By the end of my pregnancy, I had been experiencing contractions regularly, so when they started up on July 3, I didn't expect anything to come of it. At about 4:00 in the afternoon, my contractions were about 8-10 minutes apart and getting stronger. I decided to take a shower and get the kids ready, just in case. By 6:00, I knew that I was definitely in labor, and called my friend to come over and take care of my kids. When my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart, my husband and I decided it was time to leave for the birth center.
When we got there, I was hooked up to a monitor so the nurse could check out my contractions. Since I had been in labor about five hours, I hoped that I was at least four centimeters dilated. I was not happy to find out that I was only at two, and about ninety percent effaced. We were told that we could either wait at home awhile longer, or walk the halls. Even though we lived 40 miles away, we decided to go home so my husband could get some sleep. I could not sleep through the contractions!
Later that night, the contractions were getting quite painful, and my back hurt very bad. We decided that we'd better go back to the hospital. By the time we got there, I was in a lot of pain. I was discouraged to find that I was only 3 cm dilated. This time they decided that we should stay. I had decided to have this baby natural; I figured that if I could do it once, I could do it again. But the pain was very different this time; my back ached terribly, and the pain didn't go away when the contraction was over. As it turned out, the baby was turned sideways in the birth canal, instead of face down. Something inside must have been pushing against my spine. After 12 hours of labor, I found out that I was only 5 cm. dilated, and gave up on the "natural" idea. I had had demerol before and really disliked it ( it made me feel dizzy and out of control), so I decided to have an epidural.
The procedure wasn't too bad, but I did have some funny pains down my back and legs while she was inserting the tube. It felt like little electrical shocks. Nobody had ever mentioned this to me before. It wasn't too bad, though. What was bad was the I.V. The first time she tried to get it in, she hit a valve. I ended up with a four inch bruise on my arm. In fact, my arm was a bunch of bruises, because they also had trouble with my blood test. Maybe I have bad veins, I don't know. Anyway, by this point I was feeling very disappointed with the whole experience. Everything was so much more difficult than my last labor. But as soon as that epidural kicked in, I felt like a new woman. I felt really wimpy about having to have the medication, but it was really worth it. I realize now that you can't really make those decisions before you go into labor, because every experience is so different. I could not have guessed that after one easy labor, I would have 18 hours of back labor. Even though I was able to do without medication before, this labor was a totally different experience. And it really didn't turn out to be all bad, because this time I was able to really enjoy the actual delivery. When I delivered naturally, I hated the pushing stage; I found it to be really painful, and was so relieved when it was over. But this time I could feel all of the pressure and the urge to push, but none of the pain. I felt so good and so in control! I was even able to reach down and help deliver the baby myself. It was actually fun! And he only took ten minutes to come out. The last time it took forty. I guess it's not always true that an epidural slows down labor. I progressed much faster after I had it. The one thing that surprised me this time is that they never broke my water. It didn't break until I was at ten cm. and the nurse reached in to examine me. I was beginning to wonder if the baby was going to be born still inside the bag!
Looking back on the experience, I am really glad that I was able to experience both kinds of births. There really are advantages to both. If I ever had another baby, I would prefer to forego the epidural, mainly because I felt so much better immediately after the birth ( no numbness, etc.) But if I ever had back labor again, I would not feel bad about the decision to have an epidural. In a difficult labor, the epidural can really make the difference between a bad experience and a good one. And no matter how the delivery goes, none of it matters at all when you get to hold your little one for the first time.
