Baby Kennedy's Birth Story: part 2

Read part 1 here.

So, we left off how I'm in the delivery room, feeling pretty chipper and not really feeling contractions. I got the pitocin (synthetic form of oxytocin to produce contractions) around 3:30 (we were admitted to the hospital around 12:30). It took a little while for the pitocin to really hit me, but when it did, boy it did. At this point I was on my second nurse, Hanna. She was a sweet blonde girl.

Now, this is where my memory starts to suck because of pain/delerium.

Contractions hurt like a bi-yotch. I don't even know how to explain what it feels like. But it hurts. About three hours into the pitocin kicking in, I asked for the epidural. I wanted labor to progress as much as it could without having the epidural, and I made it three hours. I was a wimp. But to my defense, pitocin makes for some FOR REAL contractions. That stuff is the devil.

Before I got the epidural, my OB/GYN came in to check on me. And tell me that he wouldn't be there to deliver my baby. He had a Christmas party to go to and he wasn't on call. Um, yeah. I wish I was kidding. My mom was in the room freaking out and pissed off. Meanwhile, I'm puking in a plastic bowl, really out of it, and not really saying anything because I was in so much pain. I honestly don't remember much of that conversation. I was just like "Whatever, man."

I got my third and final nurse, Kristen. Another pretty blonde girl who just so happened to have her birthday on December 17 (which it was looking like my baby would have the same birthday). Kristen literally stayed by my side at every moment monitoring me and providing support. I also had another nurse, Simi, checking on me. She was super sweet and very funny.

Then the anesthesiologist came in to bring me my magical drugs. I don't even remember what he looked like or what really went on before I got it, I was in so much pain. Everyone had to leave the room while I got the epidural. The wait was pretty agonizing but once I got the epidural, I felt pretty immediate relief. I could have kissed the man, even though I still don't remember what he looked like. Another cool thing was that I had control of my legs, it's just that they were numb. I always thought the epidural would make me a complete dead weight, and it certainly did not. It took the edge off, even though I could feel some pressure while having contractions.
 
The doctor who was on call and who was going to deliver my baby came in and introduced herself. She seemed pretty cool. And right after she introduced herself, she was like "Well, now that we are introduced, I'm going to stick my hand up your vagina." It was pretty awesome. I immediately liked her and knew that if my doctor trusted her, I was in good hands. The fact that my doctor was not on call (and it was inconveniently the weekend) was not something I could have controlled and I decided I wasn't going to be mad at him.

Then the waiting game continued. I wasn't progressing much and the contractions from the pitocin weren't producing as effective of contractions as the doctor had hoped (strangely enough, since those contractions were the devil incarnate). I wasn't really in much pain. They just kept pumping me with fluids (since I had lost my amniotic water starting at 6:30 a.m. and there wasn't much cushion left for the baby) and I kept gushing them out all over the bed linens. I swear my poor nurse must have changed my linens about twenty times. Yeah, I know. Gross. Don't say I didn't warn you.

At this point, I was pretty calm. I might have tweeted a bit and I decided I was going to take a few pictures from my phone. These are those. My epidural-induced self takes pretty crappy phone photos.

BFF Katie and my Mom

Greg where he spent most of the day/night... by my side. Love him.

 I was stuck at 5-6 cm dilated for a while (you have to be at a 10 in order to push and deliver). They checked me about 2 am and I was about the same. Then in the course of about 30 minutes, I felt a lot of pressure and I wanted to push. They didn't think I was ready but I insisted that something felt different. Sure enough, when they checked me, I was fully dilated.

I was ready to push. It was around 3:15 a.m. I mustered all of the yoga and diaphramatic breathing I learned through singing and acting and prepped myself for the home stretch.

...or so I thought.