Once her water was broken, her temperature came down and the pitocin started to kick in to aid in her contractions, we felt like we were getting somewhere. The contractions were more cosistent and often. After a significant amount of laber, the time came to make a decision about receiving and epidural, and this time around, my wife opted for it. With how large of a head my daughter had, we decided this might help her move along easier and help her remember things better as well, not being in so much pain.
The epidural was put in, but it wasn't quite working right. The whole right side of her body went numb, as it should, however, her left side wasn't quite getting the drugs so her contractions were still hurting her quite a bit. The doctor came in AGAIN, and removed the epidural and gave her a fresh stick. Having already been numb, she was having trouble staying upright so I had to work on holding her up. It wasn't too tough, but kind of funny. Like taking care of a drunk child.
The eipdural started to work a bit better this time, but it still wasn't right. We were happ with where we were, so we just left it and moved forward. The contractions were coming more frequently and she had dilated enough to begin pushing. NOW FOR THE FUN!
Her legs up in the stirrup and pushing against herself, you will never see a woman work so hard when they are working at bringing their child into the world. It's a scary and awe-inspiring sight. You never want the person you love to be in so much pain, but the outcome is without a doubt worth it.
We spent about 40 minutes pushing and the doctor decided that we needed to help the baby break through the barrier of her pelvis and they brought out the vacccuum. Not something anyone really wants to hear, but our baby was having trouble recovering after each push, so we needed to help it along.
The vaccuum was attached and the doctors were able to grab a hold of the baby's head. It was difficult to watch as the cup at the end only holds a small portion of their scalp to aid in pulling the baby along. However, it was definitly worth it to help pull it out. It only took a couple more pushes and the baby was out.
When it came down to things going right with our birth plan, none of it was. But the one things my wife wanted was for me to tell her the sex of our child. Our nurse, one of her good friends and coworkers, was informed of this and she stopped the room, let everyone know it was my turn to tell everyone the sex. So I looked in as the doctor held the newborn in her hands and was able to whishper to my wife through some tears welling up that we now had a boy.
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