We moved to the labor and delivery room and my sister-in-law and her daughter Izi joined us. It was about 6:00a.m. They came with breakfast from Chick-Fil-A. I was previously told that after breakfast, I wouldn’t be able to eat again until after the baby comes. This is normal procedure. They tell you not to eat after a certain time in case of an emergency cesarean section. I ate that sandwich gladly even though I wasn’t terribly hungry. My nurse came in and hooked up my IV to start administering Pitocin ─ a liquid medication also used to induce labor. My mother-in-law joined us.
At about 8:00a.m my contractions were coming in quite often and pretty strong too, so I asked about getting an epidural. The nurse told me that I could go ahead with one if I felt like the pain was already unbearable. She said once I requested it, I would have to wait at least 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to come by including set up before the drug kicked in. The pain was still bearable but I didn’t want to take any chances. I wasn’t going to wait till I was in excruciating pain and then wait another 30minutes before they get my mind right. Not on my clock, so yep I went ahead and requested that I receive it right away.
Now let me tell ya… I have heard so many HORROR epidural stories ─ from how huge the needle is, to how you can be paralyzed for life if anything goes wrong. Remember I don’t like needles? As soon as the anesthesiologist walked in the room with all his equipment, I LOST IT! I was in tears, I mean sobbing. The guy had to ask what was wrong! My hubby told him I was scared of needles and he assured me that everything would be okay and he would be gentle. I’m thinking to myself… “You better be!” Lol. I was asked to get in position and my hubby sat in front of me and held my hands. I looked into his eyes and my life flashed before my eyes. What if he made a mistake? What if I got paralyzed? I mean God forbid but then my poor hubby would have a wife that couldn’t walk! We’ve only been married for about four months! NO! ─ These are all thoughts going through my head while I’m still sobbing loudly. I snapped back to reality soon enough to hear “stay calm and don’t move”. Growing up, we used to play this game at parties where the DJ would have the music going and we would dance but as soon as the DJ stopped the music, we had to freeze and whoever moved was out. Trust me! All my days of practicing freezing was too useful in this moment. I FROZE. The anesthesiologist talked me through the whole process. I felt a pinch which was to numb the area and then I felt the pressure and the cold water dripping down my back feeling and that was it! When he finished, I actually asked─ “that’s it?” I was expecting worse, but it really was nothing! So if you’re reading this and you’re scared of getting an epidural, please do not listen to the bad stories. It is really not that serious! And that means a lot coming from me.
It was smooth sailing from that point on.
Stay tuned for the conclusion!
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