Selah's Birth Story part 2

We checked into the hospital.  A mild contraction started.  Stay calm Ash.  I was shaking slightly from my nerves as we filled out paperwork.   Which, by the way, is rather  annoying.  Of course we pre-registered but there are still some papers that need to be signed at the time you check-in.  Yea… annoying!  Hello!?  My water just broke!  I’m having contractions.  You know… baby coming through!  Forget the paperwork!  

They brought in nurses to check to see if my water had indeed broken.  Hahahahahaha  I know this is standard procedure because some women may think their water broke when it did not.  There was no question.  There was no doubt in my mind.  But go ahead and do your little check.

They brought the doc in to check my cervix for dilation.  4 centimeters.  4!?  Just a few days ago at my doctor appointment I was only 40% effaced, no dilation yet.  Now, I’m no doctor but this seemed to be progressing quickly.    

The doctor said if I planned to get an epidural, now would be the time to do so.  I had planned to wait as long as possible before getting the epidural.  But in this case, I felt like listening to the doctor.  She didn’t have to tell me twice.  Send for the anesthesiologist!  Make haste good sir!  I experienced contractions for probably 30 minutes or so.  They were manageable but still painful.  

The anesthesiologist came in and we became instant friends.  They had Caleb sit on a stool in front of me.  The nurse said they lose the most dads this way… when they accidentally watch the epidural being injected.  He sat in front of me as I clung to him not knowing what to expect as I had heard horror stories about the pains of receiving an epidural.  I’m pretty sure I have a low tolerance for pain.  But receiving the epidural was surprisingly a piece of cake.  

The epidural set in quickly.  It wasn’t what I had imagined.  I was still able to move my legs but they were very heavy and tingly.  Adjusting myself in bed was like climbing a mountain of jello since I couldn’t even rely on my upper body strength to pull myself up.  Then something happened.

Two nurses quickly entered my room. They remained calm but their brisk walk had a serious urgency to it.  Something was wrong.  They went straight to the monitors and told me they needed me to lie on my side.  The epidural was causing baby girl’s heartbeat to drop.  What???  Wait… that sound…. “Is that her heartbeat?!” I asked the nurse in a concerned tone.  When she said yes, I began to cry.  The heartbeat was slow.  Incredibly slow.  They turned me on my side and put an oxygen mask on me.  I caught Caleb’s eyes as mine filled with tears.  Please pray, I asked him.  

Her heartbeat rose.  Thank you Lord.  Unfortunately, it is quite common for the heartbeat to drop suddenly after receiving an epidural.  

The nurses told me to get as much rest as I could.  Now that I had the epidural, rest was going to be much easier now that I didn’t have to breathe through contractions every 4 minutes. 

Around 11pm, they checked me again to see the progress of dilation.  7 centimeters!  Yowza!  Is it just me or is this still progressing quickly?  My parents were 25 minutes away.  Thankfully, they made it with plenty of time to spare.

To add on to the move-like story of our daughter’s birth, my parents got pulled over on the way up.  Classic.  My mom burst into tears.  My dad remained calm and explained where they are headed.  Thankfully, the cop was understanding and sent them on their way.  Phew.  Ok… onward!

I tried to rest.  But to be honest, I was anxious.  I knew it was a short matter of time before I’d start pushing.  I don’t recall the time exactly but my guess is around 1am, I began feeling an immense amount of pressure where I felt the strong urge to push.  The nurse told me to hold off if I could.  She said my body was naturally moving the baby down and if I could resist the urge to push, it would save me 3 hours of pushing.  Instead, she told me to bare down.  What the heck does that even mean?  You hear this phrase all the time when learning about labor.  But I never knew how to do it.  I tried.  I think I did it…?  

In the meantime, leading up to this point, I felt very nervous about pushing.  I knew I wasn’t going to feel pain.  That’s not what I was worried about.  How on earth could I push effectively when I can’t feel anything from this epidural?!  I have no previous frame of reference.  I have no idea what this feels like.  The unknown is what scared me and worried me.  Will I be able to push her out safely?  Will she get stuck because I can’t push right?  Lord, help me.

All of a sudden, I felt ill.  Grab a bucket.  This girl is about to hurl.   The nurse said “That’s good!”   Hmm… odd thing to say to a woman in labor who feels miserable.   Turns out vomiting can actually help in this stage of labor as it causes the ab muscles to tighten.  You may recall in part 1, I shared what we had for dinner.  If you don’t recall, let me refresh your memory…. hotdogs.  Yea… bad idea.   Vomiting is already an unpleasant yet necessary evil but vomiting up hotdogs.....  Gross.

The labor nurse checked my dilation.  10 centimeters!  I have the freedom to start pushing. Really?  Now?  I can start now?  Holy cow.  This is it.  I am that much closer to meeting my daughter.  

Here we go.