On March 11, I had a non stress test to check on baby and even though he looked great, the doctor recommended we move forward with an induction due to the possibility I had choleostasis. After discussing the risks with the doctor, we agreed inducing would be the best idea.
We picked Danny up from day care early and spent the afternoon with him. We hung out and played trains, went for a walk, got the house ready for the grandparents who were coming to stay with Danny and went to In and Out Burger for dinner.
Grandma Susan came over to spend the night with Danny and we left for labor and delivery. We arrived and got checked in around 8:15pm, completed admission paperwork and they took us to L&D Room 5-the same room that Danny was born in! They did an initial check and I was 2-3 cm dilated and about 50% effaced so they got the pitocin started at 10pm. I was having somewhat regular contractions but they were not painful and not making me progress much. They increased the pitocin every hour or so and we spent a LOT of time walking the halls to hopefully help him move lower. I had already decided I was getting an epidural and knew that once that was administered that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed so wanted to move around as much as possible before that.
At 4am I decided to go ahead and get the epidural. I still wasn’t feeling much pain but wanted to be able to sit still for the process to ensure it was done correctly. About 5 minutes after the epidural was completed I started to feel very lightheaded, clammy and nauseous. Apparently my IV fluids ran out at the same time as my epidural was placed so it made for a pretty uncomfortable 15 minutes. After that, I felt great. I thought being stuck in bed would be super uncomfortable, but it wasn’t bad at all. I occasionally felt some tightness of a contraction but never painful.
Slow but steady. The next few hours went by very slow. It seems that any sign of regular contractions I was having had stalled. Contractions became irregular and they continued to increase the poticin every hour or less hoping to move things along. We both spent this time trying to get some rest and relaxation. At 7am I was still 5 cm dilated but he had dropped a little bit and I was 80% effaced. They increased the pitocin to 30ml which is typically the highest they go. The midwife tried to break my water but was unsuccessful. Slow and steady. We were worried how long they would let me go on like this before recommending a c-section. We were assured that this was pretty normal for an induction and we still had lots of time for things to get going.
At 8:30am during a check, the nurse broke my water and said that he seemed a little bit lower. After this happened I started to get strong, regular contractions and felt hopeful that things were finally moving. At around 9:15am I was up to 7cm and they placed an internal contraction monitor to see exactly how strong my contractions were. By 9:40am I was fully dilated and they began to really prepare for the pushing phase. At 10am I did some practice pushes and it seems that he was still a little high up so the midwife (who we loved!) decided to try and let gravity do the work instead of me. My bed was lifted up and after about a half hour we did more practice pushes and decided to let gravity do more work. During this time I still felt no pain or pressure but could feel him moving down. Each time the nurses walked in I kept pushing my epidural button to make sure I was covered.
At 11:15 we tried again and he was ready to be born! I pushed 3-4 times during each contraction (which I couldn’t feel and needed the nurse to tell me when they were happening). In between contractions I felt relaxed and was having conversations with those in the room. I did need some oxygen in between pushes as I started to feel light headed. After about 4 contractions and at 11:31am Ryan Matthew Ludwig was born sunny side up, just like his big brother! He weighed 8 lbs, was 20 inches long and his head was 14 ½ inches. Apgars were 9 and 9.
He was immediately placed on my chest as he was cleaned up with some towels. Randy cut the cord and continued to be right there. I could hardly believe he was here! He started nursing after a few minutes and seemed to be a natural! After a half hour or so they took him to be weighed, cleaned up and examined. Randy stayed by his side and helped put on his first diaper.
This experience was very different than the last time and I think I owe it all to a working epidural. I felt almost no pain. The worst parts were getting the IV put in, lovely cervical checks (before the epidural) and the epidural process itself. It is unbelievable how much more relaxed I was during this process and how I just let things happen. It made both me and Randy much more relaxed and ready to welcome our second son into the world! Happy Birthday Ryan Matthew!
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