Post by veggiemo on Jun 16, 2015 22:10:47 GMT -5
First of all, I did not want to get this induction. Some of you may remember, I actually went in for an induction and convinced the doctors to put it off-only to return a few days later in the exact same shape. I was 41 and 2, baby hadn't dropped and cervix was still elongated and barely 1cm. I was seriously depressed about the fact that my body wasn't doing what it was supposed to do.
They started me at 8:30pm with a cervical balloon (foley ball) which is like a water balloon they insert into your cervix to force dilation. I had heard horror stories of it being painful and also causing trauma to the cervix, ultimately preventing a vaginal delivery. In my experience it was completely painless to insert, I seriously did not feel a thing. They were to check the status of my cervix in 12-24 hours-WHAT?? So we were just gonna sit there. All night. Husband left to get some Jimmy John's, I texted friends on the phone and we put in a movie. We were in it for the long haul, or so we thought.
About 2 hours in, the contractions started. I had to breathe through them and they were pretty painful but I knew it wasn't even close yet. Nurse tried to help me find a comfortable position and eventually I was able to relax a little and the contractions got better. Looked like labor was slowing down. About 4 hours in, I felt well enough to pee, so I got up and peed and when I stood up, the Foley Ball fell straight out into the toilet. Talk about freaky! I was told that might happen, it just meant my cervix was dilating properly, but I wasn't expecting it since my contractions had slowed.
Docs checked me and I was 4cm, still only 50% effaced. Time to start pitocin. I was SO scared. I knew this was going to be awful. It wasn't. These contractions were easier than the earlier Foley Ball contractions. They dialed up my dosage every half an hour and I definitely felt contractions, approximately every 5 minutes, but they were easy peasy. Then I had to pee again. Nurse helped me get up to pee and upon returning to the bed, baby gave me two huge, swift kicks and busted my water open!
Because of my first labor, I knew it was going to happen fast now. I immediately asked for an epidural and I'm so glad I did. By the time they were getting it ready, I was in soooo much pain. Shaking uncontrollably and struggling through literal back-to-back contractions. Epi was placed and I had some relief. I could still feel every contraction and it was still painful, but I was supposed to try and get some rest. That didn't happen because only about 15 minutes after the epidural I was feeling serious pressure. Doc came in and I was ready to push!
This was BY FAR the worst part. I had been up all night and I was tired. Pushing was painful and I felt like passing out between contractions from pain and exhaustion. I don't remember it being this bad my first time around. I didn't feel like I had a good angle to bear down so I tried sitting up more and the doc told me "laying down was best". I also tried grabbing my legs different ways and she told me "grabbing the back of my thighs was best". I'm thinking 'ok, then why isn't this shit working?'. I finally asked if I could push on my hands and knees and they agreed. They put the end back on the bed (which had been removed to prepare for delivery) so I could flip over and while they were distracted with that, I sat up a bit, grabbed the front of my knees and guess what? Baby crowned. Sometimes we as women can just tell what's best and the docs need to shut their trap. I pushed a couple more times and felt baby coming, so I just reached down myself and pulled him out! Greatest. Moment. Ever. Ladies, if you have the opportunity, don't even ask. Just reach down there and pull that baby out! It was amazing to lift him to my chest.
Wesley was born at 9:36am, after 30 minutes of pushing, in the exact same delivery room as his big brother. He's doing great and I am feeling absolutely wonderful. I was so scared to have an induction and I just wanted to post this for those having one pending. It's impossible to know what to expect, but overall my induction was a good experience and extremely successful.
Big brother is having a hard time adjusting. He's being aggressive with the new baby and acting out a lot. So far that's the hardest part of this whole thing. But, other than that, we are hanging in there just fine!
They started me at 8:30pm with a cervical balloon (foley ball) which is like a water balloon they insert into your cervix to force dilation. I had heard horror stories of it being painful and also causing trauma to the cervix, ultimately preventing a vaginal delivery. In my experience it was completely painless to insert, I seriously did not feel a thing. They were to check the status of my cervix in 12-24 hours-WHAT?? So we were just gonna sit there. All night. Husband left to get some Jimmy John's, I texted friends on the phone and we put in a movie. We were in it for the long haul, or so we thought.
About 2 hours in, the contractions started. I had to breathe through them and they were pretty painful but I knew it wasn't even close yet. Nurse tried to help me find a comfortable position and eventually I was able to relax a little and the contractions got better. Looked like labor was slowing down. About 4 hours in, I felt well enough to pee, so I got up and peed and when I stood up, the Foley Ball fell straight out into the toilet. Talk about freaky! I was told that might happen, it just meant my cervix was dilating properly, but I wasn't expecting it since my contractions had slowed.
Docs checked me and I was 4cm, still only 50% effaced. Time to start pitocin. I was SO scared. I knew this was going to be awful. It wasn't. These contractions were easier than the earlier Foley Ball contractions. They dialed up my dosage every half an hour and I definitely felt contractions, approximately every 5 minutes, but they were easy peasy. Then I had to pee again. Nurse helped me get up to pee and upon returning to the bed, baby gave me two huge, swift kicks and busted my water open!
Because of my first labor, I knew it was going to happen fast now. I immediately asked for an epidural and I'm so glad I did. By the time they were getting it ready, I was in soooo much pain. Shaking uncontrollably and struggling through literal back-to-back contractions. Epi was placed and I had some relief. I could still feel every contraction and it was still painful, but I was supposed to try and get some rest. That didn't happen because only about 15 minutes after the epidural I was feeling serious pressure. Doc came in and I was ready to push!
This was BY FAR the worst part. I had been up all night and I was tired. Pushing was painful and I felt like passing out between contractions from pain and exhaustion. I don't remember it being this bad my first time around. I didn't feel like I had a good angle to bear down so I tried sitting up more and the doc told me "laying down was best". I also tried grabbing my legs different ways and she told me "grabbing the back of my thighs was best". I'm thinking 'ok, then why isn't this shit working?'. I finally asked if I could push on my hands and knees and they agreed. They put the end back on the bed (which had been removed to prepare for delivery) so I could flip over and while they were distracted with that, I sat up a bit, grabbed the front of my knees and guess what? Baby crowned. Sometimes we as women can just tell what's best and the docs need to shut their trap. I pushed a couple more times and felt baby coming, so I just reached down myself and pulled him out! Greatest. Moment. Ever. Ladies, if you have the opportunity, don't even ask. Just reach down there and pull that baby out! It was amazing to lift him to my chest.
Wesley was born at 9:36am, after 30 minutes of pushing, in the exact same delivery room as his big brother. He's doing great and I am feeling absolutely wonderful. I was so scared to have an induction and I just wanted to post this for those having one pending. It's impossible to know what to expect, but overall my induction was a good experience and extremely successful.
Big brother is having a hard time adjusting. He's being aggressive with the new baby and acting out a lot. So far that's the hardest part of this whole thing. But, other than that, we are hanging in there just fine!
