The labor and delivery nurses rushed in. One placed those giant hospital grade piddle pads on the bed and had me sit on that until they could get the rest of the stuff for me. Soon after, she returned with my oh so fashionable hospital gown, extra piddle pads, and all the other fun stuff that they give you when you're in for an extended stay.
I stood up and got undressed to put on the hospital gown. No sooner had I dropped my panties then a HUGE gush of water came from the girly bits. Left a pretty impressive puddle on the floor. I looked at the nurse and said, "There's no dignity in this, is there?" She just kind of laughed and said, "Nope!"
Soon I was resting comfortably, IV stuck in my arm, and wondering if Sky had gotten the message, how far away he was, and what was next. My doctor came by and we joked around a bit. I had had an appointment the day before and had asked if he thought if I would make it full term. My principal and I were trying to plan things for my maternity leave. Guess we got our answer.
By the time Sky showed up, the anesthesiologist was working on my epidural. I was almost at 5 centimeters and the contractions weren't completely terrible, but they were something else! Sky looked worried until I explained it was just the epidural. Apparently, what he had seen on his way in was not very comforting. (Something about blood all over my back...eh.)
Epidural was in, my husband was there, and we were just waiting on my parents. About half an hour later, in walked my parents. My mother was carrying a ginormous pink bunny with floppy ears that she had picked up at the gift shop, a HUGE grin on her face. My dad cracked a joke about me having woken him up early. All that was left to do was wait.
The bunny my mom bought for her grandbaby.
And wait we did.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I updated all my friends with a post to Facebook and Instagram (love you gals!) and we waited. Watched pointless television, talked about random things, and every so often someone would walk in, stick their hands in my goods, check the paper print out that monitored the contractions, and walked back out.
How sweet!
I think everyone was pretty much tired of waiting. I know I was. So much for all that excitement earlier this morning. Now, I was much more concerned about finding a comfortable position to lay in. You'd be surprised how quickly your behind will fall asleep after being confined to a bed. At one point, the doc and nurses were worried that Austyn hadn't dropped. So, they sat me up. Then after she dropped a bit, I had stopped progressing. "Let's try a new position." Low and behold, my hind end was up in the air. (Insert joke about how that's what got me there in the first place, ha ha.) Luckily, my dad and Sky had decided to go to lunch, so they missed this particular pose.
After all these position changes, including being encouraged to rock and sway while in that last position, my progression stalled. Doc came in to check and apparently said if there wasn't any progress in the next hour, we would be going in for a c-section. I say, "apparently" because I swear to this day that I never heard him say that. (I was probably chatting on a group board on Facebook or on Instagram. Hee hee)
My goal for this baby was to have her as naturally as possible, with the help of an epidural (I'm not crazy!). I wanted to experience the whole thing. I wanted to be that crazy lady who screams at her husband, "It's all your fault! You're never touching me again!" I wanted to experience the miracle of birth. I wanted to see what my body could actually do. I was completely sold on the idea of a vaginal birth.
The hour passed and unfortunately, there was no progression. I was stuck at 7-8 cm. Had been for the last couple of hours. Doc said Austyn was stuck and it was time to go in for a c-section. Since I had missed that previous announcement, I was completely unprepared. I hadn't planned on a c-section at all. It wasn't even an option in my mind. I was supposed to have Austyn naturally, and the doc is saying a c-section? Tears immediately came to my eyes.
My parents tried to reassure me that everything would be ok. My poor husband tried to reassure me that it would be ok, that we had to do what was best for Austyn. I really don't remember the details after that except for wanting to tell the nurses that there was no point in shaving me because I hardly grow any hair at all. It's funny the things you remember, isn't it? One of the nurses asked the other if I had been shaved. The second one says she was getting ready to take care of it. I wanted to tell them not to worry about it, but I was too busy trying to wrap my head around having a c-section.
They came in and gave my husband his bunny suit. My mom held my hand, tears in her eyes, upset because I was clearly upset. I remember sucking it up a bit, telling her I was ok and being wheeled out the room...then the tears started up again and I was being whisked down the hall.
Alone again.
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