You asked for it!!!

Ok, so I have had several people ask me for all the details of my labor and delivery so like I said...you asked for it!

We had been at the Dr.'s office for our last check up on Monday October 6th and she said my fluid was low and he was definitely on the large side so rather than wait 2 more days (my original induction date) she wanted to go ahead and admit me that evening. So we showed up at 5pm at the hospital and they wasted no time at all. They got the ball rolling! However, a STUDENT started my IV and I was so freaked out! The good news: it didn't hurt at all! The bad news: It didn't work and had to be taken out and redone....it hurt that time around! Anyway, within an hour, they had me all situated and started my Cervadil (a cervix ripener). At about 4 am, they took the Cervadil out and started my Pitocin drip. At 7am, my Dr. came in and checked me and broke my water! Ok, word to the wise and mental note to self......GET YOUR EPIDURAL BEFORE THIS EVER HAPPENS AGAIN!!! That was probably one of the most painful parts of the entire process! Apparantly, when they say that the Cervadil "ripens" the cervix, they mean makes it incredibly sensitive and raw!!!! Because I was clawing my way backwards off the bed away from the Dr.!!Ugh! Anyway, after that I noticed my contractions were getting worse and much closer together, however I couldn't feel them.I just saw them on the monitor. Once I started to feel them, I got up out of bed and rocked in the rocker for a while and that really helped. I was still trying to put off getting the epidural for as long as possible because I had heard horror stories of it wearing off before the actual delivery and I did NOT want that to happen! So I asked for Stadol. This,by the way,doesn't really relieve pain it just makes you so loopy that you don't care. So I was talking out of my head and getting to actually relax for a while. But it only lasted about an hour and by then my contractions were so bad I thought I was going to die. Instead, I threw up the cherry popsicle I had just eaten!But apparantly, my poor husband forgot it was a CHERRY popsicle and flipped out when he saw red vomit, thinking it was blood! Awww, bless his heart. Anyway, once I finally decided to quit playing Superwoman, I begged my nurse to send the anesthesiologist in IMMEDIATELY! Problem was he had like 2 people in line ahead of me!! So I had to wait it out in excruciating pain and horrible back labor! When he finally came in, I was so blinded by pain, I couldn't tell you what the man looked like, what his name was, what time it was, nothing! All I know was that one moment I was wanting to die and the next I was numb from the bottom of my ribs to my toes!!! LOVELY! That was the best feeling in the world! In fact, there is really no words to describe the feeling of relief that comes from the almighty epidural! I don't know how people do it without it! Anyway, so after that, time seemed to fly by! I progressed very fast,too!By 4:30pm, I was completely dilated and ready to push! The Dr. checked me and said he was still high up and that I could go ahead and start pushing. He was turned around (meaning I delivered him face up instead of face down) so that meant it would be a little harder to get him out. I ended up pushing for 3 1/2 hrs. I kept waiting for her to say "C-section!!", but he was in an awkward position and the best thing would be to keep pushing instead of doing a c-section. I don't know where I got the energy to push each time. I thought I was going to give myself an anuerism or that my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head. I have never been that exhausted in all my life. She had to use the vacuum a few times, but it didn't work because it kept slipping off because he had so much hair and she couldn't get good suction. So I had to do it all by myself! I felt like I wasn't making progress and that I wasn't really doing anything, but apparantly I was because at 8:18pm, Joseph "Scout" Jolley was born!!! I swear I heard angels sing, but I think it was actually my loud family out in the hall cheering!:) I was so out of breath and exhausted that for about a minute or so, I don't think I had actually realized he had been born. But when they moved him over to the incubator, I remember looking over at him and saying "Hi baby" and he craned his head all the way around to look at me and he just stared at me. I will never forget that. He was so so calm and at ease. He only cried for about 10 seconds. He just looked around at everyone; so intent on each individual voice. I had 3rd degree tears (thanks buddy!) and episiotomies so she had to work on me for quite a while, but I could have cared less! It was all worth it! Labor isn't meant to be painless and completely pleasant, but I feel very blessed because I feel like it went really,really well. So that's the battle story!! Don't know if we'll ever do that again though; jury's still out on that one! We're quite happy with our one little miracle baby though. He's enough for now!:)