Alexander Scott Huslage

At the hospital, I was once again hooked up to the machines. I still hadn’t dilated any further and my contractions, although more intense, were not necessarily as consistent as they would have liked to see them. Again, though, they were concerned about Alex’s heart-rate as it was consistently higher, and wasn’t showing signs of slowing down as it had earlier. After about an hour of observation and me in some rather excruciating pain, the nurse checked my cervix again. She thought it was still only about 3 cm. Luckily the doctor on call checked, and proclaimed me to be 4 cm and 100% effaced, meaning I got to be admitted! I was so relieved at this point, because it meant an epidural was an option.

Now, I know that some of you who had talked to me throughout the pregnancy are probably thinking to varying degrees of amusement, “Hey, I thought you were going to go au natural?!?” And you would be right. I had truly wanted to go natural, but I hadn’t anticipated back labor either. I spent most of the morning laboring in a haze, not completely aware of what was going on around me. The pain was so intense that it took every ounce of my being to get through each contraction. Breathing exercises (hee hee hoooooooo) and Aaron’s wonderful fist were the only things helping to keep my sane. I felt like I was at the point where I couldn’t relax through the contractions, and if I couldn’t relax, I knew my labor had a great chance of stalling. So, an epidural was in my future.

They brought me a wheel chair to take me to my room, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk there. As we rounded the corner, a big contraction hit, and there I was going “Hee hee hoooooo. Hee hee hooooooo,” like a character out of a Bill Cosby sketch. A nurse sitting at one of the stations looked at me and said, “Great breathing,” and part of me thought, “Yay me!” And then another part of me thought, “OMG shut up lady!” I don’t know that I really needed a cheering section.

When we got in the room, I did have the nurse get an epidural ready in case I decided to go for it, but I did labor for another hour or so before I actually gave in. Once I got the epidural though, I was the happiest person on the face of the earth. I could actually pay attention to my surroundings, and the horrible pain was finally gone. After that experience, I have to say I wouldn’t wish back labor on my mortal enemy.

The consistent theme throughout the labor though, was the unsettling rate of Alex’s heart. It gave no signs of slowing down, and my doctor was a little baffled as to why it was happening. The rapid heart-rate, coupled with the fact that my dilation stalled at around 5 cm, was an indication that I had an infection, but without a fever, no one was quite certain.

Unfortunately after I got the epidural, there was not much I could do being restricted to my bed. Everyone was hungry (including me but the option to eat had been taken away), so the family went to lunch while I took a nap. About an hour after everyone left, I woke up with severe chills, and at about the same time, my doctor walked in. She asked me how I was doing and I told her of the new development, so she felt me. I was burning up. Obviously at this point, it was apparent that I had an infection, and so antibiotics and rectal tylenol were ordered. Thank goodness for epidurals.

Now that I had a fever my doctor told me she was reluctant to let me labor for much longer. It was obviously putting a strain on my body, as well as on Alex’s. When the fever hit, his heart-rate started to become more elevated and reached 214 at one point. I essentially had two options. I could continue to labor to see if the tylenol would bring down my fever and possibly allow my labor to progress beyond 5 cm. Or I could have a c-section. So, I called Aaron (while I was still shivering uncontrollably) to tell him he needed to come back so we could discuss our options. Ultimately, after talking for a short while, we opted to have the c-section because we felt that was the best course of action for both me and the baby.

Once the decision was made, things moved rather quickly after that. It seemed in no time at all, I was on a gurney heading in for surgery.

The final part to come later…