I wish I would have written this down while everything was happening but here it is as I remember it.
I wasn’t nervous or maybe I was I don’t know Steve would know better. The hospital is less than 15 minutes from our house. We got there on time which was good.
We checked in and I filled out the paper work I was supposed to do when I was 28 weeks. We go to the elevators and up we go to the 7th floor…now I’m getting a little nervous.
We are placed in a little holding room with some chairs and a TV. Steve is trying to keep everyone updated via text but low and behold there is no signal but they have wifi so he switched over to Facebook. Steve’s mom the good sweet talker was able to talk the lady at the desk to come up and sit with us in the room while we waited to go back. That was really nice helped to keep our minds off of everything.
Finally we are called back…now I’m getting nervous. I was in curtain 3 and the nurse that was going to do our check in was really a character. I like a person that gets Steve and my since of humor and likes it too.
She takes me to the bathroom and tells me to strip and put on this gown. She shows me how to do it and then leaves. In the bathroom I kind of stand there for a minute looking at myself in the mirror in aw because in just a little bit I will get to meet this big boy inside me. I begin to take my clothes off and proceed to put this gown on and fucking a I mean did it have to be so complicated? I was in there for a while by the time I got back the nurse was about to go to see if I was ok LOL.
I get on the bed and I’m sweating like a pig. The gown was made of paper, plastic and was water proof. The nurse starts to cover me up and I ask her not too, she seemed to be surprised since it was freezing cold in the building.
We start off with the IV of fluids and the statement that the IV is the hardest part. I agree to a point, I mean putting any type of needle in the vain on the top of your hand hurts.
Then she takes some blood to test for something. Which I had already done the day before but whatever they were looking at came back low so I had to have it checked again…no problem I would just love to pay for the same tests over and over again. The point was that if it came back low again I would have to be given a different type of anesthesia.
Next, comes the questions which I had already answered the day before when I had to go in for the preop thing. Apparently, the systems don’t link up so whatever I answered the day before didn’t come along with me.
Now, comes the anesthesiologist, or so I thought and since this is a teaching hospital she came with a guy that is there to learn. I didn’t mind having the learning guy there so long as he didn’t touch me. Then out of nowhere walks in another anesthesiologist I guess he was the first chick boss I’m not sure all I know was he was a dick. Just walked in and starts talking never introducing himself acting like his shit didn’t stink and that if I were standing I should bow down to him. I was very happy he wouldn’t be the one to put in my epidural I didn’t want him around me anymore.
Epidural time
So here’s the thing an epidural doesn’t really hurt. They give you local to numb the area and always let you know what they are doing. I’ve never had an epidural before so I have no idea what to expect and this was the last thing I would get before being rolled in to have my baby so I was scared. The nurse had Steve sit in front of me and be my support; nice to have something pretty to look at. The anesthesiologist gives me the local and starts to push on my spine, interestingly enough that hurt worse than the IV. So she begins to put the big needle in and asks me if I feel it on the left or right, left, right, left, right. As this is going on you have to be completely still and there I am sobbing like a baby. The anesthesiologist asks me if I’m crying and I say yeah and she feels bad and so does the nurse. Left, right, left, right and she is explaining to the learner why she had to do something and he doesn’t get it then she says something else and then he gets it.
Finally they are done and the wait is on. The alcohol pad test questions this was done by the learner guy. Does this feel cold or wet, another part of the body cold or wet on and on and on. My left side goes out faster than my right so we have to wait and then another cold test. Finally I pass the test!
Now that I’m all nice and numb it’s time for my vjj to be shaved which the nurse had said before but she was saying a lot of things so I missed the part of telling her she wouldn’t have to worry about that part. So she’s got the razor in her hand and lifts my gown and says to the anesthesiologist chick “well would you look at this”? The anesthesiologist chick looks at Steve and asks “did you do that”? Steve answers “yes”. I really wish I could have captured the moment in the room both women looking at Steve with such admiration while wishing they too had a husband willing to shave them. The nurse tells Steve he did a great job and is happy she doesn’t have to do it.
Then comes the catheter since I was numb I didn’t feel a thing.
YAY…time to have a baby!