Thursday, August 09, 2007

Part 2

After we'd settled in, Yolanda came back with Dr Berral and they strapped me up to the monitor to see how things were looking. It was all very jovial and relaxed as Tanc sat on the couch making jokes with the Doctor while I lay there doing a beached whale impersonation.



I started on tablets under my tongue every half hour to induce labour. The contractions became more and more regular and stronger but manageable. After four hours of this it seemed to stop working so doc put the gel somewhere down there. The contractions got a lot stronger but bareable as I walked around the room and up and down the corridor with Tanc by my side. The first problem arose when the doctor tried to reach my cervix with his fingers to check on the dilation. Willow's head was so big and so engaged that he was unable to reach the cervix as it was so posteriorally positioned. I was in agony as he tried and tried. I began to dread these attempts and my body began to tighten up even more making it impossible. It was very hot and I was sweating with the stress and pain so Yolanda sttempted to put a glucose drip in my arm to deep me hydrated. I screamed as she tried to put the catheter in my right arm. It was impossible as the vein had collapsed and I cried with the pain. She was very upset so Dr Berral attempted on my left arm. The same thing happened to him. They were extremely perplexed as my veins appeared large and juicy. They decided that as well as having extremely muscular legs and stomach muscles I had tough walls of my veins. Basically they said I was a tough old thing! The next option was to take me down to theatre and talk to the anaesthetist about options as it was imperative that I had a drip in asap and that doc got a look at my cervix.

The anaesthetist managed to put the drip in without using an anaesthetic thankfully. Next thing Dr Berral got out the oversized knitting needle and proceeded to insert it. Not the most pleasant experience but he managed to break my waters or rather open the flood gates! Out came the buckets to catch all the amniotic fluid that Willow had been enjoying her swimming lessons in. Well, once that was done the contractions went up about 10 notches in strength and I was soon out of my body with the pain. I was shivering, vomiting, screaming.... the usual things. Poor Tanc was suffering just as much watching me I found out later. The doctor also couldn't bear to see me like that and explained that I would have several hours of this level of pain or more and that he suggested I had the epidural as we had already tried gas and air with no success. As millions of women before me I screamed yes give it to me! Tanc questionned my decision as we had discussed prior, in case I could just hold on a bit longer but not for long as he couldn't cope watching me. Once we had called for the anaesthetist it seemed like an eternity. There was an emergency next door so it was 15 minutes more before he came to see me. It's all a bit foggy but I remember begging Tanc to ask them to wait for the pain to stop before he put the needle in my spine. It was done very smoothly and quickly and I was soon feeling the pain level lift like a dark cloud. My legs began to feel like pins and needles and the contractions were completely bearable.

Tanc used this break in the proceedings to go outside for a cigarette and a beer. The poor thing was quite traumatised. When he came back in (looking very sexy in his Geroge Clooney green outfit) he was overjoyed to see me sitting up smiling. The doctor suggested I walk around to increase the speed of the dilation so we walked laps up and down outside the theatres, me with my epidural drip attached to a mobile station. It was fantastic.... I was smiling and enjoying the moment. My legs were fuzzy but I could still feel them. I told the anaesthetist that I loved him!

end of Part 2 - Willow again!

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