Little did I know that a few hours after my 10.15.03 post that labor was looming. Around 7pm, I developed a headache on the left side with a needling pain behind my ear and into my neck and jaw. Not fun. So I decided to skip dinner and lay down for a while and try to sleep through it. The pain was too sharp to ignore, but the dark room was at least soothing.
After midnight Tony joined me in bed and quickly fell asleep. Tony, a.k.a. Captain Slumber, has the super power of super sleep. He can reach full REM in five minutes. I hope our son inherits this. At 12:40, I felt my first contraction. I didn't get too excited because I knew it doesn't really mean anything unless they continue steadily. I made a mental note to tell the doctor about the contraction and continued to try to fall asleep...I was almost successful when the second contraction hit. Again I ignored it, but after the fourth one, I was more attentive.
I sat up in bed and started to time them. They were consistently 7 minutes apart...then 5 minutes... Tony woke up and I told him to go back to sleep, and in his groggy sleep state, he listened, but a few minutes later he sat up again, aware that I was keeping something from him. As soon as I said the word contraction, he was alert and in full labor coach mode.
The doctors had told me to call them if my water broke or if I had contractions 5 minutes apart for at least one hour. Well, they were 5 minutes apart, now we needed to see if they were going to last. After 3 or 4 contractions, they were suddenly 2-3 minutes apart, and secretly, I began to get a little panicky. They weren't terribly painful, but they were definitely the real deal.
A little after 2am Tony called the Dr. Patel, and she said to go to the hospital. Tony was so excited, but I was too nervous and still had the headache to cope with too. I was in my ultra-calm, crisis management mode that's usually reserved for work deadlines and family emergencies.
Once at the hospital, I was hooked up on monitors to watch the baby's heartbeat and my contractions. It was confirmed that they were 2-3 minutes apart, but my internal exam showed no change in my cervix. I was still only 1.5 cm dialated. It was a busy night on the labor ward and the nurses didn't seem too happy about another patient. She encouraged me to go home and walk around and come back later...I was not easily swayed. She called my doctor who decided I would stay.
The contractions became stronger but remained 2-3 minutes apart all morning. I did my best to breathe through them, but by 5am I was having trouble managing the pain. At 6am, I whimpered for some relief, and the nurse was unsympathetic. My exam showed I was about 3 cm, and she thought it was too soon for pain medication. Dr. Patel and a new nurse arrived at 7am and an epidural was ordered for me. My new nurse, Leslie was a great comfort for me and I am grateful that most of my labor was during her shift. Before she left for her office hours, my doctor broke my water. It was a strange sensation, but not at all painful.
I was surprised I needed the epidural as early as I did, but I was never looking to win the Ms. Natural Labor 2003 pageant. The idea of a needle in my spine was freaky, but the anesthesiologist talked me through the entire process and made it easier. Afterwards I could feel the contractions but only slightly, and I had more sensation in the right than the left, but it was still an enormous relief. I think the toughest part of the entire labor for me was the hour or so before the epidural. It was the only time I had serious doubts that I would be able to handle the delivery.
Contractions continued all day but the dilation went very slowly. On my doctor's orders, Leslie added pitocin to my IV. I was checked hourly for dilation and the pitocin was cranked up accordingly. By 4pm I was 7cm, 100% effaced BUT my cervix was not evenly dilated. In a final desperate attempt to delay his birth, Bean had taken refuge on my left side under my ribs. His leftward lean was so pronounced, it contorted the shape of my belly. The problem with this was that his weight was not evenly distributed on my cervix, so a crescent moon of the cervix remained on the right side. By changing my position we were able to coax him over enough to correct this, but it took some time.
At 6pm, we started to PUSH, and I really thought the Bean would be born before Leslie's shift ended. No such luck. I pushed as hard as I could for 3 hours. With the cheerleading of Tony, my doctor and my nurses, I managed to move the Bean down, but not out. He fought us to the end. Finally, Dr. Patel said she was going to give me some help. It looked like a dollar store toy, but the tiny suction cup vaccuum device did the trick. Coordinating my pushing, the doctor's pulling, and my contractions, the Bean was born at 8:49 pm, and my world changed.
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