12:30pm - After being instructed not to eat past 1:00, my mom and I ventured to the restaurant for my last meal, where stuffed myself silly on the world's biggest bowl of pasta. And in a truly un-Carolyn-like fashion, I ordered it with extra protein (chicken, sausage and shrimp) in an effort to fill my stomach and keep it full for as long as possible. I was seriously nervous about the "no eating til after giving birth" thing.
1:30 - Headed home. (Yes, I ignored the doctor's orders and ate past 1.) Finished my last minute packing and got everything ready so we could leave for the hospital at 4:30.
3:45 - The phone rang.
3:46 - Wanted to reach through said phone and strangle the person on the other end who informed me that my induction scheduled for 5pm was bumped to 7pm. And naturally the only thing I could think to ask was whether or not I still not allowed to eat or drink. No dice.
3:47 - Had several sips of water in defiance.
3:48-6:30 - Somehow managed to keep myself busy (and not think about food) by cleaning the house and cuddling the pups.
7:00 - Finally checked into the hospital and was given a supposed "nice big corner room". Heh.
7:30-8:30 - Got hooked up to monitors, had my IV inserted and learned I was having contractions, although I couldn't feel them.
8:30 - Cervadil was inserted. Was told it would stay in for about 12 hours.
8:32 - Started to feel contractions, although they were incredibly weak and caused me no pain.
8:32-9:30 - Killed time by chatting with the husband, my inlaws and my mother.
9:31 - Everyone left and Nick and I talked about him going home so at least one of us could get a good night's sleep. After everything I've read and heard about Cervadil and inductions, I honestly didn't expect anything to happen until the morning when they could start me on Pitocin.
9:32 - Started timing my pathetic contractions "for fun" ;) They were roughly 3-5 minutes apart, lasting about 30-45 seconds.
11:00pm - I was given Morphine and a sleep aid.
11:01 - Decided that I didn't want Nick to leave. Good call on my part.
11:02 - Fell asleep.
3:45am - Awoke in pretty severe pain and learned what real contractions were all about. I laid in bed for 45 minutes, breathing my way through each one, before finally waking Nick at 4:30.
4:31 - The midwife came in to check me, finding that I was 2cm dilated and contracting every 2-3 minutes, with each one lasting 45-60 seconds. She also told me that they couldn't give me an epidural until they removed the Cervadil. This did not thrill me.
4:32 - Made my way out of bed and into what would ordinarily be an extremely uncomfortable wooden rocker. At this point, however, that chair was the most comfortable spot in the world and allowed me to get through the contractions without dying.
4:35 - The nurse came in and told me that midwife would like me to take a hot shower. I declined but she started the shower anyway. I don't know about you, but when I'm in pain, the last thing I want to do is to sit in hot water. And I was so delusional with pain that I was adamant about my position.
4:45 - Told again that I really should get in the shower.
5:00 - Told once more to get in the shower.
5:01 - Thoughts of killing the midwife enter my mind.
5:30ish - Still sitting in the rocking chair, thinking I'm going to die and that there's no way I can birth this child, I realize that I have to pee. I managed to get to the bathroom between contractions and sit there for a few minutes. Finally giving in to my stubbornness, I decided that since I was already in the bathroom, I might as well just get in the damn shower.
5:35 - Endured a contraction in the shower, not feeling the relief the midwife ensured the water would provide.
5:36 - Heard a loud pop and felt a huge gush of water that wasn't coming from the faucet.
5:37 - Nick helped me out of the shower and called the nurse to tell her that my water broke.
5:38 - Nick called my mom and his parents to let them know that it was game time.
5:40 - I get checked and find out that I'm at 4cm, causing me to realize how laughable my earlier contractions were. On a positive and somewhat humorous note, the nurse informed me how much my stomach had already gone down just from my water breaking. Being my ridiculously vain self, this made me temporarily happy.
6:00ish - Everything's a blur from here... the pain was excruciating. I vaguely recall the midwife coming in and giving me an "I told you so" about the shower. She checked me again and found that I was about 7cm now. Said she'd be back shortly to remove the Cervadil since it obviously wasn't necessary anymore.
6:20 - The midwife removed the Cervadil and informed me that I could finally get my epidural. Thank God. Although at that point I honestly didn't know how I'd make through one more contraction without any pain killers. I wasn't expecting labor to be easy but I seriously didn't expect it to be so freaking painful.
6:30 - Told that since shift-change was coming up, I wouldn't get my epidural until the new anesthesiologist arrived. Just kill me now.
7:00 - My new nurse arrived and said that I was first on the epidural list and just had to wait for the doctor to get there. I was almost screaming through contractions at this point... my poor husband didn't know what to do. I think I left dig marks in his arms during each contraction.
7:10 - Cue the choir angels. While sitting through three contractions for the epidural insertion and almost crushing my teeny tiny labor & delivery nurse, the pain finally started to subside. And for those wondering, I didn't feel a damn thing while getting the epidural. Getting blood drawn is worse.
7:30 - The OB on call arrived and naturally it was Dr. Negativity. The first thing out of her mouth was something along the lines of getting the show on the road so I don't deliver a 20lb baby. (Remember that reason for my induction was because baby was suspected to be over 8.5-9lbs.)
7:31 - 8cm. Woot!
7:32-9:30ish - I don't have a clue. I think our parents arrived but I seriously don't remember what we did during this time. I probably wasted time timing contractions.
10:00 - Fully dilated! But not fully effaced and the baby wasn't far enough down yet so Dr. N encouraged me to get some sleep to give the baby more time to drop and so I had some energy to push. If you recall, I was given a sleep aid at 11pm and only slept for about 4 1/2 hours. Couple that with the exhaustion from the contractions and I was pretty groggy. Sleep sounded great.
Noon - I woke up and decided that I needed to get ready for labor. And by get ready I mean put on makeup and fix my hair. This should come as no surprise to anyone.
12:30pm - Decided I was ready to start pushing.
12:31-1:30ish - Pushed and pushed and pushed. Nick was to my left and my mom to my right. His mom was on camera duty. Everyone kept telling me that I was a great pusher but man was it taking forever.
1:31 - Started to realize that I could feel quite a bit more pain than before. I asked Dr. N about how much longer she thought it would be and she responded with something sarcastic like "oh, 2 or 3 hours". I don't remember this but apparently I responded with "I might have to punch you in the face then." Don't mess with a woman in labor.
1:45ish - Can you say "ring of fire"? At this point, my epidural was basically gone and I was in absolute agony. It took three more horrifyingly painful contractions to get the baby's head out. *TMI warning* -- During this time, I could feel every.little.thing and just knew that I was going to tear and where exactly it was going to happen. Not a pleasant feeling.
1:54 - The baby is here! Having her pulled from me was the most surreal feeling. Dr. N held the baby up and let Nick call it out. Hearing him yell "it's a girl!" was hands-down one of the greatest moments of my life. She started life proving everyone wrong right from the start by weighing in at a meager 7lbs 13oz with a tiny little peanut-sized head measuring only in the 3rd percentile.
3:00ish - I finally got to hold my baby for the first time. I was in such rough shape from the tearing and complications getting the placenta out that it took an hour to stitch me up and for me to stop shaking and feel confident that I wouldn't drop her. Having my husband finally place our little girl in my arms was greater than I ever imagined.
Welcome to the world, Gemma Susan Margaret! We love you to pieces!
