I was due on Monday Feb 1 but the boy decided he wasn't ready and held on tight! I couldn't believe that I had made it to full term when LG was a full two weeks early. So we scheduled an induction for 12:15 am on Wednesday. (just in case you didn't see the "am" yes folks that's midnight) I couldn't sleep at all on Tuesday night, my bags had been packed for weeks so I just sat there and watched the clock until it was 11:20pm and time to leave. Hubby and I were hungry by then and we didn't know when we would be able to eat next so we got some taco bell on the way. LOL. I was only 1cm when we arrived, they put me on pitocin at 6ml for an hour. I don’t like pain (at all) so they also gave me some Stadol which made me very loopy and very sleepy. It was snowing outside, we got about 2 inches. After 4 hours or so I was still only 1 cm so I got really discouraged, I'm talking super discouraged I felt stuck like this baby would never come out! He was late and I made no progress and had 3 previous episodes of false labor. I knew that if I didn't progress they would send me home I just couldn't stand the thought of going home without my baby in my arms. Face it dude I have no patience. My hubby and mom had to remind me that it was a process, and together they calmed me down. The nurse kept increasing my pitocin intake by 6ml every hour. And finally around 9am I think...ok you caught me I wasn't watching the clock but I was 3 cm. Finally! I don't think I have ever been more relieved.Right after that they came in and broke my water. I considered waiting until I was 5cm before asking for the epidural but my L&D nurse said that wasn’t necessary and that the Stadol would gradually lose effect if I kept taking it. So I gave in and asked for the epidural. I was in so much pain by then that I was sobbing. You are only allowed one support person during a spinal procedure so hubby left (sissy!) and my mom helped me thru the insertion. The epidural was amazing! Best thing ever! Soon I was sound asleep. My progress continued very slowly, much slower than I had expected but I finally 1pm I was 6 cm and then 8cm by 2pm. Whew two centimeters in one hour! Yes! We were almost there, but no it slowed down again. I was so ready to push by 3pm but the doctor said I had to wait until I was FULLY dilated. Then at 4pm I was 9cm still wanting to push. Those were the longest hours of my life. I cannot explain the agony I felt just sitting there fighting the urge. I honestly think the waiting caused me to swell because at 4:30 I was 9.5 cm and swollen. The urge to push was unbearable and I insisted on being checked every half hour finally at around 5:30 or so they let me do a trial push and declared that we were ready!!! Then about 10 people came into the room....(there is a side story to this I will have to make another post about it) I don’t remember much about the pushing, they wouldn't let my mom tape it or even take photos despite that fact that we have LG's birth on video. We were even at the same hospital. Hubby thinks I pushed for about a half hour. I do remember that the batches of pushing were spread out a lot more than I had expected I’m talking 4 or 5 minutes between the urges. Everyone said I was a fantastic pusher but unfortunately at one point I ran out of energy when he was an inch or two out, like right before his ears. That was the worst part that I remember. I got quite upset and was yelling at everyone in the room to leave. I turned into the crazy laboring lady you see on TV who loses her mind and tells everyone she hates them all. Finally a new urge came and I was able to get him past his shoulders. Then all of a sudden the doctor asked me to stop pushing. And I sat there like a movie paused right before the climax. Hubby tells me that the boy had his cord around his neck and it was so tight that the Dr. couldn’t pry it over his chin so she took what felt like an hour to me to clamp the cord right there and cut it free from his neck. Finally it was off and I was free to push again. and of course he came right out. I saw him lifted from me and carried over to the table. It was 6:17 pm. I wanted him in my arms immediately, I had waited so long for him and I needed them to give him back. The doctors checked him and he was perfect measuring 20 inches and weighing 8 lbs and 8 oz. No one thought he would be that big because LG had only weighed 5 lbs 8oz when she was born.But I knew, I could feel how big he was every time he moved! And just like that it was over everyone left. My mom and Stepdad took LG home with them and it was just the 3 of us Mommy, Daddy and boy. I learned something right then: when giving birth try not to do it so close to shift change! The labor nurses work from 7 to 7 and we didn't see a new one until 9pm or so, good thing I had done this before cuz if I was a new mom I think I would have been flipping out. We stayed at the hospital for a little over 24 hours. As you may know it was predicted to snow immensely on Friday so we wanted to get home before it happened. And boy did it snow! Starting on Friday the 5th into Saturday it snowed 31 inches! and then it snowed again on Tuesday. We were lucky enough to be induced before the storm, can you imagine me going into labor and having to go to the hospital with over 2ft of snow on the ground, and to never have lost electricity. Well there it is people the story of my son’s birth
