Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Evan's Birth Story...aka Why I will NOT get an epidural again. :)

Ok, I won't give too many details, but still, if you're a guy and you're uncomfortable with birth stories, you might want to clear out. :)

Ella was born on her own timetable--as in, we waited until I went into labor--and I got an epidural and had an ok experience with it. For Evan, we decided to induce labor because of a really annoying insurance thing (he was due the first week of May, and our policy starts over May 1st, meaning we would have to pay our deductible and out-of-pocket expense twice if he was born after that point...something we really couldn't afford). So, on the morning of the 26th, my Mom came and crashed on our couch at 5 am while Ella slept, and we went and checked in to the hospital.

I was already dilated 2-3 and 70% effaced when we went in. I was warned that because we were inducing, labor might be more intense/painful, and also that it might take a really long time. We got settled in a room and finished all the paperwork, then they started Pitocin a little after 7. Very mild contractions started around 7:45, they broke my water at 8:30 and then labor started in earnest. I did really well with breathing and relaxation techniques for awhile and thought about skipping the epidural....boy, do I wish I'd gone with my gut! About 9:45 I chickened out and asked for the epidural. I was at a 5.

They got everything set up, then right as they were doing the epidural the contractions doubled in intensity, I felt a "zing" which they said meant they'd hit a nerve (really, really uncomfortable!), and I had a lot of trouble staying still--these were the worst contractions I'd experienced yet and I really just wanted to move, but I was stuck there on my side.

They said I should start to feel better in about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes later the pain was worse than ever, I was sweating, shaking, thought I was going to vomit, and still I had to just lay on my side instead of moving around like I wanted to. The nurse checked and I was at 7, then the anesthesiologist came to check my "levels" on the epidural. The contractions intensified yet again, and she's poking me asking if I felt it more "here" or "here," and by this point I couldn't say more than one word at a time--the contractions were way too painful to talk through, and there wasn't a break in between them--they had multiple peaks and were one on top of the other. They increased the amount of drug I was getting, but I still wasn't feeling it. The nurse checked again and I was completely dilated, only about 10 minutes after I'd been at a 7! She said I was ready to push, and I was so relieved that I could do something besides lay on my side!! I think I pushed through maybe 5 or 6 contractions. I could still feel pretty much everything despite the epidural being in place. Evan was born at 10:42, only 3 hours after I felt the first contraction--and they'd told me to expect to be there all day! By the time he was born, the epidural had completely numbed my legs--I couldn't feel or move them--but it was at least enough to keep me from feeling the stitches. Later on, I experienced a slight backache and headache from it, and I decided then that I was going to try and go all-natural for my next one! Yes, the pain was intense, but even worse was being stuck lying still on my side for medication that never did help me!

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