forever-waiting.net

As the title says, Gracie Lynn Beverly Rumble was born at 9:10pm on 9/28/2009. We’ll see how typing this up goes. Pic heavy.

I barely slept Sunday night due to excitement from knowing what was coming. I picked up Randy from work and we went to the hospital where i was put into my room to get comfortable. They had me on the monitors right away, one on my upper stomach and one on the lower. They were annoying, to the max. They brought me breakfast which was surprisingly edible.

Dr. Jaeger came in about 9:00 or so to insert the Cytotek dosage. I was still 1.5-2cm dilated just like Thursday. He left and told me he’d be back around 1:15 or so to check up again. It was a boring waiting game until then. I was uncomfortable which was nothing due because the entire last month or so of pregnancy I wasn’t able to get comfortable on my back so being in that bed was no picnic. The monitors kept flipping if I was sitting straight up or anything. Randy’s mom was allowed to be there b/c the maternity ward had changed policy to allow fathers and immediate grandparents. Randy caught a cat nap on the floor in the corner while waiting since he worked all night.

The nurses were nice enough to bring him a recliner after that. At 1:15 Dr. Jaeger came back to do another dose and I was only 3cm dilated at this point. Cue annoyance. Randy’s mom left at about 2:00 or so with promise to return at 7pm or so. At about 2:30 I began getting contractions that were incredibly intense. I woke Randy up when I was lightly crying. Every since contraction during my labor was in my back. Every. single. one. The nurses moved me over to the labor and delivery room at about 3:00.

Once we got there I ended up getting an IV and a blood pressure cuff to annoy me as well. They asked about an epidural and previously I’d told them we’ll play it by ear but I asked for it. It took about 45 minutes or so before they showed up with contractions going full force the entire time. Randy held me while they attempted the epidural. The epi ITSELF wasn’t so bad but the back contractions at the same time made it torture since I couldn’t move. They stabbed me 5 times and guess who didn’t get numb? They managed to get my right side but the left was non existent to the drugs. What a waste I told myself.

I kept pushing through as the contractions got stronger but now they were all in my left side so the pain wasn’t even disbursed. This is when the nurses began pissing me off. They kept telling me to breathe which I was doing quite well but that yelling and whatnot weren’t going to fix anything. I was like wtf I’m doing what I’m supposed to and getting through them just shut the hell up. They tried the epi again at 6 with a different tech who surprisingly STILL couldn’t get my left side. Every injection went to the right. I was getting to the end of my rope here. I had now been poked 10 times in my spine and had no relief. They gave me Nubain via IV to try to take the edge off.

I kept sitting up to deal with the contractions and leaning forward but then got yelled at due to the monitors coming off and they claimed they needed to be able to monitor her heart beat. As soon as I was on my back I would start bawling/screaming. At about 7:40 I told them I felt like i needed to push. The nurses and Dr. came in and I was 9cm. He broke my water and I was told they would return in 5 minutes. The Nubain kicked in here not for pain relief but for utter chaos. I was watching the clock and time kept going and they STILL weren’t back. The contractions weren’t giving me any break in between now. I was screaming, crying, and talking over and over in circles. I fell asleep sitting up for about 10 seconds while Randy held me. I remember saying over and over that they were supposed to be back so I could push and they wouldn’t let me and I wanted to. This was for about a 1/2 hr straight. The nurses didn’t even get on me about the monitors at this point because you could’ve sworn I was dying here. My blood pressure went crazy here. I was hyperventilating from frustration and pain all mixed together. I ended up both urinating and defecating multiple times during the later contractions/labor and didn’t give a rat’s ass.

At 8:30 the nurses gave me the OK to push and they put me in stirrups even though I initially told the Dr. I wasn’t going to push on my back. I didn’t care by this point. I wanted her out. I pushed and pushed. They got the Dr. in there and I had to stop pushing because omg he didn’t have his stuff ready so I sat for about a minute with her right there. He lubed me up so I wouldn’t tear he kept telling me. I remember telling him to hurry up already. Once she was there I’d say 3-4 pushes and she was out. The relief was amazing. I got all cleaned up and they gave me an IV of Pitocin to deliver the placenta but I didn’t even feel anything. The pushing is all on video tape so I was able to show my mom who was so sick she couldn’t be at the hospital. It’s something I’ve got forever now.

She was 7lbs, 13oz. She was born at 9:10pm and during most of my pushing we had House MD on the TV (haha). She was 20 1/2 inches long at 41w1d. The first cry to hear was amazing. Randy and his mom brought mcdonald’s after labor (haha) cuz they were hungry. She got to stay with me the entire hospital stay besides her newborn screening which was like 10 minutes. She left the hospital at 7lbs 8oz. Breast feeding is ok for the most part. There are times when she won’t latch and my nipples aren’t cooperating. It’s taxing on both of us.

Randy and I discussed what I would’ve/will do differently next time: No induction due to that being the reason for the strong contractions, no epidural because I’m not taking the chance of it not working again, no IV pain meds b/c their function just made things worse overall, labor at home as long as possible so I can be in ANY position I want during the contractions. I think my labor would’ve been easier if they would’ve let me walk around like I wanted to. Those monitors made it difficult/impossible. Everything is going well though with both Gracie and I. Pain is minimal (only at the epi injection site) and everyone is in love with her. She has my face shape and my pout when she’s upset but Randy’s ears, mouth, and facial expressions.

More pics can be seen on my Flickr. Thanks for all the encouragement, support, and well wishes everyone!