5:00 AM the air conditioner in our room starts spraying water (a.k.a., our air conditioner's water broke)
6:45 we leave for the hospital, it's less than 5km from our villa but it's rush hour and Craig ends up taking the bumpiest possible route.
7:10 arrive Al Ahli Hospital
7:42-8:00 CTG fetal monitoring
~7:50 heplock (really should have taken a picture, this thing was huge!)
8:10 exam by doctor (2cm dilated) and prostaglandins gel injected (must lay down for 1 hour)
8:22 ampicillin allergy skin test (read in 15 minutes)
8:42 check ampicillin test: OK
8:45 ampicillin injection
9:25 begin another CTG; starting to get a few contractions
9:45 visit by doctor: instructed to walk and eat
9:57 walking the halls, Craig starts timing contractions
10:30 walk some more
10:50 back to room for snack, Craig drops one of the water cups from the fridge (a.k.a., the water from the fridge broke)
11:30 Craig hears a "snap" and I announce that I'm getting new shoes: my water has broken (third water breaking of the morning, I'm now calling my sandals "placandals" (placenta+sandals))
11:50 Doctor exam, 6cm dilated and meconium in fluid; will transfer to labor room.
We waited a while (maybe 20 minutes?) for the nurse to bring the wheelchair and then she took us in the elevator to go down one floor and come back up to the floor we were on (she must have had a long night the night before!).
The delivery room was not as relaxing as the recovery room we had spent some of the morning in. Basically the nurses and a doctor sat down and watched me have contractions.
The doctor who delivered Sarah was not Dr. Rizvi and I'm not sure why but I sure do wish it had been. This doctor decided that the middle of a contraction was a good time to argue with me about tearing versus an episiotomy so there I was trying to breathe through a contraction saying, "I've already discussed this with Dr. Rizvi and I'd much rather risk a tear than have an episiotomy." Then the doctor wanted to know why. I'm not implying I know more than a doctor about labor & delivery, but the current thinking at home is to tear rather than cut so that's what I wanted and it is what I did with Anna. So frustrating. This doctor also kept asking if I'd like my epidural now and we kept saying I didn't.
The fetal monitors were really irritating me when labor really got going as the pressure from them was just too much during a contraction and it seemed a nurse was always trying to adjust them. I complained about them a lot and by the end I had ripped them both off out of sheer irritation/frustration.
It seemed like whenever I was getting a break from a contraction, the nurses or doctor would touch my stomach and it seemed to start another contraction. Also the doctor was not gentle with internal exams and when I complained she said, "well most people have an epidural so they don't feel it." If I had been in my right mind I would have pointed out that because I didn't have an epidural, she needed to be more gentle but I just complained (and loudly) each time.
Generally speaking, I feel like labor this time (from 6-10 centimeters) was easier than with Anna because it moved along faster and there was less time in pain. The 2-6 cm was harder this time around since I was able to do that in the comfort of my own home last time but 2-6 cm was still not horrible in the hospital as I had feared. I know I also screamed a lot less this time around and that is maybe because there was less time between 7-10 centimeters but I also really focused on what I had read in the Bradley book my mom sent about relaxing through contractions. Of course the closer it came time push, I was unable to relax at all. This time I had quite a bit of lower back pain during contractions but counter-pressure wasn't doing the trick for that so finding a position that worked (I didn't really feel like I did) was difficult.
The doctor (yes, she really did spoil the whole experience, I'm afraid!) does not have a normal speaking voice and yelled everything. I asked her to stop yelling at me and she'd yell back, "I'm trying to help you" and I (think) I said something along the lines of "yes, I know, but please do it quieter" (I'm apparently terribly polite, saying "please, "thank you," and "I'm sorry" during the hardest parts of labor). The doctor never stopped yelling and I found it really discouraging because I felt like I was being yelled at.
At any rate, it was finally time to push (although I didn't feel the urge until several forced tries into it) and it was such a relief to know the end was near. We're not sure how long I pushed but it was less than with Anna. I haven't gotten details, but I think Sarah's shoulder was presenting awkwardly and that might have been why I had the lower back pain. It is amazing the instant relief you feel when that slippery body comes out! Craig said the cord was wrapped twice around Sarah's neck and that she was blue when she came out. They whisked her away (to the other side of the curtain) to clean her, etc. and Craig stood so he could see both of us. Then we heard Sarah cry and then I got to enjoy delivering the placenta and getting stitched up with not-quite-enough local anesthetic (which I also complained very loudly about and decided that I would be complaining about this doctor to my doctor (my doctor is the lead OB for the hospital... oh why was she not there?!) although I'm not sure what good that will do.
The nurses took Sarah to the nursery and Craig went with while I was getting stitched up (it seemed like 30-45 minutes, at least!). When that was complete, I asked to have Sarah come back to me since they told me I had to stay in the delivery room for recovery for 2 hours and I had not held Sarah yet and wanted to nurse her as soon as possible. After about five requests, the loud OB finally got my request through. Craig and Sarah came back and we stayed together the rest of the time.
Sarah Elinor Martin was born at 2:30 PM in Doha, Qatar, weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. She is amazing and adorable and, so far, is nursing really well. Hair color looks a little reddish to me but Craig thinks blonde. We'll see how it grows in (Anna's was hard to tell for the first several months if it would be reddish or blonde). It is all a little surreal to me and I think it will be until we get settled in at home.
(Mat won the baby pool with Tanya coming in a close second.)
