Here is the Labor and Delivery story :) I was called by the hospital on Thursday morning around 8:30 to come in and be induced. We got there around 10--did all of our checking in and got nice and comfy in our room. I was started on a pitocin drip around 11:15am to get contractions going. You'd think that the fun all started here, but it didn't really. We sat around with our mothers for most of the day watching TV, chatting and having a grand old time. I was not really feeling any of the contractions. Every time the nurses came in they always asked for my "pain level" to which I would reply, "I'm supposed to have pain?" They continued to up the pitocin drip, but I still rarely felt anything. Our parents left around 7:30 or so to go have dinner, and sure enough while they were gone my water broke.... now let the games begin :) My water broke around 8:15 and I felt the very first contraction after that... no doubt in my mind it was a contraction!! I said "oh thats what these are supposed to feel like." After about an hour and a half of Nathan helping me through them, I told him I didn't know how long I would have to do this, but if it was going to be like 6 more hours, I couldn't do it without an epidural. I feel like I tried as hard as I could to go through, and Nathan continued countless times to say "just one more contraction" until I reached the end of my pain tolerance level. Had I known the amount of time that would pass before I actually got the epidural, I probably would have requested it sooner :) I had to go through a bag of fluids first to be well hydrated, and then the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. It was about an hour before they were actually there to give me the epidural.
The most joyous nurse came through our door... her name was Daisy and she was from England (or somewhere over there) and had the greatest accent. I never thought laboring could really be fun, but I will tell you she made it just that... not even kidding. She was so light-hearted, yet very blunt and always just got right to the point about what was going on. She prepped me for the epi. and said as soon as the anesthesiologist came in he would only be about 5 seconds and it would be done. I must say, I was nervous about getting it because i have heard such horror stories about people getting it, or having to get it multiple times, or it not working etc., however once she informed me that I was lucky enough to have the chief of anesthesiology I was much more calm. He came in and when she said 5 seconds, she meant it. He had that thing in my back before I even knew anything was going on and it did seem to kick in right away. I should say at this time that I was at 6cm before they gave it to me which I believe is as far as you can be before you can't get one. I am pretty sure that once you move into the 7cm or transition phase, you can no longer get an epi. Within about 5-10 minutes of getting it, I remember saying something like "I'm sure this is too soon, but I just feel a lot of pressure." They said thats normal (since you can no longer feel contractions) but said they would check me whenever they put the catheter in, which they were doing right then. Daisy checked me and sure enough, I had shot to 10cm and was ready to start pushing. They had to wait a little bit for my doctor to get there, so she said "try and hold of as much as you can" to which I replied "thats really hard!!!" So she said I could push if I needed to and let me tell you... I needed to. I started pushing and my doctor got there within about 10-15 minutes. I pushed for about 30 minutes total and we had beautiful Makaela Rose in our arms. The nurses said she came out surprisingly alert, and Daisy said she had a "hairy bum." :) Makaela was 8 pounds and 21 inches long and was born at 11:48pm on Thursday, February 11th.
All in all, I was in hard labor for about 3 1/2 hours which is great to think about for the next time because I keep hearing the labor time cuts in half with your next child :) I don't know if this means I'm built for having babies or not, but I am a pastors wife and I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to eventually be driving one of those 15 passenger vans around full of kids. I don't think we'll have quite that many, but I am so thankful for how the process all went. The Lord was so good to me and to us, and He poured out his grace and strength in exactly the right amounts of what we needed at the current time.
My beloved husband was.........I'm not really even sure what word is best, and I don't feel like Awesome even comes close. He was just so so wonderful and great! Once my water broke and I responded to the first contraction, he knew it was go time. My body was shaking uncontrollably at first and tensing up all over the place. We had just read about the importance of not tensing up and that began his job of working to help me release tension in my body anywhere he saw it (which at the moment was everywhere). He faithfully watched the monitor and would tell me when a contraction was coming, then he would faithfully watch my body, especially my hands and face, to make sure I was not tensing any of my muscles, and he always told me when I was coming down off the contraction. I don't know how many times he said "release tension here" as he lightly touched my hand or my forehead, and he was so calm. He might have been a little too calm in fact as I could hear his little fingers madly texting family/friends what was going on in between contractions :) He just poured himself into me wholeheartedly and fully devoted every ounce of his love and attention to me. I saw him (even though I had my eyes closed the whole time concentrating through contractions) take on a new form of leadership in our relationship and it seemed to come to him so natural. I know Christ had prepared him for this role and he stepped in and with the grace of God he led me through each and every contraction in the most loving and tender way. I am so thankful for my loving husband and thankful for his desire to serve and glorify Christ through this process. He did just that, and helped me to strive to do the same and in the end we were rewarded with the precious blessing of life that the Lord has given to us to care for.
More about our new parents experience to come...
