My Labor Story

I’m finally getting around to writing down my labor experience. Skip this post if you don’t like to hear details. :-)

I can’t imagine having a better labor than I did with Bradley. It started out a little dramatic, but as Mom and Dawn will tell you, that was to be expected considering it was MY labor. ;-)

I didn’t want to be induced because I figured Bradley would come out when he was good and ready, and I wanted the experience of going into labor on my own. However, my blood pressure was creeping up there at the end. My Dr. admitted me to the hospital a week before my due date to monitor my blood pressure for a few hours. She wanted to induce me that day since I was full term, but my family wasn’t in town yet, and my blood pressure was holding steady as long as I took it easy, so I convinced her to let me stay pregnant for the weekend at least. I was on “modified bed rest,” meaning I needed to stay in bed and take it easy a good bit, but I could still get up and do some things. I monitored my own blood pressure with a digital cuff at home.

I am soooo glad she let me stall. I did NOT want to have this baby without my family there! We had all been with Dawn for her labor with Alex a couple of years before, and it was truly a wonderful time (although I said after the fact that I was never going to have a baby because I literally thought Dawn’s body was going to explode into a million pieces). Anyway, back to me… Mom and Dawn and Alex were in MN to watch Erich’s graduation. But as soon as she heard they wanted to induce me, Mom jumped on a plane, and Dad started driving from OH just as fast as he could. I told them my Dr. had agreed to let me go home, but they were all determined to be a part of the event (even though they ended up paying hundreds of dollars in kennel costs for the dogs that week…). So Xon and I ended up meeting Mom at the airport and had a nice, leisurely dinner at Cracker Barrel. Then we picked up Dawn and Alex at the airport. (They had hopped on a plane after the graduation ceremony.) By the time we got back, Dad was sitting in my driveway waiting for us. Erich drove down a little later.

So the fam finally was all there—eagerly awaiting Bradley’s arrival. I thought a few times that I might be starting labor because my contractions would get stronger, but that was always right after I had eaten, and they went away pretty quickly. I went back to the Dr. on the Monday before my due date. She looked at the blood pressure record I had kept over the weekend and agreed to let me stay pregnant until my due date at least. Everyone was pretty uptight that week, wondering when I would have Bradley, but we tried to keep busy. I did just about everything I could to induce labor on my own. I had massages and told them to press all the labor points really hard, :-) we took very fast walks, I ate spicy food, etc. Xon and I went to an Italian restaurant in Watkinsville, and I had a very spice sausage dish that had started labor for other people. Dawn, Erich, Xon and I went to an Italian restaurant in Atlanta for the same reason. I had the infamous eggplant parmesan. Again, I got stronger contractions, but NO LABOR…………

So I went for a checkup the day before my due date, and I agreed it was time to be induced. My (wonderful!) Dr. and I talked about the options. She didn’t want to break my water because my strep test was positive, so I needed to get 2 rounds of antibiotics in before Bradley was born. She wanted to use Pitocin because she could control the strength of contractions that way, and she could have it out of my system in 6 minutes if needed. (If she broke my water, most likely my contractions would go from 0-60 very quickly.)

Since I was already 4 cm dilated and had been having painless contractions for a while, she thought it wouldn’t take much Pitocin to get things going. I believe she said you can go up to a dose of 30, and she was going to start me out at a 2. So we scheduled the induction for the next day (my due date!), and my Dr. said she would do the labor dance for me that night, hoping I would start on my own. All of us went to Olive Garden that night for a big dinner, and I had a HUGE piece of chocolate cake to console myself. I knew if the massage hadn’t done it, nothing would, because I have never been so relaxed in all my life. It was WONDERFUL. So I woke up the next morning, resigned to the fact that I would have to be induced.

I got ready that morning and told myself over and over, “I’m going to see Bradley in person today!!!!” I ate a good breakfast, and we hit the road. We took a video outside the hospital, and I started crying because I was so emotional when I looked at the camera and talked about what was going on. I stood in line for a while at the registration desk. The nurse asked me if I was in labor b/c if I had been, I could have skipped the line! But I wasn’t (darn!), so I waited and was admitted to the hospital on Friday at 7:40 a.m., still dilated 4 cm. They said I was lucky that I was being induced b/c they were full, and the only reason I had a room was because Dr. Allen had scheduled the induction. If I had gone into labor on my own then, they would have had to have sent me to the other hospital, which didn’t have all the wonderful features I loved about this hospital.

Anyway, we had a ton of stuff to carry! Suitcases, a birthing ball, etc. We went up to the room, and I got settled in. I was hoping to have as natural of a birth as possible, so I told everyone that I had a secret word. If I said that word, then that meant I really did need pain medicine. But if I didn’t say that word, they shouldn’t worry about me—even if I said I was “done” and needed some medicine. Believe me, I was not opposed at all to saying that word if I needed it!!! :-)

My nurse was Jackie. She gave me my first dose of antibiotics at 8:45 a.m. She started the Pitocin on a 2 (not Dr. Allen’s usual Pitocin orders, she noted). She was explaining everything very carefully, so I said, “Dr. Allen told you I was nervous about being induced, didn’t she?” She smiled and said yes. She said getting to 4 cm is usually the hardest part because it takes so long but since I had gotten to 4 without even knowing it, I was probably going to have an easy labor. Here’s hopin’! My goal was to have a 5-hour labor (or less!). :-) I wasn’t afraid since I had been at Dawn’s labor, but I was curious how it was going to turn out. Only 6 cm to go!

Jackie hooked me up to a wireless monitor. We put a Bridget Jones DVD in, and I walked around in my robe and slippers with my IV to try to help the Pitocin along. Alex was walking around playing with my birthing ball and giving me hugs when I needed them. Xon’s mom came around this time. She brought an outfit for Bradley that matched a hat we already had with turtles on it. At 10:30 a.m., Jackie put my Pitocin up to a 3. She said she was earning her salary today b/c she had to keep adjusting the wireless monitor b/c it kept falling down, and you couldn’t hear Bradley’s heartbeat that way. I wished they could just monitor periodically b/c we must have adjusted that thing 100 times.

At 11:30, she moved the Pitocin up to a 4. At noon, Dr. Allen came and broke my water since I had had a good bit of antibiotics already. She commented that I had a TON of water. At that point, I was dilated 5-6 cm. That’s when things started happening. I started having “notice me” contractions, but I was still able to hide them pretty well. Almost everyone left to get lunch, and I just kept walking. Sometimes I would go sit on the birthing ball for a change of scenery. I leaned against the bed sometimes, too.

At 1:15, they gave me the 2nd dose of antibiotics. At 1:45 I was starting to get uncomfortable, so I asked if I could use the Jacuzzi tub. I had been looking forward to that since I toured the hospital, b/c it REALLY helped Dawn when she was having Alex. However, they didn’t want to get my IV wet, and they didn’t want me taking a bath since my water was broken. Rats! I was really disappointed. Contractions were getting a lot stronger at this point but were still manageable. They started in my abdomen, and then a second later, they would start in my back, too. At first I thought this was just how labor went, but I found out this was because Bradley’s head was down but turned the wrong direction, so I was having back labor. It would have been a lot more enjoyable without that. :-)

At 2:00 I started trying different positions in bed. At 2:45 the contractions got stronger, and I started crying all of the sudden—a good sign that labor was moving along well. At 3:00, the nurse started to check on me regularly. At 3:15, she examined me, and I was dilated 8-9 cm already. YAY! Throughout this time, Dawn told me random stories (like when I made her catch a chipmunk on the hill), Xon rubbed my back FOREVER, and Mom would talk me through the contractions. She would say things like, “Ok, you’re going up the hill. You can do it. Just work with it. Now you’re going back down the hill.” They made sure music was playing on the CD player. I wanted Dawn and Mom to be holding my hands at all times. I would say to Xon when a contraction started, “Rub, rub, rub, rub, rub!” Once he got a little testy and said, “I AM rubbing.” I told him to shut up. :-) That was the only time I got upset. :-) Dawn also showed me the smiley picture of Alex on the sidewalk like I had requested. I knew that would help me during labor, and it sure enough did! It reminded me how blessed we are to have Alex in our lives, and I remembered Dawn telling me that labor only lasts a day. It WILL end, so I would be able to get through it no matter what. And then I would have a cousin for darling Alex!

Once the contractions were coming back to back, I told Dawn I just needed 5 minutes to rest and that I was done. I said, “I mean it. I’m done.” They asked me if I wanted to say my secret word, and I was surprised that I didn’t. I just had to vent a little bit because I was tired. :-) Once I was 7 cm dilated, the contractions didn’t get any stronger, just closer together.

At 3:35, I asked Jackie if she thought it would be much longer. I just wondered if it would be much longer until I could start pushing, but she cautiously predicted that I would be completely done within an hour. At 4:00 I was still dilated 8-9 cm. At 4:20, I was dilated 9-10 cm. YAY! There was just a little ways to go. At 4:45, I was still 9-10 cm, but had made more progress. I started getting the urge to push somewhere around this time. My body just kind of took over. (Well, I guess you could say that all of labor is "your body taking over," but you get the point...) Dawn told me in a very excited voice that they had called the Dr. This was a GREAT encouragement to me, and I hope someone will tell me that during my next labor. I can still hear the tears in her voice as she whispered excitedly. Dr. Allen arrived at 5:05, and was very encouraging as usual. She is the best Dr. in the entire world. She checked my progress at 5:10, and I was a solid 10 cm dilated. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I started pushing at 5:15. Once I started pushing, all the pain stopped. It felt so good to push. It was the most tiring thing I have ever done, but it was not painful at all. I kept asking Dr. Allen, “Am I almost done?” She kept saying, “You’re closer than you were!” I tried a few different positions, but ended up squatting on the floor and leaning back against Xon, who was sitting at the end of the bed. That made things go SO fast and finally Bradley flipped around the right way. I will definitely use that position again! (Though I might want to have a birthing stool to sit on for a quick rest.)

I concentrated on relaxing my face as I pushed. I told Dr. Allen that I was really tired, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this. But I was very determined, so I pushed as hard as I possibly could. Mom was videoing everything (very tastefully, I might add), and Dawn was telling me excitedly that Bradley was almost there. At 6:00, Bradley was crowning, and they all said they could see a full head of dark hair. Dr. Allen asked if I wanted to reach down and touch him, but I was concentrating so hard on pushing that I didn’t want to. And at last, at 6:11 p.m., Bradley was born!!!!!!!!!!!! WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!

His eyes were wide open. Someone commented on that, and Dr. Allen said, “Of course he’s awake. He isn’t on any medicine or anything.” I held him while Xon cut the cord, and we just oohed and aahed over him for a few minutes. He peed on me first thing, but I was pretty dirty, so I didn’t care. :-) I nervously asked if he was ok. Dr. Allen assured me that he was. I tried to soothe him b/c he was crying, but Dr. Allen said, “We want him to do that so he clears out those lungs.” When I watched the video later, I noticed that his cry sounds the exact same now as it did on that day.

I was pretty tired, so they took him to weigh him and all that (8 lbs, 3 oz.). I drank some grape Gatorade b/c I was pretty shaky, and I just rested for a few minutes, and Dr. Allen gave a little tug, and I delivered the placenta. Dawn and Mom looked at it, and Dr. Allen explained all about it. I said, “I think next time I might have the pain medicine.” ;-) Dr. Allen said, “No, you did such a good job! I won’t let you!” Jackie said she would let me if I wanted to. :-)

Dr. Allen started cleaning me up, and she started stitching me up. I asked why she had to stitch me up. She said because I had torn a 3 out of a possible 4. I didn’t know I had torn at all—let alone that badly! It was very uncomfortable, and I was not prepared for this. No one had mentioned what AFTER labor was like. I said, “I know I just had a baby without medicine, but I’m a wimp. I can’t do this!” I just wanted a few minutes to recover! But Dr. Allen said she had to get me stitched up before I was too swollen. She offered to take me to surgery, but a nurse brought some pain medicine for my IV, and that kicked in relatively quickly. That part was worse than the labor, but we got it over with, and finally Erich and Alex and Dad and Beryl could come in and see Bradley for the first time. I gave Alex a BIG hug and told him I loved him and that I had had a little cousin for him. I was soooo tired but happy………… I had only had 6 hours of actual labor, so I was close to my goal! :-)

At some point, I fed Bradley, and then just sat in bed and let everyone have some time with him. Overall, it couldn’t have gone any better, and I couldn’t have done it without the best labor team in the whole world!!!!!!!!!!!! I did say that I never wanted to forget how that felt so I wouldn’t have any more kids, but by Sunday I was ready to have 8 more Bradleys!!! I even watched my labor video when I was still in the hospital!

The hardest part was definitely recovering from labor. I was not prepared at all for how hard that would be. Having to get a catheter and keeping an ice pack on and not being able to go to the bathroom for a very long time—and it being extremely painful when I did. But I will know better next time and will do things a little better (like having that numbing spray on hand as soon as I get home. That was a lifesaver!).

After that, I ate some wonderful meals and indulged in desserts of every kind. I went home on Sunday, and we lived happily ever after………. :-)

But seriously folks, I am so blessed to have had such a wonderful labor. I don't have any regrets, and when I think back on it, I just smile and smile. It was such a wonderful, positive time, and I will be thankful for it and for the little bundle I received always. God bless little Bradley...