevin was a little surprised as I don't think he realized the amount of pain I was in. Apparently I hid it well much to my surprise.
The anesthesiologist who did my epidural had randomly been in our childbirth class as his wife was pregnant. He was very calm and all I could think about was how soon I'd be pain-free. On the first attempt he put the epidural in but then was getting blood so he thought it'd hit a vein and had to take it out. At this point all I could think about was how unfair this was because I was so close to being pain-free and we had to start over. The second attempt went in perfectly and they started giving me pain medication. I soon started to feel less pain and I was able to relax.
Before I got the epidural, my blood pressure had skyrocketed to 189/79. My blood pressure throughout my pregnancy had generally been 90/50 or somewhere around there so this was really high. The nurse kept worrying about it and I told her there was nothing I can do to bring it down because I wasn't too much pain. The second epidural kicked in it dropped way down to 120/60 I think I just needed to relax.
I got the epidural around 6:30 PM. Within the hour my water broke on it's own and by 8:00, I had dilated to 10 centimeters and was ready to push! Everyone, including my doctor, had told me that as soon as I was in active labor everything would happen really fast. I didn't believe them as I didn't see how they all could know that but apparently they were right. I just needed to relax and my labor progressed so quickly.
The nurse asked me if I was ready to push and I believe I told her that I thought so because I felt like Clara was about to fall out! I pushed for 30 to 40 minutes and out she came! Kevin watched the birth and had to hold my leg up. He cut the umbilical cord and thought it was awesome. Kevin was really great and helped keep me calm and was very supportive. I am lucky to have such a great husband!
The actual delivery was much easier than I thought it would be and the labor was much worse. All in all it wasn't that bad of an experience and I find that I have already forgotten what the pain was like. I've always said that women must forget the pain or they wouldn't keep having kids. Turns out I was right. And the end result was wonderful, a beautiful little girl!
