Kai Landon Goodling was due on January 4th, 2011. As the time kept getting closer and closer I started to dilate, but the process was not going very fast. Kai was comfortable in my stomach and did not want to come out. A week before my due date I went to the doctor and I was only 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I had an amazing doctor and he said I could either have Kai tomorrow if he decides to come or I could go another two weeks. He was not a fan of inducing unless I was at 41 weeks and the baby was still comfy in the womb. I was not a fan of inducing if I didn’t have to because I knew I would swell up to anything they put in my body. I am so careful about what I put in my body that any foreign substance would greatly affect me. To be safe and not got over 41 weeks, the doctor scheduled an induction on Sunday, January 9th at 4am, yes 4am!! I was the first one on the schedule because my doctor was on call that day for his practice and we all wanted him to be there.
Leading up to the induction I had everything done: massage, walked, worked out and even got acupuncture. I had always heard acupuncture could induce pregnancy so I decided to try it to see if anything could happen. During the session I could feel Kai moving as she stuck me in my wrists and ankles. I also felt a sense of relaxation and calmness as well, making me feel more at peace about the delivery. You see, I never took any Lamaze or preparing for childbirth classes. My husband’s schedule was so crazy at the time I was not able to fit one in before the birth. I figured since I did a lot of Bikram yoga and knew how to control my breath pretty well that I was good to go and didn’t need it. I had also been there through two of my sister’s deliveries so I kind of knew what was coming. The experience with my sister made my a bit nervous because she pushed for two hours with her first. I didn’t know what to expect with my experience although my doctor said I would push him out in less than 30 minutes!
Almost a week had gone by and I was getting induced the next day. I decided to go to the gym the morning before the delivery to get my last workout in (in the gym) for a while. The rest of the day I relaxed and mentally prepared myself for getting induced the next day. I went to bed early that night because I knew I would need the rest for the delivery. The alarm went off at 2:00am and I got out of bed, got my things together and headed to the hospital with my husband and mother-in-law. My stomach gets upset big time when I get nervous and it started as soon as I woke up. I could not eat anything because of the induction per doctor’s orders. Good thing, because if I did it would have gone right through me! We left the house and got on the interstate because the hospital was about 30 minutes away. About 10 minutes into the ride my stomach was churning so I told my husband to try to hurry up. As soon as I got those words out of my mouth traffic came to a stop because of an accident at 3:30am, really!! We sat in traffic for 10 minutes then it finally cleared up and we got to the hospital at 3:30am. My husband had to drop me off at the front because my stomach could not hold!
I checked in and soon thereafter my husband and mother in law met me to go up to my room. I got undressed and got into my gown, and then the process started right away. First the nurse tried to draw blood out of my right arm and she could not find a vein to stick. She was so nice, but I was thinking to myself, “Really, I have veins popping out of me everywhere.” After she stuck me twice and had a no go, she called another nurse in to try out my left arm. That finally worked and the blood was drawn and I got an IV in my arm. Needless to say my whole right arm was bruised for two weeks after the delivery for that incident. You would have thought I got beat up or something.
At 4:30 am they started inducing me and giving me the meds that went along with it. I am so in tune with my body that I felt the meds swell up my legs, feet and hands an hour or two after the induction. Not a good feeling for me and it was what I had been dreading. I began to drink water because I knew it would help me with the swelling and after birth.
At 7am my doctor came in and checked me and I was only 2 ½ cm dilated; not a good sign. We were hoping I would have been more dilated by then. He told me they would slowly increase the medicine as the day went on, but would not go past 4pm. If I wasn’t dilated to 4cm at 4pm we had some choices to make. I had to be 4cm for him to break my water because if he broke it before then it would lead to complications. The pitocin they give me for the induction cannot be put in me for more than 14 hours at a time. So at 4pm, I had a decision to make. The first was to keep the pitocinn going and if at 14 hours I did not dilate any more they would have to stop the medicine and I would have to have a C-section. The second was to stop the medicine, eat and stay the night at the hospital. If I chose the second option I could only be on another 14 hour dose of pitocin and if it still didn’t work I would have to have a c-section. As the day went on I could feel my legs and ankles swelling more and more. I went for numerous walks; bounced on the exercise ball and talked to Kai to get him to come out….nothing was working. Four o’clock came around and I had a decision to make.
Option 2 was the one I chose and it was a no brainier as I did not want to have a C-section at all and I was exhausted and starved. The thought of pushing Kai out of my with no energy was not in my future. I was a little disappointed this happened because my doctor could not be there the next day and I had to use a midwife for my birth. I loved my doctor and it was heartbreaking he could not be there, but I totally understood. He was such a great help to me that day and promised me he would be on the phone with me every chance he could the next day. My family was tired, I was tired and we all needed rest.
At 6:30pm I finally got to eat and replenished my body. I was starving and depleted from my stomach being upset the whole night before and morning. My husband and I had a nice hospital meal together and we both tried to get some sleep, me on the delivery bed and him on the sleeper chair. At 1am I started to feel heavy contractions and knew something was happening. They started getting worse and worse as I used my yoga breathing skills to suffer through the pain. The nurses came in and checked on me all throughout the night asking me if I was ok. They knew I was getting some heavy contractions because they could see them on the monitor. At 5am they came in and checked me and I was 5cm dilated. Something had to be happening for that amount of pain throughout the night! They immediately broke my water which was not a good sensation at all. My mother in law kept telling me what a great sensation it is when my water breaks. Well she can keep the great sensation thoughts because it was absolutely disgusting! I felt like I was peeing my pants and it kept coming out and coming out. Yuck!
After my water broke I requested the epidural. God bless those women that do this without drugs. I am a tough cookie, but if there are drugs for this thing just give them to me. I already felt enough over night with the contractions I was having. The epidural went in fine and I started not feeling the contractions, which was lovely. Right after my doctor called to give me a pep talk a half hour after the epidural I started to feel dizzy and faint. I didn’t say anything to the nurses because I thought it was a normal reaction and I would move past it. My family traded turns coming back and forth into the rooms spending time with me including my dad, mom, mother in law and husband of course. My husband and dad where in the room with me when I felt like I was going to get sick and voiced it. No one moved to help me, I said it again, no one moved. I said it again louder and my husband finally fumbled the bed pan over to my dad and my dad held it about a foot from me. Did he expect me to torpedo it a foot away? He finally brought it closer after I said something and it wasn’t pretty after that. Needless to say my dad left the room and never came back after that.
After I got sick I started feeling faint like I had never felt before; a pass out kind of faint. My husband rushed to get the nurses while they were rushing in at the same time. My heart rate had dropped to 72 and Kai’s to 50; I was petrified. Looking at Chad’s face while they put oxygen on me was even scarier. The nurses flipped put oxygen on me, flipped me on my side, all fours and every which way until they could get Kai’s heart rate settled. All fours was the answer for a while, which was not the best position to be in there in front of everyone. Quite embarrassing, but it worked. Both heart rates got stable and it was time to move on. It was about 8:30am and the nurses came and checked me and I was 7cm dilated. I kept getting more excited and nervous at the same time because I knew the time was nearing. I heard the three women around me give birth and the excitement that surrounded them with the doctors and nurses. Along with the excitement I heard screaming with made me even more nervous about the pushing part and how to do it. I had a fear I would not be able to push and Kai would not come out!
An hour and half went by and I was feeling pressure, 10am the nurses checked me and I was 10cm dilated! It was time, finally time to meet my son. They asked me if I was ready to push and the excitement started in my heart. The nurses then told me my doctor bet them I could push Kai out in 25 minutes, “yeah right” I thought. I had never done this before, what was he thinking? I worked out my whole pregnancy, but could it really help that much? The answer was yes, 8 pushes in 20 minutes and Kai was out. I was floored that I pushed him out so fast, but I have to hand it to the shape I was in and the yoga classes I did. I finally met my new son for the first time. I finally met the little one that stuck with me through my tough workouts, my spin classes, my Bikram yoga classes and my runs. The easy labor I had was Kai’s way of thanking me for keeping him and me in such good shape while he was growing in my tummy.
