AngelKnitter: Delivering a miracle

It was a shock that after nine weeks of bed rest, I found myself still pregnant far past the date that I had expected to hold my little one in my arms. Because of placental health, and the growing risk of stillbirth, we opted to induce. This was such a hard thing for me. I generally don't believe in inductions, and I believe that unnecessary induction causes many of the problems we see in Birth. Never did I think I would find myself in this position.

On the morning of March third I woke at 5:00, went out to milk my girls for the last time while pregnant, then went inside and took a shower, got all ready including make up, finished packing my bag and the amazing husband and I took off in the pick up to head to the hospital to meet our previous little boy.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:45, and we're assigned a room. It was room 116. It was a huge, beautiful room. We met or super amazing nurse, Kandi. They had me change into a gown, and give the famous urine sample. Then they hooked me up to the machines and started an IV. They intended to start pitocin, but wanted to check my cervix first. I had been having regular contractions all night, so my hopes for progress were high.. Never mind that I had been having regular contractions for months. My disappointment when she announced that I was a" two, and thick " was more than words can say. How did I keep going backwards in progress?? They went ahead and started the pit at a very low dose of 3, and they increased it by two every fifteen minutes until we got to the max dose of twenty.

When they first started it I felt nothing. By the time we reached ten I was having contractions, but they were not painful. By the time we reached 18 I was feeling them, but could have done that all week and not complained.

In fact, I knit this lovely Shedir hat again.

And then? And then we hit twenty and suddenly things were intense. The pain got worse with each contraction. I asked for the epidural, and was told the anesthesiologist would get there when he could. She checked me and pronounced that I was... A 4. A freaking FOUR!! I had been a four half my pregnancy, and here I was a four. Again. She did say that I was "very thin" though. Too bad she was referring to my cervix.
At that point the anesthesiologist came in, and did the epidural. When he put the needle in I had a lot of pain, but was in the middle of a contraction that was about to kill me, so I said nothing. I should have. Apparently I started bleeding from my back very badly. He did the trial dose of meds and it did nothing, except completely numb my right leg. He said we would have to re-do it, but I knew I couldn't because the contractions were so intense. My ob had come in while we were waiting for the epidural. She asked to break my water, but I had said I would rather wait.
The anesthesia guy left. He felt bad the epi had not placed correctly. He had apparently gotten to the right of where it was supposed to go. He was awesome though.
Right as he left I felt something change, and though I had been checked not five min before, I told the nurse I needed to be checked again. A testament to how great if a nurse she was is that she didn't argue, or point out that she had just checked me. She checked and said "you are a seven. Um, an eight" then she looked at my amazing hubby and told him to get help. She walked across the room, and I started pushing without trying. Kandi asked " are you paying? " and I said "not on purpose" Kevin had called out into the Hall and nurses were coming in. Kandi told one to get a Dr, any Dr on the floor. The other nurse said there wasn't one. I told her it was too late. At this point the pain was so intense. I couldn't have put it on the pain chart that they all you to rate on. I could feel him moving down the birth canal, and it felt like he was taking me in half. I had a hold of Kevin's hand and his sweatshirt. At one point he tried to take his sweatshirt away, and I told him no. I started screaming, and the nurse told me to stop. I was completely in control, but had to scream to let some of the pain out. I told the nurse I was in control, and would scream if I wanted. At that point I felt the "ring of fire" more intense than I can describe. I knew the feeling, but it was different. Another nurse told me to push, and I told her I wasn't feeling the urge, and would push when my body said to. She waited a second, then said "we need you to push. His head is out." I had no idea the head was out. I gave one push, and there he was, born in the caul. What a special delivery, a baby born in the sac of waters. They used the scissors to cut the sac, and handed him to me. I was shocked. He was so much smaller than I had expected. I had been told by ultrasound that he would be about 9 pounds, but this little thing was no nine pounder. When I allowed the. To weigh him later we found he was 7 pounds, 2 oz and 19 1/2 inches.

After he was delivered the nurses waited for the cord to stop pulsing, then they cut it while I held my miracle. They said they were going to just wait to deliver the placenta until a Dr made it. About twenty min after his birth the Dr came in. She had run to McDonald's, paid, and then had to leave without her food. Poor lady!!

They were so fantastic to allow me to do skin to skin, and they didn't bother me for an hour. Then they asked if they could do his vit k and eye ointment. I also allowed then to weigh him at that point, and put on his first diaper. About an hour later I was moved to the mother and infants section down the hall, where we stayed for two days.