Labor-ish

37 weeks - Cash is a big dude. Not huge or weird big but the proportion of his body to his head is a little off so there is a concern that he would get stuck in the birth canal and have problems getting the rest of his body out after his head.
Went to the doctor's office at 9am for an amneocentis test. Since the baby is only 37 weeks we have to test for lung maturity. It hurt really, really bad. I have very thick skin and parts i guess. It was really interesting. they have an ultrasound going so the doctor can see where to poke the needle - that goes all the way into your amniotic sac! they suck out some of the juice and get it tested. the Doc said it was a good sign because there was abunch of cheese looking stuff floating in the fluid - that is the coating that comes off the baby when they are fully cooked.
My insurance isn't the insurance that the doctor has in her office so they had to send the sample away to be tested - waiting, waiting, waiting.
At 1pm i called, they said they'll call and find out where the results are. they called back and got te results - we're ready to go! lungs are ready. Check in at the hospital at 3pm.
We went to lunch at Baja Fresh and then off to the hospital for our 3pm check in.
Got to the hospital. the lab still hadn't sent the results to the hospital so i had to wait. Finally i got into a room and filled out paperwork, answered questions, got changed, hooked up to monitors, etc. They came in and told me how things were going to work.
"we're going to feed you some dinner and then you are going to get this thing called Cervadil to help your cervix soften/ripen." i was probably 2cm and 50% but they can't start the pitocin until you are at least 80-90% effaced. Cervadil is a little kite looking contraption that they insert way up at the base of the cervix and it has to sit in there for 12 hours. They inserted it at 7pm - it hurt!! so at 7am they would remove it and "check" me. They offered me some sleeping medicine - which i should have taken - but i refused. For some reason i thought it would give my baby a 3rd eye (i know better now). it was a very restless night. the Cervadil doesn't hurt but it makes everythign very uncomfortable - like a constant, low, burning feeling (like the feeling you have right before you have a contraction). Plus i was hooked up to a monitor and an IV that i was afraid of ripping out of my arm so i don't think i slept much.
At 7am they came into remove it. they did without any fanfare. then i had to wait for Dr. Roberts to tell them they could start the pitocin to get me to dialate and contract. I dont' remmeber what time it was but I did start the pitocin - at the weakest level possible. they stepped it up every hour or so and i finally started to dialate. The Doc broke my water - that was really gross and i didn't like the squishy feeling at all. I went to about 5cm and then needed an epidural. The epidural was not a big deal and i think Chandler really enjoyed watching it. After my epidural I went to 7cm almost immediately. Then I stalled. big time! Cash had backed himself up out of the birth canal and was shifting his body sideways. With no pressure on the birth canal the cervix will not dialate. I got checked a couple more times and hadn't made any progress. The Doctor came in and told me what was going on and that she is willing to let me go ahead and keep getting the pitocin and wait it out or opt for a c-section. We had talked about this before - when we first decided to induce - that i didn't want to go through hours of the first stages of labor and then have to have surgery. My doctor knows that i wanted her to be honest with me and she thought that i would have a hard time progressing so we made a decision to have a C-section. Although there were 2 conditions. My husband and my mother would get to go into the operating room (normally you can only have 1) and my baby would not leave my side and i would wheel out of there with him (barring any medical needs). Everyone agreed. at 7pm we wheeled into the operating room. Dr. Roberts was assisted by Dr. Kirsten (Rojas) and they were pretty cool. talking to me the whole time. messing with me a little (she asked if we can get started and she'd already cut me wide open!). Cash was born at 7:15. i can remember having really, really dry lips but not much else. Mom and Chandler were flitting around the room taking pictures, cutting cords, etc. We got back to the LDR, cleaned up the baby and we moved into the maternity ward later that night. I remember being a bit shocked when i saw my incision site with all the staples and spent a good part of the next day in a haze. all-in-all it was a really good experience. we spent 4 days in the hospital. Checked in on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 3pm. Birth on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 7:15pm. Check out Friday, Jan. 11, 9pm. I should have stayed on more night and come home on Saturday morning. I loved the apple juice!