So, we arrive at the hospital. We approach the outpatient desk and inform the worker that I am in labor. It takes her a few seconds, and then she starts breathing quickly...telling me that I have to be in a wheelchair. I inform her that I can walk and we follow her to a check in room. Linn is told to wait there to do paperwork while I am whisked away in a wheelchair to the labor and delivery room. We meet our first nurse. She is awesome!! She is very fond of natural labor. I tell her I will try my best. She tells me she will not put me in as an inpatient, so I do not have to have an IV in my arm. She goes through an hour of "check in info" on a computer and I am lying with a fetal heart monitor on my belly (along with a device to measure my contractions). She tells me that the contractions are irregular and that it would be best to walk around for awhile. Linn and I walk the hallways for at least an hour. I keep calling mom and dad to check where they are. Linn calls his family and they say they are on the way. Then the nurse urges me to take a hot shower, for this will help bring on my contractions. I take a shower for sometime, but it gets uncomfortable standing so much. I then ask to take a bath....I love baths. I take a bath for a few minutes, but their tub is extremely uncomfortable. My parents then arrive :). The nurse then informs me to sit on a "peanut". It is like an exercise ball. She says that my contractions will really progress. She was right!! I then tell her I am getting really uncomfortable. She suggests I get an IV drug for pain management. I am now in "inpatient status" and receive the dose of medicine....I feel woozy. It definitely calms me and makes me feel comfortable. However, it knocks out my contractions. I am stuck at 5 centimeters. A phone call is placed to my doctor, and she suggests starting Pitocin. Since Pitocin will bring my contractions on even stronger, I ask for an epidural. An anesthesiologist is called in to administer the epidural. It does not hurt much, just a bee sting. However, I feel the tube being placed down my back. My legs go numb. A little while later, the nurse comes in to tell me that I have to lay on one side or the other ( I can't lie directly on my back). In what seems like an eternity, my hip that I am lying on starts to hurt immensely. I ask for the nurse to come in and move me. She tells me I am fine. She finally decides to administer more medication from my epidural (after some coercion). Then, she thinks it would be a good idea to check how far I am dilated. She immediately says, "I guess I should have checked you before I administered the medication....you are more than 10 centimeters dilated". I had one word pop in my mind.....brilliant!! She tells me I can not push for hours now that I was administered the medication. (That's what she thinks). Evidently the reason I could feel pain in my hip was because there is a "hot spot" where the epidural did not take. I tell her moments later that I can push. She evidently doesn't believe me. She finally says, "well let's try and see if you really can push". I evidently was successful, because she told me she was going to call the doctor and have her on her way. She said it would take my doctor more than thirty minutes to get back "AAAUUUGHH". Well, after she arrives, I can start the arrival of my miracle.
