Mom: Sue
Baby: Sean
Born April 3 (Due 4/3)
Birth: waters broke, induced labor, had epidural.
Sean was due 4/3 and, uncharacteristic of his mother, was right on time! At about 2:00AM on 4/3 my water broke. I was not having any serious contractions and felt fine. I wasn't even sure if I should be going to the hospital but my hubby reminded me that the doc said if the water breaks, it's off to hospital. We got to the hospital about 45 minutes later. The nurse checked to confirm that the water had actually broken. At first, she had a hard time determining if it had actually broke; however, I knew it had! Finally, she confirmed the fact and I was in to stay. About 4AM the started to induce labor as I was still not quite even 1 cm dialated. Once inducement started, contractions seemed to start right away. For all of you who are like I was with the question, "how will I know if labor (contractions) have started?", believe it when people say, "Oh, you will know!" At about 3cm I asked for Nubain. That didn't do much for the pain. About 4-5 cm when I couldn't take it any longer (it had already been 8 hours since induction started) I asked for the epidural. Oh what a relief! It was pure ecstacy. The pain stopped almost immediately and I was able to doze off a bit. Once I started getting close to 10cm I had a bout of puking! My poor hubby couldn't bring the throw up trays quick enough.
Once at 10cm the doctor said it could be a long time pushing-he estimated 2-3 hours b/c the baby was still fairly high up. He said we may have to have a C-section but we'd try vaginal first of course. I was determined to not have a C-section. I started to try pushing at about 4PM but was numb and could'nt really feel to push. The doc sa id told the nurse to back off on the epidural and we'd try pushing again in an hour. At 5PM, I could feel the pain again and we started to push, 45 minutes later, our son was born. Those 45 minutes seemed like an eternity. I won't lie - the pain was unbelievable! There came a point when I wanted to tell the doc, "I can't do anymore...do what you have to do!"
I did have an episiotomy (almost from end to the other!) and the doc used a vacuum towards the end. Our baby is beautiful, but it's something I'm not ready to do anytime again real soon.
I know this has been long, but I have one question...I was planning to take 8 wks off but now think I'm going to take the full 12 wks. Is anyone else returning to work full-time and what kind of daycare arrangements are better than others?? I am going to feel very guilty when I have to return, but unfortunately, finances dictate our situation (as well as many hard years to obtain the position I have!). I would appreciate any input from others in a similar situation!
Sue & Sean