I'd never been induced before, but I have to admit, having a schedule set made me feel at ease.
I had visions of this baby being born in the car on the way to the hospital. I heard those 3rd babies come FAST!
So I was relieved to hear induction.
We went in to the hospital on Wednesday, April 18th at 11pm.
We got settled into a room and around 12:30am they came in to check me and get my IV of fluids started, etc.
When they checked me I was still at 2cm and not effaced.
This is when they placed the first round of Cytotec, a medication placed on your cervix to help it dilate.
A few hours go by with little to no contractions, so a second dose of Cytotec was placed at 4:00am.
At this time I was still at 2cm dilated and now 80% effaced.
After the second dose of Cytotec, the contractions began to pick up pretty fiercely.
The nurse came in and told me that my platelets were low (this is something I've known for my entire pregnancy as my dr. was monitoring it) and that they needed to redraw my blood to double check. If it came back low again, I wouldn't be able to have an epidural.
Ummm... excuse me??
No epidural?
I looked at the nurse and said "I want you to know I am going to have a heart attack if I can't get an epidural."
They redrew my blood and I had a mini melt down. My boyfriend assured me everything was going
to be ok.
About this time my dr. comes in to check on me and the anesthesiologist comes in to talk about the risks of proceeding with the epidural with low platelets.
The anesthesiologist said my platelets were indeed low, but that if I understood the risks (mainly of bleeding and not being able to clot), that he could place the epidural whenever I was ready.
I said okay, sent him on his merry way and continued to deal with contractions without it.
My dr. checked me at 9:40am and I was dilated to 4cm and 90% effaced.
She then broke my water.
That's when the contractions really began to pick up.
I told the nurse at 10:00am that I was ready for the epidural.
I was dilated to a 5.
The anesthesiologist came back in at 10:30am and placed the epidural.
No matter how many times I've done that, (all three kids btw) it's still the strangest feeling, having a tube fed through your back via a needle.
This is when things got a little crazy.
Trace did not respond well to the epidural.
His heart rate would drop significantly with every contraction I was having.
Multiple nurses rushed in and began to flip me from side to side to try and see what was causing him distress.
Next thing I know they were putting an oxygen mask on me and calling my dr.
At 11:30am my dr. came in and checked me. I was at 8cm.
She then brought out the peanut ball (a large ball placed between your legs to help open your pelvis) and I laid in bed with the oxygen mask on for about 30 minutes.
At 12:00pm my dr. came back in and the end of the bed came off, the stirrups came up, and I was instructed to push.
I pushed for 1 minute, a total of 3 contractions, and at 12:03pm Trace was born weighing in at 6 lbs. 13 oz.
When he came out, he did not cry. My dr. held him and tried to get him to cry for what seemed like forever. It was almost a full minute before a tiny whimper came out.
He was placed on my chest and that feeling of complete and utter euphoria rushed over me.
Tears were falling from my eyes uncontrollably as my boyfriend and I stared at this perfect tiny human that we did not plan, but all of a sudden fell so in love with, together.
That's the thing about life, you can plan for it all you want, but it rarely, if ever, goes that way.
And we are so very grateful for that. <3
And we are so very grateful for that. <3
