- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
March 2014 Moms
ingridreinke
member
GTYK: Share birth stories?
ingridreinke
member
Would love to hear some birth stories from you gals who already have munchkins! Did things go as planned the first time around?
Was it funny/ scary/amazing/horrible?
Anything you wish you'd done differently (most outcomes have nothing to do with what you did, I know. Just wondering if you wish you'd packed something/not ate that spicy burrito the night before/didn't invite the MIL, etc.)?
Please share!
Was it funny/ scary/amazing/horrible?
Anything you wish you'd done differently (most outcomes have nothing to do with what you did, I know. Just wondering if you wish you'd packed something/not ate that spicy burrito the night before/didn't invite the MIL, etc.)?
Please share!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: GTYK: Share birth stories?
Baby B was transverse so we scheduled a c/s. 3 days prior in the middle of the night I got up to pee, came back to bed, was just dozing off and felt a pop and a GUSH. Water had broke and it was NO TRICKLE. It was like a sitcom. Coming out in huge gushes, I was soaking through towel after towel!!! Contractions came fast and furious, but they were manageable. I never thought they were that bad.
Drove to the hospital around 1am and was in triage for a bit. Got checked, 7 cms. Nurses asked if I was sure I didn't want to attempt a vaginal delivery because I was handling labor so well. It was a hard decision, I felt rushed and didn't know what to do. Since I had already made my peace with a c/s I just went with that. I really REALLY didn't want to deliver baby A vaginally and B via c/s. I just wanted to recover from 1 thing.
So I got prepped, got the spinal block, definitely felt everything they were doing, but it didn't hurt at all. Baby A (cate) was delivered and was 5lbs3oz, then 3 minutes later baby B (emily) was delivered and was 5lbs! Healthy and crying, not a minute in the NICU!
One funny story is that through my whole pregnancy I thought baby A was going to be Emily and B was going to be Cate. As DH and I were holding them in recovery I was holding B and was thinking "I really think this should be Emily"...not a few minutes later DH said "I think this one should be Cate!" haha, so it was different then what we thought but they fit their names perfectly
Recovery was really very easy. The only reason I want a VBAC this time is just because during the c/s I felt sort of "out of it" which I didn't like. I don't remember certain things during the surgery. But I know a lot of people that didn't have that feeling, so many the spinal just hit me harder.
- oh,and side note, the night I went into labor I was craving a big mac like crazy so DH got me one for dinner. I never eat fast food. Later I found out that this is apparently a "thing" people do to start labor. My cousin is an RN and her best friend is an L&D nurse and said that it's crazy how many big macs send people into labor, lol!!!
After 2 years, Injects, PCOS diagnosis and 2 IUI's, we were blessed with our beautiful twin girls!
Baby Girl #3!
The next morning I was so exhausted that I asked DH to take me back. Thankfully my midwife was available and saw me when we arrived. She offered to sweep my membranes to get things moving. It worked! I went from 3cm to 6cm in one hour! I could definitely feel the change in contractions during that time. They were so intense that I could not walk or talk. I was also "leaking"with every contraction. Ew. It took about an hour to get my IV and be prepped for hospital check in. I had requested a tub so I jumped into that as soon as possible. It was amazing! I labored for an hour in there until I felt like I needed to push. My midwife checked and I was finally at a 10! I jumped out of the tub, plopped on a birthing stool and baby was on my chest 15 minutes later. What a thrill!
I ended up with the 2nd or 3rd degree tear but the stitches were the worst part of the whole experience (the actual stitching, not the recovery). I also didn't love the uterus massaging. Anyways, the natural birth part was amazing! As I was holding my 8lb baby girl, I felt like superwoman! I would love to go natural again but I don't think it's going to happen. My OB wants me to have an epidural placed in case we have to have an emergency c-section. I guess I'll be strapped in a bed and delivering in an operating room. Bummer.
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be."
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be."
OP. I had a membrane sweep in my due date (Thursday). I was feeling cramps and I had been having regular BH since 33 weeks so nothing felt to different.
On Saturday I was at dinner at my moms and was having painful contractions, but nothing regular.
I was leaving my moms and I told her I would call her at 2:30 AM to tell her I was in labour. Just as I said that I lost my mucus plug, which felt disgusting.
I headed home since DH invited friends over (awesome, right!?)
We played a few games of wii bowling an I told DH to not have anymore to drink, since I was still having a few mild contractions.
They left, I took a shower and then my contractions went straight to 5 minutes apart.
We headed to the hospital and I had him 9 hours later. It got all crazy at the end (no heartbeat fir him, could barely find mine and he was stuck).
But I got my med free labour so I was happy.
Friday, July 17, 2009 I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I had plans to go out with some friends for lunch, but I knew that I was just not feeling "right". I also felt like I kept peeing a little every once in a while. Sorry TMI. J and I decided to take a ride around dinner time. We did some errands and then stopped at T-Bones for dinner. After we came home we hung around and then I decided to go to bed at around 10pm. I got in bed and tried to go to sleep and I noticed I was having cramps and then they started becoming timeable. I went downstairs to talk to J and he suggested I call my doctor. My doctor happened to be on call at that point anyways. She told me to relax, time them and see how I felt in a while. J and I were using contractionmaster.com to time the contractions. Finally at 1:30 am I decided to call her back. She told us to head into labor and delivery. At 2:30am when she checked me I was 3 cm dialated, but she did check me and tell me that my water did have a small leak so she wanted to admit me, but that I was not having contractions rather "uterine irritations", which I still think was a bunch of crap. At about 8:30am my doctor came and checked me again and she told me that I was only 4cm dialated. She then said because I was Group Strep B positive she didn't want the labor to be too long and that she wanted to start me on on pitocin after I had breakfast. So I ate and started the pitocin. At about 10am the pain was no longer tolerable. At this point my doctor was going home and the oncall doctor was coming in. The nurse spoke to the doctor and the doctor said no epidural yet and I could have nubain through my IV to take edge off, this would only last 2 hours. So I got that and that is when things got a little crazy. The nubain makes you feel completely wasted, yet the pain was still there. J said at this point I resembled many psychotic patients he had worked with. At this point they were still telling me my contractions were not full contractions, but still uterine irritations. J said maybe I was not aware of my tolerance or lack of to pain. I thought I was going to go out of my mind. Apparently I ripped my hospital gown off and refused to put it back on and I also was flailing everywhere getting wrapped in my IV and the baby's heart rate monitor and contraction monitor. At about 1pm I told the labor nurse that I was in so much pain and I wanted to be checked and get an epidural. She went and spoke to the doctor and the doctor said that I couldn't be that progressed yet and that she didn't want to check me due to the Strep B and risk of infection. So I continued writhing in pain and at this point I was in so much pain that I was in my own world. J said I was making weird noises and stuff. So at about 2pm the labor nurse I think finally felt bad for me and she decided to check me. She said "Oh my God you are 10 cm dialated I need to go get the doctor". I looked up at J and said I need to start pushing and I did with just the two of us in there. When the doctor came in I immediately asked about my epidural. She said I could have one, but it was probably not worth it because I was going to be pushing. Well this did not go over well with me. I was fixated on getting an epidural, J said I had a very hard time getting past this. LOL But then I had no choice and to just deal with not getting an epidural. So then I just continued pushing. I remember distinctly listening to J tell me what to do. I was focused on him and not the nurse or doctor. I remember them saying he has a full head of dark hair. And I only smacked J once when I asked for water and he gave me a face cloth. I also remember them asking me mutiple times if I wanted the baby on my chest as soon as he/she came out. I kept replying "yes please". So I continued pushing and then the doctor said one more push and he/she is out. Well in fact it took a few more pushes, but I was barely breathing in between. I just wanted him/her out. So in fact I only pushed for 20 minutes. So out he popped and the doctor said "It's a boy". J and I just couldn't believe it. I am still so glad we didn't find out the sex of the baby prior to, it was so amazing when the doctor said the words "It's a boy". So Benjamin James was born into this world on July 18, 2009 at 2:21 pm. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long. He scored well an 8-9 on the Apgars Scale and immediately let out a cry. I held him for a few minutes amazed that he was ours. The nurses then took him over to the warmer to clean him up and then gave him back to us. We look at him everyday and are still amazed he is ours. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I had my membranes swept around 10 that morning. At 11 I started feeling a little crampy, but I had felt like that before, so I wasn't sure. I tried timing it, but it was all over the place - 9 min, 2 min, 11 min, 20 min, etc. I called my doctor around 4, and she said to go to dinner and on a walk and it would probably be in a few days.
At 5 I started having intense contractions 5 min apart - no real build up. We got to the hospital at 6 and I was 5 cm. I had wanted to do it without an epidural, but I wimped out so fast! I asked for one as soon as we were there, but it took until after 9 for them to get to me. I got it, they checked me right afterward, and I was almost 10 and ready to go.My one regret is I wish I would have asked them to check me before the epidural. If I knew I was that close, I might have been able to do it. But I assumed I still had hours left since I hadn't been checked since I got there.
I started pushing around 9:30, and he was born at 10:38 that night.
So 5.5 hours of labor, which I was happily surprised with. There was a tiny scary moment during when the cord was around his neck and the doctor had to cut from his neck. But he was completely fine. 2nd degree tear, but I couldn't feel a thing since I had just had the epidural.
It was such an amazing experience! I want to try to do it without an epidural this time, but we'll see if I wimp out quickly again
We finished moving into our house May 17 and it was the first night we slept there. I had stopped working that week because I was just so big and uncomfortable. I woke up in the morning around 8:30, after DH had gone to work, and as I was laying there I felt a lot of wetness down there. I jumped out of bed because of course I assumed my water broke. I texted my mom and told her what happened and she said to call my OB. So I called and talked to a nurse, explained what happened, she agreed that it sounded like my water may have broken and that I should go to the hospital. I called DH, didn't get an answer so I decided to take a quick shower. After I showered, I called DH what felt like a million times! Finally, I called his office and got a receptionist. I was frantic and she said she'd find him. A few minutes later he called me (he was in a meeting) and I told him to come home. He got home, we brought our dog to my mom's, and headed to the hospital.
The visit was very anti climatic. They determined my water hadn't broke and my contractions weren't strong or regular. They gave me a big cup of water and had me walk. After about 30 minutes, the nurse checked me and said there was no change. She gave me this sheet about the differences between real labor and false labor. She was sure it was false labor and I was SO annoyed by this because I REALLY thought I was in labor.
So after a disappointing visit, we left. We ordered Bobs Evans carry out, went home and ate, and took a long nap. When I woke up, my contractions started getting stronger. DH suggested we take a walk around the neighborhood to try to get things going some more. I had to stop several times during the walk because the contractions continued to get stronger and closer together (he was timing them). By the time we got home, I knelt in front of the couch and laid my head down because it was getting more intense. I argued that I'd wait until my appt the morning--I didn't want to go to the hospital for nothing again. DH insisted we go back though. We were probably in triage about 10 minutes before I felt a warm rush of liquid down there. Yep, my water broke. It was about 7:30pm.
Skipping ahead a bit, my contractions continued to get stronger and stronger. It became overwhelming. I couldn't sit so I just stood by the bed, bouncing up and down, leaning my head against the mattress. Finally, after I got two bag of IV fluid, I was able to get my epidural. It was extremely difficult to stay still during this. I sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, hugging the nurse. This nurse, by the way, was incredible. Anyway, I probably squeezed the life out of her and moaned in agony because I felt like the contractions never stopped. I didn't even feel him do the epidural because I was so focused on trying to stay still. In my birthing class they said it took about 20 minutes for the epidural to start working. I don't know but almost immediately I felt relief. I was so, so happy!! I started getting silly then. I talked that poor nurse's ear off because I was just so relieved and happy lol. DH thought I was hilarious.
By that time, it was around midnight. With the epidural during its job, the nurse turned the lights down and DH and I rested. Neither of us fell asleep but it was nice getting to rest because obviously I knew what was coming.
Around 4am, my nurse checked me again and said I was 10cm and ready to start pushing. It was so sudden! Within minutes her and DH were holding my legs and I was pushing. I couldn't believe the time had come. I focused everything on pushing. I pushed as hard as I possibly could. The epidural was really the perfect amount of relief. I didn't feel any pain but did feel the overwhelming urge to push. The nurse told me to just push when I felt I needed to. DH started getting worried because my OB still wasn't there. At one point the nurse told me to rest for a push because the baby's heart rate was dropping. Wow, that was tough!! I wanted to push SO BAD. I honestly wonder if she had to wait because the doctor wasn't there yet, not because of the baby. Who knows. When my OB finally showed up, I pushed maybe twice before he said he was going to have to make a cut. I could feel a lot of pressure and right when he made the cut, I felt a lot of warmth and then he laid my son on my belly. I felt my belly sink right when he came out. The nurse wiped DS and I touched his back. He was born at 4:29am.
DS had made a poo in the womb, so several nurses came in to check him. They wanted to make sure he hasn't inhaled any. They checked him and my OB stitched me up. I'm thinking it was about 15 minutes. I just laid there and looked at him. DH stood by the table and watched.
I can't remember if the nurse brought me DS or my DH. I think the nurse did. I just held him and looked in those beautiful eyes. It wasn't long before he started rooting so I nursed him for the first time. There was no issues. He latched on and nursing for a while. I was exhausted but so happy.
All in all, I had a really great experience. I only hope this experience goes just as smoothly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Kari~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
DH hadn't packed his bag yet so he was doing that while I was sitting in the bathroom. He just kept walking in and out of the bathroom into our room not packing just walking in and out. Until I pointed our that he really wasn't doing anything. It was really funny.
My contractions never started on my own so I started pitocin when I got to the hospital. I was also only 1/2cm and DS was high (since he never dropped). Since he was high and my water broke I had to stay in bed since they were concerned about delivering the cord early. Once the pitocin kicked in and I was having regular contractions I got an epidural.
21 hours later it was time to push. After 2 hours of pushing, and an episodomy, DS heart rate dropped so it was get him out now or a c-section. 2 pushes later DS was born with the cord around his neck and blue as a blueberry. Scared myself and DH. To this day DH still tears up talking about this and how he reassured me that DS would be ok. Once DS was born the room got very crowded since he was blue and not crying. It seemed like forever until we heard him cry. DS was given some oxygen and he breathed on his own and was fine. The longest day of my life from when my water broke until 23 hours later DS was born.
Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be Alright – Amber’s Birth Story
It was Friday evening. My phone ran, it was my sister Amber. That’s
strange, Amber knows I never answer my phone and she should just email
me, but wait, she is 36ish weeks pregnant, maybe I should take her
call. I answered it breathlessly, “Are you in labor???” but the phone
is dead. A few minutes later I got a text that said “sorry, I pocket
dialed you, I’m not in labor”. Fair enough.
So imagine my surprise at 5:15am Saturday morning when the call
display said “Amber” again. That is a very mean pocket dial. Boo.
But to be snarky I answered the same way “Are you in labor??”. She
replied, voice shaky, “My water broke at 4am, I’m at the hospital,
they are going to start pitocin at 7:30”. I hopped out of bed and
gathered my wits and my labor bag and some breakfast for them and
hustled over to the hospital.
When I arrived, Amber and Trevor both looked a little tired, they
hadn’t gone to bed particularly early the night before, and had kind
of a rude early morning awakening. Amber looked worried, and I looked
over and noticed her blood pressure was pretty high (the first time
that had ever been the case). She was stressed and concerned about
her baby coming early, and feeling flustered, and ill prepared. We
were supposed to be working on her birth plan this weekend, they were
supposed to pack next weekend, heck, they still had a baby shower
scheduled. They had to get prepared and ready in a matter of hours.
My first job was to let her know that everything was going to be ok.
Her baby looked great on the monitors. I was there to help her.
Birth plans are for hippies. She had this.
Since going home to labor wasn’t an option with Amber’s high blood
pressure, we talked about how we could get her labor going. It’s
tricky to have your water break before labor. Without strong
contractions, labor can take a long time to get going. That’s why
many doctors will start you on pitocin right away to move things
along. I asked Amber if that’s what she’d like. And she felt that it
seemed a little early to jump on the intervention train. I agreed. I
asked her if she wanted to try some other options – namely – walking
the halls of the hospital, and using the electric breast pump to help
organize and intensify the early contractions she was having. She was
game. When Dr. Yium came in to start the pitocin, we asked her if we
could have some time to do our own thing. And she said sure. This
was a big benefit for Amber – she didn’t have to be on any monitoring,
machines, or lines. She could walk, eat, shower, pump, labor freely.
So we did just that for a few hours. Contractions would pick up,
especially while pumping or walking. Amber hopped in the shower
between pumping sessions while Trevor massaged her with the shower
head. Dr. Yium would poke in every few hours and would notice Amber’s
labor getting more and more intense. She came back to recommend
starting the pitocin, but heard Amber breathing in the shower and saw
contractions that were getting very close together, so she decided to
just let labor be. I had hoped to score at least 4 hours of natural
laboring for Amber, but somehow Dr. Yium was letting Amber just be
patient with her labor. Since she was ruptured, they never checked
her cervix all day, they just watched Amber and checked in with her
about progress in her labor.
By 8 pm, labor had kind of stalled, and Amber considered doing the
pitocin at this point. She felt confident that she had given her body
due diligence to kick into labor on its own, and had tried all of the
resources she had to postpone pitocin. But the lack of sleep from the
night before was catching up to her, and she felt ready to reap the
benefit of a pitocin augemented labor – efficiency.
She learned that she had made some progress on her own, she was 2cm
(0-1cm on arrival) and was 90% effaced (60% on arrival). It was
somewhat disappointing that this was all the progress she had made in
many hours. But it was a significant difference to this medical
doula. 1cm is an unfavorable cervix. When you induce/augment an
unfavorable cervix, you are at an increased risk of cesarean section.
And it’s my job as a doula, and even more so as a protective older
sister to navigate that risk. But by 8pm when Amber was ready to
augment, her cervix was super soft, and super favorable. Her
contractions were stronger. Her blood pressure was low-normal. Her
uterus and body was warmed, primed, and ready for pitocin.
It didn’t take but the lowest dose of pitocin to immediately have an
effect on intensifying and organizing Amber’s contraction pattern.
Amber breathed through contractions beautifully. She would close her
eyes, breath slowly and deeply throughout, never once losing focus or
control. I asked her what her birth mantra was, and she told me that
she was singing a song in her head as she was breathing – Bob Marley –
“Don’t worry, about a thing, everything little thing, is going to be
alright”. It’s as if this mantra was helping her believe it. Helping
her believe that the worry and anxiety she felt early in her
pregnancy, at many times throughout her pregnancy, and with this
unplanned early arrival, were going to be alright. Trevor was always
encouraging. He made sure Amber was always hydrated, that her
chapstick was well applied, that she had cold compresses on her brow
and neck to stave off nausea, and that she was never emotionally
discouraged. I massaged her sore leg muscles and her swollen feet,
kept hot packs on her back, and put pressure on her hips and lower
back as she moved through position changes.
At 11pm Amber was ready for an epidural. Actually, she could have
totally just done the whole thing naturally. I have no doubt about
it. Perfect control, perfect breathing. But, she was so tired, not
from exertion, just from sleep deprivation. She felt that the
epidural would allow her to get some shut eye before she had to push
her baby out. Post epidural she got checked and was 6cm, 100%, 0
station. Quite a lot of progress which she was happy to hear. We
turned the lights out and all were hoping to get a couple hours of
sleep. But apparently baby had a different plan. Amber was feeling a
lot of pressure in her bottom by 1am, and just couldn’t sleep anymore.
Nurse Janeka checked her closer to 2am, and sure enough, she was a
full 10cm and a +1 station. For the record Amber went from 2cm-10cm
in 5 hours, a crazy feat for labor at 36 weeks. Her body was ready!
I really think all of the mental, emotional, and physical prep Amber
did in her “pre-induction” made the induction phase of her labor
perfectly efficient. Amber decided to labor down, and just rest and
let her body keep moving baby down without actively pushing, she was
able to rest some, but the pressure was so intense she was too
uncomfortable not to push after a while.
Amber started pushing at around 2:30am. She pushed on her back for a
while, and nurse Janeka suspected her baby was OP by the way the
sutures on his head were facing as he was coming down. So we thought
it smart to push in positions that would help rotate baby. Amber
pushed on her right side. She got up on her hands and knees and
pushed in child’s pose (a great epidural!). She pushed on her left
side. She made the full rotation to get baby full opportunity to
rotate as she was pushing him down. An hour into pushing Dr. Yium
came in to check on the progress, and she too confirmed baby was in a
finicky OP position. She reached up to her elbow into Amber and
manually rotated the baby around into the opposite orientation. That
sure didn’t feel good, Amber grabbed my hand and took deep breaths
while Dr. Yium did this. Then Dr. Yium left and said, OK – hopefully
that will help, carry on!
Amber seemed to be making the most progress in the “water ski” pushing
position – semi-reclined on her back, with her feet up on the squat
bar, with a rebozo tied to the squat bar that she would pull up on
with her hands as if she were waterskiing behind a boat. Trevor and I
each supported a leg and Nurse Janeka counted and coached. Amber
pushed hard, and made progress, slowly but surely. At 6am Dr. Yium
was called back in for the final few pushes. She was actually a
little surprised to get the call so soon because she said she had a
sinking feeling that baby’s position would be an obstacle to pushing
him out without forceps/vacuum/c-section. But Amber had the will and
pushed so hard, never considering that this was something she couldn’t
do. In the final pushes Amber pushed slowly and beautifully, letting
her baby just rest on the perineum for the last few pushes, there was
no rush, he would just sit there through contractions and she eased
him out very gently (and saved herself any major tearing).
Archer Samuel arrived at 6:13 am after about 3.5 hours of
pushing weighing in at 6lbs 11oz. He was a little shell shocked when
he arrived (in fact his eyes were wide open as he was born and he
looked startled to be there). After some stimulation he squawked and
cried and scored a 9 apgar at his 5 minute check – a perfectly healthy
baby despite his early arrival, and I could hear Amber and Trevor
finally breathe that sigh of relief that their baby was OK. Finally,
they could now just take in all of the joy of that moment, and all of
the excitement that parenthood had in store for their future.
Everything, indeed, was going to be alright.
My moral of the story: labor CAN take a really long time. But not always. Once your water breaks, get your ass to the hospital.
OB came to see me at 2 and I was 6-7 cm at that point and still the contractions were painless. She broke my water and the pain was almost instantaneous. DH arrived at 2:30. I asked for an epidural shortly thereafter. DS was born in 3 pushes at 6:50 p.m.
My ILs are bitter to this day that we didn't tell them I was in labor. DH called them around 9 p.m. and they still complain 6.5 years later.
DD: Contractions began around 11 a.m. at 38w4d. They were painless and completely untimeable, so I assumed BH. Took DS to a carnival with my mom at 3:30 p.m. and on the way there they went from sporadic to every 3-5 minutes. They were a little painful, but not too bad. I knew it was the real thing, but figured I had plenty of time.
They became more and more painful and I eventually asked my mom to take me to the hospital. Called DH and told him to meet us there. Walked in, put on a hospital gown, sat on the bed and POP! my water broke. Went straight into transition = instant agony. Nurse came in to check me and said, "I'd guess by the way you're acting you're around a 7." NOPE. Was a full 10. About 20 seconds later I had an unavoidable urge to push. DD was born at 6:24 p.m., 7 minutes after I arrived at the hospital.
DH arrived about 5 minutes after her birth. When he called his parents, one of the first things he said was, "I don't want to hear anything about who didn't know about it because I wasn't even here and that trumps anything you can complain about!"
You can read mine here:
https://dishesndiapers.wordpress.com/
Best day of my life... so far! Can't wait to do it again!
I started having regular contractions at 39 weeks on a Tuesday afternoon. By Tuesday night, they were every 5 minutes and lasting for about 30 seconds. We went to the hospital late Tuesday night, but I was only dilated to a 1, so they sent us home. I had contractions all night and couldn't sleep (even with the sleeping drugs they gave me at the hospital).
They continued every 5 minutes but lasted longer - about 1 minute - and we went back to the hospital on Wednesday. I was only dilated to a 2, so they sent us home but gave me some pain medicine so that I could sleep. Apparently the pain medicine made me nauseous, because I threw up all Wednesday night (and still had contractions every 5 minutes).
By Thursday morning (after not sleeping for 48 hours), I begged my doctor to induce me. He did, but I never dilated past a 4, so I had a c-section Thursday night. I could barely stay awake through the surgery, and there are large chunks of time I don't remember. Looking forward to my scheduled c-section this time around.
Married my love 6/11/11 | MMC 10/11/11 | Eliza Frances born 9/18/12 | Rhett Garland born 2/24/14
I ate a big breakfast and we drove to the hospital around 7:00 am. Pitocin was started around 9:00. It made my contractions come more frequently but not really painful. My inlaws spent most of the day at the hospital, which is the one thing I would change. I think this kept me from walking around more. They also brought popcorn into the room, which isn't cool when you can't eat and are starving. Anyway, after several hours and lots of increasing the Pitocin, there wasn't a lot of change and the baby wasn't low enough that they wanted to break the water. Around 5:30 pm they decided to try attaching an electrode lead to the baby's head, which would create a slow leak in the water and hopefully help the baby drop. Around 6:30 pm my water fully broke and the contractions became painful. I spent the next two hours laboring in all kinds of different positions and vomiting due to pain. Eventually I just wasn't recovering between contractions so I got an epidural at 8:30 pm. It only partially worked, but it was enough to take some of the edge off and I was ok with that. The resident who would be doing the delivery came in to introduce herself and it turned out to be someone I had some classes with in college! We both remembered each other so it was kind of neat.
Things are blurry for a bit here, but I think I finally started pushing between midnight and 12:30. DS was born at 1:29 am at 6lb 13 oz.
Then came the worst part. My placenta didn't want to deliver so the OB and resident were trying to manually remove it. Thank God for the epidural, 'cause that was awful even with it. They started coming up with a list of docs to call with the smallest hands because they couldn't get it. So, at the same time I'm trying to nurse DS they tell me they need to draw blood samples because I was losing a lot of blood. There was something specific they were looking for but I don't remember what. I tried to nurse on one side, have blood drawn from my other arm, and have my placenta pried out all at the same time. It was crazy. Just as the anesthesiologist got there to get me ready for a D&C they finally got the rest of the placenta out and the bleeding to stop. Our nurses were really great through all of that, doing a lot to help bond and nurse DS and to keep DH calm. I was a little weak, but otherwise recovered really well.
My official labor started on Dec. 31, 2011. We went to the hospital for the second time (first 12/21) and I had made no progress after contracting for 10 days. They sent me home. As soon as we got home, my contractions intensified. My parents live about 5 hours away, so they made up their minds that the were traveling down 1/1/12. I went to bed around 9PM, woke up around 2 and sat on the couch contracting until about 7AM. My parents arrived shortly after 1PM and it was almost like my son was waiting for his Mimi because my contractions immediatly started getting worse. We labored at home with the ball and breathing exercises until about 7 that night when we left for the hospital. My contractions were still irregular. They had not done anything to my cervix, still only a fingertip dilated. The nurse gave me nubaine for the pain and called my Dr. He let me stay only because this was my THIRD time coming to the hospital and I was already scheduled for induction on 1/4. He said we would start pitocin in the morning.
About 15 minutes after getting settled in my room, my water broke and contractions were way more intense. They told me at 12AM that I was scheduled for my epi and started pitocin. Had to come off pitocin because it made DS heart rate drop. Epi Dr. didn't come until 4AM. I was somehow able to sit perfectly still and felt so much better, even though I was shivering. We all went to sleep.
Fast forward...Dr. arrived at 7AM, checked me and I was a 9. Nurse came in to prep, checked before she left and I was a 10. After what seemed like forever, they all came back to deliver DS. After 15 minutes of pushing and an episiotomy, he arrived at 8:48 AM on 1/2/12. After giving birth my doctor noticed that because DS was so low for so long that he ripped a hole in my cervix. That is why it seemed like I wasn't progressing until much later.
My contractions NEVER regulated themselves. Even during pushing, they were still all over the place.
Best day of my life. I cannot wait to meet our new sweet baby! Hopefully the process will go smoother this time
So, a few days later I went in on my daughter's due date 2/17/11 and they strapped the heart monitors on my tummy and suddenly I felt very thirsty...The next thing I knew, I was being rushed down the hallway for a potential crash c-section bc I had passed out and the baby's heart rate had dropped dangerously low. Basically I had psyched myself out about the fact that I was about to have a baby...DH says it was a psychosomatic blah blah blah... Anyway, I came to, scared to death that I just put my baby in danger and ultimately DD's heart rate came back up and everything mellowed out.
After that fiasco, they decided to put me on a very slow drip of pitocin. It was weird though bc I still was not feeling contractions. At one point a nurse came in and was watching my monitor and said, "You are having a major contraction, how do you feel?" I couldn't believe it because I felt totally fine, just sitting in my bed watching the Kardashians. I thought DD was never coming out because there didn't seem to be anything going on. I probably should have just gone natural but I elected to have the epidural just in case the pain was going to hit like a ton of bricks later on. It was smooth sailing from there, the epidural was heaven and I pushed for 20 minutes and Miss Scarlett was out and ready to eat! (So was I, I think I ordered a pizza and almost devoured the whole thing myself!)
Both births were with the same midwife at the same birth center, but pretty different! With DD#1 I went into labor spontaneously at 40w1d around midnight. Got to the BC at 2, was so sick the entire labor (and puking is so not fun while contracting), but was managing ok in the tub until around 6 or 7. For some unknown reason, one of the "head midwives" (read: not mine) decided 1st time moms shouldnt deliver in water, so they pull me out. From then, the pain becomes really bad. Commence the puking. I never felt the urge to push, so I stay at 10 cm for awhile and they finally "help" her out. I'm not really sure if I was pushing or they were pulling! I pass out at delivery.
So this was my sort of scary med-free birth. My recovery was fantastic, no tearing, no episiotomy. So I decided to go for it a 2nd time with DD#2. And could a birth experience be more different?! My midwife asked me to come in at 40w1d (as it was I had been walking around for a week 4cm and in prodromal labor) to strip my membrane, and give me some herbs. I went walking near the birth center at around 3:30. Came back with some contractions at 5:30 (after we hit DQ for ice cream with DD#1) and I was 8cm! I didn't feel "in labor" this whole time. So I get in the tub, at 6:30 or 7. Have a few practice pushes, and out she comes! It was unreal. I never felt extreme pain, although pushing was hard and hurt. It was incredible. Again, no tearing and fantastic recovery. And I largely credit the waterbirth for the difference with pain at the end!
We're hoping and praying for another experience like #2 for sure!
Copied from my blog...
Well it turned into 5 page birth story... I wanted to write down every little detail so I would remember it later. I haven't had a time to edit the birth story since Desmond takes up most of my time, but I will post what I have so just disregard any spelling or grammar errors.
Desmond's Birth Story
I had to write up a very honest birthing story for myself. To accept the fact on how my birthing went, which was perfect for me. Desmond birth was the most empowering experience of my life. I am very happy how things went, even thought they didn’t go as I planned.
Saturday morning I had planned to go pick strawberries at the local strawberry field with Kelly and Candi. This whole pregnancy I was craving strawberries. I always envisioned myself picking strawberries around this time to try to go into labor. When we got home after picking 8 boxes of strawberries I made three pies and a short cake. They where all very yummy, but wasn’t having any contractions or labor symptoms yet. Just normal braxton hicks contractions. Sunday we went to Kelly’s aunt Memorial Day picnic. We then went to Lowes to pick out a ceiling fan for the kitchen. When we got home Andy was there and we decided to play a round of Left 4 Dead 2. We had cheddar warts that caused me to have lot of heart burn all night... a normal occurrence. I decided to go to bed around 10pm because I started to have contractions and was tired.
Around 10pm I started having contractions that where painful. I tried to ignore them because I was having similar contractions for the past couple of weeks. I slept though them after listening to my hypnobabies.
Then around 1:30am I woke up in a lot of pain. I tried to just get though them until I woke Kelly up around 1:45 because they where coming in patterns and seemed very close together. We called my mother around 2:30 who came over right away. She started to clean the house and make brownies for the nurses, because the contractions were hard and uncomfortable and making brownies was the last thing on my mind. Kelly and I both got in the shower together and I was hanging onto him and trying to get though each one. I kept saying to Kelly “Oh my they are coming on top of one another!”. I wanted to labor as much at home so I didn’t want to go to the hospital but they felt like they where less then 5 minutes apart.
We decided to leave for the hospital around 5:30. I remember the car ride wasn’t that bad. We listen to some relaxing music and I was looking at the sun rising and the fog on the local golf course. I kept saying to myself “I got this!” “I am prepared for this!” “I am excited for this”. I was laughing and smiling. Kelly tried to keep my spirits up and was cracking jokes... “Well you shouldn’t have gotten knocked up” he said. When we got to the hospital I had three contractions just getting to the Birth Place. Molly the midwife checked me and saw that I had ruptured my membranes... which can cause contractions to come on harder and stronger. Know wonder they felt like they where coming on top of one another. She then saw that I was about 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced and station +1, so he was very low already. Molly said that she was leaving at 8am, but Bonnie was the next midwife. Kelly and I looked at each other and had large smiles on our faces. Bonnie was our favorite out of all four the midwifes. Bonnie voiced her love for natural births and enjoys those births the most. I was very excited and happy she would be delivering Desmond.
They admitted us to our room. The first thing that I wanted to do was get into the Jacuzzi tub. At this point I lost track of time. Mom took down the clock in the room and everything started to become a blur. My whole life focused around each contractions. Each one I had to get thought. The next one would be one less and I was getting closer to see Desmond. Sometime later I started to have very difficulties handling the contractions. I was losing it. Kelly tried his hardest and was reading me my hypnobabies scripts to try to get me to relax through each contractions, but I wasn’t listening to him. At this point I started to question my ability to do this naturally. I felt like giving up. I kept thinking to my self “I was NOT prepared for this... “ even thought I spent the whole 9 months trying to prepare for a natural birth. It was not what I expected. I was naive.
Then Bonnie came into my room. She came right in and sat down next to me on the birthing ball with Kelly and started to coach. For some reason I was listening to her instead of my Mom or Kelly. I think it was because she was a authority figure to me. She had 1127 births under her belt and I figured she knew what she was talking about. She noticed right away that I would tense my shoulders up right before one would start. I wasn’t submitting to the pain, my body was trying to fight it. She told me I needed to relax my jaw and shoulders and I was making it more harder on me and my energy level would go quickly if I kept doing what I was doing. Each contraction Bonnie would say in a stern voice “Shoulders.... Jaw.... Face....” to remind me to relax them. I needed to be reminded all the time, but once I was relaxed the contractions started to become manageable. I asked Bonnie if she had any other laboring women under her and she said “I have two other women laboring, but they received their epidurals and they don’t need me right now. “ It brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy she was there to help couch me through each one. Kelly told me that the condition of me during labor after Bonnie came in was like night and day. I was doing a lot better when Bonnie was with me. After her sitting with us for awhile she told me that my contractions where getting puttsy. She said we need to get these contractions to become stronger and asked if I heard of using nipple stimulation to help bring on contractions. I said yes and started to massage my breast and nipples. I just wanted it to end even if the pain would be even worst then what I am already experiences. The contractions came on very strong. I had to grunt and groan then them. I tried different positions and started to slow dance with Kelly. I ended up biting him three times because I felt like I needed to bit something.
Again, time became a blur. I lost track of it... but later I found out that Bonnie sat with me for a good 6+ hours. I was checked at 1:30pm to see how much I progressed. At this point I was laboring naturally for 15 hours. I started to tell Kelly and Bonnie that I was becoming very exhausted and wasn’t sure if I could keep going. I tried to rest between contractions, but they where camel backing and my break wasn’t that much of a break. They both kept my spirits up and told me I could do this. I started to get pushy and Bonnie wanted to check before I started to push, but my body was pushing without me wanting it to. I started to pee myself... or was it amniotic fluid.
I was diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) at 27 weeks of pregnancy. SPD is a condition that causes excessive movement of the pubic symphysis, either anterior or lateral, as well as associated pain, possibly because of a misalignment of the pelvis. SPD is created by excessive amounts of the hormone relaxin that relaxes the pelvis bone, muscles and ligaments for childbirth. With being diagnosed with SPD I knew that my wants for a natural birth could be jeopardized. I read online that some OBs recommend to have a c-section to reduce the risk of doing more damage to the pubis symphysis. I knew that I would fight any doctor that would recommend this to me, but my midwife and OB both knew I wanted a natural birth so they didn’t even mention it to me. The number one thing that scared me the most about SPD was malpostioning of the baby. Since the pelvis is so unstable there would be more room for the baby to move during labor. Desmond was in the correct position(Baby is head down and facing towards my back) the whole pregnancy, so it brought my spirits up.
When Bonnie checked me I was 7cm dilated and 100% effaced and he was at station +2. She informed us that Desmond has moved into the posterior position... the baby is head-down but facing my abdomen (Sunny-side up). This made me want to cry my eyes out, and I think I did. Bonnie informed Kelly that delivering a baby in this position naturally would be like delivering a baby 2x as big and 2x as long. Bonnie tried to move Desmond into the correct position. They started to roll me around and I was screaming in pain! I really was getting to my limits. I thought again... “One more contractions, I only need to get though one more contractions”. I started to say the code word... and my mother kept saying “Just try to get though three more... just three more”. I was on my third and I looked Kelly straight into the eye and I said very sternly “Anti-Taco Legislation Disestablishmentarianism”. Bonnie and Kathy (My nurse) both looked at each other and said “That must be the code word...” and start to giggle. Which really brought my spirits up that they where accepting of my decision. Bonnie said it was the best decision because I was becoming very exhausted and with Desmond being in a posterior position labor would be difficult. More difficult then it already is.
A lot of things where going though my head at this point... failure, giving up... but the number one emotional that I felt was selfishness. I felt like I was very selfish to put Desmond in harms way. After doing tons of research on Pitocin and Epidurals I knew that I didn’t want that for my birth, and here I am being selfish and receiving those drugs for MY comfort. I wanted to suffer for Desmond. I didn’t want him to work harder.
I was pretty surprised that they allowed me to get the epidural at 8cm dilated. Bonnie checked me again right before the anesthesiologist came in, just in case he turned. He didn’t... The Anesthesiologist looked just like I imaged. This evil looking doctor that came to poke you with some large needle and paralyze you. He asked Kathy how far I was. She told him 8cm and asked me “Why are you getting an Epidural now..?” I just wanted to jump up off the bed and punch the guy in the head. I weakly said “Pain become suffering... “ and I started to cry and say sorry over and over to everyone in the room. I think I wanted to say sorry to myself, but I just felt like I failed everyone. The hardest part out of my whole labor was sitting still to receive my epidural. Kelly and my Mother had to leave the room before they started the procedure. I had to bend over and squeeze the crap out of Kathy’s hands because the contractions where on top of one another and I couldn’t move. After he was finished putting the needle in me, which I didn’t feel because I was in so much pain from the contractions, I kept asking how long does it take effect. They said around 15-20 minutes. I started to shake uncontrollable. They said this was normal. I would shake whenever I would have a contractions. They then set my IV up for pitocin. I asked Kathy if I could hold her hand. I felt a lot of emotions at this point once the epidural started to work. I felt relief... but again failure came creeping up again. Kelly and my mom came in and I started to hold Kelly’s hand. I just wanted to hold his hand. I kept telling him that I felt like a drug addict because I was shaking uncontrollably. I told him that it was the best feeling. With being in pain for the last 4 months with SPD I felt relief for the first time in a long time. I felt selfish again because I wanted it to last forever. I told him that I hope they give me more time on it. The plan was to roll me around to make the baby turn and then deliver. Bonnie said it would be about an hour. I slept. I feel a sleep even thought I was shaking. I slept so well. Kelly said that he was watching the monitor and my contractions where not coming stronger or closer together like the pitocin was supposed to do.
I lost track of time again. Bonnie came in to check real quick after they rolled me twice and saw that the baby turned. Yeah... and she said “Lets have this baby... his head is right there!” and let Kelly touch his head. He had hair! This was 2 hours after receiving my epidural. They turned down my epidural so I could feel the contractions. Bonnie said that when I feel a contraction just bare down. Kelly and the new nurse Kayla held my legs for me and I bare down very calmly with each contractions. I started to have heartburn really bad and they gave me Malox to help with the heartburn. I told Bonnie that I think I felt a contraction. She said just push when you want too. She was using KY jelly and massaging me so I wouldn’t tear. Bonnie told me to reach down and feel Desmond’s head. It was pretty awesome. I started to get the drive to push more... but I knew that I needed to slow it down so I wouldn’t tear as much. The last push Bonnie told me to reach down and catch my baby. I reached down and I pulled Desmond up onto my chest. It was the most amazing feeling ever!! The pain was gone... I was so happy!
Bonnie allowed the cord to stop pulsing before allowing Kelly to cut the cord. Bonnie told me to feel the cord pulsing. I reached down and felt it pulsing it was pretty cool. At this point they noticed that my pitocin drip was all over the floor!!! I never received a drop of pitocin while on the epidural. They got me a shot of pitocin to help with bleeding. Bonnie later told me that I started to hemorrhage because of the my uterus was very irritated by being in labor naturally for so long. I started to feel very weak and I threw up right over my baby. They also gave me a shot of Effedrain because my blood pressure dropped dangerously low. They controlled the bleeding and my blood pressure went back up a bit, but they monitored for the next 24 hours to make sure.
Desmond’s birth was an amazing experience for Kelly and I. My original plan was to not to have a traumatizing birth. I feel like I received the birth that I was searching for. Now looking back I am glad that their are options out there for women and they have options to have choices. Every birth is different and no matter how much you plan for it to go one way it can have the possibility to do the exact opposite. This experience has made me a stronger women and if I can do that... I can do anything.
Proud Cloth Diapering, Babywearing Mommy to Desmond (5.30.2011) and Evangeline (2.26.2014)
Loving wife, best friend and teammate to Babywearing Daddy, Kelly (7.27.2000)
Volunteer Babywearing Educator at Babywearing International of South Central Pennsylvania
https://nickiekellybaby.blogspot.com/
Proud Cloth Diapering, Babywearing Mommy to Desmond (5.30.2011) and Evangeline (2.26.2014)
Loving wife, best friend and teammate to Babywearing Daddy, Kelly (7.27.2000)
Volunteer Babywearing Educator at Babywearing International of South Central Pennsylvania