Labor and delivery, day 2...

The (abridged) Story of Rachel's 34-Hour Labor and Delivery...

Day 2:

January 13, 2010

So, after a LONG painful night my second day in labor begins...


7:00 AM: I deserve (to try) to get more sleep so I call work and let them know that I won't be in until Noon.


9:00 AM: My mother calls. She wants to know why I'm not at work so I tell her the whole story and she tells me to call my doctor if I'm still in pain.


9:45 AM: The only appointment my doctor's office has is at 9:45. So, we RUSH around to get ready and all I can think about is...man, I didn't shower this morning..I should have showered yesterday. yuck! Somehow I get Captain Obvious as my nurse and she looks at me and asks, "Are you expecting?" Geez, lady...really? Am I so fat that you can't tell? I inform her that yes, I am expecting and in fact could be delivering any day now. After a quick check, the doctor declares that I am at 2 cm and since I wasn't that far along the previous evening they send me to Labor and Delivery for observation.


11:00 AM: My water FINALLY breaks and we all get ready for a baby!


1:30 PM: The epidural...alright! I take a nice snooze, check the monitor, and laugh as I watch the contractions come and go. Oh, if only I knew.... Jake takes this opportunity to watch a few movies- "Aliens" is among them.


3:30 PM: For some reason the epidural isn't working as well anymore. I can feel pain. I don't want to feel pain. So, I push the button.....a lot. Oops. I can't feel my legs anymore and won't feel them again for several hours. This is also about the time we realize that Rachel is face up (head down) and we get ready for a difficult delivery.


??????: I have no idea where the time goes and what's going on but I can tell you that the #$%^ hit the fan sometime in the afternoon. I have never been in so much pain! My back hurts so so sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad and to combat the pain, Jake spends the entire rest of the labor process applying pressure to my lower back.

9:00 PM: My family calls to let us know that they have all put bets on the delivery time. My 5-year-old nephew guesses 2:00. He'll be the closest.

9:30 PM: I finally hit 8 cm, and my doctors are becoming increasinly worried that I won't have enough energy when it comes time to push. Meanwhile, I continue to scream in pain and moan in frustration...most fun patient ever, I'm sure.

Midnight: We all watch as Midnight comes and goes and I'm still not dilated past 8 cm and we all start to wonder how much longer this can possibly go on.

And thus endth the second day...