Anika's Birth Story - 2

Give me the damn epidural !

So as I mentioned in the part 1, we got checked in to the hospital. My pain got really worse. I always liked to believe that I can take pain to a great extent but this was unbearable. I tried to remain as calm as possible but the pain was real.

The nurse in charge for that night was really sweet and tried to keep the situation light by singing and dancing and making jokes. I tried to laugh but the contractions were now 3 minutes apart and it lasted a whole minute. I never knew one minute was so long until then.  Although the nurse was sweet, she got to do what she got to do. I was asked questions after questions about drugs and depression and what not. Really?!?

Trying to keep calm between contractions!

11. 30 PM -

The nurse did a quick internal exam and let me know that I was 3 cms dilated and that the minion will be a mid night baby. Yay.. just few more hours! But little did I know then that it was going to take forever. She asked if I needed the epidural. I took on the offer immediately and she said she will get things started. But it took another 3 hours for them to give me the damn epidural! 

My sister who is in Australia had her heart to her mouth. She had a c section and the thought of vaginal delivery gave her the chills. The fact that she was not there with me at that moment and was far away did not help either.

My dad had called my mom to check on the situation and he freaked out hearing my screams over the phone. It was REAL BAD.

My mom was getting frequent calls from sister and father to check on the situation.

My mother in law and father in law were in Vegas touring with my brother in law as expected date of delivery was only the week after and they were equally tensed about the situation.

My mom and my husband remained really calm. I could sense that my mom was freaking out inside but she tried her best not to show it. The husband as always remained super calm the whole time.

I had warned him earlier not to take it to heart if I snap back at him while I was pregnant. But he was lucky that I turned out to be the sweetest pregnant wife! So I was sure I will take it on him during labor and delivery. But again, his stars were rightly aligned at that time that I ended up calling out God's names instead. 

Let me tell you this. Contractions are tracked in a monitor and you can actually see it on the graph when you get one. It starts from the origin, reaches it maximum and drops down every single time you get a contraction. So I was able to see the graph every frigging time I got the contractions and that actually made me feel worse.

After few hours of unbearable pain, I was finally given epidural around 2.00 AM. My husband and my mom were asked to leave the room and the anesthesiologist arrived. The specialist was really great - chatty but not in an annoying way! Just what I needed.

The procedure took few minutes. Lo behold! I was not able to feel a thing the second  epidural was in. It was like magic. I could still see the graph on monitor with my contractions but I couldn't feel a thing. Words cannot express how relieved I felt then. It was like I got my life back. Like I was given chocolates after 100 years of fasting.

My mother and husband rushed back to the room as the last time they saw me  I was screaming the heck out. But then there I was welcoming them back with a broad smile on my face. Oh epidural, how much I love you!

And then this happened -

                                      ** To be continued***