15 Hours of Labor......No BabyYet

Once I was in the labor and delivery room I was so optimistic that labor would progress and I'd be holding a sweet baby in my arms by the end of the day.  Oh how wrong I was.....    Regardless of my plans and intentions this process was entirely up to mother nature and she had a different agenda.

By mid afternoon (12:55 pm) contractions had picked up in intensity but they were not coming as frequent as needed in order for labor to progress.  Carrie continued to work with me on different positions and movements to help things along but despite our best efforts labor kept stalling out and then restarting.  I really would have preferred snuggling with our baby over laying in bed for hours in pain.

Around 2:00 pm Dr. Tate came in to check on my progress.  Apparently some of my contractions were not being picked up by the belly monitor so Frazer started pressing the manual button on the machine so it would show up on the monitor screens for Dr. Tate and the nurses to see.

After 15 hours of labor I had another cervical exam to assess how much progress my body was making.  Cervical exams are administered in the middle of a contraction and it's excruciatingly painful.  The exam revealed progress but in my mind it was depressing progress.....only 4 cm dilated after 15 hours.  That's when Dr. Tate discussed options and his recommendation was to start administering Pitocin to induce labor.  Since my water broke at 2:30 am and the goal is to have the baby out within a 24 hour period to reduce the risk of infection for both mom and baby I agreed assistance was needed.  With nine more hours of that window left there was a great deal of progress to make.

While I waited for the Pitocin to arrive I used the opportunity to update to a few friends and asked for prayers for labor to pick up the pace.

8/11/13 7:45 pm

I knew once the Pitocin started contractions would pick up so I also used the opportunity to listen to a few guided meditations to help tune into myself and drop into my own little world.  I knew I would need to be centered and connected or what was to come.

I had long held the intention to go through labor without pain medication for the baby.  I was also fully aware this was going to be the toughest thing I've ever done.  However there is one thing I've learned and that's plan's and intentions change so I was also prepared to be open in the event labor took any unexpected turns. 

A bit earlier I heard a delivery next door and it was a bit shocking to hear.  I know the hard part is still to come and it's been an exhausting day.  It's hard to participate in a marathon with very little food for continued energy and I truly underestimated how draining hours and hours of contractions would be.  However I was comforted by the texts and messages I received from friends throughout the day.  It was so nice to receive the support and I never knew how much it would mean to me and it was certainly appreciated.  

It wasn't long after the Pitocin was administered that labor was taken to a whole new level.  The intensity and frequency quickly picked up.  At first I was very confident in my ability to process the pain.  I stayed in my zone, processed the pain and embraced the short rest periods.  I had a great support team with Frazer and Carrie both at my side.  How much could I take?  That's a different story....