Labor and Delivery Part 2

     The last time I left off, Calvin and I were waiting patiently for a room to open up for us. It felt like forever, but it was probably only 20 minutes before we were brought to my room at around 12:45 pm. The nurse was so sweet and turned on the heat for me in the room. She handed me a gown and told me to change. I remember going into the bathroom and just taking a second to breathe. I remember talking to myself and saying how I couldn't believe this was it. I was talking to Liam and telling him how excited I am to meet him. It was happening! After I was in my hospital gown, I sat on the bed and we waited to be told what to do.

     While  we were waiting, we found out how thin the walls were. We were able to hear two births. The first one literally scared the crap out of me and I had to cover my ears. Let's just say I felt the pain through her cries. It made my anxiety spike even higher because I felt like it was foreshadowing the pain that was about to come. Then it was quiet. A little while later, we heard a lot of encouraging words like "Push! Come one!" and soon that was followed by cheering. It sounded like a total different experience. It was a little more reassuring that I was able to hear both sides of what was to come. The pain and joys of labor and delivery!

     A different nurse came in and she was super sweet as well. I must say, Good Samaritan Hospital has amazing labor and delivery nurses. All of them were extremely sweet, caring, and helpful. We were very lucky to have such awesome nurses. I think I had about 6 nurses during labor and delivery and then about 5 nurses during recovery. Okay, so please bare with me as its been over 6 months since I experienced all this and my memory isn't what it use to be. So some things may not be in absolute chronological order.

     The first nurse put in my IV for me. I was scared for this as I heard from multiple sources that it was pretty scary. It was definitely not an easy or fun process. It took her a couple times to get it right. She was really nice and apologetic the entire time. It took a couple tries because she was trying a position that would be easier for me to move my hand. My vein was not cooperating so she had to put it in another way.

Ouch!

     Then she put this monitor on around my tummy to monitor the baby's heart rate and contractions. I hated that thing! It was extremely uncomfortable and left marks on my tummy from being on so tight. I also always felt bad to move because if it couldn't pick up Liam's heart rate, it will notify the nurse and then she would have to come in and help me fix it. It was just super uncomfortable and I felt like I couldn't do much with it on.

I did not like this!

     After that was all set and done, the nurse helped me get into bed. She then went through a series of questions with me. After she was done and made sure I was all good, she mentioned that I should order something to eat because once they give me the Pitocin, I can't have anything to eat.

*Warning! May be a little TMI so please skip over this next paragraph if need be *
      Then she ordered my Cervadil, which helps to ripen the cervix and slowly releases a hormone to help stimulate labor. I would need to keep it in for 12 hours. Then they will check my cervix, see if  my contractions had started getting worse, break my water if needed, and so on if the Cervadil had worked. If it did work, we wouldn't need to start the Pitocin. I've never heard good things about Pitocin and was already disappointed that I needed to be induced so I was really hoping the Cervadil would work. The nurse even tried to make me feel better and told me that she hadsome some women get lucky and their contractions picked up and they didn't need Pitocin. Fingers were crossed! Well, she prepped me on the process before she went did the insertition. Let me tell you, it was not a pleasant feeling to put that thing all up in there. It literally felt like plastic. Ouch! Again, having awesome nurses really helped through all the yucky stuff. She was very apologetic and always made sure I was doing okay and not in too much discomfort. Once the Cervadil was in, she let me know that it would be in for 12 hrs. At that point, I will be checked and then it will be decided about the Pitocin.

All smiles!

     At this point, my mom had made it to my room and Calvin had gone home to pick up my hospital bag and some pizza for the nurses. I hung out with my mom as we waited for him to return.
We talked and watched a little TV. Then my mom reminded me to order some food before the kitchen closed. I'm not going to lie, and neither will Cal, but we loved and truly missed this part. I was allowed 3 meals a day and lucky Cal got to have a meal as well. They want mamas to eat! When I called to order, I asked what I could order and she said anything and everything! For my first meal, I ordered a turkey sandwich, salad, sliced peaches, a roll, a brownie, and apple juice. It was a lot of food!

The look on my face...

     I made sure to order enough because I wouldn't be able to eat once I got the pitocin. I'm glad I ordered that much food too because I ate this on Tuesday, July 16th, evening and I didn't get to eat another meal until Thursday, July 18 at around 1:30 AM. Yes my friends, I didn't eat an actual meal for almost 2 days! I was able to eat jello, a popsicle, water, and juice but that was it. No legit food though! Oh! I forgot to mention. I've never been in there, but there was a room where they had a fridge, microwave, and goodies such as soda, juice, ice creams and popsicles that were available to all mothers an fathers to be. That was extremely nice to have.

Now, we play the waiting game. There wasn't much progress and I wasn't feel much in terms of pain. I could feel my tummy harden. It was uncomfortable, but not painful.

Waiting game

     My mom stayed for a few hours and then had to head home to get dinner for my dad. We figured it was going to be awhile until anything really happened so my mom said she would plan to come back the next afternoon, but of course to call her if things change.  I literally spent the rest of the evening watching either Full House or Friends.

I knew I needed to get some rest because I had to save all my energy for the birth, but I just couldn't sleep. Poor Calvin had this little chair that pulled out into a mini cot, but he had no trouble falling asleep.

Hubby's bed

     Around 2 or 3 AM, a nurse came in to take out the Cervadil and to check how dilated I was. The nurse was really sweet, but she had quite a bit of trouble getting it out and it was not a pleasant experience. After she did that, she had to check my cervix and I was wishing on every star and crossing all my fingers that the Cervadil worked and would jump start my labor without the need of Pitocin. Yea, no luck. I needed the Pitocin. Once I was given it, I would not be able to eat until I had given birth. I can have water, jello, and popsicles but that was it. Because it was 3 in the morning, my options were very limited to get some kind of food into my system. I had my leftover roll from my meal earlier and the small side salad. I ate all that up and soon the nurse was in to administer the Pitocin.

Evil!!

     I was terrified. I have never heard anything good about Pitocin. I heard that the pain is more extreme and poor Liam would also be disturbed more by the contractions. I didn't want it at all! It was administered at 3:30 AM and now we wait until it takes full effect. I couldn't sleep before and I definitely couldn't sleep now.  My nurse would check on me periodically. I wasn't feeling any pain, just discomfort. The nurses would always ask my pain level on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the most painful. I swear I was at a 2 or 3 for the longest time, but according to my charts, I was having contractions on top of each other. She even had to turn the Pitocin down because I was barely getting a break, according to the charts. Liam was doing great and the nurses would always comment on how happy he was.

     My doctor came in to check on me in the morning and still not much going on. I still wasn't dilated much. It really is discouraging to hear that your only at 1 or 2 centimeters. She also warned me that it could take awhile and I might not give birth until Thursday. She told me she would be back to check on me in a couple hours and see what progress I had made then. Also at that point, she would break my water if it didn't happen before then.

 *Side Note* You all should know by now that I am a HUGE Disney fan. July 17 is Disneyland's birthday. Ever since I passed my due date, Ive been hoping and praying that he would come on the 17th. So when my doctor said he may come on the 18th, I kept praying he'd be here on the 17th. I felt like it had to be destiny that he was so close to being my little Disney baby!

     It definitely was a more intense waiting game than the 40 weeks of waiting I did while he grew in my tummy. Luckily, I had a bunch of friends and family who kept in touch with me and offered their support.My mom came back that afternoon to help me and be there for me. My doula was amazing and made sure to keep in contact with us while everything was going on. We hadn't ask her to come yet because I wasn't making much progress and I didn't want to pull her away if all I was doing for hours was just laying there watching television. I was getting so much love and support from my friends Jenn, Michelle, Ari, and Katiria. You girls have no idea how much you guys helped keep me calm. My cousin, Priscilla, would check up on me too and it felt really nice to feel the love and support. You all helped give me the strength to keep going. I love you all!

Calm before the storm

 Now we wait!