After we got admitted to the hospital at 3:30 on November 15, things moved relatively fast. We settled in our room by 4:30 and I got hooked up to the external monitors for baby's heart rate and my contractions. I didn't want to get the epidural right away since then I would spend the rest of the labor in bed. So, Mr. V and I decided to go walk around. He called our parents to let them know that we finally got admitted while I was stopping every few minutes and waiting for the contraction to be over. We walked for 25 minutes and came back to a room where I was again hooked up to the monitors. The nurse (who was also a lawyer as we later found out) was very nice and answered all of our questions. The doctor who was on duty that night wanted to break my water to speed things up. I decided to get an epidural at that time and only after let them break my water. The anesthesiologist was supposed to come within 30 minutes. I kept telling myself that 30 minutes should be a piece of cake after couple of days of that pain. The hospital had couple of emergency c-section and I had to wait for my drugs. After an hour of waiting, I was done. I was so ready to be poked. I was tired and exhausted from the pain. I kept looking at the monitor every time I had a contraction and I would see the numbers around 110-120, those were some painful cx.
Finally, the anesthesiologist came in. Mr. V could stay in a room but he couldn't watch what they were doing, he had to face me. I wasn't afraid of the needle. I was more afraid of getting a painful cx during the procedure and not being able to move. And that is exactly what happened. As the guy was poking me in the back, I had to sit still through a cx. I squeezed the pillow and listened to a nurse who was telling me I was doing great and that it was almost over. And indeed it was over after 10 minutes. I got comfortable in my bed and the nurse asked me if I was feeling cx at that point. I was surprised she asked me that since she could see from the monitor that I didn't have one yet. But I was wrong.
Nurse: Honey, can you feel the cx?
Me: What cx? I didn't have one yet.
Nurse: You are having one right now.
Me: Really?...shocked face...pause for feeling stupid and not getting the epi earlier.
The anesthesiologist told me I did great and that they could use me for taping the procedure, since I didn't move an inch and didn't even peak. He told me that he'll be in the hospital all night to which I answered "me too" :) I guess I was feeling better if I decided to joke.
I was told that things could slow down after the epi. They checked me around 6 and I was at 4cm. I was a little bit upset for not making more progress. The doctor and the nurse started talking about giving me Pitocin to move things along. They told us that our families could come around 5-6am and meet the baby not earlier. I was getting for a long night while Mr. V stepped out to the store to get himself diner.
Around 11pm, they said my doctor wanted to deliver my baby (it made me feel great that as busy as that woman is, she wanted to be there for us), so they decided on not giving me Pitocin and wait till morning when Dr. G would come in. They checked me again around that time and I was 6cm dilated.
We got a new nurse after 11pm, she wasn't very talkative but she was still answering our questions and doing her job. At 1am, she came in and checked me. I couldn't read her face. I thought she was going to say that I was still at 6cm and not making any progress. She looked at the monitor and then said that I was at 10cm and ready to push. Wow, really? What a reality check it was for me. I started shacking uncontrollably and my fever went up to 38 degrees. She prepared the room and got everything ready for the baby. Then we did couple of practice pushes. Mr. V was holding one leg and the nurse was holding the other. I didn't know if I pushing or not, since I couldn't feel anything. But after couple of pushes the nurse called the doctor and told her we were ready for her. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn't believe I was about to meet my baby girl. We had to wait for the doctor for about 20 minutes, she was finishing up a c-section. After she came in, we did another couple of pushes (three at a time) and my baby girl was born. Mr. V cut the cord and they placed her on me (now originally I wanted them to clean her first, but at that point I just wanted to see her).
She was absolutely perfect and the most beautiful baby. She was very clean when she came out even Mr. V didn't expect her to be that way. She cried for couple of minutes on my chest while I looked at her and cried. The nurse took her then to clean, measure, and weight her.
Mr. V had time to call my parents and his brother before we started pushing. They wanted to be at the hospital at any time night or day to meet our baby girl. It was great to see my parents and to know that my BIL and SIL were there too and on time (they are always late) :)Our room was filled with joy and laughter as everyone was looking at Ariela.
Ariela was born at 2:14am, weighted 7lb 6oz and was 19.5 inches. We came home after spending two nights at the hospital and were learning from each other ever since.
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