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On the night of July 8, 2011 Bill & I decided to go to bed around 1:00am. My contractions began at 4:30am July 9, 2011. I woke up due to a slight rolling cramping feeling in my stomach. It wasn't unbearable but it was uncomfortable and I couldn't fall back asleep. I was very excited, hoping that I was going to have my baby that day. I timed my contractions the entire time. I was a Time Nazi making sure that they were consistent and that it wasn't a fluke, or Braxton Hicks contractions. My contractions were light and occurred every 5-15 minutes. They started getting more intense around 3:00pm, when they occurred every 4-5 minutes. From 4:30am-3:00pm I walked up and down my stairs, took long walks outdoors, did some prenatal yoga positions to help me dilate [fail], and read a million things online about contractions, labor, and delivery. At about 4:30pm, I went to the emergency room at Metro Hospital because my contractions were hurting a bit more and were consistently every 4-5 minutes for about an hour or two. I went to the OB triage area to get examined and found out my cervix was only dilated to 3cm. [A couple days before, I was dilated to 1.5cm so I guess those contractions were doing something...] I had to stay there another hour to see if my contractions were really making me dilate. An hour later I was still at 3cm. We waited another hour to be sure to find out I was still dilated to 3cm. By this time it was after 6:00pm and my contractions were not feeling good AT ALL. I was at the point where I could no longer walk and had to drop to my knees at every rolling contraction. Painful. My grandma called me randomly after I was out of the hospital and decided to drive down and help me through early labor pains. She is a retired OB nurse so her support was very much needed and comforting.
The doctor's gave me some sort of prescription medicine when they told me to go home. I don't even know what it was supposed to do. It took us an hour plus to find a pharmacy open after 8:00pm on a Saturday. When we eventually got this medicine, it did nothing. I was crying through my contractions from about 7:00pm until I was finally admitted into the hospital around 5am? I lost time during this period. We went home after filling the prescription and I tried to lay down and find some comfort. No luck. I got a cool rag to place over my forehead. Soon my grandma arrived and helped me breathe through some of my contractions. It kinda helped. My preferred method of getting through a contraction was crying and moaning in pain until it was over... It hurt really, really, really bad and it wasn't getting any better. Around 1:00am we decided it was time to go back to the hospital because my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and PAINFUL. We went back and found out I was only dilated to 4cm. But still, it was progress... :/ We stayed another hour and that hour was the worst. My grandma, Bill & I were outside the triage area praying that my suffering was actually doing something! [making me dilate!!] I was making a lot of noise throughout the hospital hallways. I would cry so hard through each contraction. After a contraction there would be a moment of peace... and then the rolling pain would come again. We called for the nurse and she checked me again.
Thank God I had dilated another cm in that hour and was finally admitted into the hospital. I was at 5cm so they took me to my room and gave me some medications. First, I got my IV and they gave me narcotics. [?] It made me feel drunk, happy, and social. It was a huge relief. Another 20 minutes passed and the anesthetist gave me an epidural. I felt great. This was all happening around 5:00, 6:00, or 7:00am. I have no clue. I think I slept a couple hours at this point and waited to dilate further. The nurses/doctors came in and checked me several times to find out I was not dilating anymore. I ended up having to get Pitocin to help me dilate. Thankfully, I was on pain medication and did not feel the awful results of being rapidly induced. I was dilating very slow the entire time. I think around 1:00pm it was time to push. I was tired but very excited at this point. I was going to meet my baby very soon! I had no clue what I was doing but the nurses and doctors were very helpful, motivating, and super nice. I pushed with a few contractions. I thought everything was going good until I realized that "Ouch... Things are hurting again!" It hurt every time I pushed. I did not like this anymore. My happiness suddenly went away. My epidural must have worn off??? I pushed... cried... moaned... yelled... got angry... hated my life... wanted to die... and finally a healthy baby A was born at 2:01pm July 10, 2011. I was exhausted and sobbing at this point. They took my baby away, sucked the gunk out of her nose and mouth, and handed her back to me while I breastfed her successfully at the first try.
The moral of this story is this.
***It is physically and emotionally draining to give birth but yes, of course, it is worth it!***
I have a low pain tolerance as it is so it just sucked. It hurt really bad. However, I do think I could have managed everything a little better if I was more rested when everything had started. [And if it wasn't so fricken long!!!!!!!!] I expected my labor to last the average 12 hours... I was definitely wrong. But I am definitely happy with my 8 day old baby girl. I am still in shock that I am officially a mother and that Bill is a father. We look at Miss A, then at each other in amazement. Crazy feeling. Despite all the pain, Life is good.
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Thanks for reading!
xx Monica xx