So since I'm keeping this blog for the sake of posterity, I'll spare future generations the gory details, although there aren't nearly as many as my labor with Grant.
I should preface all this with the fact that a) my OB was on vacation so I was being cared for by a midwife, Kim, that I didn't know, b) though I didn't have Preeclampsia with this pregnancy I was experiencing problems with my kidneys and had a very high amount of protein in my urine (which is why I was induced) and c) a growth scan 7 days prior to my induction showed an 8.5lb baby.
I went in at 6PM on Wednesday the 21st and at 9 was given a drug called Cervadil to start the induction. Much to my surprise, when I was hooked up to the monitor I found I was already having mild contractions on my own. The nurse said she wouldn't be surprised if I delivered that night, however (sadly) she was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. The next morning, they stopped the Cervidil and since I was still contracting on my own we decided we'd see how I did on my own before we started the Pitocin. I walked the halls and bounced on the bouncy ball for hours. Seriously, I bounced and watched almost the entire movie The Perfect Storm. It's not short, people. Erik was super awesome and walked the same two hallways with me for hours, stopping often to coach me through pretty intense contractions. In two labors, these were the first "natural" contractions I had ever felt. They weren't nearly as long or intense as Pitocin contractions, but certainly weren't a walk in the park, either!
By 4, I hadn't made enough progress on my own and my midwife decided that I'd start the Pitocin that evening. At 7PM Erik and I were taken down to the delivery room and we started the Pit drip. I hate that stuff, it's like being at the worst stage of labor for the entire duration of your labor - it's so hard on your body. At about 8:30 I was really starting to feel the pain, and asked for my epidural. The nurse said I'd have to be checked because they didn't give them before you were dilated to a 5 (which isn't fair if you're on Pitocin!), but after having been checked at least 7 times earlier in the day, and since I had entered the bitchy phase of labor, I told her just to forget about it, that I'd tough it out longer. However, a few minutes later the anesthesiologist showed up to check in and convinced me to go ahead and get it. I was a 6.
So they did the epidural. Why, oh why does that seem to take so damn long?! Maybe it seemed to take forever because I was expecting the excruciating pain I experienced with my epidural with G, but it wasn't nearly as bad. Thank heavens! I had almost talked myself out of getting it.
At about 10PM and Erik and I decided we should probably settle in and try to get some rest. Which of course, is impossible in the hospital. Kim showed up about half an hour later and suggested that I sit straight up in bed to help the baby descend. Okay, great, so we did that. She went home to get some sleep, so again, we decided we'd probably better do the same.
About half an hour later I literally felt her descend from -3 to +3, but I was only an 8 so it was decided that my water needed to be broken. I could hear the midwife walking down the hall when I felt a huge pop (like a water balloon exploding in my body) that Erik could hear from 4 feet away and an unbelievable gush of water that just kept coming as Erik an I laughed at the fact that the pop had been so loud it made a huge blip on the monitor. As the nurses were changing my linens they both said it must have been a gallon to a gallon of water. A GALLON. "No wonder I'm so huge," I thought.
Earlier in the day I had told Kim that when I delivered Grant my epidural hadn't worked and I found it exceptionally helpful to be able to push on my hands and knees in order to deliver such a big baby, and it was my hope that I'd have the same control of my legs. Her suggestion was to turn off the epidural when it came time to push and I told her I didn't think I was brave enough for that, and we'd have to discuss it later. But now I could hear the nurses talking about how Kim had instructed them to turn it off. I was pretty pissed and nervous but decided that it probably really would help and surely she knew what she was doing. My teeth were chattering and I was so cold they had to get me a heated blanket.
And then her heart rate dropped. They put my on oxygen for several minutes, 4 maybe, in hopes that it would go up. They were just about to call in the doctor (presumably for an emergency C-section) but were going to give it another minute because he was just a few streets away. I was laying in bed with that horrible, stinky mask that had made me vomit so violently while in labor with Grant, staring at Erik, both of us saying silent prayers for the safety of our unborn baby. Suddenly she perked right back up and within minutes it was go time.
When I heard the nurses say they were turning off my epidural I quickly pushed my bolster button for a little extra shot of meds before the unhooked me (hey, I was scared!) so they had to help me get my legs in the stirrups. I could still move them, but they were heavy. Kim had told me that I should try pushing traditionally a few times so I could get the hang of it again and I figured by the time that was over I'd have complete control of my legs again. They told me to put my hands under my butt and go for it.
So I pushed. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Quick deep breath. "Push." 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Breath. "Push." 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Rest. I hadn't made any noise. No grunting, no moaning, nothing. The light was dim and it was just me, Erik, 2 nurses and the midwife. It was (almost) enjoyable, rather than utterly traumatic the way it had been with G.
"Push again." 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Breath. "Push really hard this time, Sheena" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Breath. "Push." 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. I groaned. And the nurses cheered. She was here, and I was honest to God in shock. They put her on my chest immediately and cleaned and stimulated her. I was in such shock I kept saying "Someone just take her, please!" but Erik said later I hadn't been speaking coherently. And it didn't even occur to me she wasn't crying (because her cord was still attached). A few minutes later Erik cut the cord and she cried. We just sat there staring, in disbelief that it was over. I had pushed for more than 90 minutes with Grant, but had only pushed 6 times with this baby. Piper started to crawl up my chest to eat.
The room was so warm and dim and quiet. It was such an incredibly different experience from my delivery of Grant - in a cold, bright room literally filled with (honestly) 30 people. It was beautiful and joyful and completely free of any pain. I was on Cloud 9.
She was born just after midnight, so I can tell her I labored for 3 days (but really it was "just" 27 hours), and she was exactly one week late.
It was an hour before we finally got her on the scale. One nurse guessed 8 lbs, 11 oz, one guessed 8.25lbs. But she weighed in at 9 pounds, 7 ounces - exactly like Grant, but an inch longer. It baffled me how she could come out so much more easily than he did. Though I got the answer to that later when looking up the measurement of his head at birth - his head was a full 2 inches larger!
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