Can you ladies help me, I am making my birth plan, and after a very "natural birth" Lamaze class I really am concerned about risks involved with all the medical interventions that are used today. I am a FTM and would like to know from other moms what their experience is with such things. If you were induced, how was labor, did you get a c-section, how is your child's development thus far... Any help would be appreciated. I am 36 weeks and getting down to the nitty gritty with this.
Re: Potocin, epidurals, c-sections OH MY!!
Pitocin is the worst. Seriously. It actually made me regress and swell and lose half a cm.
They kept talking about a c/s so as a last ditch effort to at least deliver vaginally, we tried a low dose epidural top try and get my body to relax and not tense up from the awful pitocin contractions. That didn't work either.
After being at the hospital for 10+ hrs, DD still hadn't dropped at all and we prepped for a c/s. I gave birth via c/s to a perfectly healthy, face-up baby.
I'll be attempting a drug-free VBAC this go-around and hope and pray for the best, knowing I may very well and up with another c/s.
But that was just one person's experience.
My advice? Avoid pitocin and take everything else in stride. Trust your gut, stick to your guns, but also trust your doctor on what is safest for you and baby.
ETA: just saw your question about child development. Also not sure how this is correlated to birth experience, but DD ha always been incredibly alert and observant, has been a pretty healthy kid overall, and people say she talks very well for her age.
Longer story - I went into spontaneous labor with DD at 39w3d. Early labor started the day prior. I had been maybe 1cm dilated at my 39 week appt and 70-80% effaced. I was admitted at 8:30am to the hospital at 2cm with contractions 4-6 minutes apart and rather intense. An hour later I was already at 4cm and my OB broke my water (with my permission). About an hour after that, I asked for the epidural and I was checked once it was in place and I was 5-6cm. I dozed for a couple of hours and by 2pm I was 10cm. I waited about half an hour or so before I started pushing (I feared pushing for hours so I wanted to wait). About 20 minutes later, just before 3pm, DD was born. I had a second degree tear. Didn't feel any pain and that was amazing - I loved my epidural and will definitely ask for one again this time. I know people get concerned about the baby being "drugged" when the mom gets an epidural but we noticed nothing of the sort. DD even latched to my breast within 15 minutes of being placed on my chest which impressed the nurses.
LCT - 5.15.14 ~ 9lbs, 22.5 inches
Nora - 10.26.12
Henry - 5.9.14
I did have a bunch of interventions (Prostin, Cytotec, Pitocin, early epidural), but that was all after the doctor had already determined vaginal delivery was basically impossible. She was just humoring a difficult patient at that point.
DS's development has always been right on track and I'm thrilled to be having another c-section.
DS: 11/8/11 | 9 lb 7 oz, 22 in
DD: 5/22/14 | 9 lb 9 oz, 21.5 in
DD1 (age 7) doesn't read at the same level as her classmates and has a major attitude problems.
DD2 (age 3) can do all things other three-year-olds can do, but likes to call people "jerks".
Here I thought it was just my poor parenting, but now that you mention it, I should probably blame my induction and epidural for their behavior.
T 2.12 | W 5.14
As a parent you will learn that it is not about you or your wants but about what is best for your child. You have very little control over anything related to birth so give up the notion that you do or you are going to be very unhappy when things don't go your way. If the crap hits the fan you don't get a choice so make peace with the fact that medically indicated interventions are healthy and a real possibility any time you choose to get knocked up and give birth.
So far my birth plan is "this would
be nice, but lets keep an open mind". I think people place too much emphasis on having their perfect birth, but that little sucker is coming out any which way it wants to. Perhaps posting your birth plan up your vagina so baby can read it over will result in better cooperation?
09/23/11 - Married DH
04/01/13 - BFP at 4wks
05/30/13 - MMC - BO @ 12wks 5d
08/29/13 - BFP @ 4wks 4d
09/17/13 - 7wks 2d - Normal HB Detected! Baby measuring perfect for dates and positioning!
10/23/13 - 12wks 3d - Perfect NT scan! HB 167 & baby wriggling, waving & yawning!
12/17/13 - 20wks 2 d - We're having a beautiful baby girl! Go Team Pink!
05/03/14 - Bobbie Gloria was born at 39+6 weighing 6lb 14oz!
Development does not correlate with how we entered the world. I did like reading your stories though, as a FTM I have no idea what to expect.
Anyways FTM and I'm glad I got to read your stories...I'm going in with the hope to go as natural as I can but if I need anything I'll do that too...winging it I guess lol
P.S. If karma does her job, you're getting a c-section.
DS- labor at 39+6, epidural, vaginal birth, no pit needed.
My kids are 8 & 5 and perfectly healthy. I think whatever class you took may have been more scare tactic than factual information and I suggest you do some more research.
ETA- mobile sucks
Is that the correlation you were looking for???
FWIW, i have reason to believe he was already autistic at 17w gestation...so i put no faith in the pitocin/autism theory. And though i hated pit for other reasons, i have no regrets about using it as getting him out may have saved both of our lives.
Birth plans are just that, plans. IRL things dont always go as planned with kids. Not just talking birth here either, but that certainly was my reality check with that fact.
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
My Recipe Blog
~All AL'ers welcome~
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19741492
OP, things like the study linked above is what you should be looking for not other people's anecdotes.
This was basically my exact birth story with Rhett The pitocin contractions hurt, but I have no comparison to real contractions. I decided to go with the epidural and was glad I did.
It hated having a c-section. Immediately, the pain was not terrible but it took a really, really long time to 100 percent recover. I think I have read that medically it takes about 9-12 months for that scar to completely heal...and that was pretty on par with what I experienced. I had pain and had trouble working out up until about 9-10 months after my surgery. It sucked.
I feel like it affected everything...my ability to breastfeed, my ability to care for my child, etc. It took forever for my milk to come in *(didn't even have colostrum) and because my son was IUGR and had low blood sugar HAD to be given formula. By the time he was big enough/strong enough to latch, he was hooked on a bottle and did not want to mess with the boob. Also, I always had supply issues.
Don't mean to scare you, though...I just wished I had been more prepared for the realities of a c-section. Everyone (i.e. pretty much people who had never had a c-section) acted like it was NBD. Bullshit. It is a huge deal. It is major surgery. I've had 7 of them in my life and the c-section was the worst.
2011: FSH 13.3 & E 99; AMH 0.54 2nd FSH 6.2 E 40's AFC: 8
BFP from Clomid/IUI ~ Pre-e and IUGR during pregnancy ~ DS born 9/4/12
Feb./March 2013: AMH less than 0.16 (undectable) and AFC = 4;
BFP from supps ~ DS#2 due May 2014
May 2014 January Siggy Challenge:
I guess my take away is that I would encourage anyone to try to avoid a c-section, but it has nothing to do with developmental delays.
2011: FSH 13.3 & E 99; AMH 0.54 2nd FSH 6.2 E 40's AFC: 8
BFP from Clomid/IUI ~ Pre-e and IUGR during pregnancy ~ DS born 9/4/12
Feb./March 2013: AMH less than 0.16 (undectable) and AFC = 4;
BFP from supps ~ DS#2 due May 2014
May 2014 January Siggy Challenge:
Party of five with another ds via csection. I'm extremely grateful for the medical advances we have made that allow me to even have children! The consenses of the drs is that my lady bits are too small for a baby to fit through, my daughter was cone shaped from trying so long to get out. C sections are scary but well controlled environments and recovery has never been terrible. In about two days I'm feeling like myself just sore but for those firs days you barely notice the discomfort bcuz you are in absolute bliss with your new joy six weeks and usually I'm feeling like I can move normal and actually glance at my scar lol. I'm
A big chicken so my husband checks it for me up til this point. GL with your first regardless of how your baby is born it will be the best experience of your life!
Although her post was naive as hell in terms of the development question, I'm going to hope that's not what she meant.
I'm also pro-birth plan with common sense enough to know that plans can change, but I also see nothing wrong with researching and mapping out your hopes for child birth.