Introducing the little lion...

You know, some things never go as planned. This is one of them. I read a ton of books, went to birthing classes, and prepared for as natural of a birth as I could have. It just wasn't in the cards for me. As most of you know, I was on bedrest since mid-July for my blood pressure. Towards the end of my pregnancy, it started to creep up and I had panic moments where I felt like I wasn't feeling my baby. At our last non-stress test on 8/16, they had to use the vibrating tool to get the baby to wakeup. That freaked me out. It also didn't surprise me when the doctor came into the room with L&D's number written down and instructions to call in on Sunday afternoon (8/19) at 4:30 to start an induction. We spent the weekend preparing, watching movies, sneaking out to go to dinner at my favorite Japanese steakhouse (oh yeah!), and just relaxing. On Sunday (8/19), I called the hospital around 4PM and was told to c'mon in, that they had turned away someone else for me. My mom, A and I went in, was shown into a room, and had my first cervix check. The plan was to give me Cervadil overnight and then start Pitocin on Monday and hopefully have a baby that day. First off, my cervix checks HURT. I have a sensitive cervix (I sometimes bleed during sex, I've had a colposcopy and there's nothing wrong... I've also had polyps removed) so I was sure that I wasn't just being a baby. Secondly, I was a fingertip dilated and long and hard. They didn't insert the Cervadil until 11PM, my mom went home soon after that, and A slept in the recliner in the room. Sunday night was miserable. I had the worst cramps, I couldn't get comfortable in bed, and it seemed that every time I turned over, they would lose the baby on the monitors and the nurse would have to come in to adjust my monitors. I got NO sleep. It was miserable. On Monday (8/20), my doctor came in around 7:30. (Not going to lie, this doctor is cuuuuute, but I soon learned from the nurses that he was younger than me by a few years. GOOD GRIEF... that made me feel old!) I've always gotten along with the doctor, and I trusted him. He said that they would remove my Cervadil that morning and see where I was, cervix wise, before they started Pitocin. If I was still closed up, they would use a Foley bulb to help open my cervix before the Pit. He then promised that whatever happened, he was committed to being here all night and getting my baby out if it took that long. That pumped me up after a night of no rest. They removed the Cervadil around 10 and I was open 1, maybe 2 cm. Huh. Really? So, the doc inserted the Foley bulb and it hurt like a mother. Seriously... it was awful. However, the cramps stopped and after a while, it didn't hurt anymore. By 1PM, the nurse came in and asked how the bulb was feeling, and I said that I didn't feel it anymore. So, she thought the bulb had done its job and she called the doc... who removed it. At this point, I was about 3 cm and still long and hard. They started the Pitocin after lunch, and it was pretty miserable. My in laws had come up (c'mon... it's the first grandchild on each side, and they wanted to be there soon after the baby was born... it was fine with me, as I never imagined I'd be sitting in a bed like that, waiting on my cervix to dilate), my mom was there, as was A, and I just sat in bed. While watching House Hunters and Barefoot Contessa, people (my family, the nurses) kept asking me if I felt anything. Um... no. They kept pumping up my Pit dosage. The highest they could go was a 20, and I got up to a 13 before the doc came in and told them to pull the Pit as it was doing NOTHING. I had no cramping, my cervix was still the same. This was after 5 hours on Pit. NOTHING. After ushering our parents out, my doc sat down with A and me to talk about our options around 6:30 on Monday night. He said that no matter what, I needed a break for the rest of the night because I had been through a lot. So, if I chose/wanted a c-section, I wouldn't have one that night. He also admitted that it was possible that the Cervadil wasn't inserted into the right place behind my cervix (!!!!!) and that he didn't place the Foley bulb high enough either (!!!!!). But he said that he wanted to keep trying to induce me so I could have a vaginal birth (let me say here that I asked if he was on call again on Tuesday, which he said no... thank goodness!) His plan was to try Cytotec orally (he said three cycles, which would take 12 hours, and I said that as long as we didn't put it near my cervix, I would be fine with that), then maybe do another Foley (which I quickly shot down... considering how many times I had been poked and prodded, I was DONE with anyone else doing anything to my cervix), and then more Pit, and if that didn't work, then a c-section. I started bawling. I thought I would be holding a baby at that point in the day, but all I had was frustration. I asked him if there would be continuity between him and Doc #2 who was on call the next day and he assured me there would be. We took the rest of the night off. A and his dad went to get us all fast food for dinner (c'mon, I deserved it at that point, such a guilty pleasure), and my mom, my mother in law and I went to sit outside (I had doctor's permission) and enjoy the lovely evening after all that I went through that day. They gave me an Ambien at 9PM and I had a good night's rest. On Tuesday morning, they woke me up around 6AM to give me my first dose of Cytotec. I was a little worried as I had consulted Dr. Google the night before, and I wasn't exactly comfortable with the off-label usage of these meds, especially since it's used for abortions in early pregnancy. WTF? But I went along, mainly because I was desperate. A different doc from my practice was on call that day, and luckily, he was someone else I trusted and got along with (he treated my high blood pressure). Doc #2 came in around 10AM to check me (gd another effing cervix check) and he said that I was barely a fingertip. WTF?!?!?! A said, "How did she get from barely a 3 to a fingertip this morning?" And Doc #2 said that whoever did my checks on Monday was forcing it. He also said that the baby hadn't dropped and that my pelvic bones were narrow and that the baby was sitting too high to put any pressure on my cervix to dilate. So, a c-section it was. But because I had had breakfast and my baby was doing well, we were going to have to wait six hours for the anesthesia. Sigh. C-section was scheduled for 4PM. We ended up going down to the OR around 4:30 as they were backed up. I remember A being extremely nervous as we went down and waited in the OR hallway. I was just relaxed and at peace. After languishing in a hospital bed for two whole days straight, waiting for my induction to happen, I was ready to have this baby, no matter what. They brought me in, did my epidural, put the drape up and then brought A in. It wasn't too long before we heard the Little Lion screaming his little lungs out (he might look like A, but man, he has my volume!) A got up to see what the nurses were doing, and I heard one of the nurses say "Oh! He's peeing on the scale! Wait! He's pooping too!" It was hilarious. A brought him over to me and and I got to touch him before they went back to our room and they finished sewing me up in the OR. The Little Lion was born at 5:19PM on Tuesday, August 21, weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches. He is a wonderful little boy and I love him more and more every day. His birth was nothing like I imagined it would be, but I'm just so glad that he is here with us!