Still going. K is just the Energizer bunny and I could not be more proud of her. By mid-morning, she was to 3 cm, but then the contractions sort-of faded out. By 2PM they decided to start oxytocin. At some point I will once again rant about the manufacturing process which is the labor & delivery floor (completely agreed to by the nurses), but now is not the time.
K has labored strongly with the oxytocin with intense lower back pain. She was up to 6 cm at last check, and the back pain was really getting to her. We decided that it was time to go forward with the epidural. For some reason I think K sees this as some kind of failure on her part, like she won’t be entitled to her “I’m a real mom” card or something. Sure we had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but it was always in our plan as an option. Last night she worked through 8 hours of hard rapid contractions with really no progress, which I think dug into her reserves. 8-10 hours of laboring on her own, and now 6 or so more with the oxytocin drip. She’s my hero and that’s all there is to it.
I’m getting a chance to write this post, because she’s relaxing now after the epidural insertion allowing the anesthesia to work into the nerves. After an hour or so, they expect to start ramping up the oxytocin… and then, it shouldn’t be long.
Oh… and now we have candidate names for a girl or a boy.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Thanks for the update!
Epidurals are a good thing, particularly with pitocin involved.
We’re all proud of her, too. These past few weeks must have been just all-but overwhelming in terms of stress, fatigue and frustration.
Hang in there, Kristin … sounds like it’s not long now.
–Heidi
ps. If it runs into tomorrow (hopefully not), you have Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ian McKellen, Frank Oz, and Mike Myers’ birthday to share.
May 24th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
We’re sitting here talking about our experience, and feeling like it was super easy compared to yours.
It’s 10 your time, so you’re probably into the ramped up pitocin plan by now. We certainly hope it smooths out for you soon.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:03 am
OK, Kristin - eliminate all thoughts about epidural = failure. They could have given you a shot of whiskey and a leather strap between your teeth, but medicine has come a long way since Dr. Quinn and we should all take advantage of it. Not to mention the fact that you were induced, which threw you for another loop.