Ramona Caroline is Here

3 Weeks already?  Oh my, how the time has flown.

We welcomed Ramona Caroline into the world Tuesday, October 5, 2010.  She was 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long.  Born at 22:22 with much pain and agony.

Seriously, I think this was the most painful of all my births... it could have had to do with the fact that I was tired and worn out from labor... or it could have had to do with the fact that because I was tired and worn out and had lost my focus, I demanded pain medication.  It wore off right about the time I hit transition.  My biggest fear realized... Really, that's why I opted out of pain medication for all my other deliveries.  Now I know. 

It all started on Monday night with a dose of Cervidil to ripen my cervix.  With my 38 week pregnant belly measuring 43 weeks gestation, I settled in for the night with my Ambien while Matt and Hailey tried to get comfortable on the crappy hospital furniture sans medication.  8 am Tuesday morning brought no results so the Pitocin was started.

I've been induced for 4 out of the 6 times I've delivered babies and even the ones whose labor started naturally a definite pattern has been detected.  It takes FOR.EV.ER. to get things started.  I could walk around for a few weeks dilated to 3 and then even after labor starts things are very slow moving until about 6 cm.  Then BAM! 7-8-9-10-BABY in less than an hour.  I know this about myself.  I told the nurses who were with me all day that this was my normal pattern, so I wasn't too worried at noon when I was only dilated about 1 cm, the same as I was the week before at the doctor's office.  I was having contractions and they were regular but they were not being overly productive.

We Skyped with the boys who were waiting at home, we watched a marathon of Billy the Exterminator on TV, and Matt and Hailey ate breakfast, lunch and dinner before things started to look promising.  The contractions were wrapping around into my back... oh, the wonderful back labor that I am so familiar with.

For some reason they would not allow me to roam.  Just getting them to allow me to be upright in a chair was a fight.  By 4pm  I was adamant that they let me get up and walk around.  They agreed as long as I promised to come back every 15 minutes to be monitored... The first 10 minutes I was out and about I had 7 contractions.  WaHooo!

My 2nd attempt didn't get me past the nurses station when my water started to break.  Funny way to word that I know... but it took about an hour for me to gush out all the fluid that was hanging out in there!  I soaked through towel after towel, chucks pad after chuck pad...  2 changes of bed sheets and a few mop ups of the floor before it slowed down enough to consider it done.  "Copious amounts" one nurse commented.  I had set some kind of record in her mind and 33 years experience in Labor and Delivery. 

Without all that extra pressure my uterus relaxed a bit and contractions slowed.  I knew this was where the rubber meets the road, the real fun stuff was going to happen... and like every other time I had gotten to this point... I started to cry...

To be continued