39 weeks and 4 days...

AND LABOR BEGAN....

Sunday, October 14, 2012, I woke up at 6:30 AM. This had become my normal routine. As I went to the bathroom, I realized there was some bloody show. I went back into the bedroom and told Nic FYI he will be coming soon. I didn't realize labor was about to start. I went back to the bathroom because something didn't feel right. A clot the size of my fist came out and I freaked. I yelled for Nic and he handed me his phone that was already calling the hospital. They told us to come in and we did so. I was hooked up to the stress test and asked not to move. That is when contractions started. My contractions were 3-5 min apart the entire labor! After an hour and a half, my Dr. got there and he, Dr. Mora, was not concerned. He said I was in pre labor. Oh, did I mention I had contractions and was told not to move! I was a finger tip dilated and 90% effaced. He told me to go home rest up and come back later when contractions were stronger. My dad jumped in his car and my mom called in a sub since she was at work. Once home, my dad asked about every 30 min. if we could go back. He said, "Stef don't you feel like it's time? Can't we go back?" He was a little excited and had no idea the long labor we were in for! My wonderful husband gave him a beer and they watched football! Yes, the beer was consumed after 12:00 PM. At 3:30 PM, after hours in the tub and rocking on my ball, I decided it was time to go back in. They checked me and hooked me up to the stress machine (I despise these round monitors that are not so gently shoved into your tummy) and declared I hadn't changed. I remember thinking, "But how could this be? I sure feel like something has changed with all these contractions!" My Dr. said I could go home or walk around for an hour and hope my dilation changed. I quickly realized just how small the labor and delivery floor of the hospital was! After an hour, they checked me again. I was a 1 almost a 2. My Dr. told me I could go home and come back or I could be admitted. Wahoo you just said I could be admitted!?! I would have crawled in a hole if I had to tell my dad we were going back home! I didn't wait for them to "admit" me before heading straight for the tub. I think I was a fish in my past life! The nurse came in after about 40 min and told me I had to get out of my happy  place (the tub) and into the bed to get admitted.... humph fine! "No, no one told me I had to have these darn monitors back on! For how long?" And here came the second worst news of my labor.... I had to wear the monitor for the rest of labor!!! I wanted to rip those things off me! "Wait, Can I go back in the tub with these things or will I get electrocuted?" Thank goodness it was safe for the tub! After one nurse blew two veins in my left hand, the other nurse safely placed the IV in my right hand! Here's to awful black and blue and pain from blown veins...cheers! After 16 hrs of 3-5 min. contractions even my happy place was not fun anymore. 2:30 AM I asked for the epidural. I really wanted to get to 4 cm before having it but that was not happening fast enough. Why, oh why, was I ever afraid of the epidural process? I felt nothing and the anesthesiologist said I had a skinny back! Ahhhhh, the pain was gone from my lower back and belly... isn't this great guys? Well, I may have gone into chatty mode at 3 AM and neither Nic nor my parents were into it. In a nice way, the told me to shut up and get some rest! And so I did. 5 AM Dr. Mora came back to check me. SPLASH GUSH FLOOD... yup there goes my water all over Dr. Mora aaand I was now at a 4! It was that easy, go to sleep and you progress! Dr. Mora was off to meetings and Dr. Dowling was taking over. He started me on pitocin to get things moving along a little faster. The pitocin can go to 20 and at around a 6 I started to feel back pain. I told the nurse and she said hit the button for more medication. Well after hitting the button 5 times, and the pain getting worse, something was not right. She rolled me over to find that my epidural had come out just enough to stop working! Full on contractions with pitocin are nasty! I tried to breathe through them but half the time tears were rolling down my face. An emergency c section had just gone in, and the anesthesiologist would be 45 min before he could get to me! Once my second epidural was in, life was grand! My epidurals were the best. Everything was numb and I could still move my legs somehow! When Dr. Dowling came in at noon to check me, I had not made any progress. She squarely looked me in the eyes and said it was time to talk reality. She said I would most likely end up a C- section but she would still give me 2 and a half hours to see if any progress could be made. I was not giving up without a fight. I opted for increasing my pitocin and getting contractions a min. apart in hopes to fully dilate. My pitocin was slowly uped to 18 and Brayden was monitored closely. He did great! My time was ticking and with 30 min left Tami called in help for me! Doula Carolyn to the rescue! Dr. Dowling didn't come back until 5 PM instead of 2:30 PM which was a blessing. Carolyn had me in all sorts of funny positions. Upside down, all fours, on my knees, "sifting" me with a scarf and the nurse may have thought we were crazy but was rooting for me! 5 PM the moment of truth.... NO CHANGE! And with that Brayden was handed his eviction notice. Dr. Dowling told me not to be upset and that I had literally done everything I possibly could have. That having this C-section was not me giving up but that he was too big to come out. It was not what I wanted to hear. She explained what was about to happen and I half listened trying to fight back tears of defeat and fright. Carolyn prayed over me and as they wheeled me away I burst into tears. The nurse invited my mom in (which she okay-ed with me after inviting her in hahaha I didn't mind and wanted her there. Oh, my mom is an RN works with premie babies at Swedish.. this is her gig) She and Nic were suited up and came in once I had been prepped. My arms were tied down, the curtain was up, and I was full on shaking freezing. Some nice person decided to grab a bag of antibiotics out of the fridge and put it in my IV!!!! The anesthesiologist tried to help me get warm but not much you can do when it is running through your body already. At 5:55 PM, Brayden Cooper Truscott was born 8 lbs 8 oz 21 inches long. There was lots of shoving and pushing going on after he came out. I kept asking the anesthesiologist what are they doing?!?! He was great and kept me updated the entire time. It seemed like forever while they put me back together. I was wheeled to recovery and finally able to hold my beautiful baby. I have so much more to say about his birth but this novel is long enough! After 33 hours of labor, Brayden Cooper Truscott was born on October 15, 2012 and shares his birthday with my dad! He is a proud grandpa to share his day!

until next time...