Rylee's Birth Story Part 2: Labor

Rylee's Birth Story Part 1 Part 3

Nathan's Birth Story Part 1 Part 2


Warning: Some people may not want to read this.


I woke up at 3:00am in the morning and realized that I had peed in the bed- a lot. I tapped on Tim's shoulder and said "Honey, I need you to get up. I need to change the sheets, I peed in the bed." He was out of bed fast. :) I was standing next to the bed and said "Oh my gosh, I'm peeing again." I ran to bathroom. "Tim, I can't stop peeing." He came in and said "Are you sure you are peeing." And for the first time it occurred to me that maybe I was in labor. 


I started crying because my mom was all the way in Arizona and her plane ticket wasn't for another two weeks. Tim changed the sheets and called the hospital while I took a shower, did my hair and make-up, packed a bag that wasn't yet packed. Tim also called his mom and sisters to tell them. His sister called the airline and somehow managed to get them to change my mom's ticket to that day. My mom was still four hours from the airport and so it would be at least 12 hours before she could be there.

Tim drove me to the hospital. I started having more regular contractions by this time. My doctor was just leaving the hospital and we ran into her. She told us that her colleague would be taking care of me until they transferred me to Seattle. What? Why? She explained that she wasn't comfortable with my situation and wanted me to be at the University of Washington which had the ability to deal with heart stuff better then this hospital (I had a heart condition). They checked me in, started me on antibiotics and then checked to see how dilated I was. I was barely moving along. Tim's mom and sisters came to the hospital.

At about 10:00 am, some paramedics came and put me on a gurney and wheeled me out to an ambulance. Tim rode up front- zooming down the freeway to Seattle was a lot more fun for him then it was for me. By this point my contractions were super painful and being strapped down flat to a gurney wasn't helping. It didn't take long for us to arrive at the hospital but it felt like a long time.

Once there I was given a pretty large room. There were a lot of people there with me. My mom was getting ready to board an airplane from Arizona at this point. Five doctors came in to check on me after I arrived. I don't remember any of their faces. At least three of them if not all of them checked to see how far dilated I was and then they sat there and discussed it. It is a teaching hospital. Never mind that I am having horrible contractions and have been for the last six hours. It was frustrating for me to hear that I wasn't dilating. They mentioned that we had a timeline. They would give me twenty-four hours from the time my water broke and then if I hadn't had her they would do a C-section. They recommended an epidural because then my body could relax and it might help things along. They also recommended Pitocin. I declined and after they left Tim suggested that I get the epidural. I said that I didn't want to and he went back to rubbing my back as hard as he could during contractions. Hot towels on my stomach during contractions kept the poor nurses busy.

I was stuck in bed and the pain was so bad. Tim kept asking me to get an epidural. Several hours later, an anesthesiologist came in with his cart full of supplies and asked if I wanted one. He told me he could do it right then and take the pain away. Does this seem especially cruel to you? Tim was really tired and wanted me to get one really bad- so that he could sleep! :) I caved. I agreed to Pitocin and an epidural.

Let me just say if I had known how incredibly painful the epidural experience was going to be, I never ever would have let him touch me. It was by far the most painful part. It took over an hour (remember this is a teaching hospital). He had to start over in a different spot three times. What made it so horrible though is that my contractions were so strong from the Pitocin. I was having them very frequently and they were long. I wasn't aloud to move at all and Tim couldn't even rub my back for me. Torture! Note to self: in the future, if I am going to get an epidural, do it early on before the contractions get so bad!

My mom arrived at the hospital while I was getting the epidural, so she didn't see me in any pain. Because...

After he was finally done and the epidural kicked in, it was all peaches and icecream. I enjoyed everyone's company and laughed and joked. I couldn't even tell I was in labor except that I was strapped to a bed and couldn't move my legs.

At about 11:00 pm I still hadn't had her and I was getting very tired. The nurses asked me if I would like to take a nap. Tim answered this question for us with a resounding yes! :) We both slept until about 1:00 am. The nurses came in to check on me saying that if I wasn't dilated that I would be having a Cesarean. The doctors came back in and checked on me. I was ready.

The Delivery: