Katie Carpenter Instagram – Birth story, part 4.
“There’s protein in your urine.”
“Your blood pressure is high.”
I had preeclampsia. What I’d been running from for so long had finally come.
She said this was one of the reasons why I felt so shitty. She wanted to give me meds to lower my BP. Okay, fine. But after 4 more hours of contractions 2-3 minutes apart, how far along was I?
… 4cm. Out of 10. All that work – for what? ONE centimeter??
And then I asked something I never expected to ask. “What can we do about the pain?”
The midwife said an epidural would help with my blood pressure. Our doula said that would be a compassionate choice, given my condition. Kevin remained sweetly silent. This wasn’t the plan. So many things weren’t The Plan. But once again, I knew it was the right thing to do. So I said yes.
Being terrified of needles, I didn’t look. Sitting still for an epidural in the middle of contractions while you’re bent over like a snail is torture. I squeezed Kevin hard. And then – sweet relief.
I couldn’t believe that I could talk again. Contractions were still coming but I couldn’t feel them. I was on a cloud.
And then our oxygen dropped. The nurses didn’t panic as they put a mask on me. They said that baby and I just had to regulate after the meds and we’d be okay. Luckily, we were.
Another cervical check a few minutes later. 9cm. What?! When did that happen? We were all in shock. Had it happened in between, when I agreed to an epidural? Or did the epidural finally allow my body to relax? Either way, we were finally getting somewhere.
Around 6am Wednesday morning, they told us all to get some rest. And then they left.
Kevin and Lauren got as comfy as they could. They drifted off. I was hooked up to so many wires and had a blood pressure cuff going off every few minutes, so I didn’t.
Still, I felt okay now. Completely out of my element, a vision I didn’t predict, but at peace. | Posted on 09/Nov/2023 04:30:33
