No, not into any hall of fame. I could only be so lucky. I'm talking about being induced into going into labor. If for some reason I go completely crazy and kill my husband my husband gets killed in a tragic accident and I have to remarry and that man is blessed to be the father of a third child forces me to have his children because he wants his genes and name to be carried on, I will not allow another induction. I would rather carry around a 33 year old baby than be induced ever again in my life. It was the single most excruciatingly painful event that I will ever endure in my entire life. This people is the birth story of my beautiful baby boy.
We were hoping that I would have an easy second labor. Who would have thought other wise? Kaitlyn's birth was soooooooooo easy. I didn't need any pain medication. I mostly labored at home because I'm an idiot and didn't know I was in labor we didn't panic and took our time. I wasn't hooked up to a fetal monitor or blood pressure monitor and could go wherever I wanted; not that I did much but roll around on the bathroom floor. It was a dream and my mom was a little jealous because she labored with me for 24 hours and it was all but pleasant. Of course she wanted retribution from the labor Gods and I thank them for not answering her prayers. We were even hoping that he would come a little early, like before the beginning of the new year because our insurance was changing and we thought we were going to have to pay a lot more money to have him since we now had to pay 10% instead of 0%. (Thank you Obama and your wonderful health crap care plan for all.) Not to mention everything about this pregnancy was exactly the same with my first. Same weight gain, same (lack of) pregnancy symptoms, same stretch marks, same no outie belly button. My ideal was after Christmas, but before New Years...no dice. We even discussed the whole insurance ordeal with the mid-wife and since I was only 36 weeks the last week of the year, they couldn't induce me then. So December 31, 2009 came and still no baby. Damn, now we are going to pay an arm and a leg for this birth and we're gonna lie about when my water broke because they will not keep us for another day on our dime and I might actually have to go back to work this semester...damn, damn, damn. As my due date got closer (January 9) we looked at the calendar. Lo and behold, daddy has to go to California on the 11th. What? Crap, now we have to get this kid out and fast or else daddy may miss the birth of his first and only son. So we talk to the other midwife and we schedule an induction for January 7. She thinks that because Kaitlyn came so fast that the Pitocin will kick right in, I'll open right up and we'll have this baby. The baby had other plans.
Luckily the 7th fell on a Thursday. My mom has Thursdays off and she watched Kaitlyn for us while we were at the hospital. We dropped her off the night before because we had to be at the hospital at 6:30am. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, which I so desperately needed because labor is a long and intense process, but we got to the hospital on time. I got checked in and they took me up to my birthing room. I got changed into that oh so lovely gown. My birthing nurse came in and did an internal...I was 5cm! Whoopie! I was going to have this baby today anyway. So we're happy about how far dilated I already was and we thought it was going to be really quick and easy and I would be a mommy to a boy by 10:00am. I got stuck with an IV, the Pitocin started to flow and we were on our way. Pain was bearable, contractions were light, I was happy. Tyler, however, was not. He was moving around and hiccuping all over the place. We had a hard time with the fetal monitor picking up his heart beat because of his hiccups and he just wouldn't settle down. He wouldn't let me sit up, I had to lie on my sides because his heart rate would drop when I stood or sat up. (If you've ever had back labor, you know it's a complete bitch when you are laying down.) My midwife was happy with the progress and was really expecting a baby to be with us shortly. She kept checking and finally she decided to break my water. I will spare you the details, but let me tell you after she did this, the pain increased 10 fold. Holy cow! The contractions got more intense, I was starting to cry and get angry. I definitely did not want to be touched and Jerry says I started to swing and kick people. I don't remember swinging on anyone but I do know that I ripped the oxygen mask of my head and threw it when everyone left the room because I was getting really annoyed, so swinging on people likely happened. Really early on, they kept asking me if I wanted anything for the pain and I kept saying no because honestly I didn't need it. I think that because I kept saying no, my midwife thought that meant that I didn't want any ever. So not true at this point, but I was in too much pain to ask. At this point, my blood pressure was all over the place, pushing wasn't doing anything but make me angry and tired and Tyler was in a bit of distress. (We're probably talking around 2:00 pm here.) She tells me that I need an epidural because I'm so tense and every time I have a contraction I tense up and that keeps the baby in and he can't go through the birth canal. I'm kinda freaking out because I've heard so many stories on how the epidural hurts so much and that the needle is huge and that your hubby has to leave the room when you get it because so many of them pass out and on and on. My birthing nurse assured me that the iv needle is actually worse than the epidural needle. I finally said yes to the epidural because my midwife said I'd have to get one anyway if I had to get a C-section and if Tyler didn't come soon, we were going that route. (I did NOT want a C-section!)
My midwife told the anesthesiologist that he would have to give me the epidural while I was laying down because sitting up caused Tyler to freak out and his heart rate to drop. He said it would be more challenging that way, but he really didn't have a choice. The nurse anesthetist kept feeling in between my vertebrae and assured me that it was just her knuckle and she was checking for the right spot. They made my hubby sit in a chair in the middle of the room so he couldn't see the needle go in. My birthing nurse was fantastic and stayed next to me the whole time because she knew I was nervous. The gave me the local and I didn't even feel it because I was contracting. Then it was time for the BIG needle. My husband told me later that it really wasn't that big but I think he was trying to keep me from freaking out about it. Let me tell you, epidurals work QUICK. I instantly felt relief as the pain melted away. They handed me the little button to push if I felt any pain but that the machine was calibrated for my height and weight and I shouldn't need to push it. I had to roll over on my back because the epidural works with gravity. I couldn't tell if I was moving or not but I was assured that I was. You cannot feel ANYTHING with an epidural. Your legs literally feel like jello. It is the weirdest feeling and I'm so grateful that I got it. It did it's magic and soon after my midwife got the be ready to catch Tyler. They had to tell me when I was contracting so I knew when to push. It is so weird to push when you can't feel yourself pushing. You just have to trust your brain to tell your body what to do. I pushed three times and out he came. Tyler was 9lbs 2oz and 19" long. What a big baby! Of course I cried. I'm a big baby like that.
So, the reason for this whole post is that for all the pain I went through, all worth it of course to have my baby boy, I will never get induced again and I will try to talk everyone out of an induction if it is not medically necessary. Induced labors are WAY more intense.
The fruits of my labor
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