October 2017 Moms
PizzaMonster3
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Your L&D Story
PizzaMonster3
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I know it's been discussed in a few separate threads but I would love to hear everyone's L&D stories in one place.
As a FTM, I've pretty worried about how it will go for me. I don't think I know enough about pain management, how quickly it can progress, and it didn't dawn on me to ask if a birth photographer could be in the room.
So share away ladies!
Rants/Raves
Did it compare to what you expected?
What will you (try to) do differently this time?
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without?
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc?
As a FTM, I've pretty worried about how it will go for me. I don't think I know enough about pain management, how quickly it can progress, and it didn't dawn on me to ask if a birth photographer could be in the room.
So share away ladies!
Rants/Raves
Did it compare to what you expected?
What will you (try to) do differently this time?
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without?
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc?
**April Siggy Challenge**Baby Animals**
Re: Your L&D Story
ETA: DD came a week early - I was due the 28th, she came the 21.
I started having contractions on a Wednesday - fairly painful, but super erratic. DH was going out with friends that night and I warned him not to drink too much in case we had to go to the hospital that night. Went to bed.
Thursday I was having contractions, about 3-5 minutes apart, but not very painful. I was perplexed, but thought "heyyy maybe I'm just going to be one of those women who don't have painful contractions!" (lolz) I didn't go in to work, DH came home from work and we went to the hospital just as a precaution. They had me walk around at the hospital for awhile, but didn't progress any further so I went home.
Friday I was having seriously painful contractions - but super erratic, maybe 10-20 minutes apart. Went out for a steak dinner that night and DH rode along some back country roads with bumps. haha
Saturday morning I woke up feeling like a million bucks. Fixed myself a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, grabbed leftover Halloween candy (sweettarts - all three were purple! My favorite! It was a sign!) and headed out in our neighborhood with the dogs for a 3.5 mile walk.
Came back from the walk around 12:30pm, grabbed a glass of water, sat down on the couch and....water broke. Or at least, I thought. I got up and went to the bathroom and felt another gush so I went out and told DH I thought my water broke. He asked if he had time to hop in the shower (he and his dad were doing some work on our house) and me, not being in any type of pain, said sure, I need to call the on-call doctor anyway and let them know we're coming in. About 10 minutes later....the contractions came. And they came HARD. I finally understood what they said when they told me I wouldn't be able to talk through the contractions. It was legit.
Got to the hospital about 1:30, flew through triage where they confirmed my water had broken, got into the last room on the L&D wing and begged for the epidural (oh yeah, my plan was to wait as long as possible. lolz). Got it and relaxed for a few hours, got a little snoozer, watched a movie. About 6pm they came in, said I was at 10cm, it was push time. Just after 7pm DD arrived!
I crashed after delivery - throwing up, passing out, it was crazy - but I really think it's because it was 7pm at night, I had just pushed a human being from my body and all I had to eat that day was a PB&J and 3 sweettarts. So I beg of you, if anything, let that be a lesson to you all - EAT SOMETHING BEFORE YOU GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Anything.
For the questions above-
Rants/Raves: I seriously have no complaints. It was as great of an experience as it could have been.
Did it compare to what you expected? I had no expectations. My mom never went into labor, I was a csection baby, I was prepared and open to whatever needed to happen.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? Nothing except eat haha. If I have another labor/delivery like the first one, I'll be thrilled.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? WITCH HAZEL. Lots and lots.
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc: So my practice with DD was a fairly large one with 10 doctors. They required that we saw each doctor at least once during the pregnancy so no matter when we went into labor, we would be delivered by someone we had seen before. My current practice is much smaller, so I'm not sure what happens there. But honestly, I don't really care. My entire birth plan was "get the baby out as quickly and efficiently as possible as healthy as possible for both baby and me." That won't change this time around.
BFP#3: 2/9/13 EDD 10/18/17. Team Green for Round 2!
Make sure they remove all of the placenta. Sounds dumb I know, but ER trips because of this at 2 and 3 weeks postpartum will make a person paranoid.
Next time:
Full term, I hope the dang Makena shots will get us to 37 weeks.
My water broke at 3:00am 8 days before my due date. My contractions hadn't started and up until this point I had only even had Braxton Hicks. I cleaned myself up, got a towel and laid back down in bed. DH woke up at this point and asked me if I was okay and I told him my water had broken but I wasn't contracting yet so I was going to try and lay down for a bit longer. He got up and started doing yard work and stuff lol.
Contractions started about 30 minutes later and I texted my mom so they could get on their way. At about 7:00am my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and I called the nurse line at the hospital. She was like "yeah, if your water broke at 3 and you are having contractions you should probably come in... shower and come on down." So I showered, then DH showered and SHAVED and then we left for the hospital. We got there at 8:00am (we only live like 5 minutes away) and got checked in and upstairs. Nurse checked me and I was almost 5cm (I hadn't had a vaginal check up until then so I don't know how dilated I was prior).
I told her I wanted to attempt med-free so she got my hep-lock set up and told me I could order some food from the kitchen since I wasn't having anesthesia. I got some fruit, bounced on the birthing ball and waited.
Around 11am my mom got there and my contractions were getting more intense. About 12:30ish I told my mom and DH that if I wasn't at least 8cm I was going to need some pain meds. Looking back, this was clearly transition.
She checked me, I was 8cm. She asked if I still wanted some meds and I said, "Just something to take the edge off." Enter IV and Fentanyl and stalling at 8cm for 2 hours. This was the worst part of my labor. My body wanted to push but my cervix wasn't ready. The fentanyl did nothing except basically make me fall asleep between contractions. Didn't lessen pain or anything.
Finally I got on hands and knees for about 20 minutes and then I was ready to push. I pushed for 2.5 hours and finally he was there!
DH and my mom were both surprised at how calm and quiet I was through the whole process. I think I only said one expletive and that was when it was all almost over (the ring of fire really is no joke).
DS was born after almost 16 hours of labor and that was that!
Rants/Raves: I honestly had no regrets with my experience. I do think with this one I could do without the IV pain meds as they didn't help as much as I hoped they would so therefore I basically did it without meds. Water broke at 3:00am, got to the hospital at 8:00am at almost 5cm dilated, stalled out at 8cm for 2 hours from 2:00-4:00pm (I think because that was when I got the IV meds and was lying on my back. I turned on my hands and knees for 20 minutes and got to 10cm), and then pushed for 2.5 hours. DS was born at almost 7:00pm.
I seriously got into my recovery room post L&D and looked at DH and said "I could do that again." It was the newborn (first month) stage that almost made me think I was OAD.
Did it compare to what you expected? I was expecting to go past my due date (he was 8 days early), I was expecting to have a SUPER long labor (it was only 16 hours which really isn't bad for a FTM), I wasn't expecting to push for 2.5 hours (everyone kept saying that was the fastest part), I also wasn't expecting my water breaking to be my first sign of labor.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? I really think if there are no complications and everything is the same I can go completely pain med free this time around. I think this will prevent me from stalling out because I will likely be up and still somewhat moving around.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? Breast pads and a comfortable bra. If you want to breast feed definitely get a nipple shield for your hospital bag. We wouldn't have had any success if I hadn't been given one in the hospital. You might not need it but for $10-$15 it is better to be safe than sorry!
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? It was the other OB in my practice but not my doc. He was my second choice for an OB anyway so it was fine!
ETA: Added in the more detailed story at the beginning.
I heart YNAB
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“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times,
if one only remembers to turn on the light."
- Albus Dumbledore
#1 thing you should not be without: Gatorade. I chugged a huge one post labor like a boss. It was the best gatorade of my life. Definitely eat something before you get to the hospital if you can.
I'm not sure i'd do anything differently. Maybe try to nap after the epidural. I was so hopped up on adrenaline that i was chatting with my former BMB all day till it was time for pushing. I should have taken a nap. I definitely plan on pushing back at the nurses to take the kid to the nursery instead of trying to room in. I also think i'd rather go in telling the nurses i plan on doing formula rather than breastfeeding. Mostly so I'll get samples and wont have a lactation consultant on me 24/7 like last time. I will still try to breastfeed but i wont have the same amount of pressure as last time.
ETA: I forgot to add, my water never broke so they broke it around 8 cm. I always assumed that would happen. Nope!
i got to the hospital at 7am, and by 2pm i was 9cm. i was shocked i thought FTM labored all day. told me a couple more hours i'd have my baby and left the room. ::back to candy crush:: all the sudden nurses and the midwife come running in. and shouted at me to get on my hands and knees (keep in mind i have the epidural so i feel nothing). i somehow flop my body around, pure terror at this point. everything is beeping. after a couple of minutes they tell me they have to bring me to the OR for a csection and throw scrubs at H. i was trying to remain calm, i am like ok this happens nbd. in an hour when they can fit me in ill go to the OR. literally 5 minutes later i was cut open. Everything went so fast. Turns out DD1 was wrapped in the cord a few times and it wasn't allowing her to drop and her HR was dipping low. This all mixed with my apparent narrow pelvic bone.
DD2 - i struggled with the decision of VBAC or RCS. i literally didnt make my decision until 2 days before when a csection spot opened up with the doc i wanted. i figured that was a sign. part of me regrets not trying for VBAC but my OB told me there is no way i would have had a successful VBAC when she took out DD2. i will say the peaceful way she came was so much different (and enjoyable) than DD1. i was in shock with DD1.
May Siggy Challenge: Parenting Fails
Ill post Ds2 seperatly
I got the epidural around 5am and was fully dilated by 10am. I pushed for three hours, which was crazy intense. He was born at 1pm, so my total labor was 10 hours.
With my OB practice you get whichever doctor or midwife is on call. The doctor who delivered me was not the same as my primary OB, but she was amazing. She and my nurse were really empowering and supportive and kept me going through the 3 hours of pushing. Toward the end I was losing it and was basically yelling "JUST GET THIS BABY OUT I DON'T CARE HOW" and they were like, "Girl, you got this."
The only thing I'm planning to change this time around is to try laughing gas before the epidural. My hospital didn't offer it last time but they do now. I loved my epidural and won't hesitate to get it again if I need to, but the laughing gas experience kind of sounds right up my alley.
Questions:
do they have your belly hooked up to monitors to check status of baby? Is that why they rushed in @carries2018?
Is an ultrasound an option to check cord position? Or does it even matter since baby is moving around so much?
do they leave a needle/catheter in your spine to repush epidural meds? Did y'all know about walking epidural when you requested yours?
What did "back labor" feel like to you? Were you predisposed because of uterus tilt?
Did the nicu facilities affect your choice in hospital?
I started having contractions for real on a Friday morning. They weren't too painful and were about 20 minutes apart, so I finished work (half-day), and then DH and I ran errands, went to lunch, took a long walk, etc. By bedtime, the contractions were very painful, but not consistent. They would be 20 min, then 8 min, then 15 min, then 3 min, etc. But they were painful enough to prevent me from getting any sleep. So Saturday morning, we went back to the hospital. I was dilated to 3cm (had been for 2 weeks prior) and was still having painful, inconsistent contractions, so they had me walk around the hospital for 2 hours. The contractions were strong, enough that I had to stop walking during them. They got a little closer together and more consistent (every 5-8 minutes), but after the 2 hours I hadn't progressed, so they sent us home, with strict orders not to come back until they were consistently 2-3 minutes apart (flash forward: that never happened). My contractions continued in the same manner for the rest of the day, so I was totally useless at home.
Saturday night, I didn't sleep at all, again. My OB happened to be on call, so I called her at 3 am, crying, asking her what to do, because the midwife at the hospital had told me not to come back. My OB said that if it was really as painful as I said, I should come back. We waited until 6-7am, and went back to the hospital. I told DH I wouldn't leave the hospital without drugs or a baby, lol. Finally able to consult with my actual OB, the midwife admitted me (I hadn't progressed past 3 cm yet). My OB gave me a morphine treatment, which basically numbed the contractions so that I could get some sleep. Her assessment was that because I hadn't slept in 2 days, my body was out of whack and couldn't regulate the contractions/labor. She expected that after sleeping, the contractions would stop.
After sleeping at the hospital for 4-5 hours, my contractions were still irregular (anywhere from 2-6 minutes apart), but I had progressed to 4 cm. I had prodromal labor, which is where you're essentially stuck in the first part of labor. So they admitted me and gave me the lowest possible dose of Pitocin. Within 20 minutes, my contractions were coming regularly at 2 minutes apart. My water broke just as the anesthesiologist arrived to do my epidural. I labored for 4-5 hours, and then pushed for just under an hour. DD was born late Sunday night.
A crazy side-note: just before it was time to push, I started feeling a little pain with the contractions. My nurse tried to tell me it was likely just pressure, but the pain started worsening. DH noticed that a random tube was just hanging above my shoulder - turns out, my epidural had come unplugged! The anesthesiologist came back and fixed it before I pushed, but I was a little worried I was going to have to do it without the meds.
Wow, this has turned into a novel. Anyways, despite the prodromal labor, I'm really happy with how it went. My OB did not deliver DD, because she had been on-call the night before.
Is an ultrasound an option to check cord position? Or does it even matter since baby is moving around so much? no they didn't, i would imagine there isn't much time for that if the baby is in distress, bc whatever the reason something is stopping the baby from coming out. cords wrapped around is pretty common, but there obviously are times it is posing a threat like it did in our case. ideally the monitors tell the story, which thankfully it did for us. with DD2 every u/s i was like WHERE IS THE CORD?! IS IT AROUND HER NECK?! and they would always tell me "it doesnt matter, bc where ever it is now it won't be tomorrow."
do they leave a needle/catheter in your spine to repush epidural meds? Did y'all know about walking epidural when you requested yours? i have no idea TBH that ish grosses me out. there is like a tube or something in there to give you more. but i have no idea if that is standard or what. i didnt even want to know. heebie jeebies. and i have no idea what a walking epidural is. mine didnt have legs
What did "back labor" feel like to you? Were you predisposed because of uterus tilt? it was like period like cramps radiating around your love handles to your back. before the water broke it wasn't very painful for me. but i read about back labor so that is how i knew they were real contractions. it was like period cramps hugging you all the way around.
Did the nicu facilities affect your choice in hospital? not really, i naively didn't think we would need it (thankfully we didn't). however my hospital isn't equipped to have babies before 34 weeks. so if i were to go into labor before that they would send you to the city.
May Siggy Challenge: Parenting Fails
do they have your belly hooked up to monitors to check status of baby? Yes, because the want to watch their heart rate.
Is an ultrasound an option to check cord position? Or does it even matter since baby is moving around so much? I know that they can see it on an ultrasound but I don't know more than that.
do they leave a needle/catheter in your spine to repush epidural meds? Did y'all know about walking epidural when you requested yours? Yes and Yes. They leave a catheter and typically it is still hooked up, I had a button I could push for more meds every few minutes. A walking epidural doesn't always mean that you can still walk, its just a different set of drugs. I personally never really gave it serious consideration.
What did "back labor" feel like to you? Were you predisposed because of uterus tilt? Super intense lower back pain is the only way I know to describe it. It came with a normal contraction, would hurt as soon as the contraction started and wouldn't let up until it was over. It was kind of a pressure pain combined with muscle pain, if that makes sense. I wasn't predisposed to it because of tilt, but a lot of times it can happen because of the position of the baby.
Did the nicu facilities affect your choice in hospital? Sort of. I knew I was going to deliver at the hospital that was nearest to us, and they also have a level 3 NICU which is as good as it gets. I think for a first time mom, knowing which hospitals have the better NIC
At 1 day past my due date (I guess I'll mention I had my membranes swept the day before), I was getting ready to go to bed and went to use the restroom. When I stood up, I felt "a little more" dribble out on the floor and just thought "huh...that was weird...I guess I just peed myself. Pregnancy sucks." A brief thought of maybe it was my water went through my mind but it wasn't the GUSH you hear about. DH convinced me to call and ask just in case, and the nurse I spoke to told me not to come in unless it happened again (still so much anger towards him). I stayed up a little bit longer and watched TV and read but it never happened so I just went back to bed but lined my side of the bed with towels. The next morning, I don't know why, I had convinced myself it had to be my water even though nothing had happened during the night. DH was already off work so we decided to go to the hospital to get checked out. We showered, got ready, I ate some toast (SERIOUSLY PEOPLE EAT SOMETHING BETTER THAN TOAST) because I was too nervous to eat anything else, and we took off. It was 8am and traffic was terrible but I'm so glad we left when we did.
We got to the hospital and I still wasn't having any more leaking or any signs of contractions. I was pretty much expecting everyone to tell me I just peed myself and to go home while they snickered at my ignorance. Well I got checked out and surprise, it was my water. And my water had already been broken at that point for about 12 hours if we're going off the incident in my bathroom. It took awhile to get a room for some reason so we were in triage for a bit. When they finally got me a room I had my first contraction on the walk over and I almost fell to the floor. It came out of nowhere. We got in my room and I started having some serious contractions. I was ready for an epidural almost immediately and felt like such a loser (I wanted to go longer without). DH helped me to the bathroom at one point and I had one so bad I demanded the epidural NOW. I think I scared him. He accidentally hit the "EMERGENCY" button on the call pad instead of the normal page button so as I'm sitting on the toilet about 10 nurses and doctors RUN in. Embarrassing.
I was one of those who had "back labor." I felt all contractions in my back instead of my front. It was terrible and I attribute that my needing an epidural so quickly (but who knows). DD was "sunny side up" the entire time so she was pushing on my back. I did get some fentanyl which felt amazing until I got my epidural. I didn't feel the needle go in at all. My epidural worked great. I could still feel my legs and move a bit (they just felt super heavy so no walking of course), but I felt zero contractions or tearing or burning or anything.
I took a nap after my epidural, watched TV, chatted with friends on facebook. I think I starting pushing around 5:30pm-6:00pm, and DD was born at 7:34pm. During pushing, the nurse and DH had to watch the monitor to tell me when to push on the contractions since I could feel nothing. While pushing I started shaking and shivering, and they discovered I had a really high fever which they attributed to some kind of infection I contracted because my water had been broken for almost 24 hours. I was pretty close to having a Csection because of this so luckily she came out shortly after. However, I was on IV antibiotics for the duration of my stay. They were worried about DD getting the infection too so she was rushed to NICU to get checked out (she was fine). They were also concerned about diabetes with her (she was 9lbs2oz) so she got poked a lot. She's fine. I just make big babies apparently (my OB had predicted she'd be about 7 lbs. Ha).
Rants: I wish I just went to the hospital when I thought my water might have broke.
Rave: Drugs are great.
Did it compare to what you expected? I really tried to go in with no expectations. I had no birth plan other than get the baby out.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? Eat better beforehand if possible.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? cell phone charger with a long cord. You might be bedridden and who knows where the closest outlet is haha
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? Nope. Same practice but complete stranger. I did not care one bit.
*O17 June Siggy Challenge - You had 1 job!*
The 2nd time around my water broke around 7 am but I was in denial : 1. because I was 34w4d and I had one goal through the entire pregnancy, make it to 35 weeks so no NICU time was required. Ha...also did I mention it was 12/20- right before Christmas. 2. DH had fallen down the stairs the night before with DD1 in his arms and had broken his arm...we had planned to take him to see the doctor that morning and he didn't have any use of his dominant arm at the time. So, we call MIL to take DD1, my mom's boss was being an ass and wouldn't let her leave work (3 hours away) until noon, and my husband drove me to the hospital one handed. When we got there he dropped me off at the door to wait for him and my water broke the rest of the way, leaving me standing at the entrance to the hospital (where I worked) looking like I had just peed myself. Thankfully a friend of mine was headed to break and found us and offered to wheel me up to L&D because my husband couldn't even push the wheelchair because it required grasping a handle. I got up to L&D, they said yup your water is broken and I was again at 4 cm. My contractions were there but not as horrible this time but I was so stressed out about the premature delivery I just went for the epidural again. I got settled into a room, got my epidural and antibiotics because they had never checked me for GBS so they treated me like I had it. My nurse said "OK, we're hoping you don't deliver for 2 more hours so that you're considered "treated" for GBS, so our goal is for you to make it past 2 pm." but had told me to let her know if I felt pressure like I needed to poop. Around 1:20 I started feeling that pressure but DH told me I "wasn't supposed to deliver yet" (ha ha!) and then the nurse came running into the room because they had lost DD2 on the external monitor. She dropped really fast, the nurse ran to the hallway and grabbed a MFM doctor to put on an internal monitor because she didn't want to wait for my OB. They had to pull my OB out of scrubbing for a c-section to come deliver me. They got her back on the monitor and started prepping for a NICU delivery (pulling out intubation trays and stuff- I'll warn you if this starts not making sense or I start babbling more, I have a hard time even thinking about it still, and I had a very good outcome here). The doctor had me do a test push and realized this baby was coming now, and by that time there were probably at least 10 people gathered around me in the room. My nurse was amazing but at this point she put an oxygen mask on me which is when it really hit me "I'm delivering a baby 6 weeks early, this could not be good" and I can still hear her voice telling me that the oxygen was precautionary, "we're giving her the best chance we can." 2 pushes later she was out. Thankfully she looked fairly decent but we got no skin to skin, they let me hold her 2 seconds for a picture and I could barely see her she was wrapped up so much. I told DH to go with her when they took her to the NICU but since my mom's work was being horrible I was left alone in the delivery room after delivering my baby. I didn't need any repair that time so I just kinda laid there waiting to hear what was going on. My little sister wound up showing up around then and tried to make me feel better but the hormones were crashing and I didn't have my baby, it wasn't going well in my head. Thankfully she did amazingly, the only reason she was in the NICU a week I believe was because of Christmas and people dicking around and not actually treating things like jaundice in a timely manner which delayed her discharge. I didn't get to hold her again for over 12 hours for no reason (and I say this knowing what I'm talking about, there was no good reason they didn't allow me to hold her but I didn't have a lot of fight in me at the time). It was 6 hours from when my water broke until she was born.
If you read all of this you deserve a cookie, I apologize for how long winded I am. I'm still kinda getting over DD2's delivery even though it was fairly textbook aside from her being early.
My take aways:
Have an extra person available for you. The first time my mom and sister were at the hospital for the majority of the delivery, depending on who has the girls either my mom or my best friend will be there at the hospital for immediately following delivery in case we have another NICU baby so I'm not left alone again. The hardest thing is being alone in a room after delivering a baby and not having your baby. I remember the strong feeling of "I need to hold one of my babies.." afterwards, I called my in laws to bring DD1 right away because at least I could hold her.
Don't be afraid to stick up for yourself. I verbalized not wanting a resident for my epidural the 2nd time around and my nurse stood up for me and made sure I didn't have a student or resident doing the procedure. Also this time around I'm having a discussion with my doctor ahead of time about how procedures like assessment and suctioning could be performed while the baby is doing skin to skin because there was no reason they had to take DD2 from me so quickly instead of looking at her while I got to hold her.
Bring your own pillow and blanket for after (but don't bring it up to L&D). Hospital beds are bad enough, the pillows and blankets are horrible and hospitals tend to be cold. bring comfy PJ's you don't mind getting messed up and familiar pillow and blanket, you'll be thankful to have it. Honestly, other than that and my own personal care items (shampoo, toothpaste, bodywash, toothbrush) there wasn't much I'd say you absolutely must have. The mesh undies are provided by the hospital and I'm honestly not a huge fan, but they do the job if you don't have something you prefer more. I was a little sore after my first delivery, after the 2nd I felt pretty normal after like a day.
I labored naturally until 28 hours. Then started pitocin and an epidural. I should also mention that I was still 2cm. Fast forward through 13 hours of pitocin I had only dilated 3 cm. Baby was showing signs oh stress, my heart rate was through the roof, and I had a high fever. Oh yeah and when they broke my water, they could tell my placenta was starting to rupture. So yeah you guessed it.. the c-section I never would have dreamed I would have had.
I ended up recovering physically from my c-section well. But I also ended up with quiet a bit of PTS and so many questions that I will never have answers to.
Also make sure your going home outfit is a dress, just incase it ends in c-section.
So glad to get all sides!
BFP#3: 2/9/13 EDD 10/18/17. Team Green for Round 2!
My rant is to make sure you eat a freaking 5 course meal before you go in. They won't let you eat once you're there and if your labor is long like mine you will be sooo hungry. I seriously think the hunger was worse than labor
I was 3 days past my due date and it was Easter Sunday. I had started feeling kinda crampy at about 2:00 pm, but thought nothing of it. We went to my inlaws for Easter dinner and I'd say about 4:00 pm, I started feeling the contractions wrapping around my back and getting more painful. We figured we should head home. I labored at home till about 7:30 when we decided to head to the hospital. Contractions were consistently 5 min apart. I made my husband a pb&j to pack and during a contraction I felt a small leak. Had no idea, but it was my water breaking (it's not necessarily a gush like in the movies). At the hospital I was checked and only 2 cm dialiated. So disappointing, but they admitted me. By 11:30 I was in my room and had gotten an epidural. Thank goodness! At around 3 am I asked the nurse to check me and she was hesitant, but when she did, I was at a 10. I am one of those people who progress faster after my body can relax with an epidural. I started to push and 2.5 hours and an episiotomy (which I didn't want) later, my son was born!
Baby #2
I was one day before my due date although by my ovulation calculations, I was about 5 days early. I started to feel what I assumed were braxton hicks about 8:00 pm. By 11 I went to bed, but realized these may be real contractions as it was too painful to sleep. Oddly, I was feeling pain in my cervix with every one, which I hadn't experienced before. I started to track the contractions and they went from 8 min apart to 5 in a few hours. At about 2:30 things were getting pretty painful so I woke my husband. We called my father in law to come and stay with my son and by about 4:30 we were at the hospital. I was 2 cm again!!! Ugh. They did admit me though which was good and the worst part of this experience was that they could not get my IV line in. It took two different nurses, the second of which got it right away, but had the wrong piece so my blood was shooting everywhere. I think I got my epidural around 6 am and at around 8, I was 5 cm and my midwife broke my water. At 10, I asked to be checked, and the nurse took one look and said the baby was right there! My midwife came in and in literally 1 push, he was out. He arrived at 10:13 am.
Rants/Raves The episiotomy is a rant, I did not want one and my dr. assured me he hadn't done one in years. I suppose it was necessary though. Healing from that was rough because there was scar tissue. My Rave is how quickly pushing was with my second!
Did it compare to what you expected? I knew it would be hard, but I was not prepared for the amount of pain that come with contractions. Some women may handle it better, but for me, it was the kind of pain you think will kill you.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? Not much different, hoping for similar.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? Your phone and charger, there is alot of down time when in labor!
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? My practice had several doctors/midwives and I had been to each. They always have someone from the practice on call.
The priorities you don't think about. haha
BFP#3: 2/9/13 EDD 10/18/17. Team Green for Round 2!
I heart YNAB
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“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times,
if one only remembers to turn on the light."
- Albus Dumbledore
Arrived at 6pm and given cervadil to ripen cervix. It was closed and no dilation or effacement. About an hour later started experiencing heavy contractions. I was one of the few % which cervadil threw into full blown labor (minus the dilation). With each contraction baby's heart was decelerating, each time nurses would run and have me change positions and it was chaotic cause they'd see on the monitors. We removed the cervadil. Luckily my OB was there for another patient, and also saw me during this and told me how he didn't like it and didn't expect it so early on. We agreed to see how things would go without the meds, and they continued the same pattern. At this point me and DH were freaked out and I was so scared for baby, I wanted to get her out ASAP (at that time we didn't now if it was he/she) - hearing your baby's heartbeat steady on monitors every second and then when a contraction comes drops dramatically it's SO SCARY. We got prepped for c-section, semi-emergency, but I was awake and alert and had a great experience from it. Turns out, baby's cord was around her neck and also in birth canal (prolapse), so everytime she descended pressure was put on the cord and o2 was cut off. I checked in at 6pm and she was born at 1030pm exactly.
She was out within minutes and nursed 20 minutes later in our room with lots of skin to skin. Everything after that was great, great recovery was able to go home 36 hours later and she's the love of our lives. I'm VERY THANKFUL God was watching us and didn't let me have a natural labor/water break because I was planning on staying home as long as possible, which would have been tragic with a cord prolapse. It all happened how it was supposed to.
Tips: if you are given meds - take them! Take it easy for the first few week and don't rush anything. Try to get others to handle house chores, pets, kids. You need to recover and baby needs to bond with mama.
Baby doesn't need a million hospital outfits. He/she will be swaddled or skin-to-skin most of the time. Or in the cute little shirts they have. Just bring 1 going home outfit.
For me, I loved not having an epidural. I felt that I had more control. I missed all the comforts of giving birth in America as far as aftercare goes. I wish I had the dermosplast spray, sits bath basin, frozen pads for right after. I enjoyed being able to stay in my own clothes/night gown for the labor and delivery.
For this his birth I hope to not be induced again. I want to go pain med free though the hospital I plan on giving birth at has the gas option so I'd try that during transition as I said some crazy things and I tried to run away with a baby almost out of me.
I went into the doctor for my 35 week appointment. I was pretty sure I started losing my mucus plug the night before and mentioned it to my nurse. The doctor came in to check me and when she did I had my bloody show right there. My doctor, who is so cute, looked at me and said "hmm, I don't like this not one bit." *I was also dilated to a 3 at this point. She sent me up to L&D for monitoring and I was having constant, less than 5 minutes apart, but inconsistent contractions. They tried to stop it with an injection and that didn't work. I was basically given the option that I could stay for further monitoring although I wasn't progressing any further or I could go home on bedrest. We decided home with the intent of getting baby to 37 weeks to avoid a NICU stay.
I stayed on the couch and in bed for 4 more weeks to the surprise of my doctors and nurses. We finally decided to induce at 39 weeks.
Cut to actual birth story, I go in for my induction, I was at 4cm and 80% effaced already so I didn't think it would take much to get the actual labor process started. I did mention that I wanted the epidural. They started Pitocin around 7:30 which made DD's heart rate drop. I spent about an hour on oxygen and coming off and on the Pitocin until finally we stopped it and I was laboring naturally. I think around 10 or 11am they came in and broke my water and then gave me the epidural. I was a 5 close 6 but was still not feeling any contractions. I really didn't feel anything until transition when my epidural started to wear off. They gave me one more shot and then it was time to push. I pushed for 30 minutes if that, had a 3rd degree tear which sucked. But everything was quick and fairly easy. DD had aspirated on the fluid a little on the way out so after an attempt to BF, they took her to the nursery for a few hours to monitor her.
Rants/Raves - I didn't like how the epidural made me completely limp from the waist down. I had to have help everytime I needed to move. It sucked. Also trying to get the feeling back in time to get up and go to the bathroom. They give you a time limit to get up to go pee before you get the cath again.
Did it compare to what you expected? I never expected to be on bedrest and honestly thought she would be late. Other than that the experience was a pleasant one.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? I want to labor as long as possible without the epidural this time. That is my one and only bullet point on my birth plan.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? Get all the mesh undies and foams and washes they will allow you. I also took a couple of the large pads that you lay on home with me to sit on and then we changed DD on when we were down stairs. They caught a couple of pop-slosions and prevented our couch from being ruined.
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? My doctor delivered but honestly the nurses did all the hard work. I didn't see her until I had been pushing for a few minutes. She literally came in there gave me the episiotomy and caught the baby.
On Wednesday, I decided to leave work early. Not for any particular reason except I didn't want to be there. While I was laying around on the couch, I felt strange sensations in my abdomen but didn't think anything of it. I figured it was probably gas. I was super exhausted so decided to go to bed early (and skipped dinner). I could not get comfortable! As it started to get later in the night, I started feeling sharp pains and it finally hit me that they were pretty consistent. I had no clue what a contraction felt like and no one could describe it to me. People just kept saying, "you'll know when it happens!" I downloaded an app to my phone so I could time the contractions. At 2am, I woke my husband up and he said to call the doctor. When I did, she told me to try to hold off as long as possible before going to the hospital. By 4am, I couldn't wait any longer as the pain was getting worse. My husband took me to the hospital and that 20 minute drive was very painful.
I got checked in and I was already dilated to a certain point so they didn't send me away (thank goodness!). As they were asking me questions, I could not answer when I was having a contraction. The pain was horrible! I got my epidural around 6:30am. I was so nervous as I had heard so many horror stories. I don't even remember feeling the prick from the needle. All I remember was the sweet relief when it kicked in! By this time I'm exhausted, hungry, and super thirsty. I could only eat ice chips and my parents decided to camp out in my room so I wasn't getting any sleep. Around noon, my dad goes and buys lunch for my mom and sister (and yes, they ate it in front of me). I was starting to feel the pain again so I clicked the button for more drugs. At 12:30, my DH left to go get food & the nurse came in and said it looks like I'll be ready to push soon. I told her I couldn't feel anything since I just pushed the button and so she told me to stop pushing it (well, duh!). My DH finally came back around 1pm (he had the decency not to eat in front of me) and I started pushing (well, first the rest of my family left the room). Because of the drugs, I really couldn't feel the need to push, so I had to be told when to push. I gave up on the last two pushes and was ready to be done. I was just too tired. At 2:01pm, my DS was born.
I enjoyed my experience. I'm really hoping for a repeat. This time around, only DH will be in the room while waiting to give birth. I will be sleeping!!! Plus, my parents will need to take care of DS. I also will make sure I eat (even if I'm not hungry) and will take a shower before heading to the hospital. The doc that delivered DS was the on-call doc, but she was from the practice I had been going to so I had several appointments with her.
Copy and Pasted (and edited a bit) from Birth Story that I wrote up - awww memories! Can't wait to go back and read others, I love reading birth stories!
TLDR: @40w2d Waters broke with evidence of meconium, needed pitocin to start labor, got IV fentanyl, got epidural, progressed through labor but very slowly with regards to baby dropping into the pelvis and dilation, labor complicated by fever, pushed baby out vaginally 41 hours after waters broke, 28 hours after induction started, 24 hours of active labor. Delivery complicated by excessive hemorrhaging.
Sunday, June 7th:
I was lying in bed at 3am when I felt a little leakage and thought I felt a little pop (that actually might have happened, go figure!) so I went to the bathroom and was pretty sure my water broke based on the gushing feeling instead of just peeing. Waters looked cleared to me so I put on a Depends to monitor leakage before calling my OB. When I was pretty confident my water had broke I called the OB at 5am. I said all the buzz words in hopes of them letting me stay at home to try and get labor going (“I'm GBS negative”, “Baby is moving”, “Fluids are clear”... or so I thought) - but they wanted me to come in an confirm rupture on membranes. So I showered and had breakfast and we were on our way to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at 7am, and they confirmed that my water did break, but there was a faint green tinge to the fluids, so that meant baby passed a small amount of meconium already. Damn it. That changes some things. They admitted me and let me have some time to try and get labor going - did a lot of walking around the hospital campus, but nothing got going on its own and we reached our comfort level for having broken waters with meconium without labor and finally decided it was time to start induction. They avoided any early cervix checks at this time to avoid introducing infections, so I have no idea what I was dilated to that point (6 days prior I was 1 cm, 50% effaced, baby still high up at +3 station).
4 pm: Pitocin started and titrated.
8 pm: Finally started having contractions that I needed to work through.
Monday, June 8th
12:30 am: Tried the bathtub for coping with the contractions, but I hated it actually and it made me nauseous. Bummer.
1:30 am: I requested a dose of IV pain meds (fentanyl) to help rest a bit between contractions and in an attempt to keep delaying epidural. It definitely helped, but those peaks were still pretty tough.
2:10 am: I had my first cervical check to help me with some decision making (Additional fentanyl? Epidural time? Power through?) - 3cm dilated, 70% effaced. 6 hours of laboring and not a ton of progress, it was obvious that I wasn't going to be a quick one with a unicorn cervix that just dilates easily.
2:30 am: I requested a second dose of fentanyl in preparation for getting the anesthesiologist to come and place an epidural.
4 am: Epidural in after 8 hours of active labor and I finally got some rest - after good cry about how tired I was (24 hours since waters broke)
6 am: RN did a cervical check due to baby heart rate dropping. I think she thought maybe I progressed quite a bit since putting in the epidural – no such luck – 5cm dilated, 100% effaced, 0 station.
9 am: OB cervix check, 7 cm, 90% effaced (different person assessing than prior 100%), still not dropping into pelvis, so some progress, but it was slow - I hated being stuck in the bed because of the epidural and not being able to get into many positions to help baby drop.
11:30 am: OB cervix check, 8.5/9 cm dilated, baby still not dropped.
2pm: OB cervix check, 9.5 cm, still at -1/-2 station (not dropped), I had developed a fever and the baby was pretty particular in what positions I could be in so it was getting a little more worrisome to get baby out sooner than later. So I got an internal monitor to assess if contractions were strong enough. Some were adequate; some were barely adequate so they upped the Pitocin to 12 (I had made bets with my nurses about where my Pitocin would end up at – I had actually predicted 12 – yay pharmacist instinct). Throughout the morning and afternoon, I needed epidural self-boluses and anesthesiologist-administered boluses due to feeling contractions (I imagine these were transition contractions breaking through) and a couple problematic painful spots.
I started to lose hope of a vaginal delivery and was worried about my little guy in there because it was almost 36 hours post-water breaking, and I could tell they wanted more progress even though I technically hadn't been failing to progress, it was just slow. Cue another crying spell.
4:30pm: OB cervix check, 10 cm dilated (WOOHOO), and baby dropped into pelvis, fevers broke, and my problematic painful spots were under good control. It was huge game charger. And the OB told me the best news ever, my actual OB was coming on 5pm for her coverage and I hadn't known that. Looks like this baby just wanted to wait for Dr. X to deliver him!
5pm: Pushing and pushing and pushing, tried several different positions and found a good one to work for me. I got a lot of great encouragement from my OB (who was very actively involved in my pushing), my nurse (who kicked ass), and DH. They said I was a great pusher! DH watched the delivery and I used a mirror for a couple contractions but it just distracted me. Baby started to not tolerate contractions and pushing well, so we just needed to get him out.
7:45 pm (41 hours after water broke, 28 hours after induction started, 24 hours after active laboring), I pushed him out - the cord was wrapped around his neck twice and pretty tight such that Dr. X couldn't unwrap it so she delivered the baby through the cord (like, she slid it over baby's shoulders and she pulled him through). She placed him on my chest while she and DH clamped and cut the cord. She told me not to stimulate him due to the meconium, the neonatologist took him and did a quick assessment (DH loved this doc, said it he was "on point") and when baby cried and his assessment was done, he was back on my chest. At some point, I delivered my placenta which was also a huge relief – it was huge!
Here are the specs:
Gestation: 40 weeks and 3 days
Weight: 8 lbs, 2 ounces
Height: 21.5 inches (tall like DH!)
Post-baby's arrival: I was not prepared for the mashing on the stomach that happened to help the uterus contract down and stop bleeding. I did have more than the average hemorrhaging after delivery (lost estimated 800 mL of blood) and required 3 different medications to help contract the uterus to stop the bleeding and my OB was literally elbow deep in my uterus looking for a source of the bleeding. For those interested my hemoglobin dropped from 13.5 to 10.7. They watched me for an hour to make sure I didn't need to go to the OR to address the hemorrhaging but fortunately it slowed appropriately, although all the medications made me super crampy and uncomfortable. J went to the nursery to be with DS while he was assessed, bathed, and started on antibiotics due to my fevers due to labor.
Disappointments: The 2 things I was sure I wanted to do - cord blood donation and placenta encapuslation, I couldn't do. They wouldn't accept my cord blood due to the possible infection evidenced by fevers, couldn't delay cord clamp because he needed urgent neonatologist evaluation due to meconium, and placenta encapsulation is not appropriate if there was an infection. So that all bummed me out.
BFP in September 2014, DS born June 2015.
TTC x2 months.
BFP January 2017.
I woke up on a Saturday (38w5d) feeling different, like a heaviness in my belly. I went about my day, but took it easy. By noon I was starting to feel faint, inconsistent contractions. I spent the rest of the day/evening at home watching movies and trying to relax, thinking "is this it?!?" By 10pm the contractions were coming on stronger, but still not super consistent. At midnight I went to the hospital only to find out I was only 1cm dialated! They had me walk around the floor for a couple of hours trying to get labor to progress. The contractions were bad enough that I would have to stop walking and just focus on breathing through them. When I was checked again around 5am I measured at 3cm and the triage nurse kind of forced me to 4cm so that I could be admitted and also gave me some painkillers. I have a blood disorder, so an epidural was out of the question so they gave me Nubain (an opiate to help take the edge off), which I would push a button to get more every 5 minutes or so. Because the nurses weren't used to administering Nubain they failed to realize that I could only receive so much of it, so I had a period where I would have to go long stretches without it so that I didn't run out of my allotment and I was in so.much.pain. At around 8cm I felt I needed to push, but my cervix obviously wasn't ready for that and I think that was the worst part (practice your kegels!) I finally reached 10cm around 10pm and pushed for about 30 minutes before baby boy arrived. Total labor was about 34 hours.
Did it compare to what you expected? I didn't really have any expectations other than that it was going to be a painful experience, so yes I guess so, I just couldn't have ever imagined how painful it was.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? Go in with a better plan for pain management.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? Nightime nursing bra (no wire), extra pillow(s), dermoplast spray (usually offered by the hospital, I think), Tucks
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? I was with the on-call doctor the whole time. My OB came to visit my the day after, spent about 5 minutes checking me out and that was it. I went with a different OB this time around
On Thursday 2/12 at 12:15am I woke up because I felt a low twinge of pain and decided to get up to go to the bathroom. I noticed that the pee just kept on coming when I realized it wasn’t pee! I told Jeff that I thought my water had broken. I was still a little unsure, but as he was packing a bag for himself (yes he refused to do this early) the water kept coming and I became surer. When we got to the hospital we got checked in and sent to triage at about 1:15. By the time we got there my pants were soaked!
I had an internal exam on Wednesday where I was 1 cm dilated and 20% effaced. By the time I was checked in triage I was still 1 cm but I was 60% effaced. I wasn’t feeling much pain at all and we had to wait a little while for a labor and delivery room to be ready. There was a problem when I checked in so that there was some mismatch in my file and I didn’t have a number. The nurses got that all fixed and started my IV. After about an hour they started a low dose of pitocin. They gradually increased the dosage so that I was eventually at 12 milliunits/minute. By that time I was feeling the pain and I was internally checked again. I was still at 1 cm but I was 90% effaced. I was really feeling the contractions right on top of each other and I asked about getting some pain medication. Dr. Steven’s was the doctor on call and she didn’t really want to give me an epidural yet. The nurse suggested a walking epidural, which the Dr. had not even heard of. That is what I ended up getting around 11 am.
I was feeling much better for about an hour and then I started to feel the contractions again. I was trying to wait them out but they became very painful and started coming right on top of each other again. At about 12:15 pm I called for my nurse and then we called again at 12:30. This whole time I was in so much pain that I just kept screaming ouch over and over again. Finally at 12:45 a passing nurse heard me and came in to see what the matter was. She checked me quickly and told me I was at 4 or 5 cm. I was shocked since I still expected to be at 1 or 2. They quickly got the epidural set up. I was so happy to have had the walking epi since the catheter was already in and they just had to switch the meds.
By 1:05 I was feeling so much better! I could still feel the contractions, but they weren’t nearly as bad. Around 2 I called the nurse because I felt like I really needed to make a bowel movement. She came in and said that it was probably the baby. She checked me and sure enough I was 9 cm and almost ready to go. Everything happened in a flurry after that. By 3 pm I was ready to start pushing. They had to give me oxygen because the baby’s heart rate dropped a bit while I was pushing. Most of the time the Dr. wasn’t even in the room. She came in for the last few minutes of pushing. Jason was born at 3:32.
They laid him on my belly and of course I started crying. Jeff got to cut the cord and we both looked at the baby and cleaned him off. They took the baby to the warmer to measure everything. He got 9s on both of his Apgar scores. I had 3 small tears, but when I asked if I should have done the episiotomy the doctor immediately said no. Jason was so awake for the rest of that day that the nurse commented on it multiple times.
Did it compare to what you expected? Kind of, I didn't know that it would feel so much like I needed to poop when it was time to pushWhat will you (try to) do differently this time? I will talk about this in my 2 daughter's posts, but I am so glad I got a mirror to watch the baby being born! It helped me push correctly and it was amazing to see!
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? honestly just someone to support you. You can make do without almost everything else!
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? My Dr. office had just taken on a new Dr. I had met and really liked the other two, but did not like this lady at all! She just rubbed me the wrong way and she was let go shortly after this birth
Rachel and Jeff Married 5.29.05
Jason is 8
Elizabeth is 6
Katherine is 18 months
Elizabeth's birth story
At 2:30 in the morning DS started fussing so I got up to settle him and felt a small gush of water. After that nothing happened so I went back to bed and waited until morning. When I got up around 5am it happened again and Jeff made the executive decision that we needed to go get checked out at the hospital. I was unsure because this was nothing like the definite water breaking that I had with DS, but went along with Jeff's plan. We arrived at the hospital around 7am. The nurse, Heather, got me all set up in a room, ran a test to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid and asked all the usual questions. She checked my cervix and I was 3 cm dilated and she said that she still felt a bag over the baby's head. The Doctor headed in a little later and did a different test to see if I was leaking fluid, but said she did not feel the bag over the baby's head. I was finally admitted by the Doctor at 10:30 and they started an IV and Pitocin to augment the small contractions I was having.
I could feel the contractions pick up and by 12:30 I was ready to talk about an epidural. The nurse said that the anesthesiologist was just headed into surgery, but when he was out I would be first in line. He finally was able to come in about 2pm, but had a lot of trouble getting the epidural in the right place. He finally found the spot and I was feeling relief by 2:30. Shortly after he left I realized I was still feeling pain low in my right side and then it spread more to my back. In trying to find a more comfortable position I knocked the baby's heart rate monitor off so another nurse came in to help adjust it. I told her about the pain and at this point my body was shaking and asked if this was normal. She asked how long ago my cervix had been checked and I told her it had not since I was admitted. She checked me and as she had guessed I was fully dilated, but she still felt the bag over the baby's head.
Things started moving really fast at this point nurses rushed in to prepare the room and they called the Doctor. The Doctor checked in and was telling me about what was going to happen and just checking in when I had to interrupt her to say that something was going on and I needed to be checked. At about that time I gave birth to...a water balloon. It seems that my water had sprung a high leak, but much of the bag was still intact so as my body was pushing it pushed out the bag of water and any remaining amniotic fluid. The doctor called all the nurses over to take a look at this unusual sight and I was reminded to ask for a mirror so that I could watch the birth. The bag was broken and in just one contraction with a push for her head and a push for her body, Elizabeth was born at 3:24pm. It all happened so fast I almost didn't believe it was real. She was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19.25 inches long. She had some fluid in her stomach (probably from being in the sac for so late into labor) but it was cleared out within an hour of her birth.
Did it compare to what you expected? The birth was so fast this time! I was surprised that my water might leak without gushing like it did with DSWas it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? This doctor was an idiot!!! I still don't know if my water actually broke or it was just the pitocin making me deliver. She was just one of the many doctors in the office I was seeing and I hated that!
Rachel and Jeff Married 5.29.05
Jason is 8
Elizabeth is 6
Katherine is 18 months
I was due 10/11 and we decided to induce on 10/16. We got to the hospital at 7am and got all checked in with an I.V. And pitocin started. Around 8am my doctor came in to check me and break my water. I was about 2-3 cm and 50% just like I had been in the office on Monday. The pit and broken water started doing their job and by 10:30 I was feeling more uncomfortable and started asking about an epidural. I needed to get more fluid and the anesthesiologist was with someone else. I was really in pain by about 11:15 when in walked my new best friend. It took about 30 minutes to place the epidural, but I was so thankful that she really took her time and communicated with me. My last anesthesiologist was terrible so I had been worried. She did tell me there might still be pain from places she couldn't get to easily and I was still hurting a bit on my left side. My doctor came in right after the epi was placed around noon and checked me. I was only 4-5 and pretty disappointed. Little did I know that the epidural would really help my body relax and get there. By 12:30 I was 8-9cm and quickly the nurses got the room set up and paged the doctor back from lunch. They were begging me not to push as the doctor rushed in and we could see the head. One big push and the head was out. The doctor had to cut the cord because it was wrapped so tightly and I barely even had to push the body out. We had been team green so DH got to announce it is a girl. Even with this one being my largest I didn't tear at all. I was so thankful I had a mirror to watch her come out. We are all so in love.
(did you notice they got shorter each time?)Rants/Raves:
Since I was induced I knew to really hydrate the day before so my veins were easy to find.
Did it compare to what you expected?
This time with the cord around the neck was pretty scary, but my doctor handled it amazingly well!
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? This time I finally had my own doctor, but I also liked the one other doctor in this practice so my recommendation is to go with a small practice and meet all the doctors
Rachel and Jeff Married 5.29.05
Jason is 8
Elizabeth is 6
Katherine is 18 months
We went to the hospital for the first time at 37 weeks because I *thought* my contractions were painful enough (LOL) After walking around for a couple hours we had the option to do home or start pitocin. I couldn't believe they were open to kickstarting labor but I declined as I was barely term (I never heard the end of this from my mom).
At 39 weeks exactly I was at work having my normal Braxton hicks contractions. By 5 pm I noticed some pain but it wasn't enough to pull me away from my intense craving for Chipotle. DH and I got to chipotle by 5:30 and I couldn't even stand because the pain had gotten so intense. The poor employees thought I was about to give birth in the restaurant haha. I finally admitted to myself that it was time and we ran home to grab our bags and get to the hospital. I was delivering in downtown dallas and it was 6 pm on a Friday. Worst traffic EVER. I was screaming "I can't have a baby in the car. Just drive!!!" (Poor DH).
We got admitted at 7 pm and I was wailing from the pain and already at 7 cm. I couldnt believe it since I was a FTM! They immediately tried to give me an epidural but I couldn't sit still through the contractions so they had to give me painkiller via IV to help me settle down. Once that hit and I got the epidural life was GOOD.
I hit 10 cm at 11:30 pm and started to push. We pushed for three long hours with no progress. We tried different positions, a bar, a mirror (it took them 2 hours to convince me to look) and barely any movement still.
At 3:00 baby's heart rate started to drop, alarms went off, and doctors rushed in with very concerned looks. I started to panic. Doctor told us we had two minutes to decide between emergency c-section or forceps and listed the risks for each. A risk of c-section was death so I made he best decision I could at the time and chose forceps (so many regrets).
After 15 min of pushing with the forceps baby was born healthy but I couldn't hold him for nearly 45 minutes as there was meconium in the fluid and they had to check him out.
I had two third degree tears and one second degree tear. It was very painful once the epidural wore off but he was worth every stitch.
Rants- the back labor was the most intense pain I have ever felt. I am still scared of feeling it again with this baby because it was that bad.
Raves- the epidural was glorious.
Did it compare to what you expected? Not at all. The pain was worse than I expected and I never imagined to be faced with such a scary decision at the last minute. I also can't believe how fast I progressed. This baby might shoot out like a cannnon!
What will you (try to) do differently this time? I'm considering a c-section this time around. My last obgyn recommended it after my severe tearing and I to this day still struggle with pain from it. I still need to discuss this with my current doctor though.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? Boppy for the hospital after baby is born. It helped with visitors who were also nervous to hold the baby without support.
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? No it was an on-call doc I had never met. I was disappointed but she got the job done.
Clara's Birth
I woke up on Thursday, August 28th around 3:30am to use the bathroom and felt a contraction. Didn't think anything of it because I had been having Braxton hicks for weeks. I had a few more contractions that morning but they weren't regular or in a pattern and they stopped by the time I got to work (7:30am). They started back up around 12:30, when I was headed home for lunch, but again no pattern and not much stronger then my Braxton hicks. I let my manager know about them when I returned after lunch, just in case.
At 4:45pm I was sitting with one of my patients and suddenly had a very intense contraction then felt a pop, then felt my water break. The patient stayed chatting (oblivious) for the longest 3 minutes of my life before leaving. I yelled to my coworkers, got my things together, and left. Dan was pulling into the driveway same time as me and I told him my water broke. I went inside to clean up but every time I stood up more fluid gushed out.
Dan called the neighbors to let them know because they were going to watch the dog. I'm still in the bathroom at this point and my contractions were getting worse and worse so I got in the shower. I stayed in the shower for quite a while but the contractions were getting really intense. They were right on top of each other - I had Dan time them and they were only 2 minutes apart with only about 30-45 seconds break in between. I kept thinking it was happening too fast so we decided we should go to the hospital before it was too late. We had thought we would stay home for several hours but I was afraid it was happening super fast (spoiler alert - I was right).
We got to the hospital around 6:30pm and when we were taken up to L&D I was 3 cm and almost fully effaced. After they tortured me for 30 minutes (made me lay still on my back with the monitors hooked up) we decided to try the hot bath / spa tub. It was awful - I couldn't get comfortable and the contractions were almost unbearable. I was having back labor and wanted my back submerged in the water but also wanted my belly submerged. I felt like I was thrashing around like a caged animal. The contractions were about 60-90 seconds apart at this point with only about 15-30 seconds break in between them. That's when I had Dan go ask for the epidural.
We got me dried off and back into my gown and into the birthing room. The nurse hooked my IV up to a bag of saline and offered to give me Fentanol. She said it wouldn't take the pain away but would make me loopy and make it feel like it was less pain. I agreed. The Fentanol hit quick and I felt loopy and out of it for about a half hour. I was on my back in bed again at this point. They checked me at 8pm before the epidural and I was 8cm. At 8:30 I was fully dilated and the anesthesiologist was there to place the epidural, but my nurse didn't think I would have enough time for it to kick in. The doctor suggested getting it anyway because "you never know how long you'll push". We decided I'd get it and they prepped me and tried to do it between contractions. The guy had to do it twice - didn't hit the correct space the first time. He kept asking Dan about my hips - I guess he could tell they were a little wonky even though I had been at my chiropractor the day before. Having it placed didn't hurt a bit - I was too focused on the awful contractions and the fact that I was peeing all over. Seriously, so much pee. My body was pushing through the contractions and I was trying really hard to stay still. After it was placed they gave me a shot to try to slow down (spread out) my contractions. They were 45-60 seconds apart at this point with only a few seconds of a break in between them. The medication to slow the contractions down didn't ever work.
At 9:10pm They told me it was time to push and put oxygen on me because Clara's heart rate was dropping (I didn't know that at that point, but everyone else in the room knew). The oxygen was really annoying because it kept slipping around my face. The epidural only worked very slightly on my right side and only lasted for about 30 minutes. I pushed for an hour. I. Felt. Everything. Every time a new contraction started I would say "crap". It was so intense without a break. Clara's heart rate dropped way too low near the end of pushing so the doctor grabbed the scalpel and gave me a rather large episiotomy to get her out quickly. Dan and I saw him turn to the instrument table and pick it up - we just looked at each other and then I closed my eyes and tried not to feel. Apparently the doctor was pretty no-nonsense when her heart rate got so bad, but I had no idea that's what was happening. I pretty much had my eyes closed the whole time. It was the most odd feeling ever feeling her come out. So strange. She was born at 10:13pm. My total labor was only 5.5 hours. Faster is not necessarily better. It went from zero to sixty so fast - I had no breaks between contractions and there was no easing into it. It was nothing like I had imagined.
Once she was born they found that her cord was around her neck. Dan said she was blue and it was really scary but as soon as the doctor moved the cord from her neck she pinked up then squeaked. They plopped her on my chest and the nurse removed my oxygen and Dan cut the cord. The doctor delivered my placenta (second most odd feeling ever) then started stitching me up. I had a 2nd degree tear plus the episiotomy and was pretty "tore up from the floor up". The doctor didn't numb me (I'm assuming he thought my epidural had worked) and I felt every stitch going in, unfortunately. The tightening of the stitches was almost worse then the stitch going in. Then they didn't like how much blood I was loosing so the doctor was scraping me out with his hand. The first 30 minutes after she was born may have been worse pain than labor. The only thing keeping me from screaming was Clara on my chest.
Dan later told me that during the whole labor I kept repeating "I'm ok, I'm ok" over and over. I think I must have been trying to convince myself. Dan also said I kept apologizing. I have no idea why. Dan was amazing through the entire thing. I couldn't have asked for a better coach. He was super supportive and encouraging the entire time.
We realized early the next morning that I was allergic to the epidural panel tape. I had a nice itchy rash all over my back for about 2 days. It made leaning back in bed uncomfortable, but sitting upright wasn't comfortable on my nether regions.
We were in the hospital until Saturday afternoon. Clara slept a lot and wasn't a strong nurser so we saw the lactation consultant twice while in the hospital and had to go back the next day (Sunday) for a weigh-in. The lactation consultant wasn't pleased with the amount of weight Clara was loosing or how often she was nursing so had us supplement with formula and a tube system (SNS). We had to get her up every 3 hours the first night home, but after that first night she started wanting to eat on her own. We had to go to another weigh-in a few days later and they still weren't happy with how my milk was (or really, wasn't) coming in. More supplementing and this time they told me to start pumping after each feeding. It was exhausting because she took an hour to nurse (she fell asleep and I had to tap her feet, her ears, pick at her to keep her awake) then it takes 20 minutes to pump so it really cut into our (MY) sleeping time.
It was really difficult (emotionally) for me to feel like I couldn't feed my baby well, but we were able to stop using the SNS system after 1 week and I only had to pump 2-3 times a day after that for about a week. It felt like forever and I wouldn't wish feeding issues on any new mom. Such a mind mess. Seriously. It's my biggest concern when thinking about having a second child.
(The following was written when Clara was 2 weeks old) Overall we've been doing well. I healed physically pretty quickly. My tear/stitches never really bothered me, but I stayed on top of my meds and numbing spray (I joked that I flocked myself like a Christmas tree with that amazing hospital numbing spray). The worst part of recovering was my new friends - hemorrhoids. I tried 3 different creams until I finally found one that offers relief. Earth Mama Angel Baby brand Mama Bottom Balm, you are a life saver! (Tip - a little goes a long way). The same brand also makes an excellent nipple cream. I thought my nipples were going to burst into flames for a few days every time Clara latched. It was so painful. Toe curling.
It was awesome having my mom here - she cooked and held Clara while I napped and showered. Dan was able to get out a few times as well. I held myself together really well until my mom got here, but I've cried at least once each day since then. I did pretty good today after she left - I even took Clara out of the house today by myself. For whatever reason leaving the house with her is terrifying for me. I get nervous that she'll cry or need to eat and I can't picture nursing her for an hour while away from the house.
Unfortunately Clara doesn't like laying on her back or being put down. We've basically been trading off sleeping on the couch with her. After this weekend we'll get better at pushing her to stay in her basinette for periods of time. Dan's mom, dad, Tyler, Chelsea, and Raiden are coming this weekend. It's totally stressing me out thinking about it. Where are they all going to sleep? Loren's not been pleasant lately. I'm just dreading it.
Follow up - Clara was so bad about being flat on her back that her pediatrician was concerned there was a medical reason for it. Clara had an ultrasound on her spine at 18 days old to rule out anything. Turns out she just REALLY hated being on her back. We bought a Rock N Play at 9pm one night out of desperation and she slept in it after that no problem.
Baby Boy due October 2017
My first was induced at 39 weeks for IUGR (which was caused by my OB giving me the wrong meds, but that's another story) LOOOONG induction and the monitors weren't registering all the contractions so they kept turning up the pitocin. I also had the Foley balloon (they stick it in you and inflate it to put pressure on your cervix as if it were baby's head, which was a terrible, crampy experience). I had wanted to go all natural, but around hour 25 of contractions that I can only describe as feeling like my uterus was on fire, I got the epidural. Later in the evening of the second day, her heart rate started dropping with contractions and they put oxygen on me. When I started pushing, she started not doing so well, so they called a dr in and used forceps to pull her out. She had to be on oxygen for awhile and was tube fed once...it was pretty terrifying.
My second was born at a birth center with midwives. I was in labor all day but went in around 9:30-10:00. Midwife said I was only 4cm and it would be awhile. Because it was a birth center, they had a full bed so DH and I laid down and he rubbed my back during contractions and we both dozed between them. The midwife came in and had me get up on the birth ball for a little bit and although it made me more comfortable, I didn't like it because I was still falling asleep between contractions and nearly falling off the ball. After that I labored in the bed for a little longer and then midwife checked me and I was at a 7-8 cm so I asked to get in the bathtub (another mom was using the birth pool). I spent maybe another hour laboring in the tub and then started getting pushy...too late to get out of the tub...we're having a baby in the tub...ok. My water broke while I was pushing and a few minutes later, I was holding my daughter in my arms in the bathtub. She also had the. longest. umbilical my midwife had ever seen. It was AMAZING! My big tip for natural labor is to practice relaxation techniques ahead of time so that you can relax your whole body during the contractions. Tensing up any part of you will make things seem 10x worse. Especially helpful for me was keeping my shoulders back and down instead of tensing my arms and shrugging.
They got me checked in and I was only 4 cm dilated, so they told me just go get some rest and that I could get my epidural at any time, if I wanted. I was STRONGLY against getting one, just because I didn't like the idea of a needle in my back haha. Contractions got painful about 12:30. Every time I had a contraction I felt the urge to go pee, so I'd have to page the nurse to come unhook the monitors and stuff so I could go to the bathroom. I was determined not to get that epidural, so I labored through the contractions until 6 the next morning. I figured at that point I HAD to be close, but I was only at 6cm. I knew it was going to likely still be a long time and at that point a needle sounded a heck of a lot better than the contractions lol. They started my IV (just with fluids) while I was waiting for the epidural and I was sooo nervous that my whole body was shaking. That epidural was heaven and it went right to work!
I was able to rest the entire day, because they checked me at 2 and I was only at 7cm. They started some pitocin at that point. I'm sure the epidural slowed things down, but it was worth it. Shortly before 4:00, it was finally time to push. My nurse had me do a practice push and was like "ok ok STOP, you are a good pusher!". I wanted to push SO bad at that point (I could feel the pressure). The doctor came in, I pushed through about 3 contractions and DD was born at 4:06.
Rants/Raves: The epidural was WAY better than contractions for me. I will likely try and go as long as I can without it this time again, just so it doesn't slow things down too soon. I know they say your second comes quicker, so we will see. I'm definitely open to it this go around!
Did it compare to what you expected? I will say birth reality shows make it seem a lot scarier than it was for me. It was probably the best experience I could have hoped for, except maybe a little slower than I'd hoped. My mom was never in labor more than 2 or 3 hours with all of us lol. Apparently I didn't get that from her.
What will you (try to) do differently this time? I just laid in the bed the whole time before my epidural with DD. This time I'll definitely walk and use a ball more. I'm guessing that was another reason things went slow.
Other than the mesh undies everyone says are a must, what else should no mom be without? I second the witch hazel, and don't forget to take the peri bottle. I left mine at the hospital and I was so sad. I'm glad we took our boppy to the hospital for nursing too.
Was it your dr that delivered or the on call doc? My doctor did deliver, but only because she happened to be the on call doctor.
**June Siggy Challenge: You Had ONE Job!**
LO#2 EDD October 18th
I work in L&D so nothing really was a surprise to me. My doctor delivered her, the practice I go to has 4 docs and you rotate between them all, but I work closely with all of them and was comfortable with any of them delivering me.
Advice I would DEFINITELY agree with eating before you go, high protein to keep you full longer. I had scrambled eggs and toast before we headed in and I don't remember being too terribly hungry til after she was born. Then I was ravenous!
Also agree with getting witch hazel pads and Dermoplast. I used both for probably a good 3 weeks before I stopped using them every time I went to the bathroom. Also stool softeners. Take them in the hospital and buy a bottle for at home. The first few poops after baby are scary lol.
I'm kind of bitter about certain aspects of my labor, but overall it was not the worst thing in the world and it resulted in a perfectly healthy baby.
I had been having slightly painful braxton hicks for weeks and those continued all the way up to real labor. I was 39 weeks and had a doctors appointment at 4pm. When I went in, he "checked" my cervix and said I was 4cm dialated and told me to head to the hospital. When he did this, it was painful enough to make me scream and his fingers came out bloody. Which leads me to believe he stretched my cervix or swept my membranes and didn't tell me that was what he was doing. Anyway, I checked into the hospital and wasn't in any real pain. They hooked up the heartbeat and contraction monitors and gave me an IV. They told me I needed to get an epidural as per doctors request. I told them I didn't want one, and they were perplexed as to why and kept insisting that I "need" it. But I got my way and they finally stopped bugging me about it after I got snappy and told them to leave me alone about it. So at around 5:30pm I was 5-6cm dialated and the nurses weren't happy with how sporadic my contractions were so they decided to give me pitocin. DON'T TAKE IT! Unless it's absolutely medically necessary. But in my case it was just to regulate contractions and speed things up. That's when contractions got super painful. I had dialated to 7cm and the doctor wanted to break my water. It HURT! And there was more blood. I got fentanyl through my IV and kept falling asleep for 30secs to a minute between contractions. Then around 6:45pm I started to bleed all over the place and H called the nurses. They said I was at a 10 and ready to push. The doctor came in and was upset that I didn't get the epidural and seemed annoyed that I kept screaming in pain. After about 30 or so minutes of pushing he decided to give me an episiotimy..without telling me. Again I believe this was to rush things. At 7:30 my healthy little baby came out and the doctor rushed away. Apparently 23 other baby's were delivered in that hospital that day and my doctor had a hand in quite a few of them so he was very rushed.
Next time: I think I would've not gone into "active labor" for another day or so. If the doctor trys to send me to the hospital at 39 weeks again and I'm not in agonizing pain or contracting every 5 mins, I'll go home and wait it out. I will try and avoid the fentanyl. It made both me and the baby so sleepy that DS almost couldn't pass the hearing test because he was so drugged up. No pitocin! And I'd rather tear than have an episiotimy. Healing from that was almost as painful as labor. It hurt to sit, stand, lay down, pee, and walk. Oh and make sure to take stool softeners...the first BM after birth is excruciatingly painful.
Pregnancy #2-Due 8/24/17 MMC-01/09/17
DD-Due 10/24/17
Any med-free mamas do anything beforehand to prepare for the pain? Lamaze, etc? I want to feel positive and prepared about the choice, because I know if I go in wishy-washy, I'll end up getting the epidural.