Darien was induced 5 days past his due date with no previous signs (other than once at 37 weeks when I took castor oil) of labor other than being slightly dilated. From the start of induction til delivery was about 7 hours total.
Adrien came on his own 3 days past his due date. I was having contractions though I didn't believe that I was in labor because they weren't really painful. My best friend talked me into going in just to be checked out and told I was already 7cm dilated. Yup, talk about being shocked. From the time we arrived at the hospital to delivery was roughly 6 hours, though would have been shorter if I'd skipped the epidural.
I had an epidural with both boys so I really hoped that with this delivery I could skip it and have a quick and natural labor. Well, here is how it all happened...
Thursday was the beginning of the Bazaar that takes place on base 1-2 times a year. It's pretty much like a large flea market, only WAY better :) I wanted to go. Just to get out of the house and do something with the kids, knowing I was running short on time to do things with them, just as the 3 of us.
So I meet up with a friend and we head out there! We walked around and looked at a bunch of stuff and I even bought something Filip had been looking for and we couldn't seem to ever find exactly what he wanted. Anyway, we also got a bit of food, FUNNEL CAKE being of top priority.
After seeing mostly everything, I decided to get a baked potato. Man, was it delicious. But when I sat down to eat I felt a small drop of liquid leaving my body. Nothing that was concerning seeing as how most women, especially me, at 39 weeks pregnant do tend to have drops of urine when they have a full bladder. It happens, so no biggy. I mentioned needing to use the restroom but first finished my tater.
After I eat we decided to walk back to get a bubble gun for the boys. They'd been really good while we were out there and I felt the deserved a reward! But first, I had to pee. I find the restroom and go. Something seemed different this time, though I didn't really think twice about it. Even my pee looked different, though not alarming since I did have 2 sodas while we'd walked and ate. So, I finish my business and head back to my friend and kids.
Pretty much the second I stepped outside of the bathroom, I had a tiny little gush of fluid, though at the time really thought I just didn't empty my bladder enough. I stopped, went to go back to the bathroom to finish and it just kept coming. Yup, it was happening, my water had broke.
I was still unsure though. My water never broke on it's own with the other boys so I really didn't know what it was like. All I know is that I had emptied my bladder and yet I was still peeing all over myself.
I go get my friend and tell her that I need to go, it being around 4 in the afternoon. Told her my water broke and to the vehicles we went. Because she's such an amazing person, she took my kids home with her and also took me to Fil at work. She took my van home and Fil just drove us to the hospital.
The whole car ride nothing more came out, which made me worry that I really had just urinated on myself. So, we arrive to the hospital and I am becoming discouraged. I get out of the car and have another gush. Well, I figured at that point that it must be my water because there is no way I had THAT much pee in my bladder.
We walk up to Labor and Delivery, every step causing more and more liquid to come out. By the time we got there, I was soaked so badly that you could hear the sloshing of the water in my jeans. It was awful and I totally looked like I went swimming in my clothes. And even though it's one of those things, it was quite embarrassing to walk around looking like I was peeing on myself.
So, I check in and they take me to my room. I asked if they were going to verify if it was my water and they looked at my jeans and said they see that it is quite obvious to them. Well, alrighty then :)
They get me all hooked up on the monitors and what not and I am ready to get the party started. Now, all we had to do was wait for those contractions to start. So we wait. And wait. And wait. I had maybe 2 small contractions and nothing else. Around 6 the nurse mentions starting pitocin to get contractions going. Well, I was really hoping to avoid that so I asked to wait a while longer. They agreed but didn't want to wait too long. Then Fil ran home to change clothes and gave me even more reason to wait a little bit on starting the pitocin.
Around 9pm I finally agree to start it. I just wanted to have him. So, they start it around 930pm. The contractions didn't take long to start up but even with the pitocin, if I got up and moved around, the contractions would slow down and stop. This showed that even the medicine wasn't really sending me into real labor. How wonderful.
After about 2 hours of having these powerful contractions that were doing nothing, I gave in and asked for some pain meds. I was still really trying to go with no epidural but asked for pain relief. The gave me fentenol. Amazing. I was slightly, ok more than slightly, high and the pain was gone. I could still feel the contractions but without the painful burn of them.
That lasted about an hour, then the pain was back. Though, I was able to push through for a little bit before asking for more. The second dose didn't take ALL the pain away, but a good chunk of it. So once that one wore off, I asked for more because they were terribly painful. That 3rd shot did nothing for the pain, they were coming so fast and strong that I felt like my stomach was on fire.
She checked me again (when I arrived I was 5cm) and I was STILL only 5cm. At that point, I decided to give in and just get the epidural. I'd endured about as much as I could. I felt like a failure but knew that I just wouldn't make it through that kind of pain without it progressing. If I'd at least dilated more, I would have tried harder but there was no way I could go through hours and hours of those contractions.
So, they get the epidural going pretty quickly. Though, there was a spot on my left side that I could still feel the contractions and the burning sensation in my pelvic area. They pulled the epidural thread out just a cm to give more area and laid me on my side. Once the pain was gone, they checked me again. In that short time, probably about 45 minutes- 1 hour since I was last checked, I jumped to 8cm. FINALLY, progress.
In less than an hour I was fully ready to go. The nurse went to get the dr and we were getting geared up to see our baby boy!!! I did a small test push, which just showed that I was really ready :) Just waiting for the Dr. Once he came in an =d was suited up and ready to go, I started pushing. For all of 13 minutes, as I watched everything in the mirror, I pushed with all my might so that I could finally hold my son.
Yup, 13 minutes and 4 pushes is all it took to get him out! Though, it may have been less pushes had we known for sure if I was having contraction when I pushed. They'd take the monitor off so we were pushing blindly since I had no feeling at the time. But he was finally out, and I was finally holding him.
I didn't fall in love with him right away. Don't get me wrong, I loved him, just wasn't totally in awe immediately. Though, the first feeding, which was within minutes of him being born, is when I looked down and realized that he had just stolen my heart.
I had no tearing, no stitches, nothing other than the normal swelling!!! He was my smallest child, weighing in at 7lbs 2oz and 20 inches long. He's tiny. Especially after having 2 babies over 8lbs, that 1lb sure does make a difference. But, he's extremely handsome anyway.
I can now say that I have 4 guys that my heart belongs to. 4 guys that have to share me and all get to be loved by me!!! The 4 most important guys in my entire world! But that is how guy #4 came in our world to add more love and happiness!!!
