On Jan 22nd I went to the doc to see how things were going. I was exactly 36 weeks to the day. I had had my bloody show (the releasing of the mucus plug) the past sunday and had been having irregular contractions ever since then. Literally, I would have a contraction every 7 minutes for about 4 hours and then they would just stop. So anyways, they did an ultrasound to check my child's growth and discovered that my amniotic fluid that was supposed to be at 8 (ounces I think) was down to four. So obviously I was leaking somehow but no one knew where it was going. Especially not me. Then the doc did a pelvic exam (which as always hurts like hell) and discovered I was dialated to 4cms (keep in mind -- at ten centimeters is where you push). So the doc made the decision to induce me the next day so that he could deliver me. A different doc was on call for that day and he wouldn't be on call until friday the 23rd.(remember this cause it adds humor later on in the story).
So, at 12:01am on the 23rd, my mother took me to the hospital to be admitted for my induction. Lots of fun as the nurses are always brainless idiots and of course the drs hadn't sent my chart over. At 4am one of the residents came in to induce me by sticking 50mg of a pill called cytotec behind the wall of my cervix. Of course, up until this time I was actually having regular contractions. When one of my dr's came in at 6am to see how my contractions were progressing they had literally all but stopped. Go figure. So then the dr broke my water and said he'd be back in an hour or so to check on me. Within 5 mins of his breaking my water I started having massive contractions ranging from 3-6 mins apart. Keep in mind that I was doing natural childbirth (which if I ever decide to have kids again I will not be stupid enough to do).
A little over an hour later the doctors came back to look at me and I was having contractions every 2 minutes by this point. They decided I was progressing nicely and went on their way saying they would be back in another hour. About 5 mins after they left is when the screaming started (yes i mean me). I have never felt so much pain in my life and I was screaming things to the effect of "oh my god it hurts please make it stop" and other things along those lines. I am sure you can figure it out. My mother showed up at 7:50am and was like, "Rachel you are hysterical, stop screaming and just breathe" which I found to be really good advice and I took it. Then I was telling the nurse, "I feel like I need to push; I really feel like I need to push." And of course they kept saying, "Honey, you are progressing but it can't be that much." Of course finally my screaming paid off and they checked me to find that I was indeed 8 1/2 cms dilated and rushed to get the dr and nurses in to prepare. In the 5 mins it took for her to run and get ppl I dilated to 10cm and they told me to start pushing. At this point they put a drug in my iv and said it would kick in in about 40 mins and that it would take the edge off my pain but not really distract me. At this point I was glad for anything.(Which of course the administration of this drug turned out to be absolutely pointless since it kicked in in time to sew up the episiotiomy. SO it was all natural :/) They couldn't find my dr and the man who had been on call from the night before had to come in and deliver my baby (told you it would be funny later on). In fact my dr showed up to check how I was doing literally about 10 mins after my son was born. But anyways he was born....
Dylan Blain Perlman made his way into this world on January 23, 1998 at 8:35am. He was a month early. He weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and measured 19 inches long. I brought him home for the first time on Sunday the 25th, but he went back into the hospital on the 27th because he was jaundiced and his bili-reuben was 22.8. As of now he is all better and back home with mommy. He had his bris on the 30th.
