Natural Birth
mdhgrigsby
member
Options
Going Natural on Birth #2
mdhgrigsby
member
Hello lovely ladies!
I delivered my daughter in July of 2015 at 40+3dys. I got food poisoning and had to go into the hospital. While I was there, my dr. told me I was having contractions, but no dilation. So they gave me cervadil overnight to see if I could deliver the next day with pitocin. At that point I hadn't slept the night before and I didn't sleep the night while I was being induced. I had contractions all night while hooked up to the infernal monitors. The meanest nurse ever kept coming in and jerking the monitor straps around on my contracting belly and telling me to stop moving. My water broke at 4:30am, and a nurse gave me a shot of pain meds because I was sleepily mumbling that I was in pain. At 5:30, they burst in the room and started giving me an epidural. At this point I was high on pain meds and my husband was still asleep. I couldn't even process that I was getting an epi, much less tell them that I wanted to wait. Later, I kept asking my husband when I was going to get the epi and he said I already had it. Turns out that anesthesiologist wasn't in network so I paid full price for that epi!! Pain meds make me very sleepy, so I was way out of it the whole day. When it was time to push. I had no idea where to direct that energy. I could barely even keep my eyes open. I ended up pushing for almost 5 hours because I had no sensation of what to do. My DD's heart rate kept dropping and they started getting that "c-section" look in their eyes and whispering to my Dr. on the phone. When Dr. arrived she was already talking episiotomy and using the vacuum. I only needed one more giant push to get her out because I was NOT doing that.
All this to say, I do no want to take this route again. I hated being hooked up to the monitors and being forced to stay in bed during early contractions. I hated feeling "handled" by the hospital and poked with pain meds and an epi before I felt like I had consented. I did not like that I was so out of it the whole day from the drugs and so tired that I could hardly hold my baby. I hated staying 3 nights in the hospital where everybody seemed to burst in our room every 5 minutes to ask some asinine question.
As we start TTC #2, I wondering if natural birth is the right path this time.
Has anyone here made the choice to go natural after having a medicated birth? What were you experiences? Would you recommend one over the other? Were you able to use the same doctor/hospital as before? How do they handle women who go late like I did that don't want to be induced?
Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!
I delivered my daughter in July of 2015 at 40+3dys. I got food poisoning and had to go into the hospital. While I was there, my dr. told me I was having contractions, but no dilation. So they gave me cervadil overnight to see if I could deliver the next day with pitocin. At that point I hadn't slept the night before and I didn't sleep the night while I was being induced. I had contractions all night while hooked up to the infernal monitors. The meanest nurse ever kept coming in and jerking the monitor straps around on my contracting belly and telling me to stop moving. My water broke at 4:30am, and a nurse gave me a shot of pain meds because I was sleepily mumbling that I was in pain. At 5:30, they burst in the room and started giving me an epidural. At this point I was high on pain meds and my husband was still asleep. I couldn't even process that I was getting an epi, much less tell them that I wanted to wait. Later, I kept asking my husband when I was going to get the epi and he said I already had it. Turns out that anesthesiologist wasn't in network so I paid full price for that epi!! Pain meds make me very sleepy, so I was way out of it the whole day. When it was time to push. I had no idea where to direct that energy. I could barely even keep my eyes open. I ended up pushing for almost 5 hours because I had no sensation of what to do. My DD's heart rate kept dropping and they started getting that "c-section" look in their eyes and whispering to my Dr. on the phone. When Dr. arrived she was already talking episiotomy and using the vacuum. I only needed one more giant push to get her out because I was NOT doing that.
All this to say, I do no want to take this route again. I hated being hooked up to the monitors and being forced to stay in bed during early contractions. I hated feeling "handled" by the hospital and poked with pain meds and an epi before I felt like I had consented. I did not like that I was so out of it the whole day from the drugs and so tired that I could hardly hold my baby. I hated staying 3 nights in the hospital where everybody seemed to burst in our room every 5 minutes to ask some asinine question.
As we start TTC #2, I wondering if natural birth is the right path this time.
Has anyone here made the choice to go natural after having a medicated birth? What were you experiences? Would you recommend one over the other? Were you able to use the same doctor/hospital as before? How do they handle women who go late like I did that don't want to be induced?
Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!
Re: Going Natural on Birth #2
I had a natural water birth with a great team. I used to be very involved in the birthing community and have always wanted a natural birth. After I heard about how warm water helps you cope with the pain, I immediately knew it was right for me. My body is very sensitive to medication and I wanted to be present during my child's birth. I was lucky to start labor a week before my due date so I didn't have to deal with inductions, making the possibility of having a natural birth bigger (since pitocin leads to monitoring and other interventions). Yes it hurt a lot! When I was around 6-8 cmms dilated I kind of lost my cool and started screaming as if I was consumed by a demonic spirit. As soon as I got into the tub at 8 cmms I relaxed completely and was able to breath through contractions. The nurses were all giving me space because I think I might have scared them a little bit lol. I pushed for 30 minutes and out she came (with a little bit of tearing which is to be expected).
My sister had to be induced since she was late and had a lot of pain due to the pitocin. The hospital staff was so great and empathetic, always gently trying to make her comfortable and asking her permission before putting her on meds. She requested an epidural and they gave it to her. Her body immediately relaxed and she went from 6-10 cmm dilated in 30 minutes. She had an hour of pushing and was even able to catch her baby!
Natural birth is great! Medicated birth is great if it is done with your consent! If you are thinking about giving birth in the same hospital with the same doctor, I would definitely recommend that you get a doula to help advocate for you when you aren't able to. Your story is an example of hospital staff turning what could have been a wonderful birth into a possibly traumatic experience. I am so sorry about this and hope you have found ways to heal.
I have not had a medicated birth experience but I have had a natural birth and plan to have another one with my current pregnancy. Actually, i'm planning to go even more natural than last time throughout this pregnancy and delivery (no ultrasounds, no dopplar, no glucose test, no antibiotics for GBS ... I have alternative solutions for all of these inverventions that will be much healthier!).
I was quite please with my natural birth experience, but there are a lot of things that contributed to how satisfied I was with my birth and I did the research and work to make sure I could have the natural birth I wanted. One of the biggest factors that is in my favor again with this pregnancy is the fact that I am very blessed to have a natural-birth-friendly hospital and midwife. It makes a huge difference to not have medical staff pressuring you to do something against the natural birth you want to have.
For more details on what I did to prepare for my natural birth, you can read the blog post I wrote about preparing for natural birth (https://mamarissa.com/how-to-prepare-for-a-natural-birth/). It might also be helpful to read my natural hospital birth story (https://mamarissa.com/my-natural-hospital-birth-story/). Personally, reading other women's natural birth stories was extremely helpful and encouraging to me as I was preparing for my first birth!!
I wish you all the best and truly hope you get the satisfying, natural birth you want this time around!