Ariana Carolyn
The nurses and the doctor talked about what kind of hairstyle to give her as was pushing because she was good and stayed out rather than going in And out with the contractions. Thus her head emerged really slowly. Pushing was better for me than the dilating crap because at least *I* was in control of the pain and the screaming did seem to help. I was even cogent enough to remark between contractions that I couldn't fathom ever wanting to videotape it... everyone laughed at that. :) In the midst of it all, it occurred to me that I truly couldn't care less about shaved legs or anything else during the whole process either. Just a random thought about one of our discussions on the list that popped into my head at the time. :)I definitely noticed a "ring of fire" as described by everyone else and it was the worst feeling of pushing. I changed from a straight scream to an "owey, owey, owey, oh god" when I got to that point. I can also testify that there is an amnesiatic effect after labor... I remember it really hurt but can't quite remember all the details clearly.
As for a good nurse being most important... well... I really was thankful for the good doctor who was fully in charge of what happened to me and gave firm instructions to the nurses. I had two, one who was clearly senior and good, the other who seemed new and went by the book. She drove me nuts. She kept me on my back to monitor my contractions during the hell period between 9 and 10. Being on one's back when one is having back labor is THE WORST. I finally sat up and refused to lay down anymore after about 20 minutes. It was as bitchy as I got during the whole thing and all I said was "I *can't* lay this way anymore. I know she was just doing her job, but I as being tortured because she was having difficulty getting a readout of the intensity of my contractions. It was obvious to everyone in the room that they were intense, she didn't need the machine to tell her that.
She also balked at getting the drugs without my specific request, which was ludicrous since it wasn't an "if" but a "when" and I couldn't request it through the pain. Thank goodness Joel was so insistent at that point. Then she tried to get me on the monitor again during the contractions. I just couldn't bear it and tearfully asked the doctor if I had to have the monitor belts on. The doctor firmly told her that it was unnecessary and to remove them and do spot checks of the baby's heart beat with a doppler instead. (Thank god).
She wasn't the world's worst nurse. I pushed on my side and she held my top leg and allowed me to rest it on her shoulder between contractions. She had swapped jobs with the senior nurse who had automatically put my leg there between contractions. When they switched, she just sort of let my leg dangle in midair... try doing that without being in labor! Joel thought I was out of line in basically telling her I had to place my leg on her shoulder but I honestly had no other options. I guess as far as patient demands go, I still think that was pretty mild.After the birth, she came in to check my vitals and Ariana's and was so slow that by the time she finished it was time to recheck them. I was so frustrated. It took her more than 10 minutes of poking to find my fundus for a check and I am sure she never really found it... I finally told her I simply had to go to the bathroom. At that point, I forgave her for everything because she helped me to the bathroom and then mopped up the blood trail from my bed, to the bathroom, and cleaned me up as well as I sat there.
Mom, Joel, and I decided she must be in training since it was obvious she wasn't very skilled at doing some things and at one point, the doctor told the senior nurse it wasn't her job to walk the warm washcloths between the sink and me. I wasn't thrilled with a lot of her inadequacies, but I was able to reject her requests at critical moments and her attitude was good, I guess I won't grumble too loudly. She did also thank me for allowing her to share in the birth of my daughter, which I found odd but sort of endearing as well.
I think that's all I wanted to relate... boy this is long. The writer in me is showing. It's neat to write it out to share with Ariana some day.
Ariana Carolyn
to page 1 of Ariana's birth
story. 
