As the midwife was preparing to check my cervix she was also very negative and kept saying I was probably not having any changes because this was my first pregnancy and I was only 38 weeks etc. Well lo and behold I was dilated to a 2 and was 50% effaced and the baby had been in the right position for weeks now.
Matt and I went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory for our "last meal" and I ate all of my food and his because I knew the hospital wouldn't let me eat once I checked in and I like my food (incidentally my bag was packed with lots of hidden goodies).
I went in to the hospital to be induced at 8:00 on Thursday July 14. We got all checked in and got all settled into my sweet hospital room. They started out with the IV of course and I just about freaked. I HATE needles and the nurse was trying to get some blood for my dray and couldn't and ended up giving me a huge bruise that ran half way down my forearm. So the IV was annoying in itself and then my arm was so tender because it was all bruised up. I thought right then and there this could be a very long, uncomfortable stay. They gave me my first dose of Citotec (sp?) which helps ripen your cervix for labor. So the plan was to take Citotec every 3 hours until about 6 am and then they can start the pitocin 4 hours after the last dose. Sometimes the Citotec in itself can put you into labor and the pitocin can be avoided. That's what I wanted, and like I said, I get what I want. So they gave me Citotec at 9pm and Matt and I got ready for bed and talked a little bit about baby names. He still wanted Troy and I still wanted Kyler. Sometime during the night we came to an agreement on Kyle.
I got another dose of Citotec at midnight and then tried to get some sleep but the bed was so uncomfortable and I kept having to use the bathroom etc. so I never ended up being able to fall asleep. My water broke on it's own at 3 am and they came in shortly after to give me some more Citotec. The nurse asked me if I had gotten any sleep and I told her I hadn't. She kept telling me I needed my rest and I knew I did because I had worked all day and been awake for almost 24 hours already. She offered me some ambien to help me sleep and I took that around 4 am. Right around then the contractions started getting more intense and more regular. I felt like I was ready to go but the monitor had slipped off my belly so the nurse had no idea. I dealt with those and still didn't get any sleep for about another hour and a half or so. Finally the nurse came back in to give me my last dose of Citotec and I told her about my contractions so she said let's get you an epidural so you can sleep. I thought that I still had several hours before they were even going to start my labor so I agreed. The anesthesiologist came in and I was like I really need to use the bathroom first (even though I had literally just been in there and hadn't been able to do anything). Then the nurse decided to check my cervix and realized I was ready to deliver. I went ahead and still did the epidural around 6 am I think. Then they waited for the midwife to come in. I think I started pushing around 7 am and Kyle was born on July 15th at 7:41 am weighing a whopping 5 lbs 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long.
Even though I had to be induced and ended up using the Ambien and the epidural I am very happy with the way Kyle's birth went. I was in the delivery room for less than 12 hours and ended up with a very healthy and alert baby boy. I am a bit nervous to have to give birth again because everything went so smoothly this time. I didn't get to do an all natural labor like I had been planning on but I was still really grateful for all of the techniques that I learned in my hypnobirthing class to prepare my mind and my body for a "smooth, easy labor".
