Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Epidurals are Amazing

The cytatec sent me into contractions, but did nothing towards dilating me. I was 1 centimeter for about 4 weeks prior to "checking in" to the hospital, and after a very exhausting night of contractions, I was now dilated 2 centimeters.

They (I guess it was Dr. Brown) finally decided it was time for the epidural. At the time, I was so frustrated and a little angry that they wouldn't administer it sooner, but looking back I realize that doctors have to strategically time it just right since epidurals tend to slow the labor process instead of speeding it up. As I was sitting up, slightly hunched over, trying to be still and relaxed, I felt this gush of liquid leaving my body. I don't know why but that upset me a little. I didn't know why once again body fluid was involuntarily coming out of me. The nurse (Haley)said, "Your water just broke." Poor Haley, I was so out of it; I kept calling her Hillary. The 'gush' happened a second time before the anesthesiologist completed the epidural.

It seemed like it only took about 2.5 seconds for the epidural to kick in. Boy - I had never been so relieved in my entire life. I told the anesthesiologist that she was an angel sent from heaven. I felt very tired and worn out, but I felt no pain. My whole body was numb except for my head and arms. My legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. From that point, things went pretty well - except for my delivery nurse (Joy); she was very aggrivating. She talked a lot about herself and what she had done for all her previous patients. Sajid was great. He kept feeding me ice chips. Some women are starving for food during the labor process, but that never crossed my mind. My mouth was just dry. We just watched the monitors for a few hours noticing how my contractions were becoming for intense and closer together. It's weird to see monitor charting that and not actually feeling it happen.

Photos by: Kyle Hitchcock (http://www.kylehitchcock.com/)

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