Alright so I have a minute to write about the whole birth experience of Ella. This is probably not a post to read if you are pregnant :) but you will probably have a much better experience. So with Ava it was the pregnancy that was rough. I was sick all 9 months with her and gained a ton of weight, but the labor and delivery was a breeze. Ella was the opposite - pregnancy was a breeze but the labor and delivery was pretty rough.
At my appointment before Ella was born (Monday, January 31st) I was already dilated to 5 cm and 75% effaced. I was told that I would have a quick labor since I was that far along and to hurry to the hospital once labor started.
Lie #1 - Just because you are VERY dilated and effaced does not mean your labor will be fast.
That Tuesday evening I started feeling some pretty good contractions enough so that I could not sleep. So I wake up Dave thinking we need to hurry because we are going to have this baby quick. We called our friend Stephanie to come over and stay with Ava so we could go to the hospital. (Thank you so much again for watching Ava for us Stephanie!! You are the best!) We got to the hospital around 3 am Wednesday morning and we were admitted right away. I was dilated to a 6 at this point. So we are thinking we are going to have a baby before breakfast (which I was really hoping for because for some reason I was starving). So they bring us up to our labor room and get us situated. They tried 4 times to get an IV in me which started off the painful day that awaited me. Finally the anesthesiologist was called in to get one in me. I am still bruised from those pokes! By then I was dilated to a 7 and all of a sudden my contractions stop. I don't know what my body was doing but this little girl just really did not want to come. Normally that is when they start picking up. So I decide that I want an epidural and want them to break my water so that my labor will start up again and will speed up. At 7 am the doctor comes in to break my water. My OB was out of town all week so it was another dr that was on call. They broke my water and for some reason my body freaked out again. I started fainting and my heart rate jumped up and little Ella's dropped. So in my moments of consciousness I see about 10 doctors and nurses in my room running around yelling code something and dressing for an emergency c-section. I start freaking out even more, hyperventilating and crying especially since the night before a friend of mine was telling me how they tie you down during c-sections. Also I was scared we were losing our baby. So I was completely panicked. At this time it was the switch between on call doctors and the new doctor, Dr. Sawyer comes in. He was so calm and grabbed my hand and told me that everything was going to be ok. He said to hold off just a second to see what happens and right then everything normalized. My heart and Ella's went back to normal and everything was fine. He told us after that that is as close as it gets to not having to have a c-section. I was so glad!
Lie #2 - Breaking your water does not always speed up delivery.
So we labored and labored and labored until finally I was dilated to a 10 at around 1 pm.
Lie #3 - Pushing the 2nd child out is quicker and easier than the first.
We pushed for over an hour and finally they used a vacuum to get her out. My epidural wore off right when it came time to push. I thought I was going to die!
Lie #4 - You feel where and when you are supposed to push.
Lie #5 - It feels good to push.
I have never felt more excruciating pain in my life! I felt the contractions and they were awful! That I guess helps you to know when to push but when you start pushing the pain intensifies about 100 times. It by NO means feels good to push!
Dave was actually able to deliver me after they vacuumed her out a little and he put her on my stomach. Dr. Sawyer was a great doctor though and I am glad he was there. He was very calm with everything that was going on with me and helped me calm down too. Although at first I was slightly disappointed that my Dr. wasn't there. He was also so good to Dave talking him through everything and letting him participate so much.
Truth - It is all worth it in the end.
After the day was done and the most awful 12 hours of my life were over :) holding little Ella was worth it all. No I am not ready to have another one - hopefully someday the trauma of that day will be forgotten. However, we are so glad that she is here and we love her so much. We just hope she learns to differentiate between night and day soon so we get a little more sleep!
The Raft
4 years ago
