On Monday August 22 at 41 weeks pregnant, I had a doctors appointment for a sonogram at 9a. Then I met with by OB doctor, Dr Craig at 11:45a who determined that I was 1cm and offered for me to come back later that evening at 7p to begin induction of labor. Pitocin would be the "eviction notice" that Baby Hall needed. By this time I was 5 days overdue and feeling weary of pregnancy. I had really come to the point that I wanted to start the next phase of the process - to deliver a healthy, happy baby boy
We - My Husband (Ron), My mother (Bernette) and myself, got to the hospital at 7:30p that night. There was a lady that went into spontaneous labor right in the next room about 9:45p. She was screaming at the top of her lungs which only caused some nervousness for me. But she didn't scream long because she delivered in about 15 minutes. I was on the phone with Cousin Nikki while all that was going on. She kept me distracted. My mother didn't want me to listen to the screaming from the other room for to long cuz she didn't want me to be to upset or scared.
Since the other patient went into labor the doctors didn't get to me until 11:30p to determine what I needed. At around midnight they decided not to give me the cervix ripening medication because I was already 2cm and 100% effaced. Which means that I didn't need any cervix medication. So the doct decided to start me on pitocin around midnight. I got nervous that my sister Yolanda might miss it since she wasn't supposed to come to the hospital until she was on her way to work the next morning. But at midnight she called the hospital and she came right down.
I think the Doct on call broke my membranes, which was a painful experience. But that was part of jump starting the labor process. This process means to run your fingers around the inside of my cervix and my bag of waters. To get them to break away. That was the most painful experienced so far. Other than the blood pressure cuff which was the all time WORST!!! I had sore arms for days because of the pressure from that cuff. After that we were dancing in the room, listening to music, singing. We all laughed because we knew this was the quiet before the storm.
When Yolanda arrived a little before 1am - my contractions had started… Ron said Londa brought the pain, lol.. it was not a joke when Yolanda arrived. I was in pain, and it was getting worse. I wanted to sit – rock – stand and lean on daddy. It was a lot of pain and for 2 hours I endured it, BUT, I couldn’t take the pain anymore. So I immediately asked for an epidural. Well in order to get that I had to wait another hour while they gave me fluids. AND, the nurse scolded me and told me that I could not stand or get out of the bed, I had to lay in the bed because the baby's heart rate needed to be monitored while I was on the Pitocin. I was not happy... laying in bed for an hour throuygh those contractions was painful!!! I needed to move and be more comfortable as each wave of pain came. But I just endured through it.
Finally - at about 3am I got the epidural.. it was life changing. I felt so much better. I could see and think clearly. Because before that time I was in so much pain it was not fair. I couldn’t even believe that women actually go through that all the way through the entire labor. But it happens.. and a lot of times, on purpose. Well bless their hearts. I am clearly not one of those women. I have a low tolerance for pain, so I cant take it. But I did as long as I could. There were a few minor complications with my blood pressure which kept dropping. I felt uneasy when it dropped, so I had to be monitored with a blood pressure cuff (the worst and tightest that I have ever felt. It may have been worst than the contractions, especially when it was all happening at the same time.)
Eventually, I was able to fall asleep. And I slept until about 5am or so… everyone else in the room was knocked out too, but they were so tired and weary. Yolanda stayed awake the longest and she helped to shift and move my body as needed. By the time the Pitocin kicked in, I was in la-la land.. and not feeling a thing. I slept like a baby and snored for a few hours. The doctor measured me about 6:30a and I was 4 cm dilated. My mother and Ron went to get some breakfast and when they got back I was getting checked and at 9:30a. I was 5.5cm dilated. Doctors suggested that I get an internal monitor of my contractions so they could increase the amount of Pitocin if needed. Everything was going well. The nurse mentioned that when I start to feel pressure for a continuous amout of time it may be time to get checked and see if I need to start pushing.
Ryan Lee Hall was born at 12:48pm on Tuesday August 23, 2011. It was a short labor and a shorter delivery. I guess about 12 hours from the time that the Pitocin was administered.
After the internal monitor was inserted the nurses were able to track if I needed additional Pitocin. By this time I could not feel a thing. But the contractions were getting bigger and bigger as read in the monitor. At some point, the internal monitor slipped down or out. Dr Craig came in a checked me around noon and I was 10cm dilated. She also thought that my water had broke, which I explained that I think so also, but when the on call doctor checked me earlier in the night, she didn’t think that it had broken. Dr Craig, said she wanted to see how well I push, so at the next contraction she asked me to bare down and push… well he was coming.. and she had to stop me and rush to get the room set up for delivery and into her scrubs. She had warned that some pushing can take up to 3 hours. But not me ,and Ryan… by the time the room was ready, I pushed maybe 6-8 times and in 15 minutes Ryan was OUT!.. and then after his head, his body slid out right behind him. He came out with his eyes wide open and looking the world right in the face. He kept his eyes open for a long time, just adjusting and checking things out. I would assume that this was a very different environment than being in my belly for over nine months (really its over 10 months, but who's counting anymore, lol)
It was a huge excitement in the room. And I held him right away... with a little wipe off, but that was cool. I was happy - full of tears.. and a mix bag of emotions. Well after delivery, my blood pressure began to drop as I started to push out the placenta. Doctors sent Ryan to the nursery because he came so quickly his little chest still had amniotic fluid. He went to the nursery for monitoring. I needed additional fluid to get my blood pressure to stabilize. Issue is, my blood pressure had been up and down ever since I got the epidural the night earlier. But this time I needed a larger intake line for the fluids, which means that I had to get a new larger IV.. not happy. Well they tried.. but they had to call in a specialist to insert the IV.. just as he was about to insert the IV.. the room started shaking.. in the room was the doctor, Yolanda and I.
Can you believe it ...
it was an EarTHquAke!!!!!
And we were in the 16th floor.
Soon after the earthquake the halls were buzzing about what to do? Do we need to evacuate? Is the building safe? My mother was in the elevator when it happened, so she didn’t feel anything when the building shook. But when she walked off the elevator she heard all the commotion and people talking about evacuating. She wasn’t having it…”not with my babies in here you wont.” But we were all safe and secure. We stayed in the labor and delivery room and later in the day we were moved to the recovery room. We had a few visitors while in recovery – Mom Claudette, Uncle Alex. The next day we were visited by Aunt Courtney, Aunt Jamaica, Aunt Carrol, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jermaine.
