I went to bed Tuesday night with the thought that by morning I could be in labor and heading to the hospital. I woke up early Wednesday morning with horrible pain in both of my sides. I realized I had been rolling back and forth for a while and could not take the discomfort any longer. So, I headed down to the couch. It was when I got to the couch that the first real contraction hit. I looked at the time and waited for another one. After a few more came I went back upstairs and told Charlie he probably needed to get up. I took a shower, got dressed, packed up the last of my toiletries, and went back to the couch. Charlie came down with Claire and fed her breakfast. I decided it was best not to eat anything. I timed a few more contractions and called my friend to see if she could come get Claire. She said she would be over in 45 minutes. Charlie brought all of our stuff downstairs and helped pack Claire a bag.
When my friend showed up we said goodbye to Claire and got in the car. I remember at one point that Charlie was mad that we kept hitting red lights and I told him to calm down and take his time, he was making me crazy! Ha!
We made it to the hospital and parked the car. I could barely walk through the parking lot...now that I think about it, I should have made Charlie drop me off at the front entrance. We walked in and went to the "admitting" desk. The receptionist took all of my information (in between contractions!) and then a lady came around the corner with a wheelchair. Thank the Lord! I was so ready to sit down by then!
I was wheeled up to the assessment room...which is basically a big room with lots of curtain dividers. They check you there to decide whether you are in active labor or not. I met my nurse when we got to the room and she gave me a gown to put on. Then, she told me to lay down on the bed and she checked me. I was a 4-5, which was great since the day before I was a 3 at my doctor appointment. She said I was staying in the hospital and I said, "ok, then can I have the epidural?" I am no hero. I was ready for the pain to go away!
Also, Charlie and I can laugh about this now, but the whole time I was in that room the girl beside us was throwing up. Charlie kept checking the floor to make sure he wasn't stepping in anything!
I was wheeled to a labor room and put in the bed. It was a nice big room. The nurse went to see about the anesthesiologist. I was ready to rest for a minute! It didn't take long for her to come. She sat me up and gave me the list of side effects and Charlie got to stay in the room. I was proud of him, he let me hold onto him without even flinching.
Ahhh the epidural! It was such a relief, but as soon as I laid down in the bed I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. Immediately an alarm went off and the nurse rushed over to me and rolled me onto my side. I told her I didn't feel well and she said my blood pressure had dropped. They brought the anesthesiologist back into the room and she gave me some medicine to up my heart rate. This helped a lot. I stayed on my side for a long time and then I started feeling bad again. I set off the alarm and got more medicine. All this time the blood pressure cuff was checking me every 15 minutes! It continued to check me that often for several more hours!
Luckily I didn't feel that bad again, but I did continue to periodically set off the alarm. I got to where I could tell if the alarm was going to go off or not. My poor nurse. I think I stressed her out! She was on her first day back from maternity leave. I don't think she will forget me for awhile!
I think it was finally figured that the epidural was the source of my problems. At one point it was even turned off until I was stabilized. Fortunately, none of my problems seemed to bother Grayson. I was really thankful for that.
My nurse wanted to get my water broken to speed up my labor, but I seemed to be doing better and four other babies were being born, so it didn't happen until 3:30pm. I was 7 centimeters then and when I was checked at 4:30pm, I was 9! My nurse said to let her know if I felt any pressure. I rested for a while. I kept waiting and waiting to feel a lot of pressure. At 5:30pm, I was 9 1/2 and my nurse kept asking me if I felt pressure. I kept saying that I did only during a contraction.
Finally, Charlie asked me if I was afraid to push. I admitted that I was. I could feel a lot more than with Claire and I was worried that it was going to hurt a lot to push. I asked the nurse if I could get my epidural topped off before I started pushing. She went to get the anesthesiologist and he gave me more medicine. I had the epidural turned down so low that I was really uncomfortable. The extra dose helped just a little.
At 6:00pm I was ready to push. The nurse let me push whenever I wanted to and let me rest when the contractions were over. It was so much nicer to not be forced to continuously push, like I had to with Claire. Even the OBGYN let me rest and really listened to me. I pushed for 26 minutes and Grayson was born! He weighed 7 lbs and 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.
I really have to say that my experience here in Canada was great. I appreciated the fact that I wasn't checked a ton and was really left alone to rest. The nurse didn't even count while I was pushing!
We were so happy to see our beautiful baby boy! I hope I never forget the moment he was laid on my chest after being born.
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