Ashtin's Birth Story Part 3

I was scheduled to be induced on July 12th at 6:30 AM. I was dilated to a 3 for the past 2 weeks (I received my epidural with Caden at a 2). My parents were already in town to watch Caden and Finley and I remember sleeping quite a bit on the 11th. Around 10:00 PM 7/11 (Wednesday), I decided that I should take a shower and start packing in preparation for the next day. Since being induced with Caden and Finley, I really didn't know what a contraction felt like. After my shower I felt a lot of pain and took many trips to the bathroom. Kevin was already asleep. From 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM I attempted to "time" the contractions but couldn't remember for the life of me if it was start to stop or start to the next contraction. Around 11:30PM I decided that if I was timing the contractions correctly then they were 7 minutes apart. However, I really couldn't find a break from contraction to contraction. I woke Kevin up and told him to call the doctor (Yes, he did ask me for the number). Dr. B told us to meet him at the hospital and said "babies usually have a plan of their own." Drive to the hospital Doesn't every guy have a vision of racing to the hospital? We changed clothes and I went downstairs while holding my stomach hunched over during contractions. I waited and waited but Kevin was not coming. I opened the garage door and again hunched over during contractions started to get into the car. I honked the horn about 2 times at him and then he arrived. He told me that he woke my mom up to tell her that we were leaving so she would listen for the kids. I reminded him that my mom told us each night to not wake her up but just open up the door as a signal that we left. After voicing my frustration at him he had to go back into the house to get the keys. My bad mood of pregnancy was about to peak. During the drive he not only took the long route but also sat there at stop lights when it was after midnight and no cars in site. We checked in at the ER while I was still having active contractions. They asked so many questions and I couldn't understand why because I had completed all of the pre-registration paperwork. I was wheeled up to Labor and Delivery and my first announcement was that I wanted an epidural. The nurses worked quickly getting us to a room and changed. I knew that IF my water broke then I was really close to being in labor. I was in so much pain and knew from previous deliveries that I would need two bags of saline prior to receiving my epidural. After stating my knowledge of this several times one nurse was putting the Velcro baby monitor belt on me while the other was trying to get an IV started in between contractions. I was dilated to a 5. The nurse kept asking me questions again (example: birth weight of other kids, 1st date of last period - seriously was this necessary?) I refused to get the IV through my hand because it still ached from 2 years prior with Finley's delivery. I must have looked like a beached whale. I was on my right side with the bed up to high by my head and hanging on to the bed rail trying to get through the contractions. As irritated as could be I was yelling at the nurse about speeding up my epidural. She told me "mam, this is not a quick process as we have to get your blood work returned before I can receive an epidural." Kevin told me later that she was trying to hurry and put a blood pressure around the bag of saline to speed it along. I was offered Stadol which I do not like and got really loopy with Caden. I said to only give me half a dose. This was a mistake. Now I was dizzy, still having the contractions, and was vomiting. The room was about to get busy when I then announced that I felt like I had to push. I was now dilated to a 10 fully effaced baby crowned and NO EPIDURAL. I panicked. I asked for the other dose of Stadol, a spinal block, and gas. Another gal walked into the room in different color scrubs. I asked, "who are you." She was the OB on call as my doctor had not arrived. I pleaded with her to give me something which she said we can't because the baby may not tolerate the drugs. WHAT, I really did not care about the baby during the pain that I was feeling. They got me into a more comfortable position and told me that pushing would be the only way to end the pain. To be continued. . .