Chloe's Birth Day



Monday morning, March 12, 2001, we had to be at the hospital at 6:45am. I was a nervous wreck and hadn't slept at all. My blood pressure was sky high. Anyway, I got in my pretty hospital garb and they took all their tests, etc. Checked my dilation. I was still only 1cm. I was having contractions, too, but wasn't feeling them at all. At 7:30am they started the Pitocin and I rested for a bit, tried to concentrate on a little tv.

At noon doc. came and broke my water and inserted the internal monitors. I was 2cm and 70% effaced at that point. I was nervous about those monitors being placed in me but it was a piece of cake - they just looked scary :) About 20 minutes later they gave me some Staydol to take the edge off and help me relax a bit. (could still feel the contractions, though, and they were getting much stronger at this point) WOW ! I got pretty loopy after that. In a way I'm glad it only lasted for an hour. I kept forgetting what I was trying to tell Jamie and was laughing hysterically at myself. But also when I was dozing off I kept "forgetting" to breath and had to catch myself. That was the only scary part of that stuff.

At 3:30pm I was still only 3cm but I was feeling the contractions a bit more but they weren't too bad. Normally doc. will only allow the epi once you reach 4cm but she said go ahead and they called the anithesiologist(did not like this guy. He thought he was funnier then he actually was.) The epidural didn't hurt one bit. I felt the shot of the local but even that wasn't bad. It just hurt when I was sitting up and a contraction came along. I was nervous about all that for nothing. Well, about an hour later and the epi still hadn't taken effect and I was in some pretty BAD pain. (hey, I didn't snap at anyone or lose my mind ! That was surprising. lol)They couldn't figure out why it wasn't working even after uping the meds. I thought, "this is just my luck!"

At 4:20 I was 4-5cm dilated and 90% effaced and no pain relief in sight. Talk about frustrating. The contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart at this point and really strong. Then at 4:50 they checked me again and I was at 10 cm !!!! Everyone was freaking out. I dilated super fast in just 30 minutes and now it was time to push. > I progressed so quickly that the epi. wasn't able to catch up with my pain. I felt every single contraction. It hurt like hell but I got through it. How, I don't know. I swear I was going to rip the handles right off that bed and I was killing Jamie's hand (poor guy). The nurse was great about reminding me to relax and breath. I just closed my eyes and focused and got through each one. The hormones were raging and I was shaking like crazy & constantly. That scared Jamie a bit because he had no idea that happened. Remember to tell your hubby's you may start shaking jello :)

So, at 5:00pm I started pushing and finally the epi kicked in. I was completely numb and was worried I wouldn't be able to push. Well, I pushed like a champ..The doc. still wasn't there which was frustrating b/c Chloe was on her way fast. Jamie was really freaking out but also just totally amazed at what he was seeing. I pushed for one hour and at 6:03pm Chloe made her entrance into the world. She was screaming like crazy before her head was even completely out and she came out kicking like crazy - just like she did inside her momma constantly. Jamie and I bawled and bawled. Talk about love at first sight. They put her on my chest and WACK - she slapped me across the face. lol She was 7lbs, 7oz. Not sure where she was hiding in my tummy ! She was so pink and no cone head. The only annoying thing was that the epi didn't wear off for about 6-7 hours and I couldn't feel a thing. Couldn't walk or move anything below the waste. I had to be wheeled into the shower on a stool and picked up and put on the seat in the shower. It was so humiliating but I had a good sense of humor about all of it. Just went with the flow. Dignity pretty much disappears when you're in labor. lol

This was the best experience. The pain was so worth it. I could never understand how any of you could get through them without an epidural but now I know. And I know what you mean when you say you forget about all the pain immediately. I would do this all over again in a heartbeat (never thought I'd say that ). I enjoyed every minute of it and look at our reward !



Home Sweet Home








Email me : chatty@insightbb.com