Mica
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Hello!
My little boy, Theodore Roosevelt Rodriguez arrived on Friday, April 26, at 8:33am after nearly 24 hours of labor.
We arrived to the hospital on Thursday morning at 6am for a scheduled induction as I was 41+3. It took a while for the nurses to come in and get things set up, but when they did, they put me on IV fluids and said the doctor would come check me to see if labor might already have started before they started a pitocin drip. I was still hopeful that we might avoid the pitocin, so had my fingers crossed that my cervix had changed since my appointment 3 days prior. Unfortunately, it hadn't, so was started on pitocin at 9am. Started having more noticeable contractions almost immediately, but they were manageable. I was trying to avoid pain meds, anesthesia, or any other interventions really, so was using my relaxation and breathing to deal with pain. They came and checked me again around 2:30pm and still no change in my cervix, so doctor broke my waters. Things started to get quite a bit more painful after that, but I was still managing. Meanwhile, they continued to up the pitocin dose every hour or so. As things really picked up by 5pm or so, I just was telling myself that the cervix was opening and I was okay. Got checked around 7 (I think? Pain was getting to be too much to keep track of time...) and my cervix had still not changed! I was still only 2 cm, as I had been all day! That's when I began to get discouraged, and pain became less manageable. I knew I didn't want tranquilizers, and would have an epidural if it became necessary. But I wanted to tough it out a while longer. But, by 8:30 I had decided I wanted the epidural. The pain was so horrible in my whole body, I couldn't relax at all, I was so tired, and only had to look forward to another upping of my pitocin, more pain, and then who knows. Anesthesiologist was called and I got the epidural at 9:20pm. After it kicked in, I was able to get some sleep. Every few hours or so, doctor would wake me up to check my cervix. When checked a little before 6am, I was told that it was time to push. Pushed for a while with just the nurse, and while my pain was very low, the pressure was intense and the pushing was hard. I threw up a few times from the effort. After two hours of pushing doctor said baby was transverse - head turned to the side - and that we had hit a bit of a wall as far as him descending. He said we could keep trying for another 30 minutes or an hour, and see what happened, but that he wanted to use suction to help him out. I knew that this might be a possibility, so I went ahead and agreed to it, in hopes of avoiding further intervention (i.e. C-section). So then with each contraction, I would push, and doctor would pull. It probably took another 10-15 pushes after that, oh, and an episiotomy, but then my baby arrived and nothing else mattered! I had had my eyes closed as I pushed, but they told me to look and I saw as they pulled him out and handed him to me. After that I lost track of time, but I think that within 30 minutes they had delivered the placenta and sewn me up, while I had skin to skin with my baby. I still could hardly believe it was real. Such an incredible experience. I love him so much.
I've really enjoyed this forum, and I enjoyed sharing advice and experiences with everyone so much. I have realized though that reading books and forums and blogs and what have you just can't really prepare you for the actual experience. I had said I wanted natural childbirth, non-medicated, and with as little intervention as possible, and I did everything I could to prepare for that, and I don't regret it. However, I also have no regrets about how things actually went. Ideally, I wouldn't have had the induction at all, and perhaps would have avoided some of the other interventions. But I was very happy I was able to deliver vaginally, that I delivered with my own doctor - not the on-call doctor, and that my baby and I were never in distress. We did what we had to do, and we made it!
I hope this might offer encouragement to other first-time moms. I think it's good to try to plan, prepare yourself as much as you can for the physical, mental and emotional challenges of labor, but also to not get too hung up on anything and to not get down on yourself if things don't go exactly according to plan. After all, "life's what happens when you're busy making other plans." Good luck to all of you! xox
My little boy, Theodore Roosevelt Rodriguez arrived on Friday, April 26, at 8:33am after nearly 24 hours of labor.
We arrived to the hospital on Thursday morning at 6am for a scheduled induction as I was 41+3. It took a while for the nurses to come in and get things set up, but when they did, they put me on IV fluids and said the doctor would come check me to see if labor might already have started before they started a pitocin drip. I was still hopeful that we might avoid the pitocin, so had my fingers crossed that my cervix had changed since my appointment 3 days prior. Unfortunately, it hadn't, so was started on pitocin at 9am. Started having more noticeable contractions almost immediately, but they were manageable. I was trying to avoid pain meds, anesthesia, or any other interventions really, so was using my relaxation and breathing to deal with pain. They came and checked me again around 2:30pm and still no change in my cervix, so doctor broke my waters. Things started to get quite a bit more painful after that, but I was still managing. Meanwhile, they continued to up the pitocin dose every hour or so. As things really picked up by 5pm or so, I just was telling myself that the cervix was opening and I was okay. Got checked around 7 (I think? Pain was getting to be too much to keep track of time...) and my cervix had still not changed! I was still only 2 cm, as I had been all day! That's when I began to get discouraged, and pain became less manageable. I knew I didn't want tranquilizers, and would have an epidural if it became necessary. But I wanted to tough it out a while longer. But, by 8:30 I had decided I wanted the epidural. The pain was so horrible in my whole body, I couldn't relax at all, I was so tired, and only had to look forward to another upping of my pitocin, more pain, and then who knows. Anesthesiologist was called and I got the epidural at 9:20pm. After it kicked in, I was able to get some sleep. Every few hours or so, doctor would wake me up to check my cervix. When checked a little before 6am, I was told that it was time to push. Pushed for a while with just the nurse, and while my pain was very low, the pressure was intense and the pushing was hard. I threw up a few times from the effort. After two hours of pushing doctor said baby was transverse - head turned to the side - and that we had hit a bit of a wall as far as him descending. He said we could keep trying for another 30 minutes or an hour, and see what happened, but that he wanted to use suction to help him out. I knew that this might be a possibility, so I went ahead and agreed to it, in hopes of avoiding further intervention (i.e. C-section). So then with each contraction, I would push, and doctor would pull. It probably took another 10-15 pushes after that, oh, and an episiotomy, but then my baby arrived and nothing else mattered! I had had my eyes closed as I pushed, but they told me to look and I saw as they pulled him out and handed him to me. After that I lost track of time, but I think that within 30 minutes they had delivered the placenta and sewn me up, while I had skin to skin with my baby. I still could hardly believe it was real. Such an incredible experience. I love him so much.
I've really enjoyed this forum, and I enjoyed sharing advice and experiences with everyone so much. I have realized though that reading books and forums and blogs and what have you just can't really prepare you for the actual experience. I had said I wanted natural childbirth, non-medicated, and with as little intervention as possible, and I did everything I could to prepare for that, and I don't regret it. However, I also have no regrets about how things actually went. Ideally, I wouldn't have had the induction at all, and perhaps would have avoided some of the other interventions. But I was very happy I was able to deliver vaginally, that I delivered with my own doctor - not the on-call doctor, and that my baby and I were never in distress. We did what we had to do, and we made it!
I hope this might offer encouragement to other first-time moms. I think it's good to try to plan, prepare yourself as much as you can for the physical, mental and emotional challenges of labor, but also to not get too hung up on anything and to not get down on yourself if things don't go exactly according to plan. After all, "life's what happens when you're busy making other plans." Good luck to all of you! xox
x
One week old today 
