| Pitocin Induction without Doula |
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Pitocin Induction without Doula
On Wednesday morning I went in for my 39-week appt and my blood pressure was 170/110. I had struggled with borderline high blood pressure my entire pregnancy but this reading was much higher than it had been and my OB didn't want to take any chances. She was scheduled on-call at the hospital that night and decided that it would be best if I was induced. My cervix was 80% effaced and I was 2 cm dilated.
My husband met me at home and we gathered our things for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 4PM. They promptly checked me in and got me going on IV fluids, blood work, etc. By 5PM the pitocin was flowing and they had ruptured my membranes. It seemed to all be happening so fast! After about an hour of contractions I got my epidural. I was still only 2cm so they cranked up the pitocin. As the night went on they continued to increase the doses as my cervix was refusing to dilate efficiently. Little did I know how long of a night I was in for!
Because of my high BP I had to labor on my side the entire time, switching from the right to the left side. Every time I did this I threw up. It was horrible! I also was growing increasingly weak since I hadn't eaten since breakfast and they wouldn't allow me to eat or drink anything but water. I was so weak I could hardly lift my head. This continued throughout the night until 7AM the next morning when they announced I was finally complete and could start pushing. But I was so weak I could hardly muster enough strength for one set of counts per contraction, let alone the 3-4 that they wanted me to do. I had an oxygen mask on between each contraction and tried to rest. After about an hour of pushing the words c-section could be heard among the doctors/nurses and I was getting desperate. At one point I even said out loud "just do what you need to do, I can't go on like this forever!" The resident attending me really wanted me to deliver vaginally and was convinced I could do it, though, so we kept going (thank god for him!) As my baby moved down I finally figured out the whole pushing thing. As he emerged everyone in the room commented on how much hair the little guy had. I think adrenaline took over because I was pushing so hard (4-5 sets per ctx.) I was just so excited to finally have it all over. The resident assisting the delivery did an excellent job massaging and stretching my perineum and I didn't need an episiotomy. I had only a very small tear. After 14 hours of labor and another 2-1/2 of pushing, my sweet little perfect baby boy was born. His apgars were 7 and 9 and he was so alert and strong! They put him on my chest and he latched on right away. It was amazing! Suddenly the past 16-1/2 hours of torture were a distant memory and I was the happiest woman on the planet. |
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