Labor...this is going to be long

I never actually wrote anything about my labor, and it would probably be good if I recorded the event somewhere. Since I don't write in a journal, here it is.

WARNING: This may be graphic and most of you probably won't want to read it.

Kade and I went to my doctor's appt. on Thursday, March 26. My blood pressure and swelling had continually gone up and so my doctor asked me if I would like to be started or wait another week. What kind of choice is that? I couldn't decide if I was more scared to wait a week or to actually give birth to a child. I just sat there with a blank face preparing for the oncoming anxiety attack. I asked Kade what he thought, he asked Dr. Blackett what she would do if it was her. She said that she would go ahead and get started. So there was my answer. We left and went to Village Inn (which sounded delicious at the time) for my last meal, then to Wal-mart to stock up. After an evening filled with anxiety and repacking my hospital bag several times, I had a restless night of sleep.

I was told to be at the hospital at 7:30. When I got there they started Pytocin. I hung out for about an hour until my dr. came and broke my water, what a strange sensation. After that all we had to do was wait. My dr. told us to come prepared for a long day so we bought a new DVD and packed some other favorites. Thus, we started our movie marathon with Baby Mama. The contractions were going pretty good and I got the epidural around 11:30. That was fabulous. I don't know why people make it seem scary. I didn't feel a thing, the anesthesiologist was awesome! Molly's heart rate kept dropping so they had to slow down the pytocin and then when her heart rate would come back up they would turn it up again. I also had to have oxygen which was super annoying. Through out the day I would randomly get nauseated and vomit then feel good for a while. Kade was great, he stayed right on top of getting me suckers and ice and even holding my vomit bowl. Finally at about 7:00 I was dilated to a 10.

They gave me two hours before I had to start pushing. I thought this was a great idea considering I was scared out of my mind. The epidural was still feeling good. I could still move both my legs a little which was nice. So the Dr came in around 9 and they got everything ready. Now this was the point I should have pushed that little button on the epidural, but did not. So once they got everything ready I realized that I could feel the contractions pretty well but I figured this would probably be helpful during the process. So a very sweet nurse grabbed one leg and poor Kade grabbed the other. My dr was so great at motivating me and keeping me focused. I only pushed 3 times for a total of 25 minutes while puking and she was out. I have never done anything more exhausting in my life. I honestly don't know if I could have pushed again if I had to. After her head came out I had to stop pushing (which was not easy) because she had a bowel movement inside me and they had to make sure she didn't breathe it in. Kade cut the umbilical cord which I don't really remember.

I honestly don't know if I could have done it without Kade, the nurses and my dr. Everyone was so awesome! All of the nurses in labor and delivery were fabulous. For anyone who has done it naturally or had to push for several hours, you have my complete and total respect.