Brendon Archer McMillen

Friday night, MCM and I went on our last pre-parent date. We went and saw a movie....I forget what movie. I'll come back to that part if I remember. MCM's brother-in-law sent us a text saying that this was our last date. Being fully confident and pessimistic, I replied back that nope it wasn't, we're going to have a full weekend. Ha. Little did I know what it would be full of.

Another round of contractions slowly started about 10pm-ish. I'm not sure of the time, but it was around then. We took it slow, put on a movie, and MCM fell asleep. These contractions were pretty intense, but nothing that I couldn't cope with. After the movie (yeah, I don't remember what it was either), I took MCM out for a walk. We stayed around close to the house, but quit after two contractions came because I couldn't walk through them. I wanted to stay home as long as I could, but soon we left, soon being 1am.

I got a wheelchair ride this time, and being checked in and situated to the room happened a whole lot more quickly than a few weeks ago. They hooked up their monitors, and check my dilation. SURPRISE! I was 5-6cm dilated! Yeah, no way they were going to let me go home (but now thinking of it, I could have gone home and come back with plenty of time!!) I convinced them not to put an IV in my hand, but in my arm (my hand was going to be kinda busy...). Once we knew we were staying and having this baby, we texted and called the appropriate family member and friends.

My mom, my sister Blondie, and Thing 2 came down (they didn't get there till about 5 or so). I got up and walked around, sat on the ball, breathed through contractions all morning long. It was kinda boring all morning long. I think I got up to 7 cm by 8am or so. Yes, it was going really slow. The contractions really just felt like really bad menstrual cramps, I get some pretty bad ones, but they were worse than those. The nurses and midwife encouraged me to not stay in bed and to move around and get in different positions. I was very active, well, as active as I could be with an IV and the monitors. About 11am, Lois, the midwife, came back in and it seemed I had hit a plateau. My water hadn't broken, and my contractions were slowing down.

So they popped the balloon. Oh my goodness, I thought they were digging for my belly button. Nevermind the fact that I was lying down and trying to go through contractions with her fingers inside. Then she popped it, and...nothing really happened. No gush, maybe a trickle, but no gush. I was post-due, so they wanted to be prepared for meconium at delivery (there wasn't though). The first contraction that came with my waters broken was like comparing a flash light beam to a stadium light. Oh my goodness! And on top of that, every contraction brought a gush. Every laugh (and my sleep-deprived family was pretty funny) brought a gush, and each gush brought a little laugh--it was a never ending cycle. We got pretty good at changing the pad in 2 minutes between contractions.

I know sometime I asked for some pain medicine. I don't know when it was, but I'm sure it was after I had my water broken. They gave me stadol. Now, I still was aware and felt each contraction, but it's like sleeping and realizing that someone turned on the light, but being so tired that you don't care. Oh, and the dreams I had. I remember something about a dragon, flowers, and something else. I could hear them talking about me. Someone said something about it being like Antarctica in the room, but I was sweating and almost said something, but didn't care enough to. I remember the contractions coming and being more aware of them. They were still not as bad as before, but because I had a little break from the intensity, they seemed stronger.

The stadol wore off, and the contractions tapered off AGAIN! Lois didn't want to go as far as pitocin just yet, so she suggested nipple stimulation. I think this about 1 or 2pm Saturday afternoon. Everyone else left the room, so it was just MCM and I. I tried to relax against him, but the contractions got stronger and closer together (it seemed that way to me), but I know that was the point. I was exhausted, I just couldn't cope with it any more. I really wanted to try natural, but knew I couldn't. And I was still at 7cm, stuck again.

Everyone was so wonderful, they were cheering me on, telling me how good I was doing. MCM was wonderful. He kept whispering to me I was doing so good. Maybe he wasn't whispering, but that's how it seemed to me. I think the anesthesiologist was in the room within 3 minutes of me asking for the epidural. I had to endure two contractions while they were doing their stuff. MCM held my head and rubbed my neck (that really helped me stay still) and soon my toes were tingling and the contractions were fading from my senses. It was a weird sensation, the epidural. Think of your legs falling asleep, but not quite there (still in the tingly stage), being able to fully move them--at least in bed, but not able to bear the weight--yet, not feeling anything but deep pressure.

I think I got the epidural about 2 or 3pm. I'll be back to finish later, I need to feed the baby.