He used his handy tool and ruptured my membranes, which came gushing out. They then started me on an Oxytocin drip which would cause contractions.
Throughout the rest of the morning the contractions did increase in strength and length. A nurse came in every 30 minutes to increase the amount of medication entering my system. Around 11am there was definitely a change in pain. I found it difficult to talk and all I could focus on was getting through the 30 second contraction.
I moved from the bed to a gliding rocking chair to help things along. As the pain increased the nurse asked if I wanted to sit in a hot bath. I had heard how much this can help with managing pain so I jumped at the chance. She checked my cervix first. I was at 4cm, and then I hopped into the tub. There was immediate relief sitting in the piping hot water. It was still painful but a little easier to breathe through.
As the water began to cool the story changed. It took all my focus to get through a contraction. Around 2:30pm I decided to get out of the tub and head back to the room. I was desperate for some medication.
The nice nurse (Lisa) paged the anestheologist. As I lay on the bed the pain became intense. My mom was by my side and I was squeezing her hand so hard the rings left an imprint. I couldn't open my eyes and could barely breathe. Half an hour later the drug doctor finally arrived.
They had me sit on the edge of the bed cuddling a pillow and between contractions he mapped out the proper location on my back. First he used a local freezing to numb the injection site, and then inserted the needle. I felt a little pain and what felt like a surge of electricity shoot down my left leg making it kick straight out. The whole process took about 10 mins from start to finish and from there took about another 20 mins before I felt no pain. What a relief!
The nurses re-hooked up all the monitors and got me settled in bed. Shortly after I mentioned to the nurse that I felt a little pressure in my rectum area. She went ahead and did another exam to check dilation. A shocked look came over her face and I asked what was wrong. She told me I was fully dilated. I had gone from 4cm to 10cm in just over an hour and the pressure I was feeling was the baby's head. She was so impressed! No wonder I was in so much pain, I had basically dilated the entire way without any pain medication.
So that's where I'm at right now. We are awaiting the ob's arrival so we can start the pushing process and meet our sweet baby James.
