Hey everyone! I haven't blogged in a LONG time, but this is too cool not to share.
I am sitting in the hospital holding my new baby boy: BabyK
At around 9am on Wed. morning, my water broke. I had a Dr. appointment already scheduled for 9:50am, so I went to the office instead of straight to the hospital. The doctor gave me the OK to go and walk around or do something until my contractions got super painful, very close, or 4pm. We got to the hospital at 4pm because my contractions were like 8-11 minutes apart and totally bearable. I was still only dilated to a 3 when I got there. So basically, I had not changed since my morning appointment.
By 7pm, I was dilated to a 6 and my contractions were very hard and all around 2.5-3 minutes apart. I was still handling the pain alright, but between contractions I was so tired that I felt as though I was drugged.
By 8:15pm my contractions were feeling like transition contractions (really, really painful), but they weren't getting any closer together. I was not quite dilated to a 7 yet, and was so exhausted that I just couldn't see straight. With my last two babies, by the time the pain got this bad, they were right on top of each other and I knew that I was almost done. I was very frustrated because it didn't seem like I was progressing even though my contractions were so very bad. They even started to spread apart a little bit!
So, out of exhaustion, I received a saddle block at 8:45pm (sort of like an epidural, but just a shot instead of constant medicine and it doesn't last very long). I felt like a weenie because I had already had 2 natural deliveries w/o even wanting pain medicine. But, because my contractions were still so far apart, no one knew how much longer that was going to go on. I was just in tears from being so tired.
Well...40 minutes later it was time to push! Augh! Crazy, right? I mean, had I known that I only had 45 minutes more, I could have handled the contractions!
So...for anyone who might be considering whether or not to take pain medication for childbirth, let me outline my experience and the pros and cons from my perspective.
Positives: 1. I got to rest a little before he came...not sleep, but the contractions were making me so tired. Although he was born so late at night and we were so tired anyway, I am not sure how big of a difference that made.
2. I could still feel to push, but not the "ring of fire" so that was good. His exit wasn't painful, so I was less concerned with my pain and so much more concerned with him coming out. That was cool.
3. The pain stopped. That was huge. Although is was only for 45 minutes, that is at least 15 contractions that I didn't have to endure.
4. Many of the reasons that I didn't want to have any pain medication (Slowing progress of labor, additional complications, medical risks, difficulty pushing, fetal distress, etc) didn't apply/happen because it was so late in the process.
5. It is possible (no one can say for sure) that I progresses so fast after the shot because I was pain free and able to relax. It could still have been hours had I chosen to go au-natural.
Negatives: 1. I couldn't feel my legs. I mean...it was like I was paralized because I felt like I could feel my legs, but there was a disconnect. I had the sensation that my toes were uncomfortable and I wanted to wiggle them and couldn't. I almost panicked then and had to tell myself to get a grip. I can't stress how awful of a feeling that was for me. Seeing my legs move w/o me feeling it was really freaky and actually a distraction from the birth.
2. The feeling to my abdomen returned pretty quickly (w/in an hour) so I felt the contractions that accompanied nursing, etc, but I couldn't feel my legs/feet for several hours. I couldn't stand or transfer from bed to chair or anything. The nurses had to roll me over and carry me out of the bed. That was sucky. I am pretty independent and I really hated that part.
3. Catheters suck.
4. I couldn't get comfy (again b/c I couldn't feel my legs) to nurse or really even sit up very much to hold my baby. I put pillows behind my back, but my rear was numb so if I tried to lean forward, I would fall.
I think if I have anymore children, I don't want the spinal, although I am very thankful that I had it for this birth. I guess I will leave that decision to the moment. It was stressful trying to decide if I wanted it or not, but now I have the memory of each to compare. The birth was better, the after effects were worse. It is a trade off.
Hope that wasn't too much info! :)
