You know how you have something in mind, but people keep telling you something different, you start to believe them? I fully expected to be induced on November 13th, but people kept telling me Lorelei would make her appearance between October 30th and November 11th. There were actual bets! It turnd out no one made any money, because I ended up being induced after all. But I sure did sit and wait for two weeks expecting her to come early, just because everyone was so sure!
The boys spent the night with their Nana Sunday night, and Michael and I got to Fort Sanders at 7:00 am Monday morning. By 8:00, I was hooked up in a bed and ready to go. They asked if I thought I'd want an epidural and I told them I wanted to try without it. I was only 2 cm at that point and no contractions - if I was able to do it with Caleb, I could certainly do it again.
For the next two hours Michael and I channel-surfed: Last Man Standing, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Scrubs. The nurse continued to come in and increase the Pitocin levels. It definitely started kicking in after a few hours and I started concentrating on my breathing, still pretty comfortable. By the time we got to the fourth hour and I had only made it to 4 cm, I was starting to reconsider the epidural. My focus wasn't on the TV much and my contractions were coming pretty regularly. Sometime during this period I started averaging one minute contractions every minute. The doctor broke my water to help things progress more quickly. I considered the timing (4 hours for 2 cm - this did not promise to be an enjoyable or short experience) and asked for the epidural. My version of Hebrews 13:21 continued through my head and carried me through the next several hours: You have equipped me with everything good, that I might do Your will and be pleasing in Your sight. The epidural definitely was a huge blessing and helped so much.....for a little while.
After a time, I noticed I could feel contractions on one side again. They told me to roll over, that gravity would help. It didn't. So they pushed a button to release more of the medicine. It also did not help. A while later they pushed it one more time and that made me completely numb - yay, I could do this now! The nurse checked me then and said, "Ok, let's get going."
"Uhm, going where?"
She laughed. "You're at 10 and ready to start pushing."
"What?! I was just at 4. How did that happen?"
"We turned the Pitocin up and it really speeds things up."
Throughout the last hour or two it seemed like I was continually gushing water. There was no end to this Niagra Falls. There was no holding it back and eventually I had to stop apologizing, because it was just ridiculous. The nurse thought it was funny.....or at least pretended she didn't mind it. After that things zoomed by. My nurse had me practice pushing once and said I had it down. She called in the doctor and nurses. Five pushes was all it took! Pretty impressive to me, because two hours earlier they had told me Lorelei was still hanging out pretty high up.
Unlike her brothers, Lorelei didn't scream, only letting out little, but healthy cries. Michael cut her cord, she was checked and wrapped up, and handed to Daddy. Everything was perfect; she was content with both Michael and me and stayed pretty happy for most of the hospital stay. The doctor apologized for not making a cut for me and said my recovery would be a little more difficult because I tore twice. That's not something you want to hear, but there was nothing to do about it now.
After that, it was just a lot of waiting again. My mother-in-law and the boys came to visit, then my mom and uncle, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. I was moved to my new room and was told I could possibly go home the next afternoon. This was what we wanted to hear! I hate the hospital stay; it's impossible to rest. Well, they forgot to test Lorelei's blood that first day and had to wait 24 hours to test it again and by the time the results came in, we were told we'd have to stay another day.
I started cramping quite a bit the second day and eventually asked for some pain killers at bedtime to try to help me get sleep this night, at least. I fed Lorelei, got her swaddled and sleeping, and got myself ready for bed. Boy did I suddenly feel tired! Like haven't slept in days tired - couldn't hold my eyes open tired. So I put a cold drink to my eyes (I recognized this exhaustion and knew a cold compress would help) and laid down. But it didn't help. In fact, it felt worse. I considered going to sleep anyway, but thought I should check to make sure I didn't get makeup in my eye or something that was irritating it. I didn't have makeup in my eyes. I could barely see my eyes - they were swollen nearly shut!
I paged a nurse and told them I thought I was having an allergic reaction. The nurse was reluctant to say I was, but after talking realized the only possible reactant would have been the Motrin. So, apparently I'm allergic to Motrin. She brought me Benadryl and told me to page her again if I felt like I couldn't breathe or like my throat was closing up. Thankfully it didn't get that bad, and my eyes were a little better when she checked on me an hour later. She told me to expect the swelling to stay for a day or so. She was right; I went home the next afternoon still somewhat swollen.
Everything from that point on was uneventful and boring. I hate the waiting with nothing to do. But we went home around lunchtime on the 15th and settled into our new lifestyle of a family of five. The boys adore Lorelei and are happy to hold her and compliment her. I know the novelty will wear off, but they sure are sweet now. I'm very glad to say Caleb is doing well with the transition and does not appear to be jealous. Hopefully that will last when life gets back to normal and school starts up again. For now, I'm very happy to be blessed with this little family of mine.
