Labor & Delivery

Each day I think, "I need to get to the blog and write about my labor and delivery with Eve." But before I know it, it's night time and I'm in bed as soon as Eve is down for the night around 9 or 9:30 p.m. I want to write about the experience because it was so different from my other girls. It all went so fast; it took both Aaron and I by surprise. Let me start at the beginning.

I went into the hospital Monday night, August 31st, around 8:00 p.m. Aaron hung out with me for a couple of hours while they got me started, and then he went home to get some good sleep. The nurses placed a small pill behind my cervix every 4 hours throughout the night; this was supposed to get me going for the induction in the morning. I kind of slept through the cramping and contractions; it was definitely not the best night of sleep.

At 5 a.m. they started the pit to get my labor going. I was uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn't handle yet. My doctor shows up at 7:15 a.m. to break my water; I was so excited. I wanted him to come sooner rather than later in the morning. He asked me why I hadn't got my epidural yet. I told him that it didn't hurt too much yet. As he left he told the nurse, "She'll need her epidural soon." Actually, I needed it at 7:00 before he broke my water, but I didn't realize that until it was a little too late. Aaron showed up about 7:20 a.m., and I was not doing so great. I was shaking all over with every contraction and asking the nurse "Where's the epidural?". I was 4 when the doctor broke my water, and I was an 8 less than 30 minutes later when my epidural was in but not doing much for me. As the guy put the epidural in he said, "I hope that this works. I think you're progressing too fast. It may not be able to catch up." That was the last thing I wanted to hear. My mind started to wonder if I was going to be able to this without a full block. I guess I would have to because I didn't have any other choice.

My right side went almost completely numb, but my left side was feeling everything. The nurses called the doctor when they realized I was already an 8. Just a few more contractions, and I was ready to push. It was such a unique thing to feel my body get ready to have a baby. My doctor was in the middle of surgery, so he sent his partner to deliver Eve. Dr. Archer came in and put on her stuff; I pushed for less than 5 minutes and Eve was here. She got stuck at the shoulders for just a minute. I was not going to let me smallest baby get stuck, so I gave it all I had and then she was born. The best thing when it was all finished was when Dr. Archer said that I didn't need any repair. Not a single stitch! My healing has been remarkably different. I have been able to get back on my feet so much faster. My back has been bothering me from pushing, but it's starting to feel better. I have been walking with a friend each night and that has helped a lot.

So, Eve was born 1 hour and 15 minutes after the doctor broke my water. My epidural kicked in fully about 10 minutes after I had the baby. My blood pressure dropped really low because of all the pain meds. that kicked in when I wasn't in pain anymore. I wasn't able to get out of bed until around 12:00 when the block finally wore off. The only positive thing about your epidural working when you're finished was that it helped me through all of the after birth contractions that sometimes can be worse.

We went home the next evening after dinner. My mom came and stayed with us until Sunday afternoon. Aaron didn't have to go back to work until the following Tuesday, September 8th. It was great to have so much help. I loved having Aaron home for an entire week; he took the girls on special little adventures each day. I think this helped a lot with the transition of the new baby.