It all started on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, when I had some pains in my left side. I figured that I had eaten something that didn't agree with me or I overdid it that day, so I took some Tums and ignored it at first. My mom was in town and we had been out and about earlier in the day. We had gone to the car wash and I helped vacuum out the car despite my mom telling me not to. The pain went away for a bit, but came back later on and was worse. I knew that if I had pains on my right side or the top of my rib cage that it might indicate preeclampsia. But since the pain was on my left side, I didn't think preeclampsia was the case. The pain got worse instead of better, so I decided to call my OB's office. It was about 7pm at this time, so I talked with the after-hours nurse first who passed along the message to my OB. She called me back right away and I described what was going on. She decided I should come get checked out just to be safe.
I still didn't really think I would wind up having my babies anytime soon, but decided to bring along my hospital bag. I thought maybe bringing it along would ensure I wouldn't need it just yet. My mom drove me to the hospital and Adam ended up meeting us there on his way home. I started in triage where they took my vitals, had me give a urine sample and took some blood. I was feeling pretty good at this point and still was convinced I would be sent back home. But it turned out that I had protein in my urine and my blood work showed signs of preeclampsia. I was also pretty swollen at this point. My feet and legs had been slowly swelling, along with my face and hands. It was so gradual, that I hadn't really noticed just how swollen I had become.
With a diagnosis of preeclampsia, I was admitted around 10pm. My OB was just finishing up a shift, so she checked in with me before she left. I was scheduled to have my pessary removed two days from then on Friday, but she went ahead and removed it then. Let me tell you, it was no picnic! That sucker was clamped on my cervix pretty tightly. After a bit of tugging, my doctor got it removed. There were a few nurses in the room at the time and none of them had seen a pessary like the one I had. They were all standing around, watching the whole ordeal go down. I really feel like that pessary was the whole reason my babies stayed put as long as they did. My doctor also cleared out a bunch of progesterone that had collected in my nether regions. It was quite a lot! After all that, she was able to tell that I was 2 cm dilated. She also checked to see the position of the babies via ultrasound. Both babies were head down, which was a good sign. That meant I could try for a vaginal delivery.
Since I had started to dilate and I had preeclampsia, my doctor decided to induce me that evening. The first step was to get some IV's started. I was Strep B positive, so I was given IV antibiotics. I was also given saline to help keep fluids in me. Finally, I was given magnesium to help prevent any seizures. Apparently women with preeclampsia have a risk of seizures.
Even though I was dilated, my cervix still needed to be softened. So my doctor inserted some cytotec to help get things moving. That didn't seem to do too much for me, so the next thing she tried was something called Cervidil. It's some sort of medication attached to a string that sits near your cervix. It releases medication that helps your cervix soften. After this was inserted, the nurse told Adam and I to get some rest. So Adam popped in some earplugs and went to sleep on the couch in the room. There was no way I was going to go to sleep at this point. Not only was I excited and scared and nervous about the idea of having my babies so soon, but I was starting to get mighty uncomfortable.
I started having more consistent contractions. They weren't super painful, but I could definitely start to feel them. Around 4:30 in the morning, my water broke. I swear Archer decided that he was going to get things moving and I felt a pop as my water broke. I'm pretty sure Archer punched through his bag of water. Then I felt water seeping out of me. I called Adam's name several times, but he couldn't hear me since he had put in his earplugs. I was kinda mad at him at this point. So I pushed the call button for the nurse. She came in and confirmed that my water had indeed broken.
She left and Adam was still asleep on the couch. After my water broke, I really felt the contractions. They were so incredibly painful! I couldn't believe the difference! I had two contractions and then decided to call the nurse again and ask for an epidural. I remember thinking about how I had wanted to have a natural birth. HA! My OB had recommended that I get an epidural when we had discussed my options earlier in my pregnancy. I remember thinking, "Well, we'll just see how things go." I thought I would be able to handle the pain. I was wrong. I couldn't push that call button fast enough!
The nurse came back in and said that contractions are typically stronger after your water breaks. I told her to wake up Adam at this point. I figured if I had to be in pain, he could at least be awake! The epidural fairy came to my room pretty quickly, thankfully. I had been nervous about getting an epidural prior to feeling any contractions. I wasn't the least bit nervous after I felt those contractions. I sat up in bed and leaned against Adam as the epidural was put in. All I felt was a tiny, little prick as the initial numbing shot was given. All I felt afterwards was relief. Sweet, beautiful relief.
That relief was short-lived...as you'll find out in the next part.
On a side note, who knows how long it will take for me to write the next part! It's taken me a month to write this first part. Apparently two babies require almost all of my attention almost all of the time. Who knew!? :)
Here's a cute picture of Archer and Lyla to hold you over until part 2:
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