Riley's Birth Story

I was 36 weeks and 3 days when I had my doctor appointment. Up until that appointment my pregnancy had been going fine, although I had been concerned about weight gain and swelling. For due reason, I found out that day. My BP was higher than normal. It was usually about 110/80. When I went in it was 156/110. They had me lay on my side for a while and retook it to find it the same. They sent me to the lab to have some tests done and sent me home with a big container to dump my urine in (oh joy) for 24 hours. Did that and took it to the hospital, had more blood drawn. They wanted to see me again the next day. My BP was still up there, so they decided that it was time. They told me to be there at 6am the next day for an induction. So we made it there by 6. By 7 they finally had me hooked up to an IV with a pitocin drip in. My 8 my arm is huge, bulging around the tape they used to tape the IV line with. The IV wasn't where it was supposed to be, so a million sticks later, they get it in my hand. I was contracting when I got to the hospital, even though I wasn't feeling them. By 9 my doctor shows up to check on me. SHe decides to break my water to speed things up (I was 4 cm, 80% effaced by then). Within a half hour I want my epidural- there was no slow build up of contractions, they were just suddenly there, long and close together. There was a big emergency downstairs, so the epi man couldn't get up to me for a while. So I took a shot of Nubain instead- which made me groggy so I couldn't hold my eyes open, and did NOTHING for pain. Epi man shows up at 11:40 finally, along with my doctor to check me. So much for an epi- it was time to push. Riley was born at 37 weeks at 11:50am weighing 6 lb 12 oz and 20 1/4 inches long. He was monitored in the nursery for an hour or so to keep an eye on his breathing, but he was just fine!