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May 2012 Moms
mrs+harlow
member
Ok now that I have a second - FTM's and those going for natural birth......
mrs+harlow
member
What an amazing last few days...a few have been a little rocky...but things seemed to have sorted themselves out.FYI------ If you don't have Dr. Karp's " Happiest Baby on the Block". I suggest ordering it and watching it/reading the book. Thank God for iTunes and iPads....downloading white noise has been a lifesaver. It saved my life ( and my husband's and mother's) after two nights of incessant purple in the face crying for 6+ hours and nearly 48 hours of no sleep.
I just had a few things to write for FTM's and those with detailed birth plans and trying for a natural birth. As most of you know, I went for natural but ended up requesting the epidural. I wanted to go more in depth on my birth story in case some of you encounter the same bumps during labor that I did . I want to let you know my experience....and reassure you that should things start deviating from your birth plan...YOU ARE *NOT* A FAILURE. I had a total complication-free pregnancy ...but I learned real quick things don't always go your way and the most important thing is the end result of a healthy baby and healthy mom.
I was in labor for around 18 hours at home last Saturday. It started with my bloody show at about 5am and contractions were pretty much immediate. light at first...they quickly increased in pressure. Around lunch time they were pretty intense . At 3pm or so I was sitting in the sun out by our pool focusing, relaxing and getting through them very well....1 minute long and coming about every 6-7 minutes.The peaks of the contractions were intense, I will not lie. if you have ever had kidney stones with that intense, hideous pain that wraps around your back ....that is what the pain feels like. Through the day, I had several more episodes of bleeding. I wasn't too worried and just kept focusing on my birthing techniques. 10 pm rolls around and I have this huge surge of red blood....by this point to be honest my body was quite tired...I was starting to give out. Contractions were still 1 min long but coming anywhere from 4,5,6, minutes apart. When that surge of blood came it made me start to freak out that something was wrong. My husband called my OB....the on call doctor kind of wanted me to wait a little longer but she heard me tell my husband that I was starting to panic because of the blood. So off to L&D we go.
I arrive and was checked in triage...I was barely at 3cm. I get hooked up to the monitor. My contractions were 5 min apart and 1 min long so I was admitted. Get to my L&D room...husband, mom and dad in tow and continue to work through the contractions until around 3am...I had progressed to about 4cm and 80% . At the peaks of the contractions my baby was squeezing the cord and it was causing his heart rate to drop...and by drop I mean one time it dropped to the 50's and I was completely freaking out. It would go back up but let me tell you that is a scary thing to go through. I was a tense mess because of this....I couldn't really focus and relax any more because I was worried about the heart rate.
My OB came in and I started discussing my progression with her. The word epidural never came out of her mouth. I asked her if I got the epidural at this point would it slow my progression or would it make me relax and actually progress. She said I was too far into it for progression to stop....but that the epi might slow my contractions just a little bit and we could adjust that with Pitocin. She let me make the decision. I made the decision to proceed with the epidural. I was too afraid with the heart rate / cord issue that if we didn't progress and get this baby out I could very well end up with a c-section if my LO got into distress. My epi was administered at about 4:30am. I was able to sleep ...checked at 6:30am and I had progressed to 8.We did have a few more episodes with LO holding the cord and the heart rate dropping during my contraction peaks. By noon I was fully effaced and dilated to just a rim....Some have said that with an epi you do not feel the urge to push or feel the baby's station position. This was not the case for me. I felt the urge to push and ended up being good at pushing ( push with your contraction - my doctor commented how amazed she was that I did so well being a FTM) and my Luke arrived at 1pm on the dot!
Also, for any in the NYC metro area I highly recommend Northshore-LIJ's Katz Woman's Hospital ...amazing hospital...amazing doctors and nurses. AMAZING. I only had one bad experience and that was in the maternity ward with a nurse with too much time on her hands...bullying me , trying to accuse me of not feeding my baby enough ( she kept asking me every 2 hours if he fed because apparently she had to put that information in a computer log....I would try to feed but for one, he wasn't latching really well...for two, it was within the 24 hours of his birth and I couldn't wake him up to eat to save my life) and saying I had a "small baby" ( he was 7lbs 2 oz...I have no idea what the he** she was taking about) . I SET HER STRAIGHT REAL QUICK.
Ok end of soapbox...my point is....if things deviate from your plan don't take it to heart. It doesn't mean you failed...in fact it just means you made a decision on what is best for the baby as a MOM!
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Re: Ok now that I have a second - FTM's and those going for natural birth......
Very informative! Thank you!
I am not ruling out an epidural. I would love it if I could manage labor without, but definitely not ruling it out. I also agree that whatever gets me a healthy baby, is a-ok with me.
Thank you SO much for this. I am hoping for a natural birth as well, but I am not going to punish myself if it doesn't work out. I am in the NY area. At this point I am sticking with St. Lukes but maybe for future babies we will check out Katz Women's hospital.
Question if you don't mind answering: Was the extra bleeding anything to be concerned about or was it just more of your bloody show?
DS #1 born 05/25/2012
BFP#2: 06/12/2013 ---- loss
DS #2 born 4/08/2014
BPF#4: 2/1/2016 --- 2/23/2016 suspected molar pregnancy--- 3/15/2016 D&E - diagnosis MM
BFP#5 - 9/22/2016
* formally bornmommy
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
The blood was normal and more of my bloody show. Also, vomiting is normal...I regurgitated both in triage and when pushing!
So much to look forward to!
But seriously, I am so excited to meet our baby girl, I don't care what I go through.
A woman who chooses to get an epidural is no more a failure than one who doesn't. Every woman and every labor are different. If I hadnt labored at home for all but the last 30 minutes, who knows what would have happened? You have to do what's right for you. It doesn't make you weaker. It doesn't make someone who went natural stronger. You did fine.
I think you did a great job! I have an idea but I am open up changes as I know births are unpredictable. It sounds like you were flexible enough and able to handle deviations from your ideal birth and made it the safest entry for your LO!
Huge congrats in your sweet little boy! Absolutely love his picture!!
BFP#1 EDD 11/8/11 - MC @ 9w6d, 4/15/11 we said goodbye
BFP#2 DD arrived 5/7/12