Andrew's Arrival-- Part 2

So where were we??? Ah, yes. The doctor told me to labor at home for a while and I pretty much told her she was crazy. She agreed we could go to the hospital and said she would call them to let them know we were on our way. That was just a little after 3AM.

Got off the phone and got ready to go. My bag had been packed for weeks, so the hubby just had to put it in the car. And it was the middle of the night, so we both had to get dressed. That part took the longest. Going to the bathroom and then trying to put on clothes while contracting every three minutes with contractions that were lasting two minutes really, truly sucks. We finally left the house at 3:30... though it took almost another 10 minutes to pull out of the driveway by the time I was able to get enough of a break in the contractions I could actually climb up into the truck.

On the way there, I told hubby I didn't care what my birth plan said, I wanted an epidural. For that to make sense, you have to understand that I was TERRIFIED at the thought of an epidural. To me, that was the scariest thing about facing childbirth and I was adamant I did NOT want to have one. It wasn't about being all "natural" or drug free... just about not putting a needle in my spine. And, in my birth plan, it stated that the thought of an epidural scared the bejeezus out of me and I didn't want one. And if I did ask for one, it meant the pain was unbelievably intense for me.

Fortunately, the hospital isn't far... and at that early hour there was very little traffic, so we were sitting in the hospital getting checked in by 4AM. Clearly, the registrar deals with this often... she was very good about not trying to talk to me during contractions and being very patient while I breathed through them until I could continue. I had already preregistered, so there were just a couple of things to sign. And, since one of them was for the baby, the hubby was able to sign it so I could keep breathing. Then they put me in a wheelchair and took me upstairs to triage.

The nurse came in asked me a gazillion questions and put me on the monitors. Like everyone else we dealt with at the hospital, she was very patient and never tried to rush things while I was going through contractions. She asked if I wanted and epidural, and I told her I had said "No way" my entire pregnancy but was now seriously reconsidering. The monitor showed I was definitely having contractions (DUH!), baby was still doing just fine and upon checking I was already dilated to 5cm. HA! And the doctor said I probably wasn't doing much! The nurse left to call the doctor and let her know what was going on.

I again told hubby I was getting the epi. And, just as I had coached him a thousand times to do, he asked me at least a dozen times if I was CERTAIN that's what I wanted and reminded me of how much I had said I didn't want one. Yep. Give me the epi. I already hadn't slept in 24 hours. I was dealing with some blinding pain. And I was getting absolutely no rest time between contrax because they were lasting so long. I wanted to be able to relax a little bit and to fully enjoy my son's entrance into the world, rather than be totally exhausted and in so much pain. Of course, hubby agreed it was my choice... he just wanted me to be sure of it and not something I would regret later. So... and epi for me.

The nurse came back in , with wheelchair, and said the doctor agreed it was time to admit me so we could have a baby. She said the dr approved my getting the epi at this point and also wanted my water broken once it was in. And, then she helped me get in the chair and off we went to our labor & delivery room.

Got to the room, went to the bathroom and then the nurse called anesthesiology. She tried to start an IV on me... something I've never had a problem with... but after the thing blew in two different spots, she gave up and said she'd have the anesthesiologist do it when he came in to do my epi. She had the second try in and offered me some Nubain to "take the edge off," which I agreed to, but the IV blew as she was putting it in... so I don't know that I got much of it. If so, it didn't seem to work worth a darn.

Hubby went down to get a few things from the truck while the anest. came in to do the epi. Thankfully, he understood my fear and was very good about explaining every little thing to me. And the nurse stood right in front of me and held my hand and talked me through the contractions while he was working. Between contrax, she was good about just trying some chit-chat so I wouldn't be focused on what the anest. was doing. I have to admit, he was very good and other than the initial stick for numbing, I never felt a thing. It was over in just a few minutes and a couple of contractions later, I was feeling relief. Thank goodness!........