Time to get induced!

One year ago today I was induced! The day went like this.....

It was a Monday and I was 39 weeks pregnant. I got in the shower that morning to get ready for my weekly doctor's appointment and asked Ryan if he wanted to come with me today since I was getting so close to my due date (Ryan went to almost every doctor's appointment with me. When I started going weekly to get my urine checked and get weighed we decided that he didn't need to come). He said no and that he would go next week if I didn't deliver by my due date (11/19). So I packed up my things for the day (after my doctor's appt., I was off to a meeting at school and then to pregnancy boot camp class) and headed to Hopkins.

The doctor's appointment started like every other one. I peed, was weighed (up 50 lbs to 191!!!), and led into an exam room. I saw a group of doctors and was meeting with a doctor I had never met before. She was really nice.....until she asked me the baby's name. I told her Hudson and her reply was "wow, that's my dog's name". Uhhh, thanks.

She felt the baby and said that she thought his head was down, but just wanted to check so she brought in the basic ultrasound machine. After looking at him, she was a bit concerned since my amniotic fluid appeared low (it should be a 5 and I was a 4 - I have no idea what measurement that is!). She explained that if the fluid is low, they may need to induce. Whoa!!! She dropped a bomb on me there! She said this ultrasound machine might not be completely accurate and she sent me over to the 3-D ultrasound tech.

I went over to that tech and she saw me right away. I had the strangest feeling while there. Of course, I wanted to make sure that the baby and I were safe, but at the same time I was hoping that my fluid was low so that I could meet my little peanut! After a quick look, she determined that the fluid was low and sent me back over to my doctor.

While waiting for the doctor to see me again, I knew that I was probably going to be induced, so I called Ryan. Well, I tried to call Ryan. While I was in my appt, Ryan's dad had called me to discuss the crazy Steelers-Browns game from the day before. I accidentally pushed talk and called his Dad back. I tried to nonchalantly discuss football, but I was dying to call Ryan! I finally called him and he was headed home and would meet me there.

I went back in to meet with the doctor. I really wanted to meet the baby, but I also was afraid of induction. In my mind, the baby would come when he was ready and I didn't want to evict him if he still needed to bake for a while longer. I asked the doctor to explain my options to me and she said that I could go without the induction, but I would need to come in every two days for tests and there was also a risk of "in-utereo death". Enough said! Hand me some pitocin!

I was able to come home and gather my things. It was really nice to have that hour with Ryan before our lives would change forever. We packed up our things and I squeezed in a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. We took pictures, said goodbye to the cats, and headed to the hospital.

On the way, we called our parents. I was calling my mom and her phone kept going to voicemail. I teased her that she should ALWAYS have her phone on when her daughter is approaching her due date! I was able to get in touch with her soon after and she was jumping in the car and headed to Baltimore.

Ryan called his parents and I don't think his mom believed him at first. She also jumped in her car and headed down.

We got to the hospital around 12p and I was given pitocin around 3p. They were going to start me on cervadil, but I was 100% effaced at that point. Now it was time for the fun to begin....

Ryan's mom got to the hospital first, followed by my mom. They told me I was having contractions, but I didn't feel anything. My mom was watching the monitor and was like "do you feel that?" and I didn't. But that didn't last long...

The rest of the evening is pretty blurry. I'm going to guess that it was around 8p when I started to feel the contractions. Then they hit me like a brick. I felt like I couldn't breath. I was squeezing the bedrails with all of my might. Ryan was talking to our moms and I couldn't even talk with them - I was in my own world at that point. Ryan's dad arrived and I didn't even know that he was there. I was trying to breathe through each contraction, but it didn't help. I had to do all that I could to take my mind to a "happy place". I was thinking about the Steelers winning the Superbowl (I am a true Pgh girl - thinking about the Steelers during labor!), putting my Christmas tree up, and Brett Favre (I have NO idea why I was thinking about him - I mean, he seems like a great guy and all, but he's not my favorite). This is also the point when I vowed to remember this pain and never have any more kids (everyone says that you forget the pain once the baby arrives, so I figured this was an important step). I was begging for drugs. Much to my dismay, the anaesthelogists were all in the ER with c-sections, so I had to wait.

When the anaesthelogist finally arrived, I was a bit shocked to see a woman, mid-thirties, that looked like she just stepped off of Haight-Asbury. She was wearing tie-dyed. And this woman was going to insert a huge needle in my spine?!?! And just then another contraction hit and I realized that Doogie Howser or Drake Remore could give me the drugs at that point for all I cared. I'm a bit of a freak and have this weird phobia about my spine being touched, so I wasn't sure how this was going to go. In addition to that, I was told that I had to sit extremely still and I wasn't sure how that was possible once a contraction would hit. After alot of squirting blood (according to Ryan), the epidural was in and man, did I feel good!

Oh no! That didn't last long! I started to feel contractions again! They had to adjust the epidural. Now, it was time to sleep.

Ryan and I napped for a few hours while our parents just hung out. I don't remember when exactly I woke up but I'm going to guess that it was around 1am. I was okay for a while, but then I started to feel some pressure. The pressure wasn't painful, so I was okay. Then I started to feel really sick. The nurse gave me this tiny bed pan and I knew that wasn't going to cut it. I had Ryan grab a garbage can and I rested my head in there and proceeded to dry heave. Since I hadn't eaten, there was nothing to throw up but stomach bile. I had no idea how I was going to continue with labor in this state. The nurses were happy since puking is a sign that your body is preparing to push. At 4:20am, they said it was time to start pushing and I shot up out of my garbage can and said "let's do this!". I had suddenly become a new person - I was about to become a mom!!

My OB was training another OB, so I had 2 sets of hands in my crotch. In addition to the doctor's there was about 8-10 other people in there (nurses, aides, etc.). My new cheery personality came through as I asked how the party got to my room and offered to get everyone a drink (I guess the drugs were making me loopy).

The pushing went well. I didn't feel it which was great. I don't mean to brag, but the OB said I was one of the best pushers she had ever seen (if that's something to be proud of). They asked if I wanted to have a mirror to see the baby and I said sure. BIG MISTAKE. One look was all I needed to shout "Take it away!".

At 5:25am, Hudson made his appearance. He came out crying and that was the sweetest sound to my ears. They handed him directly to me and I had 3 thoughts:
1. He's definitely a boy
2. He has curly hair
3. He doesn't have any toe nails (they were so thin that it looked like they weren't there).

I tried to nurse right away, but it didn't work, so the nurses took him next to my bed to get cleaned. Our parents were DYING outside of our room, so they peaked in to meet their first grandchild. Seeing Ryan and our parents over there with Hudson made me so sad. I had just done all of the work and they were getting spend time with him while I was stuck delivering a placenta.

After I got stitched up, Ryan looked over and said:
"It looks like Vietnam in here" followed by "Hey, that looks like a roast" (referring to the placenta). That's my husband.

It's hard to believe that one year has passed since that glorious day. We can't wait to celebrate our monkey's birthday with him tomorrow!