So I was started on Pitocin at 5pm. At 6pm they had the shift change for nurses and I met my nurse, Danette, who by the end of the whole process felt like a dear friend. They started the pitocin dose low and increased it every hour. The combination of the pitocin and the balloon caused active labor to come pretty quickly. When I started having contractions they were very frequent and painful. The balloon is made to fall out once I'm dilated over 3cm so that was my goal before getting the epidural. Honestly I was afraid to get it too soon because one of the IV nurses said in passing that I could get it too early therefore causing it to wear off/be less effective by the time baby came...more on that later!
So then we started the waiting game. And by waiting I mean contractions every 2 or 3 minutes and they were about 60 secounds in length with a peak in the middle. Phil was great and counted me down through each one. We tried a dose of Fentanyl to help with pain relief and it worked for about 15 minutes. The second dose did nothing other than make me feel loopy for a few minutes. At this point both Phil and Danette were very sweet in kindly suggesting the epidural. We all knew that I had decided to have an epidural before going in, it was just a matter of when. Again, I was afraid of getting it too early. When I voiced my concern to Danette she said epidurals are different for everyone. Some may wear off
slightly but they keep the dosage up so thats not usually an issue, some get the epi and it helps the body relax and labor/delivery happens quickly and others its just a normal pain killing procedure and it does what its supposed to do-you really can't know so why plan on something wearing off/not working when you can't really know? I remember trying to make it through a half hour of "America's Got Talent" and crying through every contraction. Feeling reassured by Phil and Danette I asked for the epidural.
I love my anesthesiologist. :) He talked me through everything, made me feel very at peace and around 10:30 (after 4 or so hours of contractions) I had the epidural. It wasn't painful at all and helped me get some needed rest in those middle hours of the night. I did keep having to roll over every so often to help distribute the epidural to both sides of my body and to adjust the monitors on my stomach but I got some broken sleep. I'm glad that I had the support I did throughout all of the labor and the decision making processes. I couldn't have asked for more from Phil or for a better nurse! Dr. Grover came to break my water around 12am and said I'd probably see her sometime tomorrow as first labors can take in her words "14-16 hours".
Danette kept checking my progress throughout the early morning and by 4am I was at a 9 1/2cm and she told me it was about time to push. I thought, ok, that means a few hours. Nope, 5 minutes later we were pushing through contractions. I'd had my epidural level adjusted a couple times throughout the night. I know it takes a lot to numb me (I usually feel a lot at the dentist!) so I went in knowing I'd need adjustments to the epi levels. By 4am I needed another adjustment but they didn't want to do too much in order to allow me to push effectively. I felt the contractions in my mid-pelvic area so I knew I didn't just need to roll over to distribute the meds. In hindsight this allowed me to know exactly when the contractions were coming and maybe even helped me push effectively. Who knows? With each contraction I'd push 3 times and after about 14 minutes of pushing the baby was crowning and we kind of had to wait for Dr. Grover to arrive. I felt on top of the world as Danette kept telling other nurses who were prepping the room that "this was my first one. Look at her push! She's fast." Those are great words to hear when you're in labor! :) We waited about 10 minutes and then Julie arrived and Danette told her she thought we may have had the baby without her. This let me know how close this all was to being done. After a couple more pushes they told me to look down and see my beautiful baby girl.
I couldn't believe it. There was a baby, that had come from inside me and now she was in this world. She was ours. She was born at 4:32am, weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. They put her on my chest and she was quiet as can be. The room was dimly lit so she worked to open her eyes and I saw my little girl look up at me for the first time. I was a mom. In that delivery room in a hospital in Provo, a miracle had just happened right in front of our eyes. We had a little baby girl. She was beautiful. She stole our hearts immediately.
I had plenty of time with little Jayne and Phil was also able to hold her while I was being tended to. Around 6:30am it was time to head down to the maternity ward. I was really still in a state of shock as I sat down in the wheelchair and they placed the baby, my baby, in my arms. I had gone through labor. I had gone through delivery. We had a baby girl!
We stopped at the nursery first where Phil stayed with Jayne through her first bath and a few other tests. Meanwhile was settled into our room and felt a little exhausted. We didn't sleep much at all the night of delivery and the following day. It was all so exciting. I just wanted to hold Jayne all day and night. Even when I was exhausted I tried to stay awake just to hold her that much longer.
Jayne Lee Bennallack
We are so happy that Jayne came into this world happy and healthy. She is the heart of our home now and we love her so much. Thank you Jayne for coming into our little family and making us parents, the best job ever. We love you!
