I’m on the first floor of the Prentice Women’s Hospital getting a small americano coffee at Argo Tea.  I’ve been dismissed from the room because Elizabeth’s getting an epidural finally.  She was going to get one a while ago but she was still mostly comfortable with her contractions at that time.  Our initial concern was that getting one too early could increase our chances for a c-section.

The problem is, when you ask the doctors and nurses whether they think it’s a good time to get it, they are wishy-washy in their answers.  Basically, the reason is they don’t want to tell a patient NOT to get one because it’s up to each individual where their threshold is.  As one nurse said, they’re not erecting statues to honor women who don’t get epidurals, so don’t feel the need to be a hero.  However, a main concern is that once a woman gets the epidural, she can no longer leave her bed.  If she has a long way to go, she’s going to be stuck in one place the whole time. 

Things got progressively more painful over the last hour, however.  She’s no wimp — due to her history, she is affected by this kind of pain much more than the average woman.  Anyway, because the epidural procedure must be done in a sterile environment, everyone dons their silly puffy hats and the dad must leave the room for about 20-30 minutes.

By the way, here are some stock photos of the rooms, etc., at Prentice.  This place is only about a year old and we’re very lucky to be here.  Of course, our only way of comparison is from movies we’ve seen of maternity wards.