Just when I thought my day would never come to meet our new baby, the morning of my due date I woke up to a small gush of fluid in the early morning (4 AM). I got up to go to the bathroom and make sure it was in fact amniotic fluid - it seemed to stop when I got up though so I thought perhaps I was mistaken. I put a cloth pad on just in case and went back to bed.
Throughout the rest of the early morning I would occasionally feel little dribbles of fluid but again wasn't sure if this was urine or the real thing - I decided to write it off until something more substantial happened. When I got up to pee in the morning though I noticed that the fluid on the pad was tinged with blood and when I used the bathroom more blood came out. This convinced me that there probably was some fluid coming out, although I thought it could still just be bloody show. I decided to take it easy and wait to see if contractions would start.
Contractions came on very slowly - starting mid-morning I began having contractions about 30-45 minutes apart. I had a great deal of false labor in the weeks prior though so I tried not to think too much of them, even though they were very painful. Finally at around 2:30 DH and I decided we should probably call the OB as it was a Friday and he would probably want to check out the fluid. We called and they told us to come right over to the office.
When we got there the doctor checked but said he really wasn't sure if I was still intact or not - he thought it could be a high leak, the blood did convince him it was probably fluid but he just couldn't be 100% sure. With the contractions though he told me we wanted me to go to the hospital though and he would induce me with Pitocin. I said I would really rather not have the Pitocin and preferred the labor to increase on its own. He said he could try breaking my water fully at the hospital instead if I wanted but he really wanted to induce me rather then wait. I said OK then and told him I wanted to go to my house for an hour or so first though and then we'd go to the hospital. (I figured I would wait until my contractions got stronger and then I wouldn't need the Pitocin.)
By the time we got to our house from his office (twenty minutes away) my contractions were then coming every 5 minutes and I was bleeding heavily. I guess him poking around down there really got things moving! So we didn't waste anytime letting our pets out, getting the kids settled with my parents and going to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital my OB still wanted me to get the Pitocin if things didn't progress quickly as in the past I've had 5 minute apart contractions for several hours and he didn't want me having to labor through til morning. I told him I would rather try walking around for awhile instead so he said that OK he would check me in an hour and a half and see how I was progressing from that. Within just a few minutes of walking though I was contractions every 1-2 minutes and he saw me in the hallway and said "Don't worry about that Pitocin, it's totally out of my mind at this point." Hehehe.
The contractions started getting really hard to bear and the nurses kept checking to make sure I didn't want an epidural - I said no. I had them bring me a birthing ball though and that totally ROCKED. That helped things a lot and kept me from begging for the epidural which I really started to want badly towards the end.
I did end up asking for pain meds at the end of labor, luckily though I was too far along for the Epi (7 centimeters) so they talked me out of that, I decided to try 1/2 a dose of Nubaine instead. As soon as I OK'ed it I started to feel bad about needing it but DH was very supportive and made me feel better. I was very thankful that I asked for only 1/2 a dose because the Nubaine hit me like a brick - it did take the edge off which I was very thankful for but it also made me so tired I couldn't open my eyes.
Within an hour I started to feel the urge to push, I was so exhausted though I really didn't want to even try. My nurse was great though, she really motivated me and got me to at least try pushing. I was so tired that all I could think was "Fine, I'll push so I can get this over with and go to sleep." :LOL
I think it gave me extra motivation because within 6 pushes Max was out!!! I couldn't believe it. After about 3 pushed the doc asked if I wanted an epsiotomy or if I was OK with tearing, I told him I wanted the epsiotomy and as soon as I got it my next push brought about the head! The nurse had to tell me to open my eyes and take a look down. We hadn't found out the sex so of course the first place I looked was between the legs. Somehow in labor I had been convinced that I was having a girl though so when I looked down my first thought was "What's that between her legs?" Hehehehe. Then I heard DH saw "Oh my God - it's another boy!" And I felt a great sense of relief
They put him on my chest and I looked down and could see all three of my other boys in his face - he is such an amazing addition to our family.
Kitty
Throughout the rest of the early morning I would occasionally feel little dribbles of fluid but again wasn't sure if this was urine or the real thing - I decided to write it off until something more substantial happened. When I got up to pee in the morning though I noticed that the fluid on the pad was tinged with blood and when I used the bathroom more blood came out. This convinced me that there probably was some fluid coming out, although I thought it could still just be bloody show. I decided to take it easy and wait to see if contractions would start.
Contractions came on very slowly - starting mid-morning I began having contractions about 30-45 minutes apart. I had a great deal of false labor in the weeks prior though so I tried not to think too much of them, even though they were very painful. Finally at around 2:30 DH and I decided we should probably call the OB as it was a Friday and he would probably want to check out the fluid. We called and they told us to come right over to the office.
When we got there the doctor checked but said he really wasn't sure if I was still intact or not - he thought it could be a high leak, the blood did convince him it was probably fluid but he just couldn't be 100% sure. With the contractions though he told me we wanted me to go to the hospital though and he would induce me with Pitocin. I said I would really rather not have the Pitocin and preferred the labor to increase on its own. He said he could try breaking my water fully at the hospital instead if I wanted but he really wanted to induce me rather then wait. I said OK then and told him I wanted to go to my house for an hour or so first though and then we'd go to the hospital. (I figured I would wait until my contractions got stronger and then I wouldn't need the Pitocin.)
By the time we got to our house from his office (twenty minutes away) my contractions were then coming every 5 minutes and I was bleeding heavily. I guess him poking around down there really got things moving! So we didn't waste anytime letting our pets out, getting the kids settled with my parents and going to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital my OB still wanted me to get the Pitocin if things didn't progress quickly as in the past I've had 5 minute apart contractions for several hours and he didn't want me having to labor through til morning. I told him I would rather try walking around for awhile instead so he said that OK he would check me in an hour and a half and see how I was progressing from that. Within just a few minutes of walking though I was contractions every 1-2 minutes and he saw me in the hallway and said "Don't worry about that Pitocin, it's totally out of my mind at this point." Hehehe.
The contractions started getting really hard to bear and the nurses kept checking to make sure I didn't want an epidural - I said no. I had them bring me a birthing ball though and that totally ROCKED. That helped things a lot and kept me from begging for the epidural which I really started to want badly towards the end.
I did end up asking for pain meds at the end of labor, luckily though I was too far along for the Epi (7 centimeters) so they talked me out of that, I decided to try 1/2 a dose of Nubaine instead. As soon as I OK'ed it I started to feel bad about needing it but DH was very supportive and made me feel better. I was very thankful that I asked for only 1/2 a dose because the Nubaine hit me like a brick - it did take the edge off which I was very thankful for but it also made me so tired I couldn't open my eyes.
Within an hour I started to feel the urge to push, I was so exhausted though I really didn't want to even try. My nurse was great though, she really motivated me and got me to at least try pushing. I was so tired that all I could think was "Fine, I'll push so I can get this over with and go to sleep." :LOL
I think it gave me extra motivation because within 6 pushes Max was out!!! I couldn't believe it. After about 3 pushed the doc asked if I wanted an epsiotomy or if I was OK with tearing, I told him I wanted the epsiotomy and as soon as I got it my next push brought about the head! The nurse had to tell me to open my eyes and take a look down. We hadn't found out the sex so of course the first place I looked was between the legs. Somehow in labor I had been convinced that I was having a girl though so when I looked down my first thought was "What's that between her legs?" Hehehehe. Then I heard DH saw "Oh my God - it's another boy!" And I felt a great sense of relief
They put him on my chest and I looked down and could see all three of my other boys in his face - he is such an amazing addition to our family.
Kitty
