35 Hours

I thought I should write about my labor and delivery story before it leaves my mind. I have been told that you forget about the pain and experience of delivery quickly. Otherwise, why would any of us ever have another child after the first? It has been just a week since I delivered, but already it is slipping away from my mind. The entire process is all worth it. Now, I look into Grady's eyes and think, "I can't possibly love anyone more than this."

WARNING: If you don't want to read details (medical or otherwise) about my labor and delivery, stop reading now.

6:30 am Sunday Morning
I woke up to consistent contractions. In fact, Ryan said to me, "you better get up and take a shower in case we have to go in soon." (In retrospect, this comment makes me laugh. Little did I know that it would be 35 more hours until we were able to meet Grady.)

7:30 am to 8:30 pm Sunday
I experienced early labor. We spent most of the day at home. I ate a little bit, watched television, took a nap, talked to a few friends on the phone, called the substitute teacher coordinator to let her know I wasn't coming in on Monday, took a bath, talked to my midwife on the phone, and walked Brooks around the block. The contractions were far apart (ranging between 23 minutes to 8 minutes between contractions). They were entirely manageable. I would breathe through each of these contractions. As the day wore on, the contractions became more intense and difficult.

8:30 pm to 11:00 pm Sunday
The contractions started to intensify. They moved from being 8 minutes apart to 5 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart. We called the hospital around 10:30 to check in with them. They suggested we wait another hour before coming in. Ryan attempted to get some sleep during this hour. I rocked in the rocking chair with a heating pad on my stomach to lessen the pain of each contraction. By 11:00 pm, it was obvious that we needed to leave for the hospital. We also needed to drive from Sun Prairie to Watertown, and we didn't want anything to happen on the ride over. We kissed Brooks goodnight at 11:00 pm. He was a brave dog and spent the night in our house by himself. (A special thanks to the Witkiewicz Family for picking Brooks up at 6:00 am Monday morning and watching him while we were at the hospital!)

11:00 pm-12:00 pm Sunday
Rough roads and railroad tracks really hurt during contractions. Not fun!

12:00 am Monday
We arrive at the hospital. I took my very first wheelchair ride to the OB Department. They had just put up the Christmas tree, and the lobby looked beautiful.



12:30 am Monday
I donned my hospital gown and crawled into bed. I was hooked up to many monitors and had my blood pressure checked. The nurse examined me, and then she had another nurse examine me. And then the doctor examined me. This is what they decided:

I WAS DILATED TO 8 CM!

However, the baby was still incredibly far up in the birth canal (-3 for those of you who know the technical language). I was very excited that I was already dilated to 8 cm, and I actually thought we would have the baby before dawn. (Ha, ha, ha....what a laugh now!)

1:30-8:30 am Monday
I decided to take a "narcotics cocktail" in order to relax (and sleep) and perhaps speed up the delivery process. The drugs made me incredibly relaxed and out of it. I don't remember much of these hours. I slept for most of it. At least, it seemed like I slept for most of those hours.

8:30-11:30 am Monday
I had progressed to 9 cm, but the baby was still incredibly high in the birth canal. The nurse thought that our baby might be in posterior position. Posterior positioning can lead to painful back labor (which was to come very soon!). This position can slow down labor. The nurse also thought that his head might be looking towards 10:00. I'm not sure exactly what this means, except for the fact that his head was in a different position from what is ideal for delivery. Because he was presenting himself in these ways, we tried a number of techniques to get him to change positions (walking around and sitting on the birthing ball). My contractions during this time period were relatively infrequent--one every 15 minutes. Labor had slowed considerably. My midwife, Mary, also came and chatted with me early in the morning to check in. (She is the most wonderful woman on the face of the earth. I delivered in Watertown because of her. )

11:30 am Monday
Nothing has changed. Mary and the nurses decide to get things moving with Pitocin (the drug of pain!). Pitocin is a synthetic form of the the hormone, oxytocin. Pitocin makes you have stronger and more frequent contractions.

12:00-1:00 pm Monday
Pitocin: Thy foe (for the pain) and thy friend (for speeding up contractions and getting us closer to meeting our little boy)! This was by far the most difficult part of my labor. The pitocin made the back labor and pain incredibly intense. At one point, Ryan and Nurse Deb massaged my lower back as hard as they could. Later, Ryan would tell me he was actually in pain because of how hard I wanted my back massaged.

1:15-1:45 pm Monday
The call for the epidural! I entered this process knowing that I would like to have natural labor and delivery without drugs. This did not happen. Before the laboring process, I was nervous about the needle in my back and the side effects of the epidural. In the midst of my intense back labor pain, I could care less about the needle in my back. The anaesthiologist was a beautiful site when she walked into my room. The entire process took 15 minutes and was not a big deal. I am certain Ryan was relieved that I decided to get the epidural. Within 30 minutes, I had gone from the worst pain to laying in bed and reading my book, I Thought My Father Was God. Ryan had gone from the world's hardest working masseur to writing on the blog. Absolute bliss!

1:45-3:15 pm Monday
We relaxed and let the pitocin and the epidural do their thing.

3:15-5:32 pm Monday
The urge to push. The most amazing thing about the epidural is that it does take your pain away, but you can still feel all of the pressure. I can describe the urge to push as the urge to poop. It's not eloquent and might be "too much information" for some of you. But really, that's what it felt like. I pushed for a little over 2 hours. I worked really hard to push that baby out; I wasn't a wimpy pusher, I swear! Pushing is incredibly hard work. I was sweating the entire time. With each contraction, I would get in 4-5 pushes. The entire time, Ryan, Mary, and Nurse Gina encouraged me with phrases like "That's it!" "Getting closer!" and "He's got a full head of hair!" After a long time of pushing, I started to doubt their sincerity, but the encouragement was welcomed!

5:32 pm Monday
I pushed as hard as I possibly could. Finally, something gave. Grady's entire head and body came out in one push. I have never been so thankful in all of my life. Grady immediately started crying and that was such a relief. Our little boy had finally arrived and was healthy! He was immediately placed on my stomach because he had a short umbilical cord. Ryan cut his cord, and then Grady was placed on my chest.


Things that I know now and didn't know then...

1. During labor, it is common for women to get uncontrollable shivers and shakes. I had this during my labor and after my delivery. I would just shake uncontrollably. It is the hormones in your body.

2. Ryan attempted to relieve my pain during contractions and labor by making jokes. Some of the time, I was laughing at this. But most of the time, I just wanted Ryan to be by my side and silent. I wanted to know that he was supporting me, but I also needed silence to concentrate during contractions. I think Ryan is still a little hurt because I kept telling him to be quiet. Ryan is a wonderful husband, and I could not have gone through labor and delivery without his support.

3. We had three shifts of nurses from 12:30 am to 5:32 pm. That's a lot of nurses and a lot of time to be in labor!

4. I had swollen feet (or cankles) after my epidural. During my pregnancy, I had minimally swollen feet. After I delivered, my feet were as large as a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon! They are finally back to normal after a week of cankle-mania!

5. In an evil twist of biology, nursing after delivery causes your uterus to contract in size. Thus, more contractions! The uterus gets smaller (that's a good thing). But it causes more contractions--as if I hadn't had enough of them by this point.

6. I cannot say enough about the care and kindness of the Watertown Hospital doctors, Mary--my midwife, and nurses. In a heartbeat, I would deliver there again. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful medical care from so many compassionate and kind individuals.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT'S WORTH IT! I am blessed to have a wonderful little boy. It doesn't matter how much pain I was in or how long I was in labor. What matters is that I'm holding the most precious miracle in my arms. I have never felt so much love for anyone in all of my life. He is the world to me, and I know Ryan feels the exact same way about him. We love you always and forever, Grady Jay Lobenstein!