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Now, on to 'induction': I don't like calling my labors induction because there hasn't been much done as far as interventions, actually. I've only used Cytotec, no pain medications/epidural, and both times my water has broken on its own. Now that this was the second time using Cytotec, I knew that my body responds well to it. With my first daughter I used a total of two tablets vaginally, 4 hours apart, and this time I only used 1 tablet. And my body did the rest! Rest, that word. Rest was key. So, checking in for induction actually felt like a getaway for my husband and I at this point, ironically. A high-veiw room above beautiful Lake Superior, on a Saturday late afternoon/evening. This time I KNEW I was having a baby and my body was giving me all signs of readiness. The night before I'd woken up at my usual 3 a.m. timeframe with a HUGE cramp running down my entire back through my legs. I couldn't sleep so I woke up my massage-therapist sister and thankfully she spent a long time massaging down my cramps. I told her that this was a part of labor too and I was so grateful for her help. Later that morning I took a nap on the couch because again I knew, REST is key. I'd previously had a little anxiety about coming back to the hospital like this if induction were needed, but all that was gone once I made the decision. Once we finally got out of the house in the mid-afternoon, check-in at the hospital took awhile which is kind of annoying but we weren't in a hurry. My BP was still high but baby was doing well. I planned to take a nap right upon taking the Cytotec tablet, because unlike Pitocin(though I've never used it) there's no ramp-up right away. What Cytotec does for me is soften and prep my cervix a little more, which starts giving me cramps. I absolutely don't mind the cramps at all because I had so much prodromal labor previously that at this point honestly it feels so light to me. So I tried to doze for a couple hours. Best thing ever. And the L&D floor was not too busy that time, it was the relaxation that I needed. My husband saw me dozing and he, like me, figured that nothing would happen right away like last time. So he went out ice skating on Lake Superior! It was a phenomenal day for it: actually many others were out skating on the lake that day, and we'd been watching it from our window while checking into our room. So Curt, being the adventurous guy that he is, couldn't resist a good skate that evening before meeting his second daughter. And, while I was a couple blocks offshore up in a fourth-story room taking a snooze before labor. He must have skated a couple miles too! When he came back with some food and told me about what an amazing skate he'd had, I actually thought it was pretty great. I'd gotten a nap. My best friend Malin had dropped off some delicious homemade soup for me, since she lives like 2 minutes from the hospital. The soup, plus an encouraging note that said, "I know you'll do great", still make me want to cry when I remember her kindness. It literally fueled me.
I started early labor about two hours after the Cytotec. I drank lots of fluids. It was a cozy evening with my husband and I, albeit in a hospital room, with a nurse in and out. I didn't mind actually. I wasn't a fan of the hep-lock IV ports though, those are annoying. Anyways, I put in my earbuds with some fun tunes. I had an amazing nurse bring in a Miles Circuit recommendation sheet and it encouraged doing position changes every half-hour/45 minutes or so. I kept contracting lightly, but basically we wanted to do all we could to keep them coming. And without wearing me out. And this phase took 7 hours, but honestly I loved it. I bounced on my big ball with music, doing figure-8's with my hips. I got in the tub and stretched my hips (a lot) using the Kia stool, I did side-lying on the bed, sitting on the toilet sitting backwards, did lunges, squats, you name it. Oh, one memory that I love is when the nightshift staff came into my room to introduce themselves saying' "Your birthday party is here!"
Once I get going with productive labor I would say that I'm actually a pro at it. The intensity and pressure are very welcome to me and I encourage it to keep coming. I love the power of it, and powerful it was! After the 7 hours of early labor I flew into a fierce active labor that was short-lived thankfully. I felt the contractions riveting like a freight train through my back to my front. I had thought I'd want Curt's help during this phase but ironically I didn't end up wanting him to touch me much, nor anyone else really. This labor felt harder than my first but I wasn't really looking for comfort...only to get the job done. Time is very warped in this stage because I'm deep in labor-land. But upon climbing out of the tub at the point I thought I started to feel 'pushy'(though I'm not sure I really was yet?), fluids came shooting out both ends of me quite violently! I both threw up and my water broke at the same time! Transition! THEN I got pushy. But feely pushy took a while, as I squatted at the base of the bed holding onto the squat bar. Encouraging baby down. However, I think I had a cervical lip just a little bit. Oh man and though I had a wireless monitor on my belly, we were not getting good heart tones for awhile. This made the nurses much more nervous than the on-call doctor...thankfully she was very calm and I liked her a lot. She checked me as I wobbled up like a seal and laid on the bed, and my body was pushing on its own. Very gently she moved my cervical lip out of the way and my baby's head finally started emerging. I don't love that I was laying down for this birth(I squatted for my first, fast, fetal-ejection birth), but at this point I was SO TIRED. It was 4:30 in the morning, at one day shy of 42 weeks gestation, and our Tovah Fern was born at 4:38! She was much bigger and chubbier than we'd anticipated! All 9.2 pounds and broad shoulders of her beautiful, beautiful self. Wow. I did it, I did it again, and without tearing! I'm thankful that I listened to my instincts with all the hip stretches during early and active labor. My active labor was only 3.5 hours! So that makes total labor time about 10.5 hours if you include early labor contractions... or much much longer if you include all my previous labor! Who knows...it all counts. Anyways, laboring with high blood pressure made me feel much more exhausted than I had with my first labor, so I clutched my wet, fat, fresh baby and had to take a few big breaths and was thankful to already be laying down. Once I caught my breath I was able to LOOK down and see my baby!!! Really see her! There is NOTHING like that experience in all the world.
To see SUCH an incredible, perfect little human lying on your chest who just miraculously grew inside you for several months, who took SO much effort to get here! These memories stick with me so strongly, and they always give me such joy and wonder.
Tovah came out much more opinionated than my first, Reani had. It is quite funny because she continues to be that way. She didn't like being separated from her food supply line, though she latched like a champ. I remember how right after she was on my chest for a bit, Curt took his shirt off and put her skin to skin and she calmed immediately. It was precious, and as she calmed she opened her bright eyes and just took everything in. There is nothing like it. We snapped all the pictures, and though there was a nurse or two doing a few things around me, it felt intimate with my husband and me. I didn't feel so great myself for awhile so I was incredibly grateful that our hospital stay was VERY restful and I got caught up on sleep while trying to co-sleep with Tovah right next to me even. We went home and continued co-sleeping and I can't tell you how much this helped my heart for months afterwards. When everything around me kept shifting before and after birth, there was my precious Tovah nestled up to my heart and breast. I believe it was so healing. And, she started out beautifully-plump and continued to gain wonderfully. She hardly fit newborn clothes from the start and seemed a month old already from the time she was born. Crazy!
- Postpartum to be continued-
