The epidural...oh man that was an experience. I've never had any serious medical procedures done before (never even broken a bone), so I was a little nervous. However, I was beyond exhausted so I just hugged my pillow and didn't move AT ALL while the anesthesiologist put it in. It was really strange not being able to feel or move my legs, but I was so thankful for the pain relief and for the ability to rest.
Around 4:30pm the doctor came in and said she was pretty concerned because I was still not really progressing in labor. It had been a pretty long time since my water had broken and because I couldn't feel the strength of my contractions anymore she wasn't able to tell much with the external monitor. She began internal monitoring to see better what was going on. She was so kind, knowing full well that I was committed to having a normal delivery. She encouraged us to talk together while she was out watching my monitors. She said we needed to begin considering plan B, which would be a c-section, if I did not begin dilating soon.
Those few moments of time were really precious for the two of us. A c-section was the LAST thing I had wanted or anticipated for my delivery. If you know me well you know that I tend to not respond well when things don't go according to plan or seem out of control. In this moment, however, God was so gracious to give me an out-of-the-ordinary perspective of trust in Him. DT and I both really experienced God' grace ministering to us in that short 30 minutes in the hospital room alone. We prayed together and I was able to relinquish my plan and we chose to let the Lord lead us through our doctor. We decided after praying that if the doctor thought it best we would go forward with the section.
She came back shortly (in a much shorter time than she had said she would) and let us know that she was very concerned because my contractions were strong enough for me to be in full labor. She then said that my cervix was lengthening, which was strange, because it appeared now that my labor was going backwards. She explained that she felt like there was something going on inside that was impeding the baby from engaging and she had serious doubt that I would be able to deliver him normally. She took such care to explain the c-section and answer all my millions of questions. We also had a WONDERFUL nurse who walked with us through this whole ordeal and answered all the questions we forgot to ask the doctor. They both were so committed to us having a good experience and went the extra mile for us.
We told the doctor that we were comfortable with doing the section if she thought it best. The peace I felt in telling her that was truly unexplainable. I am overwhelmed even as I'm writing because I see God was so near to us the whole process. I will never forget her response, "Let's go get him!"
Yay for good nurses!! Glad you had a good one!
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