Lily is Born (part 2)

**WARNING- do not read unless you really want to know what childbirth was like for me, gross parts and all**

One of the nurses that was waiting to get into Labor and delivery actually found a staff entrance that would open, so she let us in that way. The admissions lady brought me in and introduced me to the nurses as "the possible rupture." When I told the nurses there was no "possible" about it they asked "Is it a trickle or gushing?" I told them and they took me right to a room instead of taking me to triage to check. I also told her that I noticed a bit of brown tinge to the fluid the second time I checked. She told me that just means they would take extra precautions with the baby once it's born to try to suction the airway better. This means they wouldn't put her right on my chest, but take her over to the incubator thing and use a special suction device.
After a while the doctor came to check on me. I was 2 cm and 80% effaced. He wanted to induce, but I was reluctant. My contractions were almost painful, but still all over the place. After thinking about Ryan's delivery where my water broke at 7 AM one morning and I didn't deliver until 11 AM the next morning I decided if my contractions didn't pick up on their own I would get pitocin around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I didn't want to be exhausted after being up all night with contractions trying to deliver Sweet Pea. Things were not picking up, so at 2:30 I asked for pitocin (that was the next time I saw the nurse). She said she would talk to the doctor because he had to write the order. A little while after 3 she came in and said the doctor said go ahead and do it. Around 3:45 I was asking for an epidural. The nurse checked me and I was 3 cm 90% effaced, she said the doctor didn't like to give an epidural until 4 cm. I told her I was asking while I could still handle the contractions because 1) the doctor advised me to and 2) I wanted to give the anesthesiologist time to get there. Well he got there within 5 minutes and I had relief within 10. I believe you read that the epidural is my best friend. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. After the 7 o'clock shift change my new nurse came in to check on me. Her name was Lily. Did I mention that my first nurse was named Jen and the second was Erin(my best friend's name). Weird. Well, Lily (the nurse) had 2 patients and the other one went into active labor so another nurse took over. She was Trisha, no name correlation, but we figured out the reason we all (including Jay) looked familiar to each other was that she was my favorite nurse when I was in labor with Ryan! She had stayed in my room talking to me for a good bit of the night when I couldn't sleep. She was awesome. Her shift ended at 7 the morning Ryan was born. She said she wanted to stick around and see me through, but it didn't look like it was going to happen any time soon and she had to get home to her boys. I digress.
My mom brought the boys over to visit in the evening before bed for a short visit because it didn't look like anything was going to happen before they fell asleep. I started feeling some contractions just before they left around 8:30. Trisha came in to check on me and I told her I was feeling the contractions again. She asked where the pain was and I told her my back and low in my abdomen near my right hip. She asked when the last time they drained my bladder was. Well, now that I think about it not since this afternoon. She drained over 2 quarts, um, yah, that's a lot. Then she told me that might actually get things going because a full bladder can prevent the baby from descending. It also helped a whole lot with the contraction pains. It wasn't too long before they got intense again though. At 9 I called to ask to get my epidural turned up. The nurse asked where the pain was and if I was having the urge to push. The pain was in my back and lower abdomen. She said before we do that can I check you. She explained that being able to feel the contractions can really help you know when and how to push. I debated this for a few seconds as the contractions were really hurting at the time. When she checked I was ready. She said I could sit and wait for the baby to descend more and get the epidural if I wanted to, but that really helps more with first babies than second babies. She also said pushing can help with the pain. So I decided to go for it right then and just deal with the pain. So she called the doctor and got ready while I breathed through another contraction. I started pushing a bit after 9:10. After pushing during 2 contractions she was on the phone telling the doctor to hurry up. She reassured Jay that she could deliver the baby herself if he didn't get there in time. I pushed on the next contraction and then she asked me if I could breathe through the next one. I could feel the baby between my hips. By now the room is full of people including the pediatrician, but still no doctor. Trish told me I could push if I needed to, but to try not to. I ended up breathing through two more contractions(which was really hard). My doctor came in and went into the prep closet. I cheated on the last one that I was supposed to breathe through and pushed a little, just enough to relieve some of the pain. I knew the doctor was there and it wouldn't be long, so I didn't feel that bad about cheating. I actually felt the baby move down a little bit. Then I hear one of the nurses saying urgently, "Doctor K., She's crowning!" Then he came out and on the next push Lily's head was out(felt that too, but I knew what that felt like from last time-> weird). I didn't know this at the time, but her cord was around her neck. It was so tightly wrapped that the ob cut it before the rest of her was delivered. I must have been very oblivious at this point because apparently it sprayed blood right on my face and I didn't even notice. The next contraction started and one more push and there she was at 9:35 PM. Unfortunately, they rushed her right over to the bassinet and started working on her. I was really worried at the time because she didn't cry for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds in reality. Ryan practically came out crying and he was placed right on my chest. That was a moment that I treasured with Ryan and a moment I sorely missed with Lily. It seemed to take forever for them to get her ready and I longed to hold her so badly. I watched as they sucked her out and cleaned her off with the towels. Her head was facing me and I just stared at her face. She looked so much like her big brother. I said that to Jay while she was still with the pediatrician and the nurses. She was so beautiful. I wanted to hold her in my arms so badly.
During this time I barely noticed the doctor holding the umbilical cord waiting for me to deliver the placenta. Then he told me to push, so I did even though there was no contraction. I'm still not completely sure why, but then he started "massaging" my uterus. It hurt, a LOT. Then he asked the nurse to do it. It still hurt, but less. Then he did it again...OUCH! Then he told me I needed stitches, but that I was bleeding too much. Then he attacked my abdomen again. During all the hoopla that followed I heard him say I had a second degree tear(not as bad as the 3rd degree one of the first birth). I asked how many stitches and he said 8. They gave Lily to Jay because they were still working on me. So daddy got to be first to hold her. I hope that was as special for him as it was for me with Ryan. When they were done "massaging" my uterus I finally got to hold my Sweet Lily for the first time. She was wrapped in 3 blankets, so I didn't really get to feel her, but her head was mighty sweet and cute sticking out of the mass quantity of blankets. I actually forgot to feed her for the first few minutes because I just wanted to take her in since I had to wait so long to actually hold her.