Happy Labor Day!

I thought I might celebrate Labor Day by telling the stories of each of the boy's births!

Brian was long overdue (11 days) when I checked into the hospital late on Tuesday, February 2oth to be induced. The plan was to put a medication on my cervix that evening, to start Pitocin the next morning, and to have a baby sometime in the afternoon on Wednesday the 21st! It sounded great to me and I went to sleep with thoughts of seeing my baby the next day.

The medication did nothing to change my cervix, so Pitocin was started the next morning. It didn't take long before I was experiencing contractions. In a short time, they were 2-3 minutes apart and the peaks were off the chart from the monitor. After a few hours of 'toughing it' through the contractions, the doctor wanted to check my progress. If I was past 3 cm, they would think about doing an epidural. No such luck. My cervix had not really changed much - they told me a finger-tip dilated and 70% effaced, baby was at -4 which is still really high in the pelvis. Ugh! They proceeded to turn up the Pitocin a bit. Ugh again!

The contractions got even stronger and lasted longer than before and I was still without medication! At about 5 pm, I had only gotten to about 1 cm and was 80% effaced. So, they decided to turn off the Pitocin to let me sleep and start again in the morning. So much for a baby today! The problem was that when they turned off the Pitocin, my contractions didn't stop. The nurses gave me some kind of medication to help with the pain and to help me sleep. It only took a few minutes before my head was dizzy and I could not complete a sentence. I was a very strange feeling. I slept a few hours and then woke up when the medication wore off. The nurses gave me something else to help me sleep and the next thing I knew it was morning.

The Pitocin got started again and I hoped for the best. At about lunch time the doctor came in and I was almost 2cm and 90% effaced. Woo-hoo, progress! They decided to use a foley catheter to help my cervix to dilate. This was a small rubber tube that was pushed through my cervix and then inflated with saline water like a balloon. The hope was this pressure would dilate me further. By late afternoon the foley fell out and I lost my mucous plug. I thought it was another great sign! But when the doctor checked, I was still just a little over 2 cm, she said she would say 3 cm if it made me feel better!

This was now two full days on Pitocin and a night with medication on my cervix and I all I had to show for all of that pain was almost 3cm! I was about 90% effaced still but the deciding factor was that the baby was still very high in my pelvis at -3 station. After a lot of tears and thinking, I told them I would consent to a c-section. I could not believe it. I just peeked my head into the surgery room during the hospital tour. I was so sure that I would never need it!

The problem now was that there was a snow storm and a major accident occurred on a highway near the hospital. So, there were no anesthesiologists available to do my epidural! I had to wait a few hours, but understood them being needed for emergencies first. I was in so much pain and so tired while in recovery that I didn't even want to hold Brian. I remember worrying my Mom because I didn't even want to open my eyes. I told the nurse I was in pain and had contractions like labor again, she said it was to be expected. A bit later I told another nurse and she checked a few things. She found out that the Pitocin to help me contract a little after surgery was turned up too high. She turned it down and a bit later I began to feel so much better. They surgery went well and Brian was born at 6:34 pm on February 22nd!

Sean's story is so much shorter! He was due on August 25th and I scheduled my c-section for Monday, August 18th! It was so nice to know that I wouldn't be two weeks overdue this time! The weekend before we were finishing up last minute baby things. Then I got a call on Sunday from my OB. There was scheduling problem and I was not being bumped to Tuesday the 19th! I was really upset at first, but then after all of these months, what was one more day? My c-section was planned for 10:30 am but we had to be at the hospital around 8:00 am. Everything was going well and we got checking in quickly. A nurse came in to tell me I was next and I started getting excited. About 35 minutes later, they were wheeling me towards the operating room. Right as we were about to turn into the hallway, I was quickly pushed back into the room. There was an emergency c-section and I was being bumped again. A little over an hour later, it was finally my turn. This time the surgery was so much easier. I guess it was the two days of labor on top of the surgery that made the recovery so hard! Sean was born at 12:05 pm on August 19th!

Justin's birth was the only one with no complications. He was due on May 9th and I was scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd at 10:30. I was not bumped or rescheduled this time! The surgery did take a bit longer because of some scar tissue, but that was not a problem. Again, the recovery was even easier this time! Justin was born on May 3rd at 11:28 am.