Labor of Love (Seven Days & Seven Nights) (October 17, 2008)
Call me lazy, but I am posting this blog first, before responding to several emails in which I am expected to recount my labor and delivery experience... that way I only have to type it once and reference this entry in said email responses. You can call me lazy... though I prefer "time efficient".
On Thursday, September 25th, Jason and I drove to the hospital for my appointment to be induced. Jackson seemed to be ignoring his eviction notice and the doctors don't like it when you go a week or more past your due date. Little did we know how long it could actually take for one to be "induced". The induction was a long and aggravating process. Close to midnight the first drug was administered, followed by a 12 hour waiting period to see if it worked. it didn't. Drug number 2 was tried out with a 6 hour wait, followed by nothing but drug number 1 again with an additional 12 hour wait... but only after a full afternoon of no drugs while waiting for my contractions to calm down. Finally, I'd had it with the drugs and advised doctor number 3 of this on Saturday morning. The cabin fever that had begun to settle in after Jason and I watched every VHS tape featuring Meg Ryan in the hospital's library was enough to drive me to want pain.. to want anything to get the ball rolling. I opted for a cervical balloon catheter... which is exactly what it sounds like. While it was rather unpleasant, it did the trick and I instantly became dilated enough to be moved to the delivery room. I'd made it clear that I did not want a cesarean section. I wanted a short recovery so that I'd be able to go back to work on time. Due to this, I believe they allowed me to stay in labor a lot longer than I should have. A very long Saturday night ended with the epidural medicine running out due to the anesthesiologist neglecting to check the IV bag after 2 intense hours of pushing... which resulted in 30 minutes of drug free labor pains before I tearfully called it quits as the doctor contemplated the size of the baby's head vs. the span of my pelvis. That last half hour before the newly administered epidural meds kicked in was by far the worst pain I could have ever possibly imagined. I honestly cannot believe that some women opt to go through the entire experience naturally... it's mind boggling. On the same token, the heavy epidural drugs given to numb my entire lower half for the c-section were just crazy. I could feel the scalpel sliding across the flesh of my underbelly. I could feel the doctors' hands picking up and moving my various internal organs. I could feel everything they were doing, but none of it hurt... it was so surreal, that I am having a hard time finding words to describe the event. However, the freak show feeling ended when his first cries from the other side of the blue curtain brought tears to my eyes... and moments later, a cleaned up newborn was placed in my arms. Despite the ordeal of getting him here (which ended up being that Sunday afternoon), everyone's encouraging words were right... it was all worth it. My first thought (no lie) upon laying my eyes on my son was, "Thank God... he's not ugly." How superficial am I? Geez. Anyway... that's my labor horror story. Though, I promise not to rehash it and try to scare any newly pregnant friends in the future... because I hated hearing it from others month after month... which now seems like a lifetime ago.
On Thursday, September 25th, Jason and I drove to the hospital for my appointment to be induced. Jackson seemed to be ignoring his eviction notice and the doctors don't like it when you go a week or more past your due date. Little did we know how long it could actually take for one to be "induced". The induction was a long and aggravating process. Close to midnight the first drug was administered, followed by a 12 hour waiting period to see if it worked. it didn't. Drug number 2 was tried out with a 6 hour wait, followed by nothing but drug number 1 again with an additional 12 hour wait... but only after a full afternoon of no drugs while waiting for my contractions to calm down. Finally, I'd had it with the drugs and advised doctor number 3 of this on Saturday morning. The cabin fever that had begun to settle in after Jason and I watched every VHS tape featuring Meg Ryan in the hospital's library was enough to drive me to want pain.. to want anything to get the ball rolling. I opted for a cervical balloon catheter... which is exactly what it sounds like. While it was rather unpleasant, it did the trick and I instantly became dilated enough to be moved to the delivery room. I'd made it clear that I did not want a cesarean section. I wanted a short recovery so that I'd be able to go back to work on time. Due to this, I believe they allowed me to stay in labor a lot longer than I should have. A very long Saturday night ended with the epidural medicine running out due to the anesthesiologist neglecting to check the IV bag after 2 intense hours of pushing... which resulted in 30 minutes of drug free labor pains before I tearfully called it quits as the doctor contemplated the size of the baby's head vs. the span of my pelvis. That last half hour before the newly administered epidural meds kicked in was by far the worst pain I could have ever possibly imagined. I honestly cannot believe that some women opt to go through the entire experience naturally... it's mind boggling. On the same token, the heavy epidural drugs given to numb my entire lower half for the c-section were just crazy. I could feel the scalpel sliding across the flesh of my underbelly. I could feel the doctors' hands picking up and moving my various internal organs. I could feel everything they were doing, but none of it hurt... it was so surreal, that I am having a hard time finding words to describe the event. However, the freak show feeling ended when his first cries from the other side of the blue curtain brought tears to my eyes... and moments later, a cleaned up newborn was placed in my arms. Despite the ordeal of getting him here (which ended up being that Sunday afternoon), everyone's encouraging words were right... it was all worth it. My first thought (no lie) upon laying my eyes on my son was, "Thank God... he's not ugly." How superficial am I? Geez. Anyway... that's my labor horror story. Though, I promise not to rehash it and try to scare any newly pregnant friends in the future... because I hated hearing it from others month after month... which now seems like a lifetime ago.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment