The end of labor? - continued

Since you saw us last, we kicked up the intensity of labor. From 4am to 10am there was no improvement in dialation or effacement. So at 10:30am the first small doses of Pitocin were administered. Within twenty minutes labor picked up and things got exciting.

To help distract from the pain, I turned the Computer into a DVD player to show Friends episodes. Erin bounced through her contractions on a tylenol shaped excercise ball while watching Monica and Chandler plan their wedding. That was when it was managable!

Two hours later it was time to check Erin's progress again. I politely asked my mother to leave the room as it was about to get pretty exciting. 6cm dialated, we were elated! Next to the whirlpool tub, where she labored for another hour. This time the moans were getting louder and louder. The most fun about this part was the amount of space in the bathroom and it's need to include Erin's IV medicatons, a nurse, me, doula, stabilizing bars, and a toilet with measured urine sitting in a "hat". An hour later she was at 7cm.

The time for the tub had ended and Erin wanted to be on all fours. We moved to the bed and this time she couldn't keep still. Every contraction she needed a new position. Thrashing wildly to reduce the pain. At one time it looked as if she were performing an African Tribal dance, complete with clawed fingers and grinding teeth.

An hour and a half of this we checked again... 7cm. What?! The last hour was the worst. I'm not normally a crying person, but seeing my wife eye-to-eye writhing in pain, I broke down in tears. So when I heard that there was no improvement in dialation, I was hoping that Erin would request an epideral for herself. It only took two more contractions before she did.

Six contractions later, the anesthesiologist arrived and quickly administered the epidural. Two minutes later, there was no more intense pain. Why so quick? Said the anesthesiologist, "She has great landscaping."

She was quickly relaxing into the bed. "Am I still having contractions?"

"You're having one now."

"Can I take a nap?"

"Yes"

Since Erin was on her way to sleep, our doula Julie gave me permission to go and get some dinner. I headed down to the cafeteria and had a double-meat, double-cheese, double-bacon burger with sweet potato fries with my mom.

I returned at 4:30pm, just in time for the next check: 8cm and 100% effaced! Now we're just waiting for 10cm and a new kind of pressure, the one to push the baby out.

Thanks for staying in touch, your prayers are appreciated!

More to come...