Tell me about St. Vincent's/childbirth books

starsmaycollide

Hey ladies, 

I know it's going to be slow this weekend so I may bump this post up next week-but if you delivered at St. Vincents, please tell me about it. I LOVE my OB and feel good about my choice, but I am starting to get into that part of the pregnancy where I want to get more into reading about birth, coping, etc and feel a bit more confident about the whole intimidating process. So, whether you had a vaginal birth or a c section, what was your experience there like? 

And, whether you delivered there or not-did you read childbirth books, and which ones?

tippykins

i recommend 'the thinking woman guide to better birth' by henci goer, and 'the birth book' by dr sears. and for coping...well i read the hypnobirthing book, and listened to the relaxation track every night of my pg, and though i thought it was cheesy while i was doing it, it *really* worked, and i would rec to anyone

starsmaycollide

thanks! you are the second person to tell me about the thinking woman's guide' book. sounds good. I have heard about hypnobirthing.

Did you feel like you were able to recall a lot of what you've read about for coping when you were in the middle of it, so to speak? I'm sort of afraid  of getting into a method and then getting stressed and forgetting what I should be doing 'in the moment' when I'm actually in pain.

SeasideBride06

I delivered at St. Vincent's and had a WONDERFUL experience!  I was actually induced, and things went great (vaginal delivery.)  I can honestly say that I loved every single nurse I had, and the care we got was also wonderful. 

During my pregnancy, my husband and I did do the "Preparing for Parenthood" class (actually 4 separate nights).  I liked the class, and I thought it prepared me for what to expect during labor, especially as far as things like monitoring the baby, pain management options, etc.  

Oh, and I did not read any childbirth books before delivery.

sdkrlm

The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin - awesome book - especially to read with your DH - whether or not you're delivering vaginally, c-section, medicated, naturally - etc. 

 

tippykins

starsmaycollide:

thanks! you are the second person to tell me about the thinking woman's guide' book. sounds good. I have heard about hypnobirthing.

Did you feel like you were able to recall a lot of what you've read about for coping when you were in the middle of it, so to speak? I'm sort of afraid  of getting into a method and then getting stressed and forgetting what I should be doing 'in the moment' when I'm actually in pain.

well when my labor started at 1am, dh and i timed them for a while, and then he suggested that i put on my relaxation playlist (i put it on my ipod) and try to rest. i went to sleep from 2 - 830am i always fell right to sleep when i put it on, so yes, it worked well for me - lol.

when i woke up and the contrx were more intense, i practiced more of the coping/breathing techniques that i learned from the bradley course that we took. and that worked very well for me as well. heck when we arrived at the clinic i was 7cm dilated, and totally didn't feel like it. i was shocked when she told me b/c i felt like i had been dealing with them SO well and that they weren't 7cm painful. and then when she told me a few hrs later that i was fully dilated, i nearly passed out from shock b/c, again, i didn't think it was *that* bad. the techniques that i was using to get through really helped.

now pushing....well, that's when everything i learned flew out the window - lol. that was the most intense part for me, and i lost all focus of trying to stay calm (i was even screaming, which is the direct opposite of the calm/silent environment i had had up until that point). but the pushing was an hr max (for me), so not that long in the grand scheme of things. 

thinking back on it, i think my problem (or the reason i lost it during pushing) is that i spent all my energy/focus working with my body to get me to dilate. and i thought that my body would just tell me when i had to push. i had heard so many ppl talk about how they felt "pushy". so i thought i would just know. NOPE! not so much. i never got that feeling until after i started pushing on my own (when my m/w told me that i was fully dilated and could push him out whenever i was ready to). so i was not at all prepared for that, and just let my emotions, etc get the better of me. if that makes sense?

kkh2002

I spent almost five weeks in L&D so I'm pretty sure I met EVERY L&D nurse there is - loved all of them.  My delivery experience was obviously quite different, but I was very pleased with the facilities and the nurses/lab techs/ultrasound techs, etc.  I had a few complications with my section, but again, those were probably more particular to my situation.

alicatt79

SeasideBride06:

I delivered at St. Vincent's and had a WONDERFUL experience!  I was actually induced, and things went great (vaginal delivery.)  I can honestly say that I loved every single nurse I had, and the care we got was also wonderful. 

During my pregnancy, my husband and I did do the "Preparing for Parenthood" class (actually 4 separate nights).  I liked the class, and I thought it prepared me for what to expect during labor, especially as far as things like monitoring the baby, pain management options, etc.  

Oh, and I did not read any childbirth books before delivery.

I could have written this post. I loved St. Vincents.  The nurses were great!

MrsAO

alicatt79:

SeasideBride06:

I delivered at St. Vincent's and had a WONDERFUL experience!  I was actually induced, and things went great (vaginal delivery.)  I can honestly say that I loved every single nurse I had, and the care we got was also wonderful. 

During my pregnancy, my husband and I did do the "Preparing for Parenthood" class (actually 4 separate nights).  I liked the class, and I thought it prepared me for what to expect during labor, especially as far as things like monitoring the baby, pain management options, etc.  

Oh, and I did not read any childbirth books before delivery.

I could have written this post. I loved St. Vincents.  The nurses were great!

Me too, only we took the PFP class all in one day (Saturday) b/c of DH's schedule.  I had a wonderful experience with St. Vincent - pre, during, and post op. All of the staff there was wonderful - every nurse, the food service employees, the lactation consultants - everyone.  I was very comfortable there as was my DH and Mom who spent a lot of time there with me.

Good luck!

starsmaycollide

Thanks for all the input  everyone! Knowing how much time is spent with nurses, it's nice hearing  you had great ones.

And I will be checking out the book recs  

southernbelle82

I've had both my girls there (c-sections) and had a great experience each time!!  I loved my nurses and the rooms were great!!