Austin decided to be late for his very first appointment in life. We all hung around the hospital waiting for him to show up...
Day minus 4 (Sunday, September 7th) Austin was six days late by now, and we were scheduled for an induction tomorrow. Since our plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, we wanted the labour to start on its own and we were disappointed that it hadn't. To pass the time, we sorted through our baby clothes, made salsa, and double checked the hospital bag. Our doula, Jada (aka "Dr. Jada") came at about 8pm, and did some acupuncture and homeopathies to try to help the process along. Rachel was feeling some crampy feelings and we were all hoping that the labour would start before the next day! Everyone tried to get a good night's sleep, but it felt like the night before Christmas. Day minus 3 (Monday, September 8th) We had a relaxing breakfast in the morning and waited for the hospital to call. Steph, her mother-in-law Joan, and Bella came for a visit and we sat on the deck and enjoyed the summer weather. Andrew had a car-seat lesson from Steph (Bella has outgrown hers just in time!) and finally we got the call from the hospital. We asked them if we could postpone the induction, and since our doctor was on call that afternoon, they told us to come in and talk to him. At the hospital a fetal heart monitor was attached to Rachel. It was fun to hear Austin's heartbeat for an extended time and see how the rib-kicks (he was a real rib-tickler!) correlated with the speeding up of his heart on the chart. When the doctor finally came to see us, he agreed that the baby looked strong, and that he could postpone the induction until Thursday, providing we came in for more monitoring that evening and an ultrasound the following day. Jada drove us home, and we were relieved to have bought some more time to allow Austin to start coming on his own. Jada went home, we had some dinner and then went back to the hospital for the second fetal stress test. Again, Austin's heartbeat was strong and consistent with just the right amount of rib-tickling. Day minus 2 (Tuesday, September 9th) Anticipating a short ultrasound appointment in the afternoon, we prepared to make a huge batch of salsa to store for the winter. Andrew picked all the tomatoes he could find from our garden and our next door neighbour's garden (he can't eat them all!), and harvested some of his jalapeņos to get ready. We planned on starting as soon as we returned from our ultrasound at 1:30pm. The ultrasound itself was quick, but afterwards we were sent back to Labour and Delivery to meet a doctor for interpretation. While we waited, we were put back on the monitor again. We were both nervous, so we joked around to pass the time and had some really good laughs. At about 6pm (so much for the salsa!) the doctor finally came to talk to us and told us the ultrasound showed the amniotic fluid was low and she was recommending that we go ahead with the induction. We went home to have dinner and talk about it. After dinner we headed back to the hospital for the inevitable. The doctor applied prostaglandin at about 11pm, and after monitoring Rachel and Austin for an hour they sent us home to wait. Day minus 1 (Wednesday, September 10th) At 3 o'clock in the morning Rachel was woken up with the first contraction. By 6 o'clock they were steady every four minutes. Her water broke at 6:30 and we left for the hospital at 7 o'clock. Jada arrived at the hospital shortly. The next 16 hours or so we spent having contractions every 4 minutes. We tried out the new-age whirlpool bath (the Brampton hospital is only a year old), showering, and massaging, and the labour was actually quite fun and a good bonding experience for all of us. Andrew was supportive and loving and Jada was a great backup with lots of expert advice. By 7pm (Jada has a more accurate record of times so this might be off!) we finally had a nurse (they kept leaving for emergencies) who administered the oxytocin drip to accelerate the contractions. By 10pm Rachel was only 3 cm dilated, and in a lot of pain from contractions very close together and with increased intensity. We finally gave in to an epidural when the nurse told us we had 7 or 8 hours of labour left! We were given a few hours to rest (the best sleep Rachel had had in 6 months) and Rachel was finally fully dilated at 1pm, when the pushing started. In retrospect (and for any of you young ladies who are hoping for a natural labour) she would have never been able to push without the rest (after so many hours of contractions).
