So the epidural had me feeling comfortable for a while, but then the magnesium had me hating life. As I began to feel weaker and weaker from the magnesium, I realized how difficult pushing the baby out was going to be (not that I thought it would be a piece of cake to begin with), and I started to wonder how - or frankly, if - I was going to be able to do it. Before the magnesium, giving birth seemed like a tremendous task, but after the magnesium it loomed like an impossible feat. Anyway, once my contractions were really close together I started the pushing phase, and all I could think was, 'This is never going to work' because I was so weak I couldn't even lift my limbs, so how was I supposed to have the strength to push out a baby? With each contraction, I grasped for as much strength as I could find and gave it every ounce of energy I had. Matt had to lift up my head and shoulders with each push because I couldn't do it myself. As time went on, I really did feel like I wasn't going to be able to push the baby out and the doctor would decide I would have to have a cesarean. And actually, that was nearly the case. After over an hour of pushing, it became clear to the medical team that I was so weak I probably couldn't push the baby out on my own, so the doctor used forceps to help Odin out. The use of forceps wasn't something I had even thought about, but at that point I realized I needed as much help as I could get, and if it prevented me from needing a c-section, I was ok with it.
Mommy meets Odin face-to-face |
There will be one more ‘episode’ about Odin’s birth story, which will include my recovery, his time in the NICU, and bringing him home.