Well, it's been a crazy past 36 hours! As mentioned in the earlier post, my fluid levels fell, so it was off to the hospital. Tom, Ronan, and I got there just a little after 5. The nurses took several stabs at getting the IV in (pun most definitely intended). Finally, they called in another nurse, who was able to get it in my left hand. I really hate needles/IVs/etc. But at least that was over with. Tom and Ronan went home soon after that and then the doctor started the first round of Cytotec. I had to do three rounds of that to try to get some dilation. They worked very well, and very quickly, at starting some intense contractions. It was a long night - on the rare occasions I almost fell asleep, something would suddenly wake me up. Either the heart monitor would slip, leading the nurse to come in and reposition it, or Tristan would suddenly get the hiccups (which were very loud over the monitor!), or most frustrating at all, people would be laughing and talking loudly outside my room. I would not recommend having your labor and delivery room right next to the nurses' station! They were all lovely, but there was just constant activity.
Finally, around 3:30 a.m., I gave up and took some percocet. That helped take the edge off the contractions and I was finally able to sleep. I had hoped that by sleeping/relaxing, I could progress a little more, but no such luck. By 6:30 a.m., 12 hours after getting the first Cytotec, I had only dilated 2 cm. They next tried a Foley balloon, which was painful and uncomfortable, and hooked me up to the Pitocin drip. As a result, I was given a little morphine, which made me very tired, but didn't do much to quell the very very painful contractions I was having. On the plus side, though, by 9 a.m., my water broke on its own and the foley came out. I decided to get the epidural, and Tom got there just as they were getting set up (he had spent the night at home with Ronan and then dropped him off at daycare). Epi went in around 10, I rested briefly, and then woke up at 11 to find I was fully dilated and it was time to push! It took about 25-30 minutes and there he was, with a head full of hair like his brother. He started nursing almost right away and so far, things have been good.
My mom flew in a few hours later, which was wonderful. Tom went and picked up Ronan from daycare then and brought him over. Ronan wasn't entirely sure what to make of Tristan, but later when I was trying to nurse, and Tristan was fussing, Ronan gave me a look of exasperation and said, "He doesn't want that. He wants food." He then tried to give him some ice cream from my dinner, crackers, and hershey kisses. He also "gave" Tristan one of his Thomas the Tank Engine trains, which was a pretty big deal. But he didn't have any interest in holding him or staying nearby for too long. So we'll see how things progress. In the meantime, Tristan is sleeping, the rest of my family has left, and now it's time for me to follow the baby's lead. Thanks so much for all the well wishes and congratulations!
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