Everett was due on May 23, 2011 and we anxiously awaited his arrival! When I went for my weekly check up my doctor said that she would like to induce labor because she thought that little Everett might not end up being so little so Tyler and I agreed for me to be induced that Friday. This was before I was crunchy and I really didn't know all of the risks that went along with induction. I wish that I had done more research prior to agreeing to induce labor.
They induced me on Friday, May 20th at 7am with pitocin. When I came in I was only 1cm and maybe 35% effaced. They left me on pitocin all day (until 6pm) with no changes at all even though I was having steady contractions. The doctor decided to take me off of everything that night and start with pitocin again in the morning. At this point I should have know that he wasn't ready to come out but I guess I figured since I was already at the hospital I might as well continue on. When I was hooked up to the pitocin, the only time I could get out of bed was to go to the bathroom or to sit on the bouncy ball.
I started the pitocin again Saturday morning around 8:30am. The doctor came to check on me around 10am and I hadn't made any progress. She decided to use a foley catheter to get things moving. Once that was inserted in I started feeling the contractions a lot more. The contractions were steady and about 2 mins apart for most of the day.
Around 4:30pm the foley catheter came out and I was in a lot of pain (from the contractions) and asked for fentanyl (through the IV) and managed the pain pretty well with that. At 7:30pm I was 5cm and asked for the epidural because things were getting very intense. The epidural was working very well up until around 3am when I started feeling a lot of pressure. They checked me then and I was 7cm. Yay progress!
By 4:30am I was really feeling like I needed to push so they checked me and I was 9cm and 90% so they started prepping the room for delivery. At 5am I told the nurses that I was going to push whether or not the doctor was at the hospital! :) The nurse checked me and I was at 10cm and 100%!! She had me do a "test push" to see how far down I could get him- well after 1 push she said that I better stop pushing or I would have the baby before the doctor got there!
At 5:30am is when they had me really start pushing. Although I had pushed him into position with the first push, I couldn't get him any further because he was attempting to come out forehead first rather than the crown of his head. The doctor finally came in around 6:30am and suggested we try the vacuum- so we did. She only used it for 1 push - just to position him correctly. After that I was able to push him right out! By 7:30 am he was nursing and content in my arms! He was born at 7:01am on May 22, 2011 and weighed 6lbs and 12oz.
Overall it was not a bad experience but I really did learn a lot of things that I will plan on doing differently next time I have a baby. I really am going to be opposed to being induced unless I am way overdue. I definitely will not want to use pitocin again because I was not able to deal with the pain the way that my body wanted to (i.e. walking around, sitting in different positions, etc.) I think that if I were able to get up and move around more I would have been able to hold off on the pain medication a little longer. May 22nd will always be one of my favorite days because it was the day that God blessed me with the most perfect gift, Everett.
Laura yOu are such a trooper!!! I think they are way too quick to use pitocin and induce these days and it really isn't always necessary! They even gave me pitocin with lily and we know my babies fall out lol! I agree it really makes the pain worse and worse much earlier! At least now you know exactly what you want in the future!
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