Epidural and Pitocin

Well, at about 6:50 my contractions went from "uncomfortable" to what I'd describe as painful, and I don't use that term lightly. The cramping started and I was lying on my right side, which might have been a bad idea since that's the side that Embry's entire body is on. Yeh, I was not having a good time. The anesthesiologist was doing a c-section at 7:30 so he wouldn't be free until 8:30 for an epidural, so then I started asking about IV narcotics (which I have on my birth plan that I don't want). I decided to go to the bathroom and then flip to my left side to see how that worked, well it worked quite well. The contractions were still present and cramping but not nearly as bad and I even got in a few more minutes of sleep time. At 9:15 the anesthesiologist came in (of course while I was in the bathroom) and set up for the epidural. It was administered at 9:20 and I have to say I was scared out of my mind. I've heard a million different things about epidurals and a lot of them not good as far as the pain of receiving one, so basically I was shaking pretty bad and just praying and trying to calm myself down so I wouldn't move while he was placing it. Tony held my hand and I rested my head on his while the nurse (who is a different nurse now, her name is Beth, she's also very nice) pressed down on my shoulders. I had wanted to lay down while he inserted it instead of sitting up, but he said it was safer for him to do if I was sitting, so I said, well that will be the way to do it then! Anyhow, after he cleaned off my back, he pressed my spine with his fingers to find the best spot. Then he gave me a shot of lidocaine which basically was about as painful as getting a flu shot. Basically it felt like a tiny pinch and then a bit of stinging/burning but nothing intense and it lasted for about 5 seconds total. Then he inserted the super needle which is the part I was worried about and honestly, I can't even say that it hurt! I'd say it felt like a tiny bit of stinging and a little pressure, but seriously, it was virtually nothing. Then he threaded the catheter through, didn't even feel that part, then removed the needle, once again didn't really feel it and then he taped it all to my back. I was bleeding a smidge from the injection site so he applied some pressure afterwards with his hand, no big deal, like holding gauze on the spot where you get blood drawn. Soooo...that's my epidural story and the point of it all is, do not be afraid of getting one, it was a great experience for me and I feel great now.

Then Beth started the pitocin and apparently I'm having contractions between 3-5 minutes apart, but you could have fooled me cuz I can't feel any pain from my belly button on down. Also this has helped A LOT with the pain associated with being checked. Beth checked me after I got the epi and said I was a 'very loose' 1 cm and my cervix has definitely moved down. Up until this check I had previously had to make my hands into fists and put them under my hips in order for whoever was checking me to reach the cervix, I didn't have to do that this last time and she didn't have any trouble feeling it, so that's great. :)

Dr. Sherman is apparently over at TMC doing something and will be over when she's done at which point she will break my water and check me again. From this point on, the pitocin dose gets increased every 15 minutes. I asked Beth if she thought I would be having a baby before 4 pm and she said probably not. Soooo, I hope for anyone who plans on visiting today after work that I will have popped out a kid by then, otherwise it won't be very exciting for people to come all the way here just to see me sitting in a bed with a bunch of tubes taped to my extremeties. So I'll update again once the dr gets here, otherwise, all is well and I love medicine. :) Thanks God for inventing the epidural, I love you.