The night I was admitted they gave me cervidil which is supposed to ripen your cervix. Sadly, this did absolutely nothing. I was not dilated at all. Things were going so slowly, or more accurately not going at all, that they even let me eat! I was pretty happy about that, but not so happy about sleeping in a hospital bed while I waited for nothing to happen. I did start having contractions which I originally thought was exciting until I realized that I still was not progressing at all. Violet's heart rate was pretty high (in the 180s-190s) so they started giving me a ton of fluid. Since there had been no change with the Cervidil, they gave me another cervical ripening agent, Cytotec. And while you all are feeling bad for me, sleeping in a hospital bed, expecting a baby who doesn't want to come out, we cannot forget about my darling husband. Sadly for him, and the rest of his family, that lovely Easter we had turned out to be one big petri dish. His entire family caught a GI bug which he was suffering through, while staying with me during the induction. Yuck.
But back to the baby. So the Cytotec also failed so I got to have a foley bulb. Lucky girl. By this time it was Friday and I felt like I had moved into the hospital forever. It actually worked and as I was finally dilated enough (4cm), they started Pitocin. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
Prior to the Pitocin, I had been having pretty strong contractions and the nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural yet. I was breathing through them pretty well so I kept saying no. In retrospect, and advice for anybody getting induced in the future, I would have DEFINITELY gotten the epidural prior to the Pitocin if I knew what was coming. Once the Pitocin started my contractions were about three billion times worse and my water finally broke. The contractions were awful and I basically begged/DEMANDED the epidural. I am not sure I had been happier in my life than when the anesthesiologist arrived (Liam, my hero!). It took a little bit (thanks to my mild scoliosis) but once it kicked in, HALLELUJAH! By around 6:30 pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push. The midwives came in and about five minutes into pushing remarked that I was doing so great, the baby would be out within 30 minutes. I don't know about you, but I can do anything for thirty minutes! Since it was going to be such a short time, I was putting 130% into it. Three and a half hours later, no baby. WTF. Turns out we had a big baby on our hands who did not want to come out. After consulting the OBs, who came in to check and make sure she wasn't in some crazy position, and putting me into about 12 various yoga poses (runners stance, really? you do realize I cannot feel my legs, right?), they finally whipped out this amazing bar which you can use to support your legs. A short time later, Liam was trumped as my happiest moment and Violet June was in our arms. There was a little more excitement in those three hours, including some vomiting, fever, and rigors but in the end, none of it mattered. Ted recovered from his illness just in time for me to come down with the GI bug and the worst cold of my life. Despite all of that, I had never been happier. She was perfect then and is even more perfect now. Each day I think of how I could not possibly love her more and the next day I do. This past year has been the best year of my life and I cannot wait for many more with my beautiful little family.
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