Isaac arrives

Induction is NOT the most fun experience in the world, however it is different for everyone. I did SO much research about the subject before it happened that I wasn't sure what to expect. Some people said it was much more painful than going into labor naturally, others said it was about the same. Either way, by now it was too late to go back. The baby had to come whether I was ready or not. I told my boss at work right after my Dr appointment, so they knew when my leave would begin. I worked right up until New Year's Eve, and had planned on returning to work after my FMLA was up. The reason being that we had just bought a house and presumed that we would need both incomes to support the mortgage and the bills. We knew that going into the house purchase and we were OK with it, being that I would get child care assistance as a benefit from my employer. I had asked months in advance about reducing my schedule so that I could spend more time with my new little one, but I didn't get an answer until I told them about the induction and my leave starting. Nice how they didn't give me any feedback until the last minute. Now I had to consider going back full time and putting him into child care 8 hours a day. It didn't feel right. But we had no choice so there was no point in worrying about it now, besides, that was 13 weeks away.

So here's what happened. No apologies for the detail; if you don't want to see it, skip ahead to the next post ;). The hospital told me when to arrive in advance, so we were all like pins and needles until it was time to go. We arrived at the scheduled time and they checked me right in. I was brought to the room I would be in for the night an waited for the nurse to come in to begin the process. About 30 minutes later (we watched Food Network to take the edge off) the nurse popped in and had me change into the fancy schmancy nightgown and robe they provide. Then they brought me down the hall where the on-call OBGYN was waiting for me. First, they had to insert a Foley balloon catheter into my cervix, which would help dilate me since I had not dilated at all. Then they would insert the cervidil, the medicine that causes dilation and effacing. When they inserted the catheter, it wasn't that bad. Then the cervidil went in and that PINCHED, and I yelled. Then they taped a tube to my leg, this would allow the nurses to tug on the balloon catheter ever hour to progress the dilation along. Hooray...I had to walk all the way back down the hall to my room like that, and let me tell you: AWKWARD. Anyway, the whole night was short from there. I had to pee a lot, as any pregnant woman knows peeing often is part and partial to being pregnant. Every time I had to get up to pee was a pain in the ass because of this stupid tube taped to my leg. Then, at around 3:30am, the circus began. Nurses came through my door like clowns in a circus car, bouncing everywhere and making me roll over back and forth repeatedly because the baby's heartbeat changed and they were concerned. "Don't worry, everything is fine" they said. Their behavior would suggest otherwise, really.

They finally got the heartbeat regulated and removed the catheter and the cervidil, then prepped to move me to delivery to start the pitocin (the meds that induce the actual labor). By now there had been several nurses and the on-call OBGYN in and out of my room, and Mike and I were thoroughly nerved up by all the commotion. we waited anxiously for another hour and a half; it was about 6am when they came to wheel me down to delivery. They prepped me and started the pitocin drip very slowly to induce labor. Over the course of the day, I couldn't eat, only drink and eat ice chips. They gradually increased the pitocin, but the pain was quite mild and manageable for the most part. I dilated and effaced slowly until they broke my water, around 4-5pm or so. I was still only 4cm by then, and they thought my water had already broke, but when the OBGYN checked she thought there was still some fluid and broke it to see if it helped me along. That did it. I asked for something to take the edge off the pain, and agreed on morphine. They had spent all day trying to talk me in to the epidural, but I had been on the fence until they broke my water. The contractions were just barely getting stronger and once they broke my water it was only going to get worse. I had been laboring all day and was pretty tired, so I finally agreed to the epidural. The timing was perfect: As the technician arrived to put in the epidural, my water gushed out like a burst dam, and then the real pain began. Once the epidural was in place I got very sleepy from the morphine and without the pain of the contractions to keep me alert, I was able to take a power nap before active labor hit. By 7pm I was almost 9cm dilated, effaced, and getting ready to start pushing. I had to wake up and get ready. My husband had been waiting all day and been keeping me comfortable by rubbing my back and legs. The nurse had also told me earlier that I could have a second coach, so my mom was elated to hear that she could be in the delivery room! She came right down, having been at our house pacing all morning until I called her and told her she could come. She had also been in the delivery room supporting me since early afternoon and poor dad was waiting patiently in the lobby. By 8:30pm they were ready for me to start pushing. The nurse would be there for most of it, then when the head was ready to emerge the OBGYN would take over. They were all so great! Mike helped the nurse hold my legs up while I pushed with everything I had. They kept me on oxygen to make sure I didn't pass out. Mom took a turn holding my leg so Mike could see the head while I pushed, but she mostly coached by encouragement. Mike was my strength and cheered me on the whole while. He later told me how proud I was for pushing like a champ and not quitting when I got tired. I was clearly determined to get him out this way no matter what it took. And I succeeded!

I pushed for about 2 hours, and Isaac was born at exactly 10:30pm. 7lbs, 10oz, 20" long. I started wailing as soon as I saw him come out, and was so happy to finally have my little prince! He came out with a scream, but they whisked him away to clean out his lungs to be safe. While he was gone, I delivered the placenta wish one good push. The technician came in just after the delivery and stopped the epidural meds. They would be back before I was brought to my room for the night to remove the needle. Then they handed Isaac to me. I held him close and cried softly, tears of pure joy. Mike and mom were so happy to see him and were glad that I was in great health. While I held him, the OBGYN stitched me up, since I had 2nd degree tears from the delivery. They catheterized me twice to empty my bladder, but I was still under the effects of the epidural so I didn't feel anything. I just held on to my bundle of perfection and celebrated quietly with mom and Mike. Poor dad wasn't allowed to come in because visiting hours had passed and the hospital increased their strictness with the H1N1 pandemic in full swing. About 2 hours after the birth of my son, Mike and I went up to my room and Isaac went to the nursery so I could get a good night's sleep. That was the last one I was going to get for a while, so get while I could! We slept until about 8am, then I wanted my baby with me so they brought him in. What a JOY! He was beautiful! Visitors came in pairs all day to see him, and everyone was so thrilled.

The only bad part was that I couldn't nurse. One negative issue with being induced is that if your colostrum/milk hasn't come in, you can't nurse. If you planned to like I had, it was very disappointing. I tried and tried all day, unsure if he was getting anything but determined all the same. By night time, he was very cranky. The nurse had me try pumping, and it was very clear then that nothing was coming out. When I say nothing, I mean not even a little drop after 15 minutes of hard pumping, both sides. Poor guy was starving, no wonder he was so cranky! We had to give him formula until I got my colostrum in, but by then (2 more days) he was used to the bottle. I kept pumping and eventually my milk came in too. I tried giving it to him by bottle since he was used to that, but wouldn't you know he didn't like it. He took it for a couple of days, but eventually rejected it. I had to suck it up and just go with the flow to make sure he got fed and nourished. I will admit, I was heartbroken, but I couldn't let that affect my priorities. Isaac needs to eat, and if he won't take breast milk or the breast, then formula it is.

Isaac was circumcised the day after he was born, and did beautifully. The Dr said he barely cried. We were released from the hospital after 2 days with a clean bill of health for us both. I would go back to my Dr after 6 weeks for a check up, and Isaac would see his pediatrician in a week to make sure he is doing well and gaining weight as expected. Our happy little threesome went home to our new house with our new baby and a new life.