The one where I pushed out a winter melon....part 2

The nurse wheeled me over to my room, which she said happened to be the largest, most deluxe room on the floor.  Lucky me!  She handed me a gown and told me to change and get comfy, room 3600 was going to be my home for awhile.  So I put on my oh so sexy hospital gown and took one last long look at my bump in the mirror knowing it would be gone before too long.  Adam and I quickly went over the rest of the things we needed and off he went.  I sat there on the bed and for the first time really processed what was about to happen and started to cry.  Was I ready for this?  What if this was my last pregnancy, did I enjoy it enough?  What if it's too early and the induction is a bust, I don't want to labor all day and end up with a c-section.  And most importantly I finally, for the first time in 9 months, cried because I'm having a baby and my mom isn't here.  It didn't last long, I knew soon enough a slew of people would be in and out to get things rolling, they didn't need to deal with an emotional pregnant lady on top of it all, but it felt good to let out.

At noon, after being pricked and poked and basically treated like a pin cushion to get more blood work and my IV started, the on call Dr. came in to break my water.  I was sad my OB wouldn't be there for the delivery but quickly came to love Dr. N and knew I was in good hands.  With the pitocin flowing and my water now broke I waited for the fun to start.  At this point I was having contractions, or so the nurse said, but I wasn't really feeling much, not that I was complaining.  I was excited to find out that I was already 1 1/2 cm dilated, which might not seem like much, but with Jamie I never dilated at all before I was induced, so even a tiny bit let me know my body was already getting with the program.  Only 8 1/2 cm to go!

Adam returned with all our bags and assured me Jamie had been picked up from school and was in good hands for the rest of the night.  I was a bit sad we didn't get one last good bye in before he officially became a big brother, but figured this way was probably best.  He'd be so distracted hanging out with our friends for the day he likely wouldn't even notice I was gone and I wouldn't be a blubbering idiot telling him good bye!  By now all the extra fluids were kicking in and the potty breaks picking up.  Who knew a small task such as going to the bathroom would now be a huge ordeal.  Each time we would have to unhook both monitors, take off the blood pressure cuff and then wheel my IV with me into the bathroom.  Not to mention every time I got up I left a trail of "water" behind me.  Seriously, how much fluid do those babies have in there?!  I kept telling Adam this is why you should be married when you have a baby, so your husband is legally bound to you after witnessing the grossness that is the "miracle" of life.

The next few hours passed without much incident.  My contractions were coming more regularly and getting stronger but definitely still manageable.  The worst part was baby girl seemed to prefer when I was on my right side which was NOT comfortable for me.  Each contraction was in my lower back and constantly being on my side was causing my hips to hurt as well.  Getting up to go to the bathroom, though a giant pain, did at least give me the chance to stretch.  I also found sitting up with my feet over the side of the bed was far more comfortable than laying on my side so I tried to stay up at long as I could.  Around 4:00 my nurse came in to tell me she was leaving for the day and introduced me to my new nurse.  They both noticed I was having to stop and breath through my contractions now and asked if I was ready for an epidural.  I was nervous of getting it too soon and risking stalling out my labor, so decided to wait, but told them I would likely be ready within the hour.  Well no sooner had I said this and sent them on their way the contractions really started to pick up.  They were now coming every 2 minute and lasting 45-60 seconds.  Each one getting stronger and we had now gone from "manageable" to "OMG I can barely breath through these anymore" and am now starting to mumble obscenities to myself to get through the pain.  I still wasn't quite ready to admit defeat.  After all I had just told the nurse I was fine, I can handle this.  Well by 4:30 I decided this was crazy and I had had enough and hit the nurse call button.  She came in and said she would check me first to see where we were.  4 cm.  Alleluia.  That was good enough for me, bring on the drugs!  Within 20 minutes she had everything set up just in time for my new best friend Tim, the nurse anesthetist, to work his magic.  Within no time my legs were feeling heavy and tingly and I was watching the contractions spike on the monitor without feeling a thing.  It was amazing and I was finally able to get some rest.

To be continued......