Part 2: The Action (Or So We Thought)
It was 3:00 a.m. when they took me back into a triage room. They checked things out, told me that I was not in active labor, started my IVs (being GBS positive I needed 4 hours of IV antibiotics before you were born) and told me they wanted to induce labor. I asked if we could wait a little while and see if things would progress naturally and they said I could have until 7:00 a.m. We snoozed as we could until then. Except they wanted to check to see if you were breech. I explained that I had just had an ultrasound the previous Thursday and you were head down as you had been for weeks, but they insisted. They proceeded to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R with this old portable machine to decide that you were indeed head down. At 7:00 a.m. there was no further progress so I was moved to a labor room and pitocyn was started.

From this point, I could only have ice chips and popsicles. I ate one grape popsicle—we have the photographic proof (below). Very shortly, the contractions began. I made it 2 hours before yelling to Daddy that I needed the epidural. I have blocked out most of those 2 hours, though I do remember that it hurt A LOT and there was vomiting involved (deteriorated state shown below). When they came to check I was more than halfway dilated. It didn’t take long for them to come and place the epidural. The chief resident did it under the supervision of his boss. He did a very good job but was not very friendly. The nurse was very nice and talked me through the procedure, which required me to stay very still (even through contractions) and for Daddy to go away. Once the epidural was placed, I felt MUCH better and was pretty much fully dilated without much discomfort by 11 a.m. They asked me to rest awhile to prepare for pushing around 1 p.m. By the way, I was already super thirsty and the nurse had chastised Daddy once for giving me too many ice chips when I really wanted him to pour a gallon of water down my throat.

We rested the best we could until 1 p.m. By then we were really excited because they told us you would likely be born within about a ½ hour. Daddy and the nurse were helping me push by holding my legs, counting and general cheerleading. The contractions were fairly close together, so I was pushing regularly once we got started. During the first hour, you progressed quickly to the point where everyone (except me) could see your head. During the second hour, you did not progress AT ALL. We tried a few different positions for the pushing to knock you loose and nothing. Towards the end of the second hour the first murmurs of a C-Section between the doctor and the resident began. During one of these conversations (which did not yet include us), the nurse chimed in that she thought there was still a shot that you would progress further and we should try for one more hour. The doctors agreed that I could have one more hour of pushing if I agreed to an internal monitor for you, but that they would cut it off at 4 p.m.

Well, I REALLY wanted to avoid a C-Section, so I pushed like crazy for that hour. Unfortunately, no progress was made and after 3 hours of pushing—the last hour with all my might—I was completely exhausted. So the doctors conferred and said they would try vacuum aspiration for 2-3 contractions but they didn’t recommend it because you were not in the ideal position for it to work. The only other option was a C-Section, which they preferred. I thought it amusing that they offered a solution that they didn’t recommend. As if I was going to say, “Yes, let’s do that strange procedure that you don’t think will work and don’t recommend!”