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He weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces and was 22 inches long, APGAR 9/9 Woke up around 5:45 am Tuesday morning and it took me a few minutes to figure out why, it seems that I was having some pretty strong contractions. I'd had contrax in the previous weeks that were strong enough to wake me from my sleep so I didn't pay too much attention to these particular aches. I was only one day past my due date and since all my other kids were very late I did not consider myself to be in true labour, even though I had been losing my mucous plug since Sunday night. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. I got up to use the bathroom and noticed bloody show. I thought to myself that perhaps I would go into labour in the next few days, still convinced that Tuesday couldn't be the day. I timed my pains and I was secretly hoping that they would be fairly regular, unfortunately, they were not. Anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes apart until 10 am when they just stopped. I was so disheartened. The show had let me 'hope' that I could be going into labour but when the contrax simply stopped I felt myself getting depressed and I scolded myself for letting my expectations to get so high. I promised myself I wouldn't do that again. I had a regular pre-natal appointment at 1:30pm and I figured I'd let the doctor do an internal and tell me if anything was happening. The contrax started again around noon, but, as before, they were all over the place as far as frequency and intensity was concerned. I told Dr. Leung about my morning experiences and she smiled. When checked, I was not quite 2 cm dilated and still very thick. More evidence, I thought, that this couldn't be real labour. My doctor looked at her schedule and joked that the next day wouldn't be a good day for me to have the baby as she had a dentist appointment at noon that she couldn't get out of. I laughed and told her that I really didn't want to have a baby on May 3rd because that is my mother's birthday and I didn't want the baby and her to have to share birthdates so I figured the baby had to come either Tuesday or Thursday but NOT Wednesday. I asked her to prescribe a sedative to help me through the 'false' labour if I needed it that night as the contrax were not easy for me to sleep through. I had a few contrax in the office (about 5 minutes apart) and she was able to feel them and observe my expression. We discussed what different routes we might take if things should continue like this for more than 24 hours and we agreed to try and speed things up the next day if nothing had changed. Bob and I went home and tried to nap, contrax slowed to 10 minutes apart but were strong enough to wake me up. I slept on and off for about an hour and then finally got up again. Doctor called me at 5:30 pm and asked how I was doing. She suggested that I go into the hospital after rush hour and she'd see what was happening. She brought up the possibility of rupturing the membranes that night or doing it first thing in the morning since she had to be at the hospital for a meeting then anyway. We took Luke to my sister's around 8 pm and then headed to the hospital. Bob and I were in no hurry to get to the hospital and we mulled over the idea of stopping at a restaurant to get something to eat. I was convinced that the irregular contractions would stop again and that we'd be spending quite a bit of time hanging around the hospital only to be sent home anyway. We were admitted into Labour and Delivery around 9 pm. Contractions were coming anywhere from 2 to 7 minutes apart. Some were really strong, others were barely noticeable. I changed and our nurse, Denise, checked my cervix. I was approximately 4 cm and completely effaced. I was pleased that this 'false' labour was productive and loosening things up. In my mind, it meant that should we decide to induce I could skip the gel and go straight for the pitocin IV drip. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. The nurse suggested that I use the shower or tub if the contractions got extremely powerful. I informed her that last time I was in labour I found the shower extremely irritating and frightening. It wasn't a place that I was likely to be found during hard labour. Instead, I opted to walk around. I asked her if there was a t.v. near by as Bob's favorite show, West Wing, was coming on at 10 pm. I decided that we'd hang out in the lounge until the doctor arrived. I remember draping myself over the back of one of the couches and swaying from side to side as each contraction hit. There was a hockey game on at the time as it wasn't quite 10 pm yet. I don't remember who was playing but I do remember it was the last few minutes of the game. Bob went to use the washroom and was told by the nurse that Dr. Leung was just putting her kids to bed and would be in around 10 pm. When Bob got back to me I told him I wanted to go back to our birthing room. I wasn't feeling that great and I wanted to lie down. When we got to the birthing room Denise came in and started setting up equipment. I found that amusing and asked her what she was doing. She smiled and said that Dr. Leung had instructed her to set things up because her plan was to come in, rupture my membranes, deliver the baby and be home by midnight so she could go to bed and get a good night's sleep. I laughed and when our doctor arrived I thanked her for her optimism. In my head, I was still waiting to go into 'real' labour and with how slowly things had progressed, I expected to be in the birthing room for many hours. The doctor ruptured the membranes shortly after 10 pm and said I was about 5 cm dilated. She and the nurse were suprised to see merconium in the water so they monitored the baby and me for about 10 minutes. They said we both looked fine and decided to take the monitor off of my belly. Contrax VERY strong but still not regular. Because I was dehydrated and weak, it was suggested that I have an IV. I agreed (secretly I was hoping to get an epidural because I was finding the contrax very painful and I was still sure that I had hours and hours to go and that I wouldn't be able to handle things as they got worse). Dr. Leung pulled Denise aside and reminded her that I am a needle phobe (I am prone to fainting and anxiety attacks when getting needles). Denise agreed to be the one to put the IV in my arm. It went well. I stood up and leaned on Bob's back with my arms over his shoulders. I went through a few contractions like that. Feeling pressure deep down below. Contractions were still very irregular and I was nervous about how bad it was going to get when the 'real' thing kicked in. I began to feel very ill and lightheaded. I was encouraged to keep labouring standing but I couldn't stand anymore. I HAD to lie down. Next thing I know I feel the urge to push. It washed through my body. I moaned "No." Terror gripped me. I was afraid that I was experiencing the urge too soon, that I still hadn't entered 'real' labour and my cervix was far from being ready (which is what happened when I was in labour with Luke and the unpleasant experience involved drugs and ultimately a delayed epidural). I told the nurse about the strong urges I was having with contractions so she checked me and called for Dr. Leung. Something must be wrong. I was told that I wasn't quite ready to push. I knew it. Here we go again. Then I was told that I just needed to make it through 3 contractions without bearing down. Pardon? Only 3? And then what? Aren't I supposed to go through 'real' labour? What about transition? When will that happen? Denise and Dr. Leung talked me through the next couple of contractions. One rubbed my back, the other chanted "Huff...Huff...Huff.." and would keep me focused on verbalizing the discomfort out of my mouth. I squeezed Bob's hands as hard as I could and groaned primal noises as loud as possible. I recall the doctor and the nurse taking a step back and laughing at the force of some of the sounds that were coming out of me. The urge to push was extremely intense and I could no longer hold it off. Dr. Leung gave me premission to start pushing but asked that I waited until she had the necessary equipment ready. Somehow, my body obliged. The pressure was incredible and I cried out that I could feel a burning. I was encouraged to push and after several attempts, out came Michael's head. I didn't have energy to continue pushing for a few minutes which worked out well because the chord was wrapped around his neck (that's probably why he pooped). Dr. Leung matter of factly just hooked her fingers underneath and popped it over his head. Three more pushes and his shoulders were out and then the next thing I knew, he was completely out. The only thing I could say, over and over again was "It feels sooooo good to get him out! I feel soooo much better now." I was still in disbelief but there he was proving to me that I really was in labour and I really did dilate 5 cm in an hour. I guess the good thing about being in denial about labour was that I didn't have any drugs. Not even gas this time around as I was convinced that I could NOT be in transition when I really was. No tearing and lochia wasn't that heavy. The after cramps/contractions of my uterus were very sore, but tylenol made them manageable. My ribs were sore, along with all my other insides! Doctor could see no physical reason to keep me in the hospital any longer than 14 hours especially since I was bugging her that I really wanted to go home and rest/recuperate there [I can't sleep and rest in a hospital setting and I bounce back faster in familiar surroundings] so I was released the next afternoon after Mike's PKU blood test. I was very lucky to be blessed with such an 'easy' delivery this time around. |