Two days before our baby boy's due date we went into the hospital for our scheduled induction. Our appointment was at 3pm, by 6pm I was in a room, IV started, blood drawn, and Cervidil going into my cervix for 12 hours. We definitely didn't realize that we had to wait that long and that if at the end of the 12 hours I wasn't dilated to 3 cm, then another one for 12 hours would be started before I could be moved to the Labor and Delivery floor. Around 2 am I started having painful contractions so I woke my husband to help me manage the pain and also got on the birthing ball to ease the pain. The Cervidil was taken out at 6am, and my cervix was dilated to 2 cm, so the Dr ordered another Cervidil. I continued having contractions after the medicine was out and by the time the nurse was ready to put it in around 9am and checked my cervix, I was almost 3 cm dilated, so the Dr ordered to get me transferred to the L&D floor and start Pitocin. Then we waited and waited and waited until about 5:30pm when I was finally given a L&D room to have our baby. Since I continued to have contractions even without any medicines during the day, I was between 3 and 4 cm before the Pitocin got started.
The Final Hours of Labor
The nurse started the Pitocin drip at about 6pm, by 8pm the contractions were painful enough to prompt me to ask for an epidural. That anesthesiologist was at the ready! He came in to put it in so fast that it made me nervous and I started shaking, every time he poked or touched me, I jumped, for sure I thought I was going to get complications but I didn't, thank you God. And then I was relieved of my pain. My Dr. came in around 9pm to break my bag of waters, checked my cervix which was still around 4 cm close to 5 cm, then decided to go home and wait for a call from the nurse.
Time for Baby!
And the baby dropped along with the feeling of needing to push, it was around 11:15pm, so I called the nurse, who came in checked my cervix and discovered I was already at 10cm dilated and the baby went from station -1 to +2, she then hurried up to get everything ready for the delivery, had the nurse desk call the Dr, while my husband helped me get a boost of meds every 10 minutes pushing the button for the epidural. The Dr. arrived around 11:40pm, and got ready! Our Baby Boy was born at 11:56pm on March 20, 2013.
Our Baby Boy was rapidly evaluated by the NICU staff since we knew about his cleft lip since the 20 week ultrasound and confirmed a cleft palate at birth. He has a Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate (UCLP) on the right and a bilateral cleft on his soft palate. He was found to not have further complications other than failed hearing screenings. Although that rapidly changed in the days that followed... Stay posted for the story of our journey in the NICU and our Baby Boy in an upcoming blog post.
The Final Hours of Labor
The nurse started the Pitocin drip at about 6pm, by 8pm the contractions were painful enough to prompt me to ask for an epidural. That anesthesiologist was at the ready! He came in to put it in so fast that it made me nervous and I started shaking, every time he poked or touched me, I jumped, for sure I thought I was going to get complications but I didn't, thank you God. And then I was relieved of my pain. My Dr. came in around 9pm to break my bag of waters, checked my cervix which was still around 4 cm close to 5 cm, then decided to go home and wait for a call from the nurse.
Time for Baby!
And the baby dropped along with the feeling of needing to push, it was around 11:15pm, so I called the nurse, who came in checked my cervix and discovered I was already at 10cm dilated and the baby went from station -1 to +2, she then hurried up to get everything ready for the delivery, had the nurse desk call the Dr, while my husband helped me get a boost of meds every 10 minutes pushing the button for the epidural. The Dr. arrived around 11:40pm, and got ready! Our Baby Boy was born at 11:56pm on March 20, 2013.
Our Baby Boy was rapidly evaluated by the NICU staff since we knew about his cleft lip since the 20 week ultrasound and confirmed a cleft palate at birth. He has a Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate (UCLP) on the right and a bilateral cleft on his soft palate. He was found to not have further complications other than failed hearing screenings. Although that rapidly changed in the days that followed... Stay posted for the story of our journey in the NICU and our Baby Boy in an upcoming blog post.
Congratulations and I can't wait to read more about your journey home!
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