Bdesterhouse, I'm so incredibly sorry you and your little family had to go through that. The name you chose for her, Kali Jean, is absolutely beautiful just like I'm sure she was.
Your age at birth: 26 Child #: 2 EDD: February 14th 2015 Actual birthday: February 17th 2015 Baby's Gestational Age: 40 weeks 3 days Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal Your Story: Ifound out my DS was breech when I was around 36 weeks. I didn't want a cesarean birth, so I started going to the chiropractor. I had a scheduled cesarean for 39 weeks. I had an appointment the day prior and baby hadn't flipped yet. I went into the hospital for my scheduled c-section, got prepped. They checked one more time to see if baby was still breech, and he had flipped! We tried an induction and after 24 hours, nothing was progressing. I opted to leave and try to get things going naturally. After a week, nothing changed. I went into my next appointment and found out my water was leaking. I wasn't even having contractions and since I didn't have the pressure of the baby on my cervix, I was only at a 1for dilation and maybe 75% effaced. After waiting 5 hours, nothing changed so I got the epidural and started pitocin. (I wouldn't have pitocin without an epidural, did it with my first son and it hurt!) When I was pushing, I couldn't even feel my contractions, so I couldn't tell when to push. At point I said "oh come on!". The doctor was laughing.From checking into the hospital to finally having my son took a full 24 hours! It was a very exhausting experience.
Lots of difficult births here. Hugs to all you warrior mamas!
Your age at birth: 32 Child #: 1 EDD: June 17, 2014 Actual birthday: June 6, 2014 Baby's Gestational Age: 38 weeks + some Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): med-free vaginal Your Story: Decided to go med-free for my birth about halfway through my pregnancy after doing TONS of research about how best to protect my vag from tearing. haha. A decision made not for my kiddo (who I was confident had equal chances of coming out fine either way) but for my vagina.
About three days before I went into labor, the pain started. My son was back-to-front, and it was excruciating back pain. It was so bad I was just crying. I finally came in to see my midwife crying like a big baby that I wasn't going to be able to handle two more weeks of this pain before baby came. She basically patted me on my head and told me to go home, but I asked her for an exam and she checked my cervix and seemed shocked that I was 4cm dilated. I guess all that back pain was pre-labor.
She sent me home. I was still in tons of pain, but knowing my body was making progress really helped. A few hours after I got home, I realized my normal braxton hicks had become regular. I started counting... and eventually called my midwife. A different midwife was on call, and I swear I think she thought I was a false alarm. But she told me to come in, and I came in at about 5:30 pm. I think she expected to examine me and send me home, but I was 5 or 6 cm dilated and ready to go.
I got in the water and basically took up position on my hands and knees and could not move for the duration of my labor, lol. I don't know why. It's like I was stuck there. The contractions HURT and I was a huge screamer, which I didn't expect. Pushing was not a relief for me, but an extra element of awful. My son was born at 9:20pm. I only had superficial tearing and a heathy handsome 7lb baby, so I feel unbelievably lucky.
Your age at birth: 31 Child #: 1 EDD: December 6, 2014 Actual birthday: December 7, 2014 Baby's Gestational Age: 40+1 Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): long labour then cesarean Your Story: My story may not seem very magical to many or may seem difficult, but I am mostly sharing it because a) I have zero negative memories of it and it was magical to me and b) anyone scared of a c-section will hopefully be inspired by how positive I felt about my experience (even though on paper, it may seem less than ideal).
Life is all about expectations and I had little expectations. I also knew that I am a tiny person with a small pelvis, and all babies in our family are 8-10 lbs. My mom had also had 2 c-sections (and tube removal surgery) and has killer abs at 60 years old. So feeling positive is an option even if things don't go as expected. I sure feel awesome and am looking forward to next time!
Here are the details for those interested:
My water broke at 11pm on December 4 and my daughter was born at 3:30 pm on December 7th. When my water broke, it was a cup/250ml (not much) and I had contractions (far apart) all night, and decided to go to the hospital in the morning. A resident checked me said it wasn't my water; however, I happened to see my OB and he said "if this happens again tonight, come back"...and it did: another cup of "water" at 11pm on December 5th and contractions (far apart) all night again.
So now it's the morning of December 6th, and the OB confirms that yes, in fact that was my water that had broken (duh, I am so smart!). At this point, the hospital is full and on divergence (i.e. sending people to a hospital 45 minutes away - no thanks) and I am having inconsistent contractions. I am not dilated, so he tells me to go home (gives me a shot of morphine) and come back in 6 hours, since they'll have room then. Once I'm home, contractions start quite actively. I return to the hospital at said time and my water literally breaks all over the waiting room floor, like a scene out of the movies. I am at 3cm right away, but then the next 24 hours (overnight) are spent getting to 8cm (oxytocin provided). Between the check from 7cm to 8cm, my daughter changes position to face sideways (right occiput posterior). They try to turn her, but she's wedged. Her heart rate is fine, she's just comfortable in there, so doesn't seem to want to get out any time soon.
By this time, I have seen my OB come on shift, then go home, and then come back again for his new shift! I am exhausted, my water has been broken for a long time, and my doc offers me the choice of forceps and likely an episiotomy (with no guarantees of delivery), or a c-section. To give you sense, I was in the hospital so long that my in-laws had time to book a flight, pack, get on a 1.5 hour flight, arrive at the hospital, and wait another 5 hours. I opted for a c-section, and 20 minutes later we met baby Zoe (8lbs.). I did skin to skin right away, my husband was a supportive hero through the entire thing, and my OB had never seen such a cone-headed baby for a c-section (she was really lodged in there). Her head size is still in the 99th percentile today. My incision is barely noticeable, and the recovery was fine (6 weeks of very slow paced walking and light to no lifting).
This time around, my OB says I am a 50-50 VBAC candidate (given that the issues with side facing head also happened to my mom with me, it could be a pelvis shape thing, or could have been fluke). I am happy to consider a VBAC, but if it ends up in long labour and a c-section again, I will be just fine with that too. The one main thing I want to say is that only negative feelings I ever felt post-birth were because of comments from other people. Like "you must be so dissapointed" or "what a shame" or "what a long time to labour to then give up". WTF people, I am not disappointed, sorry you are disappointed. Regardless of your birth story/process/result, healthy baby = happy parents.
Your age at birth: 24 Child #: 1 EDD: 6/4/11 Actual birthday: 6/7/11 Baby's Gestational Age: 40+3 Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): Induction, vag, epidural Your Story: We had a scheduled induction (I had been at 3cm dilated since 37weeks), checked into the hospital at 7 am, started on Pitocin by 8am (maxed out by 11). My doctor broke my water at 130 pm; and things got REAL! I got my epidural around 4pm, due to some unknown "issues with my anatomy" or the anesthesiologist got it wrong, my whole left side was completely numb. My nurse had me do a few practice pushes and called for the doctor (who was a friend of mine). They told her he just went into a C-section and is unavailable... WTF. The nurse, who rocked, assured me that we were fine and we would get it done- my doctor then walked in the room, looked at the nurse and said "are you sure she's ready?" The nurse assured him I was; he then looked at me and said "(my name), I have a lady on the table who already has got her spinal- can you do this in less then three pushes?" .... um YES! 6 minutes later my DD was born (at 7:03pm) and he was in his C-section!
Your age at birth: 27 Child #: 2 EDD: 5/21/14 Actual birthday: 5/15/14 Baby's Gestational Age: 39+1 Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): Induction, vag, epidural Your Story: Almost exactly like my first however I only got a "half-dose" epidural this time (which I totally recommend)... My doctor (new doctor/new state), came to check me at 7:15 pm asked me to do a practice push, she said "STOP... I need to put some gloves on!" DD #2 was born at 7:23 pm
Re: GTKY-ish Birth Stories
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
Child #: 2
EDD: February 14th 2015
Actual birthday: February 17th 2015
Baby's Gestational Age: 40 weeks 3 days
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal
Your Story: I found out my DS was breech when I was around 36 weeks. I didn't want a cesarean birth, so I started going to the chiropractor. I had a scheduled cesarean for 39 weeks. I had an appointment the day prior and baby hadn't flipped yet. I went into the hospital for my scheduled c-section, got prepped. They checked one more time to see if baby was still breech, and he had flipped! We tried an induction and after 24 hours, nothing was progressing. I opted to leave and try to get things going naturally. After a week, nothing changed. I went into my next appointment and found out my water was leaking. I wasn't even having contractions and since I didn't have the pressure of the baby on my cervix, I was only at a 1for dilation and maybe 75% effaced. After waiting 5 hours, nothing changed so I got the epidural and started pitocin. (I wouldn't have pitocin without an epidural, did it with my first son and it hurt!) When I was pushing, I couldn't even feel my contractions, so I couldn't tell when to push. At point I said "oh come on!". The doctor was laughing.From checking into the hospital to finally having my son took a full 24 hours! It was a very exhausting experience.
Your age at birth: 32
Child #: 1
EDD: June 17, 2014
Actual birthday: June 6, 2014
Baby's Gestational Age: 38 weeks + some
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): med-free vaginal
Your Story: Decided to go med-free for my birth about halfway through my pregnancy after doing TONS of research about how best to protect my vag from tearing. haha. A decision made not for my kiddo (who I was confident had equal chances of coming out fine either way) but for my vagina.
About three days before I went into labor, the pain started. My son was back-to-front, and it was excruciating back pain. It was so bad I was just crying. I finally came in to see my midwife crying like a big baby that I wasn't going to be able to handle two more weeks of this pain before baby came. She basically patted me on my head and told me to go home, but I asked her for an exam and she checked my cervix and seemed shocked that I was 4cm dilated. I guess all that back pain was pre-labor.
She sent me home. I was still in tons of pain, but knowing my body was making progress really helped. A few hours after I got home, I realized my normal braxton hicks had become regular. I started counting... and eventually called my midwife. A different midwife was on call, and I swear I think she thought I was a false alarm. But she told me to come in, and I came in at about 5:30 pm. I think she expected to examine me and send me home, but I was 5 or 6 cm dilated and ready to go.
I got in the water and basically took up position on my hands and knees and could not move for the duration of my labor, lol. I don't know why. It's like I was stuck there. The contractions HURT and I was a huge screamer, which I didn't expect. Pushing was not a relief for me, but an extra element of awful. My son was born at 9:20pm. I only had superficial tearing and a heathy handsome 7lb baby, so I feel unbelievably lucky.
Child #: 1
EDD: December 6, 2014
Actual birthday: December 7, 2014
Baby's Gestational Age: 40+1
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): long labour then cesarean
Your Story: My story may not seem very magical to many or may seem difficult, but I am mostly sharing it because a) I have zero negative memories of it and it was magical to me and b) anyone scared of a c-section will hopefully be inspired by how positive I felt about my experience (even though on paper, it may seem less than ideal).
Life is all about expectations and I had little expectations. I also knew that I am a tiny person with a small pelvis, and all babies in our family are 8-10 lbs. My mom had also had 2 c-sections (and tube removal surgery) and has killer abs at 60 years old. So feeling positive is an option even if things don't go as expected. I sure feel awesome and am looking forward to next time!
Here are the details for those interested:
My water broke at 11pm on December 4 and my daughter was born at 3:30 pm on December 7th. When my water broke, it was a cup/250ml (not much) and I had contractions (far apart) all night, and decided to go to the hospital in the morning. A resident checked me said it wasn't my water; however, I happened to see my OB and he said "if this happens again tonight, come back"...and it did: another cup of "water" at 11pm on December 5th and contractions (far apart) all night again.
So now it's the morning of December 6th, and the OB confirms that yes, in fact that was my water that had broken (duh, I am so smart!). At this point, the hospital is full and on divergence (i.e. sending people to a hospital 45 minutes away - no thanks) and I am having inconsistent contractions. I am not dilated, so he tells me to go home (gives me a shot of morphine) and come back in 6 hours, since they'll have room then. Once I'm home, contractions start quite actively. I return to the hospital at said time and my water literally breaks all over the waiting room floor, like a scene out of the movies. I am at 3cm right away, but then the next 24 hours (overnight) are spent getting to 8cm (oxytocin provided). Between the check from 7cm to 8cm, my daughter changes position to face sideways (right occiput posterior). They try to turn her, but she's wedged. Her heart rate is fine, she's just comfortable in there, so doesn't seem to want to get out any time soon.
By this time, I have seen my OB come on shift, then go home, and then come back again for his new shift! I am exhausted, my water has been broken for a long time, and my doc offers me the choice of forceps and likely an episiotomy (with no guarantees of delivery), or a c-section. To give you sense, I was in the hospital so long that my in-laws had time to book a flight, pack, get on a 1.5 hour flight, arrive at the hospital, and wait another 5 hours. I opted for a c-section, and 20 minutes later we met baby Zoe (8lbs.). I did skin to skin right away, my husband was a supportive hero through the entire thing, and my OB had never seen such a cone-headed baby for a c-section (she was really lodged in there). Her head size is still in the 99th percentile today. My incision is barely noticeable, and the recovery was fine (6 weeks of very slow paced walking and light to no lifting).
This time around, my OB says I am a 50-50 VBAC candidate (given that the issues with side facing head also happened to my mom with me, it could be a pelvis shape thing, or could have been fluke). I am happy to consider a VBAC, but if it ends up in long labour and a c-section again, I will be just fine with that too. The one main thing I want to say is that only negative feelings I ever felt post-birth were because of comments from other people. Like "you must be so dissapointed" or "what a shame" or "what a long time to labour to then give up". WTF people, I am not disappointed, sorry you are disappointed. Regardless of your birth story/process/result, healthy baby = happy parents.
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
Your age at birth: 24
Child #: 1
EDD: 6/4/11
Actual birthday: 6/7/11
Baby's Gestational Age: 40+3
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): Induction, vag, epidural
Your Story: We had a scheduled induction (I had been at 3cm dilated since 37weeks), checked into the hospital at 7 am, started on Pitocin by 8am (maxed out by 11). My doctor broke my water at 130 pm; and things got REAL! I got my epidural around 4pm, due to some unknown "issues with my anatomy" or the anesthesiologist got it wrong, my whole left side was completely numb. My nurse had me do a few practice pushes and called for the doctor (who was a friend of mine). They told her he just went into a C-section and is unavailable... WTF. The nurse, who rocked, assured me that we were fine and we would get it done- my doctor then walked in the room, looked at the nurse and said "are you sure she's ready?" The nurse assured him I was; he then looked at me and said "(my name), I have a lady on the table who already has got her spinal- can you do this in less then three pushes?" .... um YES! 6 minutes later my DD was born (at 7:03pm) and he was in his C-section!
Your age at birth: 27
Child #: 2
EDD: 5/21/14
Actual birthday: 5/15/14
Baby's Gestational Age: 39+1
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): Induction, vag, epidural
Your Story: Almost exactly like my first however I only got a "half-dose" epidural this time (which I totally recommend)... My doctor (new doctor/new state), came to check me at 7:15 pm asked me to do a practice push, she said "STOP... I need to put some gloves on!" DD #2 was born at 7:23 pm