Since it was my first and I didnt know any better - my epi ran out before I started to push I said I could feel my legs, noboby listened to me so I pushed him out without the epi working - so I regret not having asked for a second round of the epi.
Virtually every decision that was made that led to my induction and C/S. ome of you know the details and I'm not going to go into it because just typing this bums me out.
Wife, mom, Ob/Gyn resident Sarah - 12/23/2008 Alex - 9/30/2011
"I say embrace the total geek in yourself and just enjoy it. Life is too short to be cool." - Shirley Manson, Garbage
I actually have quite a few. I wish I wasn't induced but because of certain circumstances I was. I just wonder what it would be like to go on my own, and when it would be. I also got the epi at 4 cm...before I was even feeling anything just because I was scared of the pain, and I now wonder how long I could have gone without it. I wish I could have gotten some sleep first because I was so tired I actually blacked out, from the pain also, and don't remember half of it. SO's mom INSISTED on being in the room and talking the entire time...from 11 pm til 430 am...started pushing at 5. I didn't get to sleep until after 7...then people started showing up at 9. I hardly got any time to hold him because SO's sisters, aunt, and grandma decided to show up and stayed for about 3 hours, only giving DS up when I had to feed him.
Oh yeah, and one more - I regret not going to the hospital sooner. When I got there I was already a 5 and I know had I gone in when I really started hurting I could have gotten the epi and avoided all the pain I felt up until then. Phew, this feels good to get off my chest. Ha!
That I waited so long to have the c-section. If I had known that baby was not going to move, I would not have pushed for 4 hours!
"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies. God damn it, you've got to be kind."
- Kurt Vonnegut
Having my baby in a hospital. Fighting with nurses to have my natural birth, being forced to lay in bed, purple pushing. Yuck. Homebirths for me from now on!
My water broke at home and I went into labor on my own so I had no interventions, that was awesome. I did attempt to have a drug free birth - dumb, I wish I'd have gotten the epi earlier, but oh well, I think I'd have gotten rest rather than bouncing on a stupid ball for 5 hours with water leaking all over the place, lol
I also wish I had just formula fed from the beginning, I think my first 2 weeks with the baby would have been happier (no flames please)
i should have refused the pitocin and my OBs efforts to "speed" things along. i went with the flow and the flow was too fast. i don't know if there would have been a different result (fetal distress resulting in c/s) but at least i would know it WASN"T because i was rushed.
This exactly. Within 20 minutes of being in the hospital, they were already pumping me with pitocin to "get things going" which led to the epidural which then in turn slowed down my dilation. So I had to eventually get a c/s. Also, I hired a doula and wish I hadn't. It was a lot of money and in the end, not much help (not because she wasn't good, but because I had to go c/s route).
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At the end of the day, I'm happy he's healthy and here and that's all that matters - but it didn't go the way I would have wanted at all! I regret a lot, actually... I regret letting them induce me (it ended up being up to me), I regret getting the epi (I think if I'd been able to change positions from just laying there I could have pushed him out), and I regret not letting him labor down more before starting to push (I got to 10 cm and immediately started pushing and wore myself out - I should have let my body do more of the work on its own).
Don't regret anything really. Had an awesome labor and delivery. My only real regret is that the nurse told my Dr. she thought my water had broken. My Dr. then went into surgery for 5 hours. When she finally came to check on me, it hadnt broken and I hadnt progressed. As soon as she broke it, things went really fast. I wish she had done it that morning. I would have had my baby sooner and not spent the whole day sitting around.
I would have chosen to NOT tear, but that wasn't really in the cards when your kiddo has a head in the 99th percentile.
ETA: I had a Bradley Method unmedicated birth and was thankful that everything went according to my birth plan. I was extremely lucky, but also happy that I went in prepared with how I wanted to give birth and turned down all the interventions that we offered me.
I wish I had a different doctor. Starting at 37 weeks she wanted to talk induction, that should have been my first clue. I finally let her schedule it when I was 2 days overdue, but luckily I went into labor on my own the night before I was supposed to go in. I labored at home for awhile and went in about 2 hours before I was scheduled for my induction. Everything was fine until it was time to push. About 30 minutes into pushing, she started pressuring me to use the vaccum. I refused, and ultimately did not use it, but she kept up the pressure for the full 2 1/2 hours. She also looked extremely bored/irritated, kept looking at the clock, and at one point told the nurse to call her office and tell them she was going to be late, and you could just hear how irritated she was in the tone of her voice. She also did not even offer to let DH cut the cord, she just did it. DH was so pissed about the whole experience that he didn't even want me to go back to her for my 6 week pp visit.
As for afterwards, I wish I had been better about asking my parents to leave. When they finally got there (they had to fly in) DD had just had a bath and her body temp dropped so I had to do skin to skin with her for a certain amount of time. My mom was upset that she couldn't hold her right away, and then DEMANDED her when the time was up. I wish I had kicked them out when I was BFing, my mom kept staring. I also wish I had kicked them out when we were getting our discharge instructions.
I regret going anywhere near a hospital. Thank God, I've a healthy son, but the rudeness and ignorance of docs and nurses made me fear for our safety. Not a great way to experience one of life's most wonderful challenges.
My only regret, since I was sent straight to the hospital from my Dr's office, was that in my frenzy to get to the hospital, I forgot to have my mom grab our cord blood donation kit.
I wish I could have held DS right away. I had a postpartum hemorrhage and they kinda whisked DS away while they were mashing on my belly and giving me meds to deal with that. (Reason #37 I thank God I delivered in the hospital...) I think it was at least 30-45 min until I was able to hold DS. Later when his temp dropped, I wish I would have been able to hold him skin-to-skin to bring it back up, instead of his having to go into an incubator, but they never offered that option, and I did not ask.
But overall, I had an awesome experience. I went natural, like I wanted to, and I had a really awesome, supportive doctor and nurse.
Oh, I also wish we had had our camera as soon as DS was born. We left it in the car along with everything else because I thought there would be plenty of time for DH to run out and grab everything once I was admitted. As it turned out, I was 8 cm and in tons of pain by the time I got out of triage, and I wanted DH to stay with me. The only really early pics we have of DS were taken with our cell phone cameras.
Accepting a vacuum. It fractured my kid's skull and caused a brain injury.
OMG. I am SO sorry to hear that. I was offered the vacuum after 3 and 1/2 hour of pushing and begged them to let me try pushing a couple more times. After an episiotomy and a couple more pushes, DD was born. I am terrified of that happening for my second though. (and dd was 5 lb 8 oz when she was born, so 3 week early and tiny, what if I went full term?!) Scary.
Re: what do you regret about your labor & delivery?
Sarah - 12/23/2008
Alex - 9/30/2011
"I say embrace the total geek in yourself and just enjoy it. Life is too short to be cool." - Shirley Manson, Garbage
I actually have quite a few. I wish I wasn't induced but because of certain circumstances I was. I just wonder what it would be like to go on my own, and when it would be. I also got the epi at 4 cm...before I was even feeling anything just because I was scared of the pain, and I now wonder how long I could have gone without it. I wish I could have gotten some sleep first because I was so tired I actually blacked out, from the pain also, and don't remember half of it. SO's mom INSISTED on being in the room and talking the entire time...from 11 pm til 430 am...started pushing at 5. I didn't get to sleep until after 7...then people started showing up at 9. I hardly got any time to hold him because SO's sisters, aunt, and grandma decided to show up and stayed for about 3 hours, only giving DS up when I had to feed him.
My water broke at home and I went into labor on my own so I had no interventions, that was awesome. I did attempt to have a drug free birth - dumb, I wish I'd have gotten the epi earlier, but oh well, I think I'd have gotten rest rather than bouncing on a stupid ball for 5 hours with water leaking all over the place, lol
I also wish I had just formula fed from the beginning, I think my first 2 weeks with the baby would have been happier (no flames please)
This exactly. Within 20 minutes of being in the hospital, they were already pumping me with pitocin to "get things going" which led to the epidural which then in turn slowed down my dilation. So I had to eventually get a c/s. Also, I hired a doula and wish I hadn't. It was a lot of money and in the end, not much help (not because she wasn't good, but because I had to go c/s route).
Nothing! It was an amazing experience.
I would have chosen to NOT tear, but that wasn't really in the cards when your kiddo has a head in the 99th percentile.
ETA: I had a Bradley Method unmedicated birth and was thankful that everything went according to my birth plan. I was extremely lucky, but also happy that I went in prepared with how I wanted to give birth and turned down all the interventions that we offered me.
I wish I had a different doctor. Starting at 37 weeks she wanted to talk induction, that should have been my first clue. I finally let her schedule it when I was 2 days overdue, but luckily I went into labor on my own the night before I was supposed to go in. I labored at home for awhile and went in about 2 hours before I was scheduled for my induction. Everything was fine until it was time to push. About 30 minutes into pushing, she started pressuring me to use the vaccum. I refused, and ultimately did not use it, but she kept up the pressure for the full 2 1/2 hours. She also looked extremely bored/irritated, kept looking at the clock, and at one point told the nurse to call her office and tell them she was going to be late, and you could just hear how irritated she was in the tone of her voice. She also did not even offer to let DH cut the cord, she just did it. DH was so pissed about the whole experience that he didn't even want me to go back to her for my 6 week pp visit.
As for afterwards, I wish I had been better about asking my parents to leave. When they finally got there (they had to fly in) DD had just had a bath and her body temp dropped so I had to do skin to skin with her for a certain amount of time. My mom was upset that she couldn't hold her right away, and then DEMANDED her when the time was up. I wish I had kicked them out when I was BFing, my mom kept staring. I also wish I had kicked them out when we were getting our discharge instructions.
I wish I could have held DS right away. I had a postpartum hemorrhage and they kinda whisked DS away while they were mashing on my belly and giving me meds to deal with that. (Reason #37 I thank God I delivered in the hospital...) I think it was at least 30-45 min until I was able to hold DS. Later when his temp dropped, I wish I would have been able to hold him skin-to-skin to bring it back up, instead of his having to go into an incubator, but they never offered that option, and I did not ask.
But overall, I had an awesome experience. I went natural, like I wanted to, and I had a really awesome, supportive doctor and nurse.
OMG. I am SO sorry to hear that. I was offered the vacuum after 3 and 1/2 hour of pushing and begged them to let me try pushing a couple more times. After an episiotomy and a couple more pushes, DD was born. I am terrified of that happening for my second though. (and dd was 5 lb 8 oz when she was born, so 3 week early and tiny, what if I went full term?!) Scary.