Posted by Jennifer Y on July 17, 2003 at 12:34:36:
In Reply to: Re: Would anyone share their birth experiences w/ me? posted by sps112699 on July 17, 2003 at 11:59:09:
I love to tell about my birth experiences... but I don't want to bore anyone.. LOL
I had 3 very different births.
My first baby was breech. I didn't know she was breech though, and neither did my doctor, because she was head-down at my last doctor's appt... and she decided to turn the day before she was born. I was a week over-due, and my water broke in the middle of the night. So, like a good mommy-to-be, I rushed to the hospital. I was having very very mild contractions. I could barely feel them. The nurse checked me, and I was dilated a 3, but she said she felt the baby's foot down there, instead of the head... which scared me to death. They called the doctor, and he confirmed it. The baby wasn't in stress. I had to have a c-section, because babies can't be born one foot at a time.. lol... I was very scared going into the c-section, but it went very smoothly. It was over very quickly, and I was awake through the whole thing... I had a spinal... which is a shot of pain reliever in your spine. The only thing I wish had been different, was they gave me a dose of demerol in my IV as soon as my daughter was born, and it knocked me out. They kept giving it to me, and I was so groggy that I couldn't really enjoy my new baby. I recovered very quickly and everything went well.
With my second child, I so very badly wanted a "natural" delivery. I didn't really want any medication... and I wanted things to go along in a natural way... This time, my water broke in the middle of the night, again.... on my due date!! And again, we rushed to the hospital... This time, the baby's head was down there where its supposed to be! And I was happy. I was only dilated like a 3 or 4 though, and I was put in bed with a fetal monitor on my stomach... (pretty much a requirement at most hospitals) Pretty soon, my contractions started getting painful, and I chickened out and asked for medication. They gave me stadol, which I liked better than the demerol because it dulled the pain, but I was still able to stay awake, and pay attention to what was going on around me. Then, at about 7 centimeters, I was allowed to have an epidural. After that, I didn't feel a thing. I didn't even feel pressure or anything when it was time to push. I think that I could have pushed better if I could have felt what I was doing... Anyway, the baby was born (another girl) and she was fine. I was fine, and everything was wonderful (other than she had colic!!!) My first weighed 9 lbs 8 oz... and my second one weighed 9 lbs exactly.
Then, with my third child, I wanted to totally go natural, and have absolutely no pain medication, let my labor go at its own pace. This baby, another girl, wanted to make a dramatic entrance and be 2 weeks late!!! My doctors were getting very impatient, because they wanted to induce labor as soon as I was over-due. I wouldn't let them, because the baby was not in stress. She was healthy and just not ready to be born. I don't think doctors should decide when the baby is DUE... It will come out when it is time. So, I refused to be induced. I let them do a stress test twice a week, just to make sure the baby was fine, and she was. Then one morning, I started feeling contractions. At first they were really mild... different from braxton hicks contractions though... its hard to explain what they feel like. They just kept coming... like every 15 minutes or so.. real mild. Throughout the day, they kept on coming... they never went away. So, I knew this was it! As the day went on, they got a little more intense. I kept myself busy playing with the kids, and reading, and walking around... cleaning, resting. The contractions got closer together, and more intense. I just welcomed them and breathed through them... thats the best thing to do... allow your body to do what it is trying to do. My contractions got about 5 minutes apart, and my husband and I went for a walk.... that seemed to make them go away!! I was dissapointed. I thought it must have been false labor! So, I took a relaxing bath. All through the bath, my contractions were gone. As soon as I got out of the tub, a very very strong contraction came. So, I decided to lay down and see what happened... they didn't go away this time... I timed them and they were 3 to 5 minutes apart, and very strong.. so we went to the hospital. Between contractions, I felt great, and was laughing and joking with people. My doctor told me, when he saw me, that I looked too happy to be in labor... so I started to wonder if I would be sent home... then he checked me and I was dilated 6 centimeters! About 10 minutes later, my water broke, and I started having very strong contractions. The doctor checked me and I was dilated 10 centimeters. I pushed during 3 pains, and the baby was born. I didn't have an IV or anything... it went exactly the way I wanted it to. She weighed 8 lbs and 11 1/2 oz. I got to the hospital at 8:30 pm and she was born at 9:00 pm. I really enjoyed this birth experience because I was very much a part of what was going on. I wasn't laying in the bed with a fetal monitor on me during labor. I felt what my body was doing, and I was able to move around and help it out. Moving around and walking, taking baths actually helps labor proceed faster! When I thought my labor had stopped, it actually hadn't... I was just better able to deal with it. Walking around made things go faster. I recovered much faster and easier with this delivery, and my baby was very alert right after birth, because there was no medication in her system. She got a 10 on the APGAR score... and that is unusual. Most babies only get a 9 at the highest. (APGAR is a test that they give babies to see how well they respond after birth... 10 is the highest you can get)
Anyway, I had 3 very different births, and each was special in its own way, because they brought my beautiful babies to me.. but the best one was the last one because it was just the way I wanted it to be.
This page