Saturday started out as a pretty normal day, considering our anticipation was growing for our Monday evening appointment to get induced. I scheduled a hair appointment (because why not?) and John went to work on a tree job with my dad. It had rained that morning a little and was cloudy and overcast. The temperature had dropped from the highs we had been having. I finished my hair appointment about 1:00. I wasn't feeling great, but that wasn't particularly uncommon. About 3:00 I started having small contractions that were not regular. By this point, I was so used to having pains come and go that I didn't really get too concerned or excited...I just had it in my head that we weren't meeting Rudy until Tuesday.
As the night went on, I still wasn't feeling great and the contractions got worse and more regular. About 7:00 I started timing them. By about 10:30, they were 45-60 seconds long and 3-5 minutes apart. I was in a good amount of pain when they hit...not unbearable, but enough that I couldn't talk/walk when I was having one. So John and I loaded up the car and off we went to the hospital. John even ran a red light to get there! I was taken up to the maternity suites and put in a room to be monitored and checked. When the nurse checked me about 11:30, I was only 1 cm dilated but effaced 100%. The contractions were showing up regularly on the monitor and Rudy's heart rate was great. But until I showed that I was in active labor (ie the contractions were dilating me), I could not be admitted. The nurse said if I was in active labor, I should dilate 1-2 cm every 2 hours so she would be back in at 2:00 am to check me again. That was a very long 2 hours! John was such a great help. He rubbed my back and helped me switch positions to get as comfortable as was possible. The contractions were pretty intense and because of Rudy's position, they were in my back too. We were so worried she would come back and tell us that we had to go home. Thankfully, at 2:00 am I was dilated to 2 cm. By 3:30 am I was admitted, had IV's in and was getting the epidural. From there, we were able to sleep/relax and just wait. At 5:30 am I was dilated to 5 cm. Things were progressing great. The epidural was amazing. I didn't feel a thing and I was so relaxed and comfortable. I felt better than I had in weeks! I remember thinking, "this labor thing is going to be a breeze!"
Then things went down hill... about 6:30 my pain started coming back. I was able to feel all the contractions again. The anesthesiologists came back and gave me a higher dose of something through the epidural tube. It seemed to work for about 30-45 minutes. He came back about an hour later and gave me more. This time it didn't work at all. I was in so much pain they decided to try doing the epidural over. Sitting through that was so scary. Trying to be still and have contractions was nearly impossible. I was asking, "so if this doesn't work then what are the options?" Unfortunately, there were no other options. I was a wreck. The contractions and back pain were so intense. This might have been the point when I told John I was never doing this again so he better like Rudy. The second epidural worked only on my left side and it was completely numb. They explained that for a small percentage of people, epidurals just don't take. But that it can be different for every pregnancy...so I have hope that it will work for the next one! (And yes, as soon as they gave me Rudy, I told John we could have more)
Things started speeding up and I went from 7 cm to 10 cm in no time. So quick that I was ready to push and the doctor wasn't there. Since the pain meds weren't working, they also gave me some other medicine that was supposed to "take the edge off" and "make me feel drunk." It did do that, but I'm sure everyone in the room wished I hadn't had it. I had no filter for what I was feeling and I wasn't feeling good. I'm embarrassed by some of the things I yelled at people! John was so great, though. He helped me through every contraction and was by my side every second. I could not have made it through without him. The nurses tried to stall as much as possible for the doctor to get there. They decided to let me start pushing since it normally takes first time moms awhile. Didn't work out as they had planned. As much pain as I was in, I gave it all I had with every push. I think I yelled at the nurse, "Are you ready to deliver this baby?!" The doctor finally got there (what felt like forever to me, but was probably 10-15 minutes). He came in in high spirits, making light-hearted comments..everyone was smiling at him..which is about when I snapped, "NO JOKES...STOP LAUGHING...GET HIM OUT!!" All in all, I only pushed for 40 minutes. Apparently that's pretty impressive for a first-timer. It still felt like a long time to me.
When Rudy was born he wasn't breathing. I was out of it from that weird medicine that I didn't know what was going on. I knew they would have to be doing things to Rudy and checking him out, so I assumed that's all that was going on. But I could tell from John's face that things were not ok. I've never seen him look so upset. They had to bag Rudy and use a pump/face mask thing to breathe for him. He did start breathing on his own and they let me hold him before they took him away to be monitored. They had to keep him for an hour because of the breathing problem. But thank God, nothing was wrong. They said that happens in a small percentage of newborns, but everything is ok and Rudy is perfect...just gave us a scare. We sure beat the odds that day...
Mom, Dad, Tony, Ray and LeeAnn were all there in the waiting room when Rudy was born. We all fell in love with him immediately...and with a face like this one, who wouldn't?!
It is unreal how much love we have for Rudy. It is impossible to explain the feeling, but it is the best feeling imaginable. And sharing this experience with John has made our love for each other even stronger...which I wouldn't have thought was even possible. (Sorry for the corniness. I'll keep that to a minimum, but just had to say it!)
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