Whew! Georgia is finally here... and she's actually 5 weeks old today. I must apologize that this is my first blog post since her arrival, but any of you mommies out there can understand you don't have much free time (or ummm... energy) during those first few weeks. It has been such a whirlwind of events, and looking back, it's all kind of a blur. That's so sad to me... and all the more reason I should have been better about blogging. But I'll write every bit that I can remember.
So, to start, our labor and delivery was not the ideal experience. I was scheduled to be induced Wednesday morning of June 15 (4 days before her due date). Everything was going great... we got to the hospital on time, got checked in, got into our room and really got things going. They started pitocin to get the contractions started at about 7 a.m., Dr. Johnson came around 7:30 to break my water, and things were progressing right along. I was 2 cm dilated at this point. About 10 o clock, the anesthesiologist came in and asked if I wanted my epidural. I wasn't in too much pain yet so I told her it wasn't necessary. She said she had one more patient that she could see and then she'd be back. So, at 10:30, she was back. And good thing she was, because those contractions were actually starting to get more painful and closer together. She placed the epidural and started asking questions about my level of pain when the contractions would come. I noticed within minutes that my right side was becoming numb, which was great, but my left side had no pain control! They had me lay on my left side in hopes of "getting more of the medicine" to that side. After about 20 more minutes, I noticed some numbing on my left side but there was a pretty large spot in my stomach down to my hip where I could feel every bit of pain. At this point, the contractions were painful but bearable. They tried increasing the level of medicine to see if it would help, but it only numbed my right side more. They, then, decided to take out the epidural and redo it. Again, no pain control on my left side. Now, it's around 11:30 and Dr. Johnson had come over to check on me. She knew my feelings about a c-section, that I absolutely did not want one, but asked if the issue with the epidural continued, would I consider it. At this point, the contractions were very painful but still manageable. I told her I still didn't want to consider it, but we'd see how things progressed throughout the day. When she checked me, I was only 3 cm dilated, so we knew it was probably going to be a long day. She must have known something I didn't because about an hour after she left, my pain went from bad to worse. It is a pain that I can not describe. It gives me a sickening feeling in my stomach to just think about it. I was just praying that I would progress quickly and it would all be over soon. And we could finally meet our sweet little girl. Well, around 3 p.m., the nurse checked me and I was barely 4 cm... I think she stretched me to that. Ughhh! That just made my pain and anxiety worse because I was so afraid. The pain was so bad at this point, that I was actually considering a c-section for the first time ever. Well, to my luck, Dr. Johnson was assisting in another c-section and wouldn't be back until 5. That was the longest 2 hours of my life!!! My contractions were lasting 5-6 minutes and were about 1 minute apart. Now, I'm willing to admit that my pain tolerance is very low but this was more than I would wish on my worst enermy. At that moment, I could only describe that pain as "someone stabbing me and twisting the knife over and over again". There was also a burning sensation. I remember seeing Michael's face as he watched me breathe through the contractions and I think he was in as much pain as I was. Bless his heart... I couldn't have done it without him. Our nurse, Shelia, and nurse anesthetist, Allen, were so amazingly sweet and supportive through the whole experience. They felt so sorry for us and tried everything to make me as comfortable as possible. They even resorted to maxing me out on stadol (which I refused at first) and lidocaine, which, surprise surprise, did nothing for my left side. I remember watching the clock for 5 o clock and when it got closer and closer I couldn't wait for Dr. Johnson to come in. Well, the clock turned 5:03 p.m. and I was asking everyone where Dr. Johnson was... like I expected her to walk in right at 5 o'clock.. haha! I hadn't been checked since 3 p.m. when I was 4 cm so I was dying to know if I had progressed any. Also, I'm so exhausted by now, that I can barely keep my eyes open. Dr. Johnson finally comes in around 5:15 pm.! She asked me how I was feeling and at this point I could barely even respond. To her surprise, I told her that if a c-section was necessary, then let's do it. I was in excruciating pain, and watching Georgia's heartrate shoot up and down during contractions on the monitor was giving me major anxiety. Before Dr. Johnson checked me she told me that if I was 8 cm, then we'd push through and have her naturally, otherwise, a c-section was in order. Well, less than 30 minutes later, at 5:42 p.m. Georgia was born via emergency c-section weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and 19.5 inches long. I was barely 6 cm when Dr. Johnson checked me, and since nothing was able to numb my left side, they decided to put me under general anesthesia. Michael was not able to be in the room, but luckily, once they had me asleep, Georgia was born within minutes and in his arms. This experience was not exactly what I envisioned but by the end of the day, we had our sweet baby girl in our arms, and that's what mattered most. I remember waking up and seeing her for the first time. It was an overwhelming feeling of love. I just looked at her and couldn't believe she was ours. She was so beautiful and perfect!!
No comments:
Post a Comment