Labor: Part 2

We got to the hospital and I went to check myself in. The lady looked at me and said she thought I forgot about them and wasn't coming. There was another couple sitting there waiting to be checked in and we started talking and joking around. Her doctor made her come over because her BP was really high and they were going to induce her too. She was maddddd about it. We talked for a good little while over some delicious free fruit punch from the nourishment room. Eventually we each got put in our rooms and I got started with my nurse. Everybody kept asking me if I was dilated. Was I supposed to watch a you tube video and be checking myself nightly? I had no idea so we had to wait for my doctor to come check me. My first nurse was quite lovely! I let her know she didn't need to explain anything she was doing to me, just tell me to look away and handle the business while I'm distracted. She did a great job with the IV stuff and getting my blood drawn. My doctor came in and checked me. I wasn't dilated at all so she was going to start the cervix softening medication. It's a shoe string that she sticks way up in your HoHah. Wayyyy up there. I was not pleased with her big ole fingers digging around in there. She got me started on that at 2:30. MrC and I were just chilling in the room watching tv and hanging out. They said I could eat so I ordered some dinner and we sat around and waited. 

That evening my night nurse came. She was a black Christian lady that served in the military and was so friendly. By then my ma had come to the hospital so we all just sat around and talked. I decided that I really liked her and I wanted her to be my nurse when I had Judah so that meant he needed to be born before she got off at 7:30. I had a little talk with Jesus and Judah to let them know the plan and then I went back to relaxing. The contractions started to intensify and come a lot more frequently by 10pm. They had to come put me on oxygen because Judah still wasn't digging the contractions. They were coming every 2 minutes I was getting uncomfortable. My ma and sister went upstairs to go nap. MrC cut on my worship music and we spent some time praying and reading scriptures. I had some frankincense and sweet almond oil that MrC rubbed on my back to help alleviate the pain. I even had him hook up my diffuser and put in a "chill pill" oil mix to help me calm down. After we finished praying I decided to try and get in a little nap. I put on my eye mask and sprayed my pillow and sheets with lavender to get some rest. Maybe around 1 I started getting REALLY uncomfortable and asked MrC to tell my ma and sister to come back down. I was at the point where I just wanted to cry. They kept asking me my pain on a scale of 1-10 but I have no idea what 10 pain feels like so I didn't know what to say. Thankfully I was on twitter and half my timeline was up with me :) Everybody was offering encouragement and helping me understand pain, lol. I felt like I was being dramatic and I refused to be one of those hollering women on tv, so I was just trying to deal with the discomfort.One mom said to me "the moment you feel like you're about to jump out the bed to escape the pain, that's when you're ready. Don't be afraid to ask for pain medication. It's ok. Your body is working really hard." My nurse kept saying the same thing. Since my labor wasn't started naturally, the medication was fighting with my body anyway, so the pain was going to be a little more intense. I started throwing up but I really enjoyed that part because I felt great after it. MrC was holding my bowl, my ma or my sister would rub my back, and then MrC would ask questions like "when did you eat ham?"  At 2:30 they took out the cervix softening medication and I had an hour before they would start the pitocin. I looked at the nurse and told her I didn't want to feel contractions that were worse than what I was currently feeling and I wanted an epidural. She told me it was too early and checked to see if I had dilated any. I was 1 centimeter dilated. She had to stick her hand allllll up in there because Judah's head was so low and he was blocking what she needed to check. She told me she'd have to sit me on the ball a little later to try and get my body going because it was going to be a while, but once I started Judah would probably come quickly because of his position. I decided to stop tripping and remember the stuff I read in my birthing books. I needed to calm the heck down, so on my hour break, I took a shower. 

The contractions were SO intense by now and 1 minute apart. MrC sat outside of the shower and I sat down in the shower and we both fell asleep. When I would wake up I repeated to myself "this is what your body was created to do. God knew what he was doing. It's not pain, it's just intensity. Stay calm, your body will respond as it should." I refused to think any negative thoughts that would hinder my body from responding as it should. When I finally got out of the shower MrC gave me a rub down with sweet almond oil and I got back in the bed. At 3:30 the nurse started the pitocin. And I'm pretty sure I blacked out. I have no recollection of 4-6 a.m. I might have died. Or maybe Jesus took me to heaven to give me some relief. I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the room anymore.