On July 6, 2012 our family expanded by one. We had been waiting for what felt like forever for the arrival of our sixth child, a little girl (evening the numbers to 3 and 3). We haven't had a baby girl in almost seven years. After three boys it's nice to see more baby girl stuff in our house.
The morning of July 6 I was set to be induced. We got up early, honestly though I didn't really sleep, kissed all the kids while they lay sleeping in their beds and headed to the hospital. We arrived at 7 am and were showed into my labor and delivery room. By 7:30 I was hooked up to my IV and my antibiotics were started (my strep culture came back positive). I was told that around 11 am I would have finished off my meds and that they would be able to break my water. Even though I was excited about meeting our newest addition, I was terrified of labor. So I spent the next three and half hours thinking about how painful labor was going to be while Jason slept on the couch.
11 am came a lot more quickly than I wanted. I actually told Jason that I just wanted to go home and rest up and that we could come back another day. He didn't go for it. My doctor, Dr. Melendez, came in at 11:15 checked me (I was at 4 cm) and broke my water. That was the point of no return. Now it was only a matter of time. I was getting very nervous, so I had Jason give me a blessing which helped me calm down a bit. My contractions started about 30 minutes after they broke my water. They thankfully weren't very painful, mostly they just felt like a lot of pressure. Nothing a little breathing and focusing couldn't get me through. I was able to talk to Jason during most of this while he read his newspaper. Let me just clarify that Jason wasn't being neglectful of me, I just hate being touched and talked to while in pain, and he has learned to stay out of the way unless I ask him for something. Otherwise he tends to get yelled at.
My nurse, Michelle, who was amazing; came in around 12:45 and checked me. I was at a five, which actually surprised me because I hadn't been having regular contractions. They were all over the place, some only a few minutes apart, others 7 minutes or more. I was worried they were going to want me to be put on Petocin. She came back about an hour later and I was a 6. Still really irregular contractions, but I wasn't complaining. Even though it meant a longer labor possibly, I wasn't in any pain, uncomfortable yes, but pain no. It was pretty great. I of course always leave my options open when it comes to pain meds, ok well not that open, I still don't want to do an epidural. I leave the option open to IV meds, since I have to be stuck with that anyway. This time they had Fentenal (spelling is probably wrong) on stand by. It just takes the edge off and only last 45-60 minutes. It's better for baby than some other pain meds as it doesn't last as long so the baby is less groggy when they are born.
At around 2:30 I got my first really painful contraction. I decided right then I wanted some pain meds. After a night of almost no sleep and having been awake since 5:45 am I was tired and not well prepared for the pain. Jason called Michelle in and when I had my next contraction she gave me half a dose of the pain med. It seemed to be working, it made me feel relaxed and a bit sleepy. It took just enough of the edge off to get through the contraction. She left, her job done, and 3 minutes later I had another contraction. This time the meds didn't seem to be helping. So I ever so kindly asked Jason to get her back in, NOW! She took what felt like forever (my contractions were about 90 seconds - 2 minutes long) to come back to give me the rest. I thought for sure that that would be enough to get me through the next hour at least. I was so very WRONG! Three minutes later I had another contraction. The whole time I'm thinking, "This medicine sucks! I want to die!" I tell Jason to ask if they can give me more, NOW! Poor guy he wasn't having any fun and I wasn't being the nicest person. In my defense though prior to this part of labor I had asked him to ask Michelle for a nice cold, wet washcloth. Instead of asking he decided to search the cupboards in my room. He found something he thought would do and handed it to me. Unfortunately, it wasn't a washcloth, it was the mesh underwear they give you to wear that hold the massive diaper after you deliver (women will know what I'm talking about). It turns out they aren't very absorbent. No points scored there, although he did eventually find a washcloth, so good job there. Anyway, he runs out in the hall and tells Michelle I need more if I can have more. He comes back in the room and before he can even tell me if I can have more or not I tell him I have to push. This time I didn't have to tell him what to do. He runs back out in the hall and tells Michelle this. It always amazes me how fast people move when you say those words, but they never seem to move that quickly any other time you're in labor. Michelle calls Dr. Melendez, who of course is across the street at the clinic. She tells me he is running over right now and to just hold on. Like I have a lot of control over that. It is extremely hard to not push when you are not on an epidural. The urge is overwhelming! Even if you don't push with the contraction your body is still pushing the baby down (that's what contractions do). So while we're waiting for Dr. Melendez she is getting everything ready. I remember at one point asking when Dr. Melendez was going to get there. Finally after what seemed like ages Jason says, "He's here, push." As soon as I saw Dr. Melendez coming around the curtain I started pushing, I didn't care. He was only able to get one glove on before she was out. She was out in one big push. I felt so much better after that.
Michelle couldn't believe how fast I had dilated, neither could Jason and I. I had gone from 6 cm to 10 cm in 10 minutes. She said that Fentenal could have that effect, by helping you to relax. If I had known that I would have asked for it earlier, just so we could have been done sooner, although three and half hours of labor (most of it painless) is not bad. As soon as Jason cut her umbilical cord they laid her on my chest. I was instantly in love and so was Jason.
