if you could have changed anything during
your pregnancy and or Labor what would it be, and why? or do you think that everything went exactly the way you wanted it to, or if you plan on having more los do you have a idea on what you want to do diffrently when you first bring them home?
I think labor wise I would have made sure the nurse got a doctor to check my water before sending me home the first time, it might have prevented me from getting a infection, I also think I would have taken a birthing class to try to wait a while longer before getting the epi,
for our next lo Iam going to make sure we keep them in their crib and not to bring them in our bed to sleep. ( I like co sleeping with Mason but it was really hard getting him in his crib) I also think we will make sure we swaddle better,
Re: if you could have changed anything during
Labor: Maybe crazy, but I wanted a mirror so I could see and there were none available. I would like to make sure there is one availbale for our next LO.
After Home: I kept LO in our room in the pack and play for 2 months before moving to the crib. This worked out so good for us, and he transitioned very well, so I think I will repeat this. We did have a lot of people over right away, I think I will try to limit that a bit at first. And maybe have someone come and help with house cleaning for the first couple weeks
I wish I could've made it without having a C-Section, but it is what it is, and I'm probably not going to attempt a VBAC with the next one.
Other than that, I would have like to breastfeed longer than I did. We made it 8 weeks altogether. It probably would have lasted longer if I hadn't caved to the opinions of certain people around me. When I started supplementing (on dr's orders), my supply went kapoot.
I wish I would have known that she was breech before my water broke and went past my due date so I had more time to mentally prepare for the c/s.
Never got a family photo at the hospital.
Wish I wouldn't have gained so much weight. tried to keep it under control but no matter what I did it just kept coming. Now I am paying for it.
I wish that my labor/delivery had been different but it was of course a euphoric experience in the end. I went into labor on Tues (8pm) and didn't give birth until Thur (7pm) so it was long and by the time I had to push I was delirious. I asked for pitocin (didn't want to go there but did) and had planned to get an epi, and did but not until about 3pm. I had a 3rd degree tear and a tear up my labia which happened because she had to be vacuumed (sp?) out in the end. She also had a little meconium in the water but I was able to hold her immediately after delivery, which I was also lucky with.
I have been toying with the idea of natural birth (very losely toying). I think I will be open to it and hopefully the next one will come out a little easier. My OB promised me the 2nd one was easier, I'm going to be mad if she's wrong!
Next time I will have meals planned and done. My H was no help when it came to having food for me and I was bfing and soooo hungry/thirsty all the time. I had convinced myself I was going late, at least a week and 1/2, she came 2 days early. I was not prepared, bags were packed but that's it.
For labor I would have spoken up more when they had a student midwife sew me up, and instructed her to break my water, which I had to say I didn't want her to, I wanted my midwife to, while I was in labor. I'm super glad I never ended up having it broken. I would have prepared dh to speak up more when things from my birth plan were not being followed for no medical reason at all. I would have taken photos of the three of us together, not just baby, baby with me, baby with dad.
After bringing ds home, I would have not worried so much about things that didn't matter, but I was so busy listening to everybody else's experiences with a newborn I kept comparing. I also would not have left the hospital early, without a good latch established before coming home. That almost got lo an IV for dehydration four days later. I would have worked harder to wake up ds during those first couple of days to nurse more so we wouldn't have run into so many problems in the beginning. I also wouls have held ds more when we were still in the hospital that first night but I was so exhausted. But....in the end I have been trying to not regret things and just move on to making right now what I can.
Make a pregnancy ticker
I wouldn't have changed anything about my labor and delivery. I had a great one. I just hope the next one isn't posterior, because that was about the worst thing (back labor sucks). I will also make sure to be prepared for the next LO in advance. I was convinced DS would be late, so when he came early, I wasn't ready. My parents had to buy all the stuff we hadn't bought yet (nursing bra's and such).
Afterward, I would have seen an LC right away. We had so many problems with bfing right off the bat, but we're good now and going strong. I still get clogged ducts like crazy though.
And I want to make sure we do newborn pictures as a newborn. He was 6 weeks old when we did them and not that cooperative.
Pregnancy: I wish I would have been in better shape pre-preg. I got SPD so bad by week 18 that I couldn't stand for more than 10 minutes. So nothing got done around the house because I literally couldn't do it. I also wish it would have happened during a time in our life when I could enjoy being pregnant. We were still trying to renovate our house so DH concentrated so much on that...it caused a lot of stress between us.
Labor: Well, I wouldn't have had a complication with the epi. And it wouldn't have been so long! My ideal labor - arrive at hospital for induction, get pitocin ( I was induced because I was 10 days late), get epi hour later, hour later here's my baby LOL. Just kidding. It was actually a really great bonding experience for me and DH.
Mat leave: I feel like I was robbed of my mat leave because 3 days after I came home, he got a bulged disc in his back and couldn't move. So I had to do everything. Then I got mastitis, and an abscess that had to be drained twice, so I really didn't get much of a stash because of the complications of the abscess. I just never got the chance to heal and recover mentally because I had to go back into "go mode" to take care of LO.
Hm... my water broke at 10:00 on Monday night, I went into the hospital and they sent me home. They tested 4 times and it came up negative for amniotic fluid each time. I even made them show me the tests.
I went to work on Tueday (feeling contractions all day long). Had an appointment with my gyn this afternoon and the fluid still tested negative.
Woke up at 1:30 am on Wednesday morning with really strong contractions. They weren't 5 minutes apart, so they said to stay home.
I finally lied on Wednesday at 4:00 and said that they were 5 minutes apart (they were 7 minutes apart) and they said to come in.
Got Pitocin at 5, epidural at 10:00, baby on Thursday at 1:34 am.
Yeah, that was 51 hours and 34 minutes of fun. I think I'd speed that whole process up a bit.
http://pandce.****/index.cgi#general
Pregnancy: Are we allowed to list things that we may have no control over? If so, I would not want to get pre-eclampsia. Some things I may have done that may or may not have made a difference is to have lost all excess weight before becoming PG (I had lost weight, but only about 1/2 of what was needed), if I had followed dietary and supplemental suggestions (ie. brewer's diet, calcium and Vit D supplements), and if I had excercised more frequently. Otherwise PG was fine, the PreE just made the last 3 weeks stressful and made my birth experience very different from what I wanted.
Labor/Delivery: I was induced due to PreE. If I had to do it again, I would have tried natural methods to induce labor. I would not want to be on Mag Sulfate during labor, but again, that's not something I had control over. I was given a medically necessary epidural that I didn't really need or want b/c of PreE complications I was having. In hindsight, I should have asked more about what the complication REALLY meant and alternatives to the epidural. I would have also waited until I felt the urge to push to start pushing. I so excited to get the baby OUT that I started pushing before I felt the urge, but was fully dilated. I think this largely caused the issues that resulted in > 3hours of pushing and eventually a forceps delivery. I should have waited until it was time.
Afterwards: I wish I would have asked for more help from friends and family for company/meals while on maternity leave, but otherwise things are good. BFing was tough, but it ended up working out, so that's all that matters :-)
BFP#2: EDD 2/11/14, MMC confirmed 7/15/13 (growth stopped at 6 weeks), D&C @ 12 weeks 7/25/13
Pregnancy: Probably not let my mom live with us. It was unavoidable at the time, but it definitely caused extra stress. I also wished I ate better and worked out more.
Labor: it went well and i didn't have any problems. Next time though I just want DH and I, and maybe one more person. I'd also like a birth photographer if possible.
labor: i had people in the room and i think back and wish just 1 person was in there. it jsut seemed like crazzyness after he wasout. also people were waiting outside my door right after i had him (i have no clue why!) and i wish i could have had some more alone time with him before everyone started bargin in.