Birth stories?

Re: Birth stories?

• dani_0921 member

  May 2024

  Give "The Birth Hour" a listen. It's a podcast of birth stories. All kinds. 

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• hspg member

  May 2024

  I second that! The birth hour podcast got me through my first pregnancy and helped me to “expect the unexpected,” which helped a ton when the unmedicated birth I dreamed of became a planned c-section instead.

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• j-redd222 member

  May 2024

  I’m pregnant with my third and my first two births were very different. With my first, I decided to go with the flow and not put pressure on myself to do things a specific way when it came to an epidural. I didn’t want to get married to the idea of an unmedicated birth to be disappointed if I changed my mind and wanted an epidural so I decided I would play it by ear and keep my options open, the one thing that terrified me was getting a c section. My baby was a week late so they scheduled me to be induced. I could’ve pushed it out another week but my doctor insisted it would be better to schedule it sooner so I listened. After my water broke, everything got really intense and I opted for an epidural. I’d heard that being induced causes the pain to feel a lot more overwhelming because it’s not a natural progression of pain since it’s forced. I wouldn’t have a natural birth to compare to but logically that made sense to me. After the epidural I was a lot more comfortable but as I got close to being ready, my cervix didn’t efface. I was dilating but not effaced at all. On top of that, one of the residents measured me incorrectly and told me it was time to push. When my doctor came in to check me she told me to stop and that I was not fully dilated. After that, the complications kept coming. Baby’s heart rate dropped, my epidural started wearing off, my body wouldn’t efface, baby got stuck, etc. I needed to have an emergency c section- my absolute worst nightmare. I told my husband I needed him for this because I was absolutely mortified over the thought of being cut open and awake. He ended up not being allowed in the room because I could feel them cutting me open. They tried to up my epidural a few times and I could still feel it. They ended up having to put me under and rush to get the baby out. I spent the first hour or so of my first babies life unconscious and she wasn’t in my line of sight when I woke up so I woke up and immediately thought I’d lost her. Recovery was really difficult and my husband had just started a new job and didn’t get more than the hospital stay off after the birth. With no family in the area and my mom not being able to stay for more than a week because of her job, I was completely alone with a new baby to take care of after a major surgery. 

  
  

  For my second child, I wanted a VBAC as I was still terrified of a c section and traumatized from the last experience. My doctor refused to induce me again so they scheduled a c section a week past my due date and said if I gave birth naturally before then that was the only way I’d have a VBAC. I was anxious all pregnancy dreading giving birth, having to get the c section and impending complications. I did everything I could to at was safe to go into labor at a normal time. A few days before the c section deadline I started having consistent enough contractions for the doctor at the hospital (not my regular dr) to opt for me to be induced very gently to help me along. My water broke, I got an epidural and couldn’t feel a thing. I feel asleep and got a full nights rest. In the morning they came to check me and saw the baby’s head. I needed a small episiotomy to get the head through but felt nothing. It was extremely easy, no c section needed. The only thing from that birthing experience was that my legs were still completely numb afterwards so I felt really bad for the nurses who were trying to get me into the wheelchair and transported and needing to support my legs while I got stitched. It was very weird having no control over half my body. The recovery from that pregnancy was so much easier and the whole experience was way better. I’m hoping for another vaginal birth with the third! 

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