Scarlett's Birth Story - Part 1

This is the story of how Scarlett came into this world.

My doctor decided to induce me due to Scarlett's small size, and the fact that she hadn't gained much weight in two weeks.  At my ultrasound two weeks ago, they estimated that she weighed about 5 lbs, 10 oz.  

I spent Tuesday making final preparations around the house and packing for our baby girl's arrival.  I had the most surreal feeling all night, just knowing that we were about to meet our baby girl! And knowing that getting her here probably wasn't going to be easy.  

Luke and I left the house at 5:15 AM on Wednesday, July 10.  We arrived at the hospital and checked in.  We were brought to a big, spacious delivery room where a nurse inserted my IV of fluids.  Then the nurse looked at my chart and saw that I was beginning Cervidil, and not Pitocin that morning.  So we had to leave the nice, big room, and were escorted to triage, AKA prison. Luke and I were pretty annoyed that they hadn't looked at my chart beforehand, but we were just ready to get this show on the road!

Let me just explain the triage room a bit before I move on.  There were three of these little cubicles parallel to one another, with a curtain on the open end, and a shared bathroom.  Nurses and doctors were coming in and out all day long.  The giant automatic entrance doors to the labor and delivery unit that were in serious need of some WD-40 were right outside our door. Luke had an uncomfortable chair to spend the entire day in.  At first, it didn't seem too bad.  But by the end of the evening, we were both about to lose our minds!  I wanted to get some sleep, knowing I had some hard work ahead of me.  But with all the noise, it was nearly impossible.

Here we are in our triage closet room.  Last picture as a family of 2! I look pretty rough and swollen here...

Anyway, back to Wednesday morning.  At 8:00, a doctor came to insert the Cervidil and check my progress.  This was not a comfortable process, but not too painful either.  The doctor gave me false hope when he said, "You're doing great!  This is the worst part!"  Lies, lies, lies.  I wanted to say, "You're a man.  Your opinion is not valid."  He found that I had still not started progressing at all.  It was going to be a long day or two.

After the Cervidil was inserted, regular contractions started immediately.  Before long, they were 3 minutes apart on average.  I was so encouraged, thinking maybe the Cervidil was doing more than I had hoped!  Maybe I would go into labor on my own, and wouldn't even need Pitocin!  I spent the day watching Parks and Rec episodes with Luke as contractions got stronger and stronger.  The worst part was that being pregnant and pumped full of IV fluids, I had to use the restroom all the time.  Luke had to unhook the fetal monitors and wrap the cords around my neck every time.  And every time, I had to try to hold my hospital gown closed with one hand and role the IV machine with the other.    And then I had to try to pee with all of this equipment hooked up to me, and an IV in my hand.  It was such a hassle!

My mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law came to visit that afternoon, which helped break things up.  I had a few breakdowns because I was frustrated about being in the triage room, and I felt a little neglected by the nurses.  But by late afternoon, my contractions were getting pretty strong (or so I thought).  I really thought that at least something must be happening!  So at 8:00 PM, they removed the Cervidil and checked my progress...

NOTHING.  Nothing had happened after 12 hours.  

After the nurse broke the news to me, I immediately started bawling out of frustration.  The nurse called my OB, and she decided to let me eat and shower, and we'd start another round of Cervidil until 4AM.  

After eating a turkey sandwich, I felt pretty refreshed  I was still having strong-ish, regular contractions, too. And after that, a labor and delivery room opened up, so we got to leave triage!  We got settled into our room, and I got to take a shower.  But it wasn't that easy, because I had the IV in my hand.  So they had to cap off the IV and unhook me, and then tape a giant glove over it on my hand so I wouldn't get it wet.  It was hard showering with only 1 usable hand, but I felt a lot better afterward.  Then the nurse reinserted my IV, and somehow ended up dripping tons of my blood all over me and the floor and putting a kink in the IV hose, which then required copious amounts of tape to fix.  Just about every nurse, doctor, intern, and anesthesiologist commented on the crazy tape job on my hand during the next 24 hours.

A doctor came by around 10 and inserted another Cervidil.  Even though my contractions were strong, I was determined to get as much rest as possible, knowing I probably had a long day ahead of me.  I found that if I laid on my side, my contractions hurt much, much less.  So I laid on my side, and got a little bit of sleep.  Probably an hour or 2 of nonconsecutive sleep, total.  With nurses coming in and out all night, and having to unhook my fetal monitors everytime I had to use the restroom, I don't think Luke got much more sleep than I did. 

At 4:00 AM, my doctor had instructed for the Cervidil to be removed, and for me to be checked again.  I was so ready to be done with this part.  The contractions weren't unbearable, but they were getting painful.  I'd say probably a 4 out of 10 on the pain scale.  And I felt like it wasn't doing much good.  I was ready to get things going a little more.

The nurse removed the Cervidil and checked me at 4:00.  She said I was dilated a "fingertip."  After 20 hours of contracting -- a fingertip!  I half expected my OB to tell me I was going to need a c-section.  And honestly, I was so tired, weary, and hungry at that point, I kind of wanted her to.  

{ Part 2 coming sometime later this week.}