Once we arrived at the hospital we filled out our paper work to be admitted (which we had tried to do earlier that day but their system was down). I was still having contractions every 3-5 minutes apart and they were intense but I was doing fine with them. The admissions lady actually asked if I was in labor because she couldnt tell. Once we FINALLY had all the paper work done (the woman was obviously not in a hurry) she had us wait in the waiting room for our nurse to get us. I needed to lay back down because the contractions were much more manageable that way.
(I need to add something I forgot to put in the last post. Once my labor got more active I started taking Arnica tablets which are said to help naturally ease the intensity of contractions and help with recovery. Ive never had a L&D without having taken them so I cant say for sure if they work, but my guess is yes. If your interested in going natural Id definitely look in to this stuff!)
I layed on a couch while my next contraction started to build. In the middle of the peak our nurse showed up ready to take us back but we asked her to wait for a second because I couldnt walk during the contraction. Again, my face and body didnt give away that I was in pain so I guess the nurse just assumed I was being a drama queen and got really irritated that we were making her wait. She actually said "Well Ill just come back later." I asked her to wait because it was almost over and then got up and followed her to our room. Upon admission Id requested a natural labor friendly nurse but they obviously didnt give me one. While I was trying to discus what I did and didnt want with our nurse she seemed defiant and made it sound like she really didnt think I was going to be able to do an all natural L&D.
Then she finally checked me. This part still makes me laugh. She got down there and her eyes got huge. She said "Umm.. Holy crap, youre already almost at a 7!!! I need to call the doctor, this is going to go FAST!" After that she left my natural labor alone haha.Things definitely started to get more intense after she checked me. Being on my back for the check SUCKED! As soon as I could I rolled back on my left side and R started rubbing my back which felt amazing. I had planned on many different labor techniques to help me deal with the pain but nothing in me wanted to move out of the position I was in. I did ask about getting in the bathtub but my stupid nurse wouldnt let me (even though my doc had OKed it). It didnt matter anyway because about 10 minutes after I asked about the tub I felt/heard a POP and said "My water just broke" before anything even came out. After that I knew no one was letting me in a tub. Also the contractions definitely picked up and got more intense after my water broke.
My mom, dad and R were all taking turns rubbing my back and other various parts of my body. I still wasnt screaming or really showing any signs of pain. My nurse was still shocked I was so far in because I wasnt responding to the pain. She kept saying "I cant believe how well she is handling this!" I honestly didnt have any desire to scream though, tit would take too much energy and everything in me was just focused on breathing deeply and keeping all my muscles relaxed. My mental mantra was "the more relaxed you are the quicker this will go." I would also think about what a horse looks like as it gives birth and how calm it is. I thought about that and tried to mimic it. These are definitely not the things I had intended to focus on, but it's what helped me. My breathing wasnt was calm as I wish it would have been though. I felt some comfort in hearing my breaths so I would take a slow breath in and then blow it out slowly instead of the typical quiet breathing I was supposed to be doing. The blowing made me feel like I was blowing the pain away.
At one point my dad was looking at the monitor (he was telling when my peaks started to fall) and said "Holy crap Kara, youve been having a contraction for 10 minutes straight!" And he was right, I felt it. I was having peaks and falls, but for a 10 minute stretch there was no total relief. After that contraction I started to feel a SMALL amount of pressure in my bottom but knew that might be a sign we were close to the end so I told the nurse. She checked me again and freaked out when she saw I was almost 9 CM. (I had only been in the hospital 1 hour at this point).
The still hadnt gotten a HEP Lock in my arm or any blood drawn or the rest of my admissions papers signed yet. They pocked me 4 different times trying to get the HEP lock placed. This was irritating because no one could rub me during contractions when they were trying to place it and none of the nurses could get a vein. They eventually had to call the lab down to place it. In the mean time R had to fill out even more paper work (which also made me irritated because he couldnt rub my back while he was filling it out) and I then had to sign like 50 papers. Why on earth this wasnt done upon admission is beyond me. At that point we were all in a mad rush to get all the pre delivery stuff done because I was almost completely dilated. I spent the rest of transition signing freaking papers.
The lab tech finally got my HEP lock placed right when my Dr walked in, checked me and said I was almost complete. Right after she checked me we all heard the baby's heart rate drop during the peak of my contraction. Dr S heard it too and got worried. Instead of letting me dilate the rest of the way she said "Kara, we need to get this baby out NOW. Push!" I was so shocked, I really wasnt mentally prepared to start pushing yet. I thought transition would take much longer than it did and I hadnt anticipated the mad rush to get the baby out. I originally wanted to push in a squatted position and take my time, but instead I was flat on my back with my legs in stirrups. Dr S said we might have to use the vacuum extractor (which before the baby's HR dropped I wouldve been totally against) instead I just said "Do what ever you need to get her out!"
This part makes me cry every time I think about it to this day. After Allies heart rate dropped my husband literally hit his knees praying HARD. My Doctor thought he was going to pass out but my mom realized what was going on and told her he was praying. After the contraction that dropped her HR I had a 5 minute break between contractions, which was the longest break Id had in hours. It gave both of us the break we needed to recover and her HR never dropped again so Dr S never used the vacuum. But we were all still anxious to get her out and see what was wrong so Dr S had me pushing like a mad woman.
It took about 45 minutes to push her out, but considering that I wasnt 10 CM when I started pushing and the baby hadnt fully dropped that wasnt bad. But I was EXHAUSTED! I pushed so hard I broke at least a hundred capillaries in my face which caused this funkey looking rash that didnt go away for a week. I can easily say that pushing was the worst part for me. The pain of pushing wasnt bad, and the pain of contractions were manageable, but the sheer effort and exertion from pushing and her not being out yet was so hard.
Dr S grabbed a small mirror when Allie started to crown and had me touch her head. I wish I could say it was amazing, but I was so tired from pushing I just had no energy to be excited about it because I knew I still had a long way to go. It did give me the drive to push harder though and a few pushes later her head was completely out. Dr S then looked at R and said "You know how to catch a foot ball?" he said yes then she said "Well come here and catch your baby!" So one tiny push later I felt her little body slide right out of me and in to my husbands hands. Dr S put her on my tummy and wiped her down. She must not have like the way she was breathing and told R to cut the cord but make it quick!
I remember looking down and seeing her tiny body and head full of dark hair. I was so happy she was here, glad I didnt have to push any more, and worried about her health because she wasnt crying very hard. The NICU team was already in my L&D room while I pushed because Dr S thought something might be wrong with her after her heart deceleration.
Stay tuned for part 3: "Headed to the NICU"
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