My Labor and Delivery Story- Part 1

October 4, 2011

Today was my 39 week appointment.  Brian and I went in knowing that we'd be discussing our delivery options with my OB since our little boy had been measuring big in the ultrasounds the last several weeks.  After talking with the doctor and my body not having progressed at all, we decided to schedule an induction because we weren't sure that I'd be able to deliver the 9lb baby the ultrasound was estimating.  He said he'd go call the hospital and that we'd probably go in tonight (4th), tomorrow (5th) or Monday (10th) because he wasn't scheduling inductions over the holiday weekend (he's Jewish).  Brian and I sat in the room waiting to hear when we'd need to be ready and SURPRISE...the doctor told us to be ready to check in at 8pm tonight!  WHAT?  Brian looked completely scared!  I mean, yeah we were ready, but not quite that ready!  Brian had to go back to work to finish things up, as he would be starting paternity leave (he gets 12 weeks paid...we are so blessed) and I ran home to do laundry and pack my hospital bag.  I was so freaked out that I even started putting together the Pack N' Play that Little Cub would be sleeping in.  I called my family to let them know what was going on especially since my parents are so far away.  They immediately booked a flight for the next morning.  The doctor also recommended that I eat a decent lunch/early dinner since once I was at the hospital and on meds I wouldn't be able to eat for quite sometime.  Brian was able to escape work early and we went out to eat at the Texas Roadhouse.  It's my favorite and it's so close to our new house.  Yippee!

I seriously love everything about their food!  It was a good last pregnancy meal!

Doesn't Brian still look a little freaked out?  It was so cute.  He was very frazzled at dinner.  :)

We came home and finished packing our stuff for the hospital and Brian fished the Pack N' Play.  Here's a picture of that.

It's in our room so Little Cub will be nice and close for those late night feedings. 

We finally made our way to the Hospital and got me checked in.  I immediately got an IV put in and was hooked up to 2 monitors which were connected by bands on my stomach.  One was to monitor contractions and the other was to monitor the baby's heart rate.  Brian of course had to take pictures.

Nothing like a few photos in a hospital gown to make me feel like a cow!  I was only allowed Popsicles and ice chips, but Brian was allowed anything in the nourishment room, which consisted of crackers, cookies, sodas, juices, etc.  It was an awesome snack room and he was a happy camper.

As I mentioned before, my body had not prepared itself yet for labor, so we were essentially starting me from scratch.  To do this we first had to get 20 solid minutes of my baby's heart rate so the nurses were trying to monitor that from the band they put on my belly.  The only problem with this was that my Little Cub did not like the band and was constantly moving.  It took over an hour and a half to get 20 minutes in a row of his heart beat.  Then, the nurse gave me cytotec (which is a little pill that is inserted into my cervix to help to soften it) because I was not effaced.  Once this was inserted I started contracting and they were not able to give me another dose as was planned.  Brian and I called his parents to let them know what was going on and we went to sleep.  The hospital had a couch that made into a bed for him to sleep on and he didn't want to leave my side.  :)  He slept better than I did because I either had to keep getting up to use the bathroom or my sweet baby would move and the nurse would have to come in to adjust the band on my stomach.  It was a long night.

October 5, 2011

Around 6am I was started on pitocin, which started bringing on more contractions.  The doctor came in sometime between 7am and 8am to see if I had made any progress and sadly I hadn't.  I wasn't dilated or effaced.  He said he'd keep me on the pitocin and come back later to check.  Since nothing was happening I sent Brian to the store for food and other things because my parents were going to stay with us and we were in desperate need of a few things (we just moved in October 1st).  While he was gone the baby's heart rate dropped and I was told to wear an oxygen mask, which helped almost immediately.  Other than that the day was pretty boring.  My parents showed up in the afternoon certain that the baby was just waiting for them to arrive before he made his appearance.  :)  Apparently that was not in Little Cub's plan.  The doctor came back before 5 and there was still no change.  :(  He told me and the nurses to get me off the pitocin so I could eat dinner and that they would start again with the cytotec again that evening and pitocin in the morning.

Oh joy!  But, boy was I excited for dinner.  I had watched Brian eat both breakfast and lunch (he got fed 3 meals a day) and I knew the food was as good as it smelled.  See, I even got a slice of cake.  I was happy!

I got a dose of the cytotec and off to sleep I went.

To be continued...