I know this is really quick to get this up, but I don't want to forget anything, plus I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of detail in the other boys birth stories. Like most birth stories in the blogesphere there is going to be a lot of gruesome details.
I had a very strong desire to go natural this time around, not only with out drugs for pain, but also drugs to induce. I have never gone into labor by myself. This time I wanted to give my body a shot. I had been contracting consistently since Thursday with no real progression. On Saturday night after two nights of no sleep I went into labor and delivery and was told "yes you are in labor, but not progressing" Yes this is something I have heard MANY times before in my pregnancies. So they gave me something for sleep and pain and I went home.
Sunday was a long day, and I was getting discouraged. Monday we went to see Laurie, my CNM, and I told her I was done, and my mom was here and Chad had work off. It was time to be done with being pregnant.
Labor started on Tuesday morning, and there was not much going on so we used cytotec to help thin my "thick" cervix. At about 9 am I was starting into contractions that were not...comfortable. A couple breaths then they were done. But I was still laughing and talking in between them. By 12:30 pm my CNM was not happy with my progress, or lack there of, and decided to push PIT...NO NO NO! I mentally felt defeated.
I was in the tub, about 1 pm, when the contractions REALLY started to get going. OH MY GOODNESS. Labor is no fun, and wow is it painful. I know "NO duh KATY" but it just became VERy obvious. I was mentally convinced that the PIT was causing contractions more painful than a non pit contraction would be. I was in some serious contraction for about an hour.
I was freaking out, I could not find any peace, I could not calm myself down. I was begging for drugs, screaming and begging for drugs. My poor mom. She tried so hard to keep me calm. But her labors, although natural, are not long. I had now been in the tub for about an hour and a half, in this pain.
Laurie came in, and talked me down. She is a super star. I was feeling in control, I was feeling like this entire thing was possible. Then Laurie had to leave. She had another mom in labor, and she likes to labor with her girls.
The contractions started to get hard again, and I tried really hard to maintain the feeling that Laurie had helped me create, did well for about a half hour or so, then was checked and over heard them saying that there had not been any progress. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I asked everyone to leave the bathroom, and Chad and I said a prayer.
It was now about 3:30 pm and I was in the bed now trying very hard to breath through contractions, doing ok. Every time a contraction got to hard my poor babies heart would decelerate. The prayer that Chad and I said was prevalent in my mind, the drugs were a thought that would not leave my mind, more than just the contractions. By 4 I had decided that not only was the epidural appealing because of my pain, but because the spirit was telling me that I needed it.
I begged my nurse to locate Laurie and quickly. Laurie came in and I explained to her in a sane and almost normal speaking voice, that I needed the epidural. Not because I could not bare the pain, or because I did not believe I could deliver this baby naturally, but because I felt VERY strongly that it would be needed. Now I had told her earlier in my pregnancy, that if at this point i were to ask for drugs I wanted her to try to talk me out of it. She started to do just that, and told me after delivery that she was shocked at how I had asked, and decided with the spirits promptings, to agree. She checked me and put some internals in
The anesthesiologist walked in and gave me an epidural at 5:15, I wad the first one that night for him. The anesthesiologist was there out of no where, he appeared before the order was even written, i did not have to wait, another tender mercy of my Savior.
Laurie went to check on her other patient and the anesthesiologist told me to push the button on my medicine till I was comfortable. Again the spirit whispered in utter chaos, that I needed to maintain feeling in my legs, the epidural was there to help me, not take away the pain completely. The nurses kept having me switch from side to side, Max's heart was not maintaining a good beat.
At 6:15 my nurse called Laurie in and with some distress they tried to bring the babies heart back up. At 6:25 Laurie says to me, Katy on your hands and knees. Now I had had an epidural, but because of the promptings of the spirit, I had almost complete control and was able to roll myself onto my hands and knees.
At this point I was at a 7 and 90% and Laurie and the nurses were FREAKING out about the baby. I did not know at the time, but, Laurie had called to prep the OR for a emergency C. She felt that I had the feelings I did about the epidural so that I could be awake for the c-secction, instead of being sedated. There were nurses and others in my room like a small swarm of bees. I did not even know what was going on, just kept begging Laurie to get him out. Laurie did not believe we would be able to delivery naturally and that we would be going into that emergency C.
Then my wonderful CNM Laurie decided to try to deliver. "Something" told her to try. I had told her before that I was a champ pusher, once I get to the point of pushing we are done. Laurie says to me, "Katy this is not going to be comfortable", she reached her hands inside of my and stretched me to a ten and I pushed to a complete at 6:32pm. She then told me to flip back over onto my back, and start pushing.
Max was not descending very quickly and his heart rate was dropping, I was pushing as hard as I could but Laurie could not get him pass crowning. Again she reached in and assisted my delivery.
I had him out with only a few pushes, he was born at 6:34pm. The cord had been around his neck once, and around his arm and neck once. The arm one was why he could not descend, why I could not progress, and the cord around the neck was why he was struggling with his heart rate. With out the epidural all the assistance from Laurie would have been unbearable.
I am grateful for the tender mercies of my Savior, he spoke to me in a way and time that would have been easily ignored. I am grateful for my hubby, and I am grateful for our healthy addition to the family Maxwell Eldon Huntsman born 10-30-2012 at 6:34 pm. 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20.5 inches long.
