Nathan's Birth - Part Four

***The next chapter in the story of the birth of Nathan***

January 21, 2013 - 9:30 a.m.

Once we decided to move ahead with the epidural, it was suddenly all I could think about. Our nurse for the day shift (Amy) informed me that Anesthesiology had been paged and they would be there as soon as they could, but that it might take 20 minutes or so. In retrospect, I realize that is not a lengthy amount of time. But in the moment, I was convinced I would never make it that long. My contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes and I had rated myself at a 7-8 on their pain scale. Paul was doing everything he could to get me to focus and breathe through them, but I was kind of a mess. Thankfully, it did not end up taking them the full 20 minutes. The anesthesiologist arrived and quickly began setting up for the procedure. Paul had to leave the room since it was going to become a sterile field temporarily. I was so distracted by the pain that I wasn't even upset or nervous about it. 

After he was gone, Amy took over as my contraction support while the anesthesiologist got me prepped and explained the procedure. I remember almost nothing that she said, but I did manage to express my concerns about my adhesive allergy. Typically they use a type of spray adhesive and also apply a large amount of Tegaderm to cover the site and keep everything securely in place. I hadn't had any issues thus far with the paper tape on my IV, but my allergy sometimes takes a day or so to manifest itself after I've been exposed. With everything else going on, I really just wanted to minimize the amount of exposure. The anesthesiologist was very understanding and willing to work with me, which was great. She agreed to use the smallest pieces of Tegaderm available and only apply the bare minimum amount. She also opted to forgo the spray adhesive altogether.

Adhesive issues aside, I don't really remember much else about the procedure. I remember them sitting me up on the edge of the bed and feeling a slight sting when something (a local anesthetic I think?) was injected. The hardest part of it all was trying to stay still while being rocked with massive contractions. They had to do all the tricky parts in between contractions, which was difficult since I was having sometimes 2 or 3 in a row with no break. I do remember Amy standing in front to brace me while I squeezed the daylights out of her arms. Once the tubing was in place, the anesthesiologist administered a test dose and asked me to describe what I felt. Within a few seconds, I started to feel warm and kind of tingly. This was apparently a good thing and she went ahead and administered a larger bolus dose. The anesthesiologist explained that it would last me the first 60-90 minutes, after which I would continue to receive smaller doses through an IV drip. She also gave me a button I could push to give myself an extra "booster" dose if needed. It was programmed to allow no more than one extra booster every 15 minutes. If I was having pain higher than a 2 and the boosters weren't helping, then I was to ask them to page her to come back and adjust my dosing.

As she was explaining all of this, I had a few more contractions. I felt each one less and less as the warm, tingling sensation continued to spread down my legs into my feet and up into my lower back. It was..... amazing. It wasn't even so much the absence of pain that made it so amazing (although I certainly didn't mind that!). It was more that I hadn't realized just how incredibly tense I was, but with the epidural I suddenly felt my entire body relaxing. I felt my breathing slow back down and become more regular. I had heard some people describe feeling out of it or drugged and confused, but I was fortunate to not have any of that. I did feel warm and sort of "fuzzy", but in a cozy sort of way - nothing weird or scary. I could still feel the pressure of the contractions, but almost no pain. The nurse also got me hooked up to a urinary catheter, so that took care of any bathroom needs I might otherwise have had.

As much as I had wanted to avoid the whole epidural thing, I don't regret getting one in the end. I think it was the right decision for us given the circumstances. I made it as far as I could into active labor, which was my goal. I might have been able to keep going if I hadn't gotten stalled at 6.5 cm with no indication as to how much longer things would last. It might also have been different if I were having 100% natural contractions rather than pitocin-induced, but I have nothing to compare to so it's hard to say. If we are lucky enough to have a "next time" it might be completely different. I might go into labor on my own. I might be able to do more walking, which definitely helped me progress. The bottom line is, you just never know how things will go for you. So all I can say is, I'm really glad that we went into this whole thing with an open mind. It is one thing to have preferences, but the best advice I can give to others is to understand and be open to various possibilities. And give yourself permission to change your mind in the moment, if and when it becomes necessary!

January 21, 2013 - 11:30 a.m.

Epidural in place, I was a totally different person! I labored for a couple more hours. And by "labored" I mean that I lounged in the bed, which no longer felt uncomfortable since I now had limited feeling in my lower body :)  By that point, Paul's parents and sister and my friend B had arrived at the hospital. They took turns coming in to say hi and check on us. I had Paul put in a different DVD of Friends and took up munching on ice chips. I don't know if it was just the dry air in the hospital or a side effect of the epidural, but I was thirsty. I had to lay on my side and both my arms were now occupied with IV tubing and a blood pressure cuff, so holding a cup full of ice was getting to be a little tricky. Paul, my mom, and B all took turns feeding me ice chips. That is what spouses/family/best friends are for, right? 

We had a couple of minor interruptions from the nurses - the baby's heart rate sometimes dipped when I was laying on one side or the other for too long, so they would come in and have me flip over while adjusting the monitors to make sure everything was okay. The baby also didn't really like it when I had 3 or more contractions in a row with no break. They said it was probably nothing to worry about, but they were going to keep an eye on things just in case. Aside from that, I found myself getting very, very sleepy. The OB had said to try napping a bit if I could, so a little before noon, I decided it was time to do just that. Everyone retreated to the waiting room except Paul, who was also planning to lay down for a bit. For the first time since arriving at the hospital, I felt peaceful and calm... and I actually did fall asleep for a bit!