A long birth story

The birth story of Morgan Elizabeth is amazing. It is not at all how I had thought it would be. Which means it was completely opposite of the way Alyssa's birth story was.

When we finally got to the hospital at about 3:00 pm on Tuesday, they broke my water and checked me. I was 6 centimeters dilated. They got my stuff going and I waited for the contractions to get harder and quicker.

I really debated trying to get the epidural. With Alyssa they had tried FOUR times to get the epidural to work and they thought they had got it, but I still felt ALL of the pain from the pitocin induced contractions. So, I was leary. The epidural hurt, I remembered and for it to not work, was it worth it again? Plus, the epidural must have hit a nerve because my right leg was numb for over 8 hours. I couldn't even walk on it to go to the bathroom the next day after having Alyssa.

Well, it was probably about 5:00 pm and I was getting uncomfortable. The contractions were not unbearable, but they were painful. The nurse checked me again and she said I was still at 6. So, I figured I mine as well get the epidural. I figured that I would try and if it didn't work, at least I tried to get it again. So, she called the anesthesiologist and I waited patiently. The anesthesiologist came in at about 6:00 and I got the epidural. One poke and it was in. It was still uncomfortable and I hate that feeling, but it only happened once so I was happy. They did the test run and my BP started to drop. It dropped pretty low and I was feeling very nauseous. I could see Gary's face and he was worried. But, they kept putting antibiotics in my IV and after about 15 minutes, my BP started to rise again. I could start to feel the numbness in my legs and I couldn't feel the contractions as much. The epidural had worked!! I was so excited.

The nurse then checked me and I was 9 centimeters dilated. What the heck?!? How did I go from 6-9 so quickly. The doctor came in shortly after and checked me...I was 10. She asked if I was ready to push and I said that I didn't know. I wasn't feeling anything. No pressure, no contractions. She told me when I was having a contraction and to start pushing. But then my contractions started to slow down. She actually waited over 8 minutes for me to have one. She ordered to put me on pitocin to get those contractions regular. I wasn't worried, because the epidural was working and I wouldn't feel those pitocin contractions much.

So, we waited another 20 minutes for the pitocin to kick in. Then she came back and we started to push again. I could feel the pressure more and I knew better when to push, but it really wasn't that painful. All the sudden at 7:34 pm, Morgan was born and the doc put her on my belly. I couldn't believe that she was here. It didn't feel right because when I had Alyssa, I was in so much pain, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I almost felt like I didn't deserve Morgan because I wasn't in much pain.

Completely different from last time. With Alyssa, I wouldn't look at ANYONE! I kept my eyes shut as I had one painful contraction after another with NO BREAKS! This time, Gary, the doctor, the nurse and I were laughing at stupid jokes as I was pushing. Last time, I had third degree tears and tons of stitches. This time first degree tears with a couple stitches. (Morgan's head is much smaller...LOL). Last time, I yelled at Gary and my mom all of the time. This time, we joked and laughed. Total labor last time was about 9 hours, this time 4 1/2 hrs. (Although I had been feeling cramping for days, which was probably labor. I didn't have that with Alyssa). I was able to shower only 2 hours after having Morgan, where I couldn't shower for a day after Alyssa (because of the numb leg).

And this just starts the constant comparison of one child to the next...LOL!

Well, if you got through this you are amazing. I debated posting the birth story, but I figured that I wanted to have it written down for myself, so that is why I wrote it.