J.'s Birth Story

I went in Friday at 5am for an induction and everything seemed to be going well. They began the pitocin right away and by the time I got my epidural at 10am, I was 3 cm. By 2pm, I had progressed to 6cm, but the epidural started to wear off so they gave me another dose. Throughout the day, I started finding that I was feeling contractions more and more (though it was still better than if I'd had nothing in).

By 5pm, I was 9 cm, but at 7pm, there was no progress so they decided to do a c-section. Then they changed their mind and decided to give it another couple of hours. They had to re-insert my epidural because it wasn't working at all at that point.

At 9pm, I was feeling no pain, but I had spiked a fever and was still not progressing, so they made the call to do a c-section. They pumped antibiotics into my IV and once those were in, they wheeled me off to the operating room (Christine, at this point you can imagine that I was more than a little freaked out because of that story you sent me...but at least they were smart enough to give me antibiotics).

I had J. at 9:54pm - he measured a 9 on the Apgar Scale, so he was very healthy and alert. After he was born, they told me that he was presenting in such a way that he never would have come out on his own, so a c-section was inevitable.

The c-section itself wasn't too bad...no pain, but I felt A LOT of pressure. It took them forever to cut me open and then sew me back up. The scar won't be too big though and now, at least I will always know what to expect when I have another baby (as much as anyone can know anything).

I stayed in the hospital until yesterday, and let me tell you, we were SO happy to get home! There was one night nurse on staff who happened to be assigned to me every night...she was horrible! Very rough with J. (he now freaks out when we change his diaper because of how she treated him during a change), questioning me when I followed my pediatrician's advice, and one night, she didn't come in to check on me once...in fact, when I called her for help, she said, "Do you want me to come in there and help you?!?" Duh!!!

But other than that, and the fact that I am very sore and tired, the whole experience was wonderful. J. is so beautiful and we are having a blast with him. Nights are tough, but it's like everyone says...it's so worth it. More later!