On Monday Oct. 17th, 2011 Jaime and I went to check into the hospital at 4pm to be admitted for induction but we were told there were no beds available until 6pm. Jaime's mom was already taking care of Isaiah, so with luggage in hand Jaime and I left the hospital and decided to chill in town for a few hours until I could get admitted. We went to the mall to finish up my last minute errands that I wasn't able to get too (purchasing my favorite Ugg slippers and facial foundation). Six 0' clock rolls around and there are still no beds available. . . "try back at 8 pm," we were told. So we decide to go have a nice and relaxing dinner at one of our favorite restaurants CPK. Eight o' clock rolls around and there are still no beds available. I am also told that four new patients have arrived in active labor which puts me further down on the priority list. I am told that when a bed does become available they will call me; whether that be in a few hours or the early morning they could not determine. At this point Jaime and I decide to go back home. Relaxed and happy to get in one last date night together I was in good spirits. Isaiah was thrilled to see us return home (he was napping when we had originally left for the hospital).
The waiting begins. My mom arrives into town at 11pm and we stayed up talking until 1230 am. At this point I am almost positive I won't be called until morning so I head off to bed. Just as I settle into some sort of sleep (remember I am 40 weeks pregnant) the hospital calls at 2 am and tell me to come on in. The cervidil (which dilates my cervix over a 12 hr period is started at 4 am on Tuesday, Oct. 18th 2011. Mind you October 18th is my younger sister's birthday and Gabe's (Jaime's close cousin's) birthday.
Before the cervidil is started I am dialated to 1 cm but Jonathan's head has not descended at all. Four and a half hours later(0830 am) I am checked and dilated to 1.5 cm and a station of -3 (-5 means the head has not dropped at all to a +5 means you are about to deliver). So needless to say things were progressing SLOWLY. Around noon I decide to get up and walk the halls. Jaime feeling like a complete idiot (but being supportive) walked up and down the L&D halls with me for thirty minutes. When I got back into the room the cervidil "line" had fallen out completely. . .OPPS:) My doctor had to be called and asked what he wanted to do next-restart the cervidil or start the pitocin? Pitocin was started at 2:30pm. I am still in no pain and can't get over that fact. At 1 cm with Isaiah I thought I was going to die (turns out I was having back labor with him). Once pitocin was started I got out of bed and started doing squats. This semi-breaks my water. At 542 pm my doctor completely breaks my bag of water, tells me I am 3 cm dilated and Jonathan's head has descended. My pain is still only at a 1 on the 1-10 pain scale. Sometimes the pain would creep up to a three but even then I was in such disbelief that I was actullay having strong contractions and able to bear the pain with ease.
My epidural was put in at 7pm by the best anesthesiologist in town(the perks of working in the medical field). I will never forget that feeling of euphoria. I was the most comfortable I'd been in ten months. My body felt as light as a feather. I had complete inner peace. Jaime and my mom's banter back and forth did not bother me in the least anymore. (They decided to change Jonathan's name to Ethan at one point). I was now one happy, overly satisfied and very comfortable girl.
Luckily for me my mom is a great cheerleader during labor. Over the next couple hours she had me turning from side to side and doing deep breathing through my contractions. If it wasn't for her encouragement I would have retired there in my euphoric bliss for days:)
At 11 pm (Oct 18) I was finally at 10 cms and my nurse tells me she will go wake my doctor so I can start pushing. My response, "well I've made it this far can we wait one more hour so he can have his own birthday?" And believe it or not she was all for it! So I took the next hour meditating and enjoying my last hour of of stillness. The nurse would peak under the covers every so often just to make sure Jonathan's head hadn't popped out:) Jaime, my mom, and mother in law all sat there in bewilderment. Jaime had been waiting since 4 am for this moment to come and now I was going to stall the process!??!! What can I say? That epidural was something else:)
At midnight on Wednesday Oct. 19th, 2011 I began to push and at 1213 am Jonathan was born! All it took was one look at our beautiful and healthy baby boy for Jaime to know he was a Jonathan. JONATHAN MICHEAL TORRES-7 lbs 12 Oz, 21.5" long-WITH HIS VERY OWN BIRTHDAY- Oct 19, 2011 1213am.
