i got a call wednesday night, 1 oct, from the hospital telling me to call the next morning at 5:45a to see when i should come in for my induction. erica and ains got to our house around 8p, which means finn didn't go to bed until about, mmm, after 11p. we should write a parenting book, i know. it was such a load lifted to have erica here to keep the boys for us. i felt like i could finally have this baby without having to worry about them. moving on.
thursday morning, bright and waaay too early, i called the hospital. and was told to call back in an hour. it would have been awesome if i could have gone back to sleep, but that wasn't happening, so i just rolled around in bed until i called back. and was told the charge nurse was busy and she'd call in about 30min. except that she didn't. so i called yet again. and was told it would be about another 30min or so before i could check in; they'd call me. somewhere in all this, i got out of bed and showered as quietly as possible since everyone else was sound asleep. mor finally woke up, and just as he got in the shower, the hospital called saying they were ready for me. mor got dressed, we smooched the boys, and off we went.
there was a room waiting for us when we got to timp. and a sweet hospital gown. yyyes! i had barely been in the super comfy bed any time at all when mor started complaining that he was starving. i sent him off to get some food for him and flavored ice for me. right before mor got back, i started feeling really hot and was sweating. a lot. mor walked in, and i told him i felt like i was going to be sick. (something similar happened when i was in labor with both boys, but it was after i was given my iv and the pitocin. and i did, in fact, get physically sick. this was different though.) he called the nurse, who came in just as i was about to pass out, while laying in a hospital bed. my blood pressure was dangerously low, which is saying something because it was fairly low my whole pregnancy. i'm not sure exactly what happened next, even though i was awake and conscious for all of it, but 3 or 4 other nurses came into my room, including the charge nurse. they all looked equal parts worried and confused. there was no reason my bp dropped like it did. one of the nurses put an oxygen mask on me, and that did seem to help. another nurse turned down the thermostat to 65. the whole time, i kept thinking "don't close your eyes. whatever you do, do not close your eyes." i'm not sure why that was on repeat in my head, but it completely terrified me. i even told mor once the ordeal was over that i had been really scared something was going to happen to me and the baby, that we weren't going to make it. like i said, terrifying. (my nurse said she had never seen anything like it in her 11yrs of nursing. i still don't know what caused it.)
as soon as i was feeling better, my nurse wanted to get my iv set and fluids started. to keep another long-ish story short : i told my nurse before she started looking for a vein that she should just look at the one in the crook of my arm. oh, they don't like to place an iv there, she told me. so, she poked me twice before calling in another nurse, who poked me twice. and where do you think she eventually placed my iv? that's right, in the crook of my arm. thanks for that.
i got pitocin around 10:45/11a and tried to rest. nothing exciting happened until i asked for an epidural a few hours later. my nurse said the anesthesiologist was scheduled for a surgery around 2p and she wasn't sure when he'd been finished. even though i wasn't feeling too much pain, i asked that he come in before his surgery. (i wasn't looking to be any sort of hero, kids. there's enough pain and discomfort that comes AFTER labor and childbirth, athankyou.) he put on a mask as soon as he came into the room, saying he'd had a sore throat for the last couple days. (super! will you make sure to cough on me too, sir?) then, he lifted my bed until my feet were dangling about a foot and a half off the floor. he told me i could hold mor's hand but not lean on him at all, something i'd been allowed to do the previous two times. my neck got really sore really fast. and theeen...it took 3x to get the epidural placed. holy shieze, you guys. the first time, it sent like a shock down into my bumcheek. not supposed to happen. the second time, the medicine came back out, pushing the needle out. the third and final time, he had to actually move up a vertebral space. but, it worked, so whatever. when he was packing up his gear, he told me i should get checked for scoliosis because he's sure that's why it didn't work the first 2x. riiight. i'll look into that. as soon as my bumcheek stops vibrating from your subpar performance.
a little while later, dr young popped in to check my progress and break my water. i was only dilated to a 3. (i think.) everything looked good though, and i was feeling pretty good too. back to resting and chomping on ice. nice.
e brought the boys over around 5p. i had been hopeful that we'd be able to introduce them to their little sister. i don't think finn liked seeing me all hooked up to things and in a funny hospital bed and clothes. jonah couldn't have cared less. he putzed around the room and did his own thing. the nurse came in to check me just as the 3 of them were leaving at 5:45p. it was shift change at 6p, and she wanted to give the next nurse an accurate progress report. i was at a 5. she said this was usually when things sped up, once you were a 5. sure, i thought. likely story. i asked her what i could do to hurry it along, and she said to not keep my legs together.
tbc with all the aftermath
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