5:00 AM Soon to be mom and dad's arrival at Huntington Hospital
6:00 AM Hospital begins measuring contractions (5 minutes apart, approx. 1 minute long, 0 cm)
7:00 AM Pitocin begins
8:00 AM - 5:00PM Contraction measuring 2-3 minutes apart, 1 minute long (slightly painful)
5:30 PM Dr. Osterkamp delivers the sad news that I am still 0 cm and tells us we may need to consider a c-section
6:00PM - 9:00 PM Contractions continue (still slightly painful) and frustration sets in. Tom and I make the decision that we want to stick to the original plan and avoid a c-section.
9:30 PM Dr. Osterkamp returns and is able to break my water (and wow did labor begin!)
10:00 PM - 12AM Tom is a champ coach with labor contractions but the pain become unbearable
Tuesday, June 26
12AM Epidural is given (Tom later reminds me that I refer to the anaesthesiologist as the "miracle worker" on more than one occasion during his 30 minute visit)
12:30 AM - 3AM Sleep!!
3AM 6-7cm, nurse says we will probably deliver at 7AM, I begin feeling pain and am surprised the epidural is already beginning to wear off
4AM At my request the "miracle worker" returns and administers a second dose of the epi
6AM 10 cm, pushing will begin soon, epidural is feeling very spotty and I accept the fact that I may be experiencing a birth much closer to natural than I expected
7AM Dr. Osterkamp arrives and pushing begins
At this point I will no longer include times because I couldn't keep track and things seemed to happen so quickly and unexpectedly. We pushed for about an hour and a half with no progress. I began experiencing the most excruciating contractions and back pains that I could ever imagine. Dr. determined that the baby was in the posterior position (head down but face up). Hi inability to move under my pelvic bone and the pressure of his head on my spine (causing back labor) had now made this delivery a little more difficult. The man I once referred to as the "miracle worker" returned with another dose of epidural. And nothing! The pain continued...it looked like I was in the 15% of women who experience spotty epidurals. I can no longer handle the pain and the dr. is almost certain no progress will be made.
We now make the decision to move forward with a c-section. I am wheeled to the operating room and the anaesthesiologist administers a spinal (since an epidural was obviously no longer an option). Again - nothing! I can still feel the pain. Everyone in the room was shocked. Apparently a spinal takes seconds to work. The Dr's discuss my options - quickly try another spinal or get put under (a much more risky option). I choose the first option. So they double dose me with the next spinal. I instantly go numb. I can't feel my arms - which I guess was not supposed to happen. I then feel like I can't breathe but they keep telling me the monitor says I am breathing fine. I then begin to panic and can't speak. I am not sure what happened next - they gave me something that made me fall asleep. They needed to start surgery and my panic attack was apparently not a part of the plan.
Next thing I know I wake up to the sound of a screaming baby (9:40 AM). The most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Still not sure of what is going on, I ask "where is my husband" - only to find this handsome man in scrubs sitting next to me (Tom).
Obviously this was not the ideal labor and delivery. But our son was healthy and this was the most important thing. Hope you enjoyed the story if you made it this far. I figured I would document it for his reference one day and I would include it here for anyone else interested.
6:00PM - 9:00 PM Contractions continue (still slightly painful) and frustration sets in. Tom and I make the decision that we want to stick to the original plan and avoid a c-section.
9:30 PM Dr. Osterkamp returns and is able to break my water (and wow did labor begin!)
10:00 PM - 12AM Tom is a champ coach with labor contractions but the pain become unbearable
Tuesday, June 26
12AM Epidural is given (Tom later reminds me that I refer to the anaesthesiologist as the "miracle worker" on more than one occasion during his 30 minute visit)
12:30 AM - 3AM Sleep!!
3AM 6-7cm, nurse says we will probably deliver at 7AM, I begin feeling pain and am surprised the epidural is already beginning to wear off
4AM At my request the "miracle worker" returns and administers a second dose of the epi
6AM 10 cm, pushing will begin soon, epidural is feeling very spotty and I accept the fact that I may be experiencing a birth much closer to natural than I expected
7AM Dr. Osterkamp arrives and pushing begins
At this point I will no longer include times because I couldn't keep track and things seemed to happen so quickly and unexpectedly. We pushed for about an hour and a half with no progress. I began experiencing the most excruciating contractions and back pains that I could ever imagine. Dr. determined that the baby was in the posterior position (head down but face up). Hi inability to move under my pelvic bone and the pressure of his head on my spine (causing back labor) had now made this delivery a little more difficult. The man I once referred to as the "miracle worker" returned with another dose of epidural. And nothing! The pain continued...it looked like I was in the 15% of women who experience spotty epidurals. I can no longer handle the pain and the dr. is almost certain no progress will be made.
We now make the decision to move forward with a c-section. I am wheeled to the operating room and the anaesthesiologist administers a spinal (since an epidural was obviously no longer an option). Again - nothing! I can still feel the pain. Everyone in the room was shocked. Apparently a spinal takes seconds to work. The Dr's discuss my options - quickly try another spinal or get put under (a much more risky option). I choose the first option. So they double dose me with the next spinal. I instantly go numb. I can't feel my arms - which I guess was not supposed to happen. I then feel like I can't breathe but they keep telling me the monitor says I am breathing fine. I then begin to panic and can't speak. I am not sure what happened next - they gave me something that made me fall asleep. They needed to start surgery and my panic attack was apparently not a part of the plan.
Next thing I know I wake up to the sound of a screaming baby (9:40 AM). The most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Still not sure of what is going on, I ask "where is my husband" - only to find this handsome man in scrubs sitting next to me (Tom).
Obviously this was not the ideal labor and delivery. But our son was healthy and this was the most important thing. Hope you enjoyed the story if you made it this far. I figured I would document it for his reference one day and I would include it here for anyone else interested.
