Birth Stories Thread

[Imachickadee75]

Okay Girls, you asked for it. Here an opportunity to read birth stories -TMI and gory details. Read at your own risk!

[Imachickadee75]

Here is Part One of my DS #1’s birth story. I guess I got a little long winded and I couldn't post it all at once. My mother taught natural childbirth when I was a little girl out of our living room. I knew how babies were born well before I knew how they were created. Thus I felt a lot of pressure to go unmedicated for DS’s birth, but had very little confidence I could do so. Pretty much everybody told me I was crazy and that I would be screaming for an epidural. I did have two friends though who had gone unmed and gave me some simple advice (“try to think about your cervix opening”, and “try to think about breathing through your cervix”). I was a little encouraged by them, but really thought I would wind up getting an epi. I signed all the consent forms for one as part of my pre-admission paperwork.
I lost my mucus plug the night of the 16th of March., but had no contractions or anything and went to bed. The next morning I thought my water had broken as I couldn’t seem to stop peeing, but again I really didn’t have any contractions for the rest of the day. I guess I was having period-type cramping but nothing I really noticed. Meanwhile, DH was a flight instructor and working on his bachelor’s degree. He had been up pretty much all night the last few nights with final exams. The evening of the 17th he was taking his last final when I told my Mom that I was starting to feel some pressure in my butt, but still no contrax. She’s a nurse so she had me come sit next to her so that she could feel my belly. She found that I was contracting every 2 to three minutes for about a minute or so, but I still wasn’t feeling it. So she had me call my doc. He told me to get to the hospital but not to hurry too much. As I got off the phone, DH walked in exhausted and relieved he was done with his exams. I don’t think he really believed that I was in labor (why would he as I wasn’t acting like I was?) and he took his SWEET time taking a shower, getting dressed and getting out to the truck. By then it was about 10pm. We got to labor and delivery and again the nurses didn’t seem too concerned. The general rule of thumb is that one should go in when you can’t talk through the contrax, and there I was as happy as a clam. They hooked me up to monitors and found that sure enough I was contracting regularly and was dilated to a 4 (you dilate to a 10). They also checked to see if my water had broken (they swab you and do a chemical reaction test) and found that it had not. They weren’t too sure if I was really in labor and my doc ordered some IV fluids in order to keep them from sending me home. Oddly, they gave me a little local anesthetic on my wrist before inserting the IV and DH laughs that that was all the meds I needed! By 1am I was having to concentrate a little on the contractions and was finally admitted.

[Imachickadee75]

Part Two:

When we got into our room, I was a little put off by our nurse. She was new to Labor and Delivery and had never attended a non-med birth. However, looking back, she pretty much stayed out of the room all night and left me alone which was great. I quickly found that the contractions were very uncomfortable if I was laying down but definitely manageable if I stood up. It was quickly established that I would lean my head on DH’s chest as he squatted down a little to rub my lower back and we would kind of sway back and forth through the contractions. It is hard to describe the sensation –for me it was one more of intense pressure than pain. While I had had period like cramps before it was nothing like that. The sensation would wrap around my hips and made my pelvis ache. I would breathe in and out first to a count of four and then as things got harder a count of three throughout. DH would remind me to relax and sometimes helped me count. It really helped a lot to not tense up in anticipation or during the contraction. After every contraction I would ask myself, “am I okay, do I need meds?” And every time the answer was no. This went on throughout the night. My doc ordered that I was to be put on the fetal monitor for 10 minutes each hour and at first the nurse kept putting me in bed. That was torture. Finally I got smart and got her to let me just stand by the monitor while hooked up. That worked well for everybody. We got into a rhythm where I would labor for an hour, get monitored, have a cervical check and go pee. I dilated about a centimeter an hour and did really well. At one point during the night, DH left to get some coffee and my Mom went back to the house to check on the dogs so I was alone and still did okay.
About 5am or so, transition hit and this was the hardest part for me. I remember asking my Mom if things were going to get worse because I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Meanwhile the baby was laying off to one side, not straight up and down and they made me lay down in bed on my side. It was NOT COOL. Thankfully, shortly after that, everything stopped and I got about 20 minutes of sleep. My doc stopped in and told me I could push at anytime. He had no sooner stepped out that my whole body lifted off the bed, pushing on its own. It was game on.
They had me lay on my back and raised the back of the bed. My doctor is at least 6’9” and chooses not to break down the bottom of the bed. We got to laughing because the part that is supposed to come off is only rated for 70lbs and he’s A LOT more than that. He told me that if it broke to just keep pushing. They had my mom and DH hold my upper thighs up towards my chest while I pushed. I hated this part. I hated feeling pinned down like that. This is also where pooping comes in. That’s how good pushing was described to me –like having a bowel movement. I’m pretty sure I did poop some but they just kind of wiped me off with the disposable pad I was laying on and moved on like nothing happened. At that point I was pretty busy so while it sticks out in my mind it doesn’t really bother me.
Pushing was not at all painful. However, it turned out that my water had not broken. The amniotic sac soon started to bulge out like a water balloon. There were lots of jokes like “Look out, she’s going to BLOW!” DH said it was awesome though because he could look inside the sac and see DH’s hair swirling in the fluid. Finally, it broke up high inside me with only a small trickle instead of the bursting we were all expecting. My doc tore off a piece and was examining it in the light. He commented, “This is the bag of steel!” We all got a laugh about “hefty, hefty, hefty-garbage bags”. Anyway, I wasn’t very effective pushing and DS got caught up between my tailbone and pubic bone. We finally got that resolved and I don’t really remember feeling the “ring of fire” a lot of women describe as your skin stretches around the head. Once he crowned my doc asked if I wanted to feel the head and for some reason I said no. I guess I just wanted to get him out. Thankfully, my doc grabbed my hand and pulled it down to feel. He was all wet and wrinkly is what I remember.
Jason was born at 7:34am at 7lbs 4oz and put on my belly head down the same way he’d been inside for the last six weeks or so. I giggled because I finally saw the razor edge that was the side of his foot that had been poking out so much. We were so astonished to find that he had RED hair (three generations back) that we forgot to ask if he was a boy or girl for a minute or two. The doc had me hold the umbilical cord (it felt like those metal electrical cords that flex) until it stopped pulsing. I remember saying “Hi baby” since that is what we’d been calling him right along (we didn’t know the sex).
This is where all heck turns loose. After the cord was cut, DS starting “retracting”. This means instead of dropping his diaphragm down to draw air into his lungs he was drawing his abdomen in –basically trying to breathe backwards. They gave him some oxygen and the Neonatal staff had to come down. He wound up under oxygen and I didn’t get him back until 1030am. Meanwhile, probably partially because he didn’t get to nurse right away which causes hormones to release that make your uterus clamp down and stop bleeding, I wouldn’t stop bleeding. I had two tiny little tears up high in my labia (the lips of your crotch so to speak) that just wouldn’t stop bleeding nor would my uterus. I wound up getting at least one drug to stop the uterine bleeding and maybe pitocin too I don’t remember. Meanwhile, my OB had his hands in my crotch putting pressure on the little tears. He held them for over 20 min because I remember him saying he was going to give them another 10. Then he had to stitch them. I don’t know if he forgot that I hadn’t had any meds or if he thought the local would be more painful than the stitches but he didn’t give me anything. That was worse than anything else I’d been through –and one of the stitches BROKE and he had to do it again! Yikes. I’ll never forget that image of the needle and thread. I was ouching and moaning when I noticed he looked very upset. I reached up, put my hand on his arm and told him I was really okay. He looked down at me and said fiercely, “It’s just not right! It’s just not fair! Here you are, you’ve done everything right and look! Your baby’s under oxygen and I’m sewing you up! It’s just not FAIR!” He was so cute. I wasn’t upset at all. I was on a super high anyway and while a little worried about DS I had been very much reassured he was going to be okay.
I was taken to my own room after an hour or so, and checked out by my recovery nurse. She helped me pee (ouch!) and checked me for hemorrhoids –none thank goodness! Then she told me to sleep until DS could come to me. He finally was able to come from 1030 until 11, then taken back to the warmer until 2 or so when I got him back for good.
If anything, I’d say the aftermath was harder to deal with than the labor and delivery itself. I remember being surprised at the discomfort of the contractions that pushed out the placenta because I wasn’t breathing and relaxing for them. Then, when the baby would nurse, I’d have uterine cramping –again to clamp down on the blood vessels. Not to mention the “road rash” so to speak of the stretched and bruised skin and the stitches in my crotch. I guess I was fully prepared for the labor but not the pain following. I remember before I went home they came and took out my IV and it burned. Then not 10 min later someone else came in to draw blood. I had this great image of chasing the poor woman out of the room with her own needle. My tolerance for things hurting me was pretty low by then! Breast engorgement a few days later wasn’t all that great either, nor were the night sweats. But all were manageable, compared to my fears about labor.
This time around, I hope everything goes the same for labor, only I’ve told the doc I want to push in a different position and if possible catch the baby myself. He was very supportive and told me I could hang from the ceiling fan if that was what I wanted. I think he’s just excited to have someone interested in a non med birth.
I'm not saying nonmed is for everyone, but I think its important to put positive stories out there to combat all the scary ones. It IS more than possible if it is something you want to do.

Jackie

[Brenda]

WOW! What a story!
How cool to be able to see ds's hair just floating in the water balloon!

So, what position are you going to do to catch the baby this time around? Will you be on your hands and knees?

[jr_lenz]

here is mine...

I had a regular check up and my OB noticed that I had gone down in size...(they measure your belly) so we had a US (ultrasound) done, and there was very liitle fluid around the baby. I was put on bed rest had to drink a ton of water and come in the next day for stress test and US. 1st day back ok, home for one day then back the next, third trip in DS was in distress and the only amount of fluid was the size of a surgar cube.

Side track of story...I need that something was wrong and that we were going to have the baby that day. My lab at the time was so in love with my belly, for 9 months she would lay her head on my tummy and make this really low humming sound, anyway the night before the dr appt. she would not leave me alone, she kept sniffing my belly and whinning and wouldn't let me get up...

back to story...I was sent over to be induced...the contractions started right away but nothing progresssed...they ended up giving me the highest dose of pitocen and the fast rate they could, and nothing, after 24 hours I was given Stadol, I hated it, I felt like I was drunk and in labor, 4 hours later I had a epi. by this time DS was showing signs of distress and I had on O2 and a fetal monitor, I had to lay in bed, the olny postion that I was confortable in would allow the montior to read...more hours very liitle progress and now I internal fetal montiors going up my hoo hoo and sticking to his head. People start showing up b/c they haven't heard anything...by this time I was a Bitch, two more injections of pain meds through the epi. I can't do it any more 36 hours now...DR says we are going for the c-section, but wants to check one more time...guess what I am at a 10 so now I can push...great, how long is this going to be??? 20 min. later DS come screaming down the birth cannel tearing everything open as he makes his grand entrance. I got to hold him for three min before I went into shock, its horrible its on the birth tape. I was bleeding out, I started throwing up and Dr. was still trying to stick me up. they lost IV acess and had to stick me 27 times befor they got another one started. the last thing I remember was Dr. yelling at them to get him an IV...then I was gone...I had to have cpr and drugs, when I woke up DS was gone, I guess he had gone up awhile ago, my mom went him and was allowed to sit in the nursery and hold him. I went up 8 hours later. I had 57 stiches. I had a stage 4 tear, which is a tear into the rectum, so my but and to be stiched up...talk about pain pooping! I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and took turns sitting in a hot tub and packing my butt with ice! I even gat a herina pillow so sit on. Since DS was early he didn't have a suck reflex and had to be fed by a cup for two weeks. For a very long time I thought I would never do it again, but here I am, and I am hoping for a much easier time!

[Mistress Trista]

I had a rectal tear with my first child and was in labor 48 hours. My second went much smoother. Water broke around 6 in the morning and I had him by about 7 that evening. Doctor noticed the date and asked, isn't today your other child's birthday? Yep, both boys were born on the same day, April 16th. What's interesting is my dh and his brother were both born on April 8th...LOL.

Anyway, with third my daughter, they tried to turn her and finally got her butt down so we could do a breech birth, but she ended up shifting and I had to have a C-section. I was terrified and actually tried to leave the hospital. I know I'm a whimp...LOL. Everything went fine though and a few hours later I was holding her in recovery.

The nurses kept talking about dh and how he kept leaning down to whisper in the baby's ear. They were dying to know what he was saying...LOL. He's still never told me.

[Regina]

My story of the first birth is no where near like the other stories...I didn't have too much trouble myself. Wow, Janet, I don't know if I could handle what you went through!

[czechmate]

This is the condensed version....

DS -- Went into labor in the middle of the night. (Of course, my hair looked crazy!)

Doctor said this is your first so take your time, we ignored him and immediatly went to the hospital.

I was dilating really fast, was rushed to a room and then my contractions stopped.

I received medicine to start my contractions again and received an epidural.
My epidural was so strong, I felt NOTHING!!!!!! They said push, I said where?????!!!
I pushed for 30 minutes and they said if he wasn't born soon, they would suction him out.
I pushed with all my might (I felt NOTHING) and tore myself apart but he was born!!!

They put DS on my stomash and I passed out.
Turns out I was hemorraging.
DH watched the Doctor trying to get me to stop bleeding.
Finally I did stop. Luckily I didn't need blood, but it took alot of IV fluid to get me back to "normal".

The worst part of it was the wheelchair ride to the car.
The teenager drove me like it was the Indy 500 and I thought I was going to die!


DD was alot worse!!
Went into labor at 10pm - exhausted from the day.
We timed them and decided since I went fairly fast last time, it was time to go to the hospital.
Only problem - it was a full moon and every women in a 100 mile radius was in labor too.
They told me to go home and I refused. So DH and I walked the hospital until I was dilated enough to be admitted.
(I was in so much pain, I was convinced that I could tear the handrails off the wall!!!)
Got admitted, got the epidural --- and it wore off when I was pushing!!!! Damn - that's what labor feels like???? Totally sucked.
Pushed her out as fast as I could, tore myself a new asshole and felt every stich when he stiched me up.
She was 2 oz. shy of 10lbs. She looked like a sumo wrestler. If I can find her baby book (Yes, if I can find it -- she is the 2nd child) I'll attach the picture!!!)

Jen

[Adreamer's_wfe]

#1- three days of being induced. Finally got the Epi, which was terrible, the Dr. was mean to me and I was so scared! End of day three, three hours of hard labor. I didn't think it would ever end. She had junk in her lungs and didn't cry. They almost had to rush her off to NICU becuase she was not breathing. I thought the world would stop until I heard her cry. The placenta would not pass - almost had to undergo surgery for that. What sticks out in my mind is looking down and seeing blood shot from me like a hose! DH and I stayed up all night just looking at her - we were so proud.

#2-4 - triplets. My DH, myself and about 20 Dr.'s and nurses in an OR. 34 weeks and 3 days - with multiples, every day counts, and yes, I want credit for those three days! It went really fast, they were all born within a minute of each other. They took DH to see the babies and take pictues. Luckily, one of my friends was a NICU nurse, she stayed over her shift so she could be with me - she "caught" Cecelia when she came out. #3 had been stuck under my ribs, and I was bruised really bad from the trying to get her out. 12 days in NICU and they were all home. I bounce back from c-section really quick - plus any pain from surgery was minor to carrying triplets!! I am not kidding!!

#5 After my terrible experience with #1 the first question out of my mouth to the Dr. was if I could have a c-section again. I would take a c-section any day. I recover quickly and it is just not very painful for me. Since I am a frequent flyer in mother/baby, and I am on a committee at the hospital, I knew lots of people. I knew the nurse that was in surgery with me, it was a lot more relaxed than having the triplets. Sophia came out looking really grouchy - that is all I could think the first few days I looked at her. Sophia really is the sweetest, calmest child ever - I feel bad every time I think of how grouchy she looked.

[Imachickadee75]

Originally Posted by Brenda

WOW! What a story!
How cool to be able to see ds's hair just floating in the water balloon!

So, what position are you going to do to catch the baby this time around? Will you be on your hands and knees?

I think I'd like to try hands and knees to start or maybe kneeling. My doc is pretty against squatting as it can create a scenario where you have little control and tend to tear more than in other positions. He is suggesting side lying. So what I envision is starting out upright and then laying down for crowning and catching. We'll see.

Jackie