so, how WAS your labor?

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Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on August 30, 2010 at 6:58pm

I was considered high-risk with Big O because of my clotting issues and gestational diabetes. She wasn't huge, but that was the protocol. I was already 3 cm earlier in the week, and the contractions that started around 10 am were completely manageable. When I got to the hospital I was at 6, and still managing just fine. I was just shy of completely dilated around 10 pm with no drugs, but I'd not yet wanted to push. I never did get the urge. Doctor convinced me to get some Pitocin, so I requested an epidural. It didn't take, so I got another. That didn't take, and I'd been on Pitocin full blast in excrutiating pain with still no urge and still a little lip left, so I finally gave up and agreed to a C-section. She was Occiput Posterior, with a big head. I *could* have pushed her out but it would've been tough and very painful. I never had any back pain, so the doctors never guessed she was sunny side up. She was healthy and beautiful, and I was well cared for and ecstatic.

I was 27 weeks 5 days with Ebay when I noticed around 5 pm that I was having Braxton Hicks contractions in a somewhat regular pattern. Husband was in VA, I was alone in NY with Big O. I drank a bunch of water thinking I was dehydrated. Called the doc around 6 pm when they were still barely noticeable but regular. He said come to the hospital to get checked out. They confirmed I was having contractions, so I got checked in for observation and medication to stop the contractions. I was worried, but they were great with me and kept me calm. Big O was taken home by her friend's mom, who then returned to stay with me so I wasn't alone (I love her!). Suddenly the contractions got stronger, and the doctor felt inside and said it couldn't be stopped, I was almost completely dilated. The bed was tilted onto my head and the drugs were amped up to max. Mag sulfate is a bitch. I felt like I was going to violently hurl in between contractions and crying. Then I began to feel pressure and an urge to push. I resisted pushing and screamed for the doctor. They were readying the operating room since she was still breech and they were worried about a cord prolapse. I had another contraction and I felt her begin to move down, then another and further movement. My friend ran and physically grabbed the doctor's arm to get him to come back. While she was gone I couldn't help but push a little bit. A nurse ran in and squeezed my legs together as others unlocked the bed and drove it towards the OR. I pushed again, couldn't help it anymore. They dragged me onto the table and I resisted another push, then couldn't resist the next. My water broke, and someone put the gas mask over my face. According the the OR notes, the baby was out less than a minute later, though the doctor had to go diving down a bit for her because she'd begun to pass through the cervix. She was born at 9:39 pm.

So, so, SOOOOO different my girls are.

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Permalink Reply by Tea on August 30, 2010 at 7:13pm

When I get asked that question I always respond, "You really don't want to know." I will never tell the unvarnished truth to a 1st time expectant mom. When I think about it now I am amazed that we had our second son.

Should I tell or will this only add to anxiety? The second time was a distinct improvement. Labour was only 38.5 hours of 2 minutes long and 2 minutes apart contractions at 5 weeks early.

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Permalink Reply by Kiwi on August 30, 2010 at 7:26pm

My birth with 1st kid sucked. He was 11 days late so my doc decided to induce me. I finally checked into the hospital at 8am (it was originally 6am but I kept being bumped). At 10am they gave me cervidil, by 6pm I had dilated less than 1cm so they started the pitocin drip. HOLY SHIT does not begin to cover the pain I had from about 7:30p till midnight when they gave me a shot of pain meds so I could try and sleep. The shot cut the pain for just under two hours when it came back with a vengeance. Around 2:30am 1st Kid's heart rate began to drop and they decided to give me an emergency c-section. At 5:30am after having been awake for 25 hours and not having eaten in over 30 hours the gave me sweet sweet relief via epidural. Once the pain stopped I immediately feel asleep. Apparently I was sleeping so hard the nurses thought they had put me completely down. 1st Kid was born at 6:15a and I woke up around 11a. I have never been so tired or hungry in my life. When 1st Kid was 18 hours old they had me get out of bed for the first time and it took me 30 minutes to shuffle from the ten feet from the bed to the bathroom. I felt like I'd been hit by an 18 wheeler. I swore I would never ever do it again.

2nd Kid's delivery was awesome. I was given the option of a VBAC or having a scheduled c-section, I picked the latter. I scheduled my c-section at when I was 20 weeks (I delivered at 38.5) and got all my sick-time/short-term disability stuff set-up. I took a few days off ahead of my c-section in order to finish setting up the baby stuff, run personal errands, and get a pedi-cure. On the day of c-section I checked in at 10a and I was settled into the OR at 11:30a. I got my epidural at 11:50a and 2nd kid was out at 12:15p. I was in recovery till 12:45 and then they put me into my room. Several of my friends and co-workers came to visit that evening and they said I didn't even look like I'd had a baby (which was probably their nice way of saying I looked less like shit afterward than I did with 1st Kid). When 2nd Kid was 12 hours old I got the green light from the nurses to get up and move about a little. I had practically no pain when moving compared to with 1st kid when just getting up on my feet off the bed made me cry. Not laboring prior to a c-section and having a good surgeon made a world of difference.

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Permalink Reply by mightyninjamom on August 30, 2010 at 7:38pm

Tea, I think if a first time expecting mom wants to find horror stories, she's going to go out and find them. I know I did...I felt like it was beneficial research actually. Like, if other moms could get through that, then I could too. But if you really aren't comfortable talking about it, please don't feel obligated. I'm personally just fascinated with the whole process since I had the chance to attend a couple of births (besides mine) and I was studying to be a Bradley instructor for a bit.

Tea said:

When I get asked that question I always respond, "You really don't want to know." I will never tell the unvarnished truth to a 1st time expectant mom. When I think about it now I am amazed that we had our second son.

Should I tell or will this only add to anxiety? The second time was a distinct improvement. Labour was only 38.5 hours of 2 minutes long and 2 minutes apart contractions at 5 weeks early.

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Permalink Reply by kanachick on August 30, 2010 at 7:39pm

I don't do birth stories - they were in, now they're out. That's it.

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Permalink Reply by Annaevilred on August 30, 2010 at 7:53pm

Johnathan was pretty easy - went to the l&d, was told i was not ready and was sent home. Got home, took a show and my water broke. Back to the hospital and he was born about 8 hours later (8lb, 10 oz) the day after he was due. Brandon however was almost 3 weeks overdue, went in because of contraction (and my mom yelled at me) they hooked me up to a pit, my water broke about an hour later and I still did not dialate. I started yelling at the doctor to get this hell spawn out of me, god-damnit, 'cause I'm not going home so deal with it!!! and then he was born about 10 hours later (9lbs, 11 oz). Oh - my bestie was flirting with the drs the whole time - and Brandon's dr did his internship with my mom at her hospital. And is name....Dr. Romeo. oh yeah, he was poster boy worthy. So not fun.

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Permalink Reply by Gumbo Momma on August 30, 2010 at 8:14pm

My first two pregnancies were as different as night and day. NB was LATE. And I mean L.A.T.E. I was knocking on 43 weeks' door when I finally just told the doctor that we were inducing and that was that. We went to the hospital for 8am the next morning where they started me on pitocin and then I was off walking the halls for hours on end. Finally, around 2 pm, my water started to gush. It didn't break, but started to leak so they went ahead and upped the pitocin and adminstered the epidural. It didn't take. I had no idea that that could happen. I was violently ill right after they gave it to me, but despite my telling them that I could still feel everything and was in pain, they didn't re-administer it. The nurses insisted that, my being a young first time mother, I was mistaking pressure for pain. Uh huh. Right. They finally gave in and gave me some pain medication, after which I slept for awhile. When I woke up, I had lost track of the time, but it was time to start pushing. I felt EVERYTHING. It was horrible and painful, but also VERY INTERESTING. The urge to push was unbearable. I remember being very taken aback by how that instinct just kicked right in. I pushed for what seemed like forever. At one point, I remember crying and looking at the doctor and sobbing, "I can't! I just can't do it anymore! She's NEVER going to come out!" Finally, somewhere around 5:15 am, she was OUT. The immediate relief you feel when they just slip right out like that, is also truly amazing. Despite how painful it was, I'm actually kind of glad that I had the experience of giving birth like that and being able to feel all those different things. When NB came out, she wasn't breathing due to meconium that she had swallowed. They rushed her out immediately and were suctioning her and all sorts of things I couldn't see, because she wasn't in the room with me. Niether was anyone else, I might add. Absolutely EVERYONE, ran out with the baby leaving me in there all alone and with no idea what was going on. During the labor, I had torn really badly, and ended up losing a lot of blood. I remember the nurse saying something about how I was running a fever, and I remember shivering so badly that I vomitted. It was AWFUL. And all during this time, no one had told me how the baby was doing yet. Of course, we all know now, that NB turned out just fine, as did I. I couldn't straighten my back to walk for nearly 2 weeks after she was born though, and to this day I can tell you where he put the epidural in because the spot is still tender. Interesting tid bit- NB was born with an extra toe on her right foot! My mom was the first one to notice. All in all, that labor experience was the most awful experience of my life. Do you know, I was there for two days after the birth before anyone even gave me tylenol for the pain? Needless to say, I will never go back to that OB or that hospital.

My labor with Mr. C was a walk in the park compared to NB's. First of all, my doctor ROCKED/S! The pregnancy itself was low stress with very mild symptoms. At about 38 1/2 weeks I started having contractions around bed time. I took a bath and went to bed, hoping to relax them and thinking they were just braxton hicks. By around 3-4 am they were too intense for me to sleep, so I got up and walked around the house for a bit and decided to sit up and read and piddle around while I was timing them. At 5:30 am, I woke up Tim and told him I thought we were going to have to go in. While he called his sister to come and sit with NB, I went to the bathroom. My water started leaking right over the potty! LOL We headed in and since my water had only leaked rather than broken (the one thing both of my labors had in common), they were convinced I had peed on myself until they did that little strip test thing. By 8am, I had an IV, an epidural, and was already at 8 cm. The guy who did my epidural for Mr. C's labor was awesome. He came in and checked on me every 30 minutes-1 hour. I felt NOTHING. Just before it was time to push, the doc let my epidural wear off just enough that I could feel when I needed to push. The labor was so laid back and easy compared to NB's. There was no crying. Mom and the nurses and Dr. B were all chit chatty in between contractions about their various kids and grand kids. It was seriously like we were all having coffee or something with little intervals of pushing in between. At 2:30 pm, Mr. C was born. He was completely healthy. They had the big birthing suits, where they do all the cleaning and such right in the room with you. I got to hold him while the chord was still attatched and everything. An hour after he was born, I was up and walking around and getting a shower. I felt great! See? Night and Day. Oh, and Mr. C was not born with any extra digits like NB was.

I'm still pregnant with this one, but as soon as anything happens, I'll let ya know!

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Permalink Reply by Daria on August 30, 2010 at 8:18pm

I was 42 weeks and 0 cm dilated. The kid was very, very happy inside--tons of fluid, etc. But at 2 weeks late, the word was that he had to come out. I tried everything and nothing helped. There were tears when I realized the birth plan was very unlikely. Even though I had tried to keep an open mind, it was disappointing. And the "is he here yet" emails were really, really annoying.

Anyway, we started with a balloon catheter and pitocin at 8 am on Friday morning. The hope was perhaps the body would figure out what was going on. No dice. They finally broke my water around midnight and that's when the pain kicked in. After a couple hours of hanging out in the shower to deal with the pain, I finally asked for the tub. I was hoping for magical pain relief, which of course didn't happen. At that point, I was about 5 cm dilated. I finally started doing the math and realized that I dilating about a centimeter every two hours, so I had at least another 10 hours ahead of me. I knew I couldn't handle the pain for that long and I needed strength to push at the end. I discussed with the midwife and my doula whether there was any benefit to waiting for the pitocin and we all decided that probably getting sleep would be the best thing for me.

I finally started pushing around 1 pm on Saturday. But, there was minimal progress. We tried a bundle of positions to no avail. Finally, the OB came in and assessed the situation and said his head was stuck (I think). She said that we were looking at forceps or a c-section. Starving by this point, I asked, "if there's a c-section, it's going to be even longer until I get to eat, right?" She said that she wouldn't recommend forceps unless she was as sure as she could be that they would work. She also discovered meconium. And for the record, at some point, the pitocin was turned down for everyone to arrive. The contractions stopped--by body never, ever figured out what was going on!

So, the room filled with pediatricians, an anesthesiologist who cranked the epidural way, way up, a resident who actually used the forceps and it seemed like a million other people. They told me to push at the next contraction. I said they had to tell me when it was because I wasn't feeling anything any more. My husband about passed at the notion of the resident sticking salad tongs up my vagina, shoving her foot against the bed and pulling with all her might.

When he came out, the first words I heard were "He's huge." It took me a few minutes to register that "he" meant he was a boy. And he was huge: 10 pounds, 4 ounces.

I was happy he arrived, of course, but all around me, people were "kicking out kids" without drugs (I understand, they were doing it with lots of work--that was just my perception through the glasses of my experience) and I was disappointed that my body never figured it out. I can't quite identify the emotions, but it almost seemed like my body was less successful. And I was sad to never get the surprise of "Is this it? Oh yeah, this is it. Here we go!" And that epidural was really darn nice and I would not have been able to handle the pain for all 36 hours without it. I love that aspect of modern medicine. I don't know what I will do if I have another. I would hope to get a surprise element, but not sure how drug-free I would try to make it.

It took a year before anyone recommended physical therapy (note again the forceps and 10 pound baby) and that was its own serious trauma and probably my biggest regret. I think everything else pretty much went down as well as it could have. But I wish I had advocated for and been prepared post-natal health as well as I was for the pre-natal health.

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Permalink Reply by mcglory13 on August 30, 2010 at 8:31pm

I don't like to talk about it. After the PTSD therapy it doesn't upset me so much anymore though. :)

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Permalink Reply by mightyninjamom on August 30, 2010 at 9:06pm

Awww, sweetie I totally understand. (()) have some strangely aggressive internet hugs!

mcglory13 said:

I don't like to talk about it. After the PTSD therapy it doesn't upset me so much anymore though. :)

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Permalink Reply by Floor Pie on August 30, 2010 at 9:23pm

Both times my water broke early in the morning and contractions didn't happen until many hours later. I was 37 weeks with The Boy, 38 weeks with Little Girl.

With The Boy, they induced labor with Cytotec (which is, I found out later, not FDA-approved to induce labor) and the contractions came fast and furious. I held out for hours, finally asked for an epidural when I found out I was barely dilated despite all the crazy contractions. The next morning I pushed for 4 hours but the little guy wasn't budging, so it was a c-section. He had a cute little cone off to the side of his head, like a beret, where I'd been trying to push him out.

I tried for a VBAC with Little Girl and very nearly made it. They wanted to do the c-section right away when my water broke, but I had a good doula and she helped me get contractions started naturally. It was about 18 hours once contractions started, some of it medicated. Then, deja vu, I pushed for hours and no baby. I spiked a huge fever and her heart rate started to drop, so it was another c-section. She had one of those beret-coneheads, too.

I have mixed but mostly positive feelings about both experiences. It's jarring to be opened like that, and I still have dreams about it sometimes. But I remember being so happy, too, even on the operating table. I remember Mr. Black pressing The Boy's little baby cheeks against my cheeks while the doctor put me back together. I remember him holding Little Girl and she was so wily and hungry, chomping on his fingers. (Both babies were expert little breastfeeders, thankfully.) And I actually enjoyed staying in the hospital a little longer. All in all, not a bad experience.

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Permalink Reply by The Oracle on August 30, 2010 at 9:59pm

Yeah, I kinda feel like I've talked about the Dragon's birth enough around here. Ducky's I still need to write down. Maybe I will do it here but probably not for a few days yet ... we're still in back-to-school ramp-up and I really feel like the story needs some time to steep before I let it out into the world.

I'm also fascinated by birth stories, though (in fact, after the Dragon was born, Alan and I created a website called The Birth Stories Project, which I believe is now defunct, to help parents process the experience). I look forward to a few days from now when I have some time to myself and can read each of your stories with the attention they deserve.

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