Induction Day

At 38 weeks Dr. Tamanaha decided that I could be induced at 39 weeks. I was so excited to finally have our baby (and not be pregnant anymore). We decided that I would go in to the hospital on Sunday at noon and have Dr. Lepetich start the induction process. This way I was likely to deliver when Dr. T started his call shift on Monday. Rich worked the night before so he only was able to get about 3 hours of sleep. I didn't sleep either. On Saturday "nesting" kicked in. I was in super cleaning/organizing mode. I sure over did it! When I finally stopped cleaning I almost couldn't walk everything hurt so bad. The achy body and over-active mind kept me up for most of the night.

Sunday morning arrived and Rich and I put the bags in the car, ate some cereal (they told me to eat a light breakfast) and headed to the hospital. At about 2:00 the nurse put the first gel in. I had to lay flat for the first hour then walk for the second hour. After the walk I was having some decent contractions, but my cervix hadn't changed so they put another gel in and the process was repeated.  Much to our dismay the second gel also didn't have any effect on my cervix. At this point Dr. Alperin was on call so he decided to put a cervidil in for 12 hours so I could get some sleep and be ready to have the baby in the morning when Dr. T  was on call. My mom arrived from Sierra Vista to be with us just before the second gel was put in. She walked the hospital halls with me so Rich could actually get some sleep. He was very grateful for that!

The cervidil made me contract like crazy. All of the contractions were in my back so it was pretty miserable. All I could think about was wanting to walk to progress the labor. So every hour I got up and walked. At about 3 am my nurse, Michelle, (a friend and old co-worker of mine) checked my cervix and I was still at 1cm. We decided that I should try and get some sleep. Michelle gave me an ambien and an hour later it hadn't done anything. The contractions hurt too bad to sleep through. We decided to try the stadol. Prior to labor I swore that I would never take the stuff cause I hated the way that it made moms and babies feel. However, I was sure that it would be out of my system by the time the baby came so Michelle gave me a half dose. I started hallucinating. Rich and my mom got a good laugh. I thought Rich had a gun and that bunny rabbits were sweeping my contractions away. I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep with 2 doses of stadol. I felt much better after getting to sleep! It was a long night full of frustration and pain, but the reward the next day was well worth it!

39 weeks and 1 day

Daddy had to show off his "preggo" belly too