10/7/13
The adventure became even more real when I headed to the hospital at 5:15 am on October 7, 2013. Lloyd and my mom picked me up at my house and helped loaded my bags into the car and off to the hospital we went. My OB-GYN nurse told me to have a light breakfast because I wouldn't be allowed to eat once on IV. I didn't realize how serious that would become. Without knowing the future, I had a bowl of cereal and a muffin. Enough to satisfy me for a couple hours....hardly enough to satisfy me over the eventual three days.
We checked into Providence Women's Pavilion 4th floor triage and got me checked into room 311. I had no idea what the time frame of being induced would be. I thought I would be admitted, induced, and by 3pm my girls would be here. I was so sure that was the way it was going to happen that I even had people coming to visit me around 3 or later that day.
Finally around 8:30 am the nurses put me on Petocin (which is the IV that induces labor). Along with the IV, I had a heart monitor on my belly for each girl and a contraction monitor for me. My contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart but I was only about 1.5 centimeters dilated and I was having no cervical changes. Frustrating.
The nurses and on call doctors continued to check on me through out the day and basically there were no changes. I texted my friends/family and told them not to bother coming to visit. Unfortunately I didn't get a hold of Aunt Mary Jane in time. She drove three hours to be there on Monday and arrived around 1pm. Since I had no change, she and Uncle Dan drove home around 3. I absolutely love that she would drive to be there with me but I felt bad that she drove up for no reason :(.
At 9:30 pm the nurses finally took me off the petocin. The doctor was hoping if I was off the IV, then my body would self start and when I would be put back on the IV, my body would jump into gear....yeah right.
At least by being off the Petocin I could have something to eat. I was STARVING. Through out the day, Mom and Lloyd would get lunch or whatever. At dinner they even had a pizza. I had them eat out in the waiting room because it was torture to smell the food much less not be able to eat it. I was STARVING. My nurse searched the floor for something for me to eat and found me some food. I ate the best plain turkey sandwich I have ever eaten in my life. You can't image how fabulous a boring turkey sandwich and a couple cookies taste when you haven't eaten for over 16 hours.
10/8/13
I didn't sleep well. My back was killing me and the nurses continued to come in throughout the night to check my vitals. Hospital beds are NOT the most comfortable beds to sleep on. Mine was pretty rock hard and I think I had every pillow in the hospital propping me up somewhere.
The doctors tried some other methods to stimulate labor and I was able to have a normal breakfast.
At 9:30 am I was put back on Petocin and I was only dilated 2cm. The day was pretty much uneventual and similar to the day before. I went through several nurse shift changes and at 6:40pm the on call doctor decided to break my water. That was the weirdest feeling ever. It pretty much feels like you are peeing your pants with warm pee...and it doesn't stop. You just keep peeing and peeing and you think you are done...nope...more pee. When they broke my water, that officially started my "labor". I had no real cervical change but I was now in labor.
I was pretty discouraged that anything was going to happen but then I started having some painful contractions. My good friend Cecilie said that you will know you are having contractions when you can't talk through them....it was getting to that point. The contractions felt like SUPER PAINFUL period pains. At 7:40 pm, I had the doctors give me an epidural. It took 20 minutes to get epidural put in and it was one of the most painful experiences. It was even more painful than my most painful contraction. They have you sit on the sit of the bed and I had the nurse facing me. The anesthesiologist put a needle into my back. I have had several tattoos and I can endure pain...but this was way worse. According to the doctor, the needle kept hitting my bone which is why I was feeling extreme waves of electricity. I really can't even put into words how painful getting an epidural was. Once they were done, things were fine. I couldn't feel the needle in my back and it alleviated the contraction pain pretty quickly.
10/9/13
Day three. I am so discouraged that anything is going to happen. They assured me that I wouldn't be sent home, that I would be having my girls today. At 5:30 am they gave me a shot of Fentenal (sp?) and pretty quickly after that, I threw up. I had nothing in my stomach so I was just drive heaving and I really hate the feeling of having to throw up. But apparently it was a sign that changes were happening. My cervix was dilated to 6cm by 6:30 am. YEAH...progress.
At 12:30 pm I was holding strong at 8 cm dilated.
At 1 pm Aunt Mary Jane walked in :). I was soooo surprised. She didn't tell me she was coming back up and her, Uncle Dan, and Jim Howard drove up to be there with me. She left to run errands but it was so nice knowing she was there.
At 4:15 the doctor wanted me to start some pushing. Apparently my cervix was almost perfect for delivery but there was one thick spot that was holding everything up. The doctor hoped that having me push, the could get Adelyn's head past the thick part and then the rest would be easy breezy (yeah...right). My nurse at the time was Christi and she and my mom each held a leg while I pushed. I was to push every time I had a contraction, which was every 3 minutes. While I was pushing, I was to take a deep breath, breath out to the count of ten, take a quick inhale and repeat a total of 3 times. Since I was on the epidural, I didn't feel much from the waist down. I knew I was pushing but I couldn't feel anything. It was hard to push because my face would become on fire. Mom got me a cold wash cloth but nothing seem to help. My face felt like it was going to explode. It was not fun. I had to repeat that scenario for two hours. Rhonda showed up toward the end so she even held my leg while I pushed. Two hours of pushing and NOTHING changed. NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING. I was exhausted, hungry, and frustrated.
The doctors determined that Adelyn's face was turned to the side and there was no way she was coming out vaginally. I was going to have to have a C section. Part of me was relieved that my girls would finally be here soon but part of me was nervous about having a major surgery.
The nurses got me all prepped and even got mom prepped. They only allowed one person to be in the operating room and Mom was that person for me. She has been there during every surgery I have ever had and there is just something comforting about having your mom hold your hand during something significant. At 7pm they wheeled me back to the operating room.
They gave me more of the epidural which made my body extremely itch. I was only on the epidural and it wasn't strong enough. I felt some of the surgery. I definitely felt a pressure feeling but I also felt a lot of pain. At 7:30 pm Adelyn was born. I felt a weight loss when they took her out. Mom went to take pictures of her so the anesthesiologist held my hand. His name was Patrick and he was great. He really took care of me and let me hold his hand through the pain. At 7:32 Clara was born.
After they cleaned up Adelyn, they brought her over to me and laid her next to my face. It was so surreal. I was sooo happy to see my little girl. Hearing her cry for the first time was so memorable. Clara didn't breath right away and they had to put her on some oxygen. She was fine in the end.
Adelyn was 6 pounds 2 oz; 19 inches long; O+ blood type
Clara was 5 pounds 7 oz; 19 inches long; O+ blood type
My two precious miracles were finally here and with me! They wheeled me to the recovery room and cleaned up the girls. Mom was on an ADD high and was so excited. She got permission to take Adelyn out to the waiting room to show her off to my visitors. Aunt Mary Jane was the only one that got to hold her. It was about 9 pm and getting late for everyone. Everyone left to go home except Lloyd, Kevin, and Rhonda. The three of them came back to my room to see the girls for a little bit. 
Overall I guess I got to experience almost every aspect of giving birth. I spent three days being induced; 24 hours in labor; pushed for 2 hours; and had a C section.
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| My family!!! |
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