After the Pitocin got into my system and my contractions became more intense and harder to handle, I decided it was time to go in the jacuzzi tub to help my body relax. I was very happy to be in the nice warm water, plus it was something I wanted to make sure I took advantage of while I was at the hospital. It really helped my body relax, which helped me deal with the contractions, but also helped the contractions to be more intense, but also helpful. Unfortunately my jacuzzi time wasn’t as long as I hoped it would be.
My contractions were getting close to unbearable (unfortunately when you have Pitocin, this can be a side effect. The intensity of contractions changes so dramatically that your body has a hard time adjusting to it). It was getting pretty hard for me to stay focused and breathe through each contractions, and I was getting pretty loud. It was getting to the point that I was seriously thinking about getting an Epidural even though I really didn’t want to have too much medical interference to my labor and delivery. At this point I was also told that the anesthesiologist on call would only be available for the next 40 minutes or so because he had a planned appointment to go to that would make it so he wouldn’t be available for about 2 hours.
This made it so I had a tough decision to make. I really didn’t want to have an Epidural unless completely necessary and I was near that point, but not totally to it yet. Yet I only had a small window of time to make the decision of if I wanted it or not. Basically if I said no at this point, it would probably mean I’d have no chance of decided to have it later because delivery was nearing and an Epidural takes a while to get into your system and have an effect. So I decided to go ahead and have an Epidural.
The anesthesiologist (Doc B) came in at about 11:40am. My sister stayed with me for the procedure while my mom and Andrew left the room (they both don’t like needles). Doc B had me lean forward so he could put the Epidural into the lower part of my back (click here to read a nice description of what an Epidural is and how it is done), and asked me to stay as still as I could. The nurse described what it might feel like for me by saying I would feel like I was drunk or really tipsy. My response to this is that I had never been drunk or tipsy before so I have no idea what that feels like. The nurse then said she couldn’t think of any other analogy, which made us all laugh a little. When Doc B was done he told me that I was one of the stillest patients he’d ever had and that meant that he was able to do a really good tap for the Epidural. My thought was “you’re sticking a needle basically into my spine, why would I want or allow myself to move even a millimeter?”
It was really weird to have the Epidural. I know at some point I said to my sister “why would anyone choose to feel this way all the time?” (referring to people who have drink issues). Now I sort of know how you feel when you’re drunk and I personally would never choose to drink to feel that way. I just don’t get it. It just makes me more convinced to stay on my path of not drinking at all.
Anyway! The Epidural also had the desired effect of allowing me to relax through my contractions so my contractions could do what they were supposed to be doing; helping my cervix dilate. I was also starting to feel nauseated too, so I had some Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine, to ease my feeling of throwing up. I knew part of the reason why I felt that way was because of how hungry I was. I hadn’t eaten since dinner the day before, not counting a small snack box of Cheerios. I was starving, but they don’t let you eat when you’re near delivery, or when you have an Epidural. I also wasn’t allowed to drink water. I could only have ice chips. When you have an Epidural you have to stay in bed since it’s a type of anesthetic and makes it so you can’t feel the bottom half of your body all the way. Because Doc B was able to do a really good tap on me, I was able to move my legs more than a lot of women who get Epidurals, but I was nowhere near being able to walk, let alone stand. So I was stuck in bed, hungry and nauseated.
BUT! I was also dilating more! At 1:00pm I was measured at being dilated to a “stretchy” 4 (remember dilating goes from 0 to 10. I was previously a 2 since my last doctor appointment). They increased my Pitocin intake to help me dilate more. At about 1:50pm more of my water came out in a gush. At this point, with the Epidural in place so I could relax more, I tried to take a little nap while having Emperor’s New Groove playing in the background. I was going in and out of sleep, but the sleep I was getting was more of that “I know I’m dreaming and not really asleep all the way” type of sleep.
At 3:00pm they increased the Pitocin again, but only for a little while before they turned it back down to what it was. At about 3:30pm the effects of the Epidural were wearing off a bit (it’s not a continuous flow of anesthesia, but doses of it when you tap a button. I was still on the first dose of it from when it was given to me), so I double clicked the Epidural button to get it into my system again since contractions were still being really intense. Around this point in time my cervix was checked again and I was at an 8!!
And that’s it for now. The last part of the birth story will come later.
That just seems so wrong to me that they left you in an all or nothing scenario with the epidural. It sounds like with your labor going longer you might have gotten it anyways, but still. To tell you to chose now or possibly regret it for 2 hours makes me mad. Can't wait to read the end!
ReplyDelete