Thought I wouldn’t keep you in suspense too long, although we know how the story ends! Providing the link in case you missed part 1 and want the details.
Around 2:00pm the doctor came in and suggested we start pitocin seeing my body wasn’t getting things moving on it’s own. I was nervous, I guess more having a hard time putting my trust in the doctor. My doctor was out of town and all of the possible dangers of having a VBAC were racing through my head as I had to sign multiple waivers that morning.
Pitocin it was, hoping it wouldn’t take much and baby would be here in no time. The minutes turned to hours and the hours continued to pass with absolutely no progress other than painful contractions every 3 minutes. This baby wasn’t coming anytime soon and I was missing my babies at home. The nurse said visitors were welcome, because I wasn’t even close to having this baby (her words of support were not encouraging)!
I was worried about Grace as she is definitely a mama’s girl and had never been away from me for more than a few hours. Reality was she was fine and I was probably the one having withdrawals being away from her. Around 6:00pm and still no progress my parents brought the kiddos up to see me. They also brought dinner with for themselves and Aaron and enjoyed delicious smelling burgers while I sat on my birthing ball breathing through contractions and sipping a bottle of juice, the closest thing I could get to consuming calories. The boys were pretty disappointed to get to the hospital and still no baby, longest day of their life.
Shortly after they all left I started feeling really nauseous. I decided that after being up and moving for 15 hours I should try to rest a bit, perhaps that would help because I felt like the moving was a lost cause. The feeling of being nauseous didn’t go away and around 8:00pm I began throwing up every 30 minutes. The resting thing wasn’t happening and the nurses just kept cranking up the pitocin.
Around 10:00pm and still no progress, loved hanging out at 3cm, I decided to try some pain intervention. I opted for Nubain, because no way was I getting an epidural. After the nurse gave me the first dose, which was suppose to be the most effective, she told me that one of the side effects is feeling nauseous. Really, as if I needed to feel more nauseated, perhaps she should have told me that before administering the medication…and it did nothing to help with contractions.
When I was still only 3cm at midnight, now 19 hours later, I was all in for the epidural. Bring it on! It worked like a charm and it was so wonderful to finally have some relief. I was also able to rest and sleep a little. My only regret, I wish I would had gotten it sooner! Not feeling much of anything, I started to feel some pressure around 1:30am. The nurse said I was at a 9 1/2 and we would be pushing soon. My reaction must have had said it all as the nurse said she had never seen anyone so excited and eager to start pushing!
The epidural continued to be my life saver mitigating the pain during pushing. The doctor hadn’t been in the room long and I asked how many more pushes were needed to get this little one out, because I was getting exhausted. She said I was almost there but it would definitely be more than one push. Well next push guess who made their debut…sweet baby boy!!
As the doctor turned him to face Aaron and I so we could see the gender, my eyes filled with tears and I started shaking. It was one of the most miraculous moments of my life. As they placed him on my chest, he literally took my breath away. Breath-takingly beautiful, truly a miracle as I held his fragile yet perfectly formed body against my own. Aaron said I was shaking like he does after he shoots a deer when hunting. Nice comparison.
A full 22 hours after my water broke, Caden Joseph arrrived at 3:00am. Well he didn’t have a name the first two hours and we didn’t decide on the spelling until they needed it for his birth certificate an hour before getting discharged. In all my prepping for his arrival the name was the one thing we weren’t set on until seeing him, but it fits him perfectly.
Prayers were answered in so many ways, because I didn’t want to be induced and so badly wanted a successful VBAC. I now have a great appreciation and admiration for women who have given birth all natural and many more than once, you ladies rock!
Welcome Caden !