Labor stories

Discussion in 'Parenting' started by Maggie Sugar, Mar 3, 2005.

  1. Maggie Sugar

    Maggie Sugar Senior Member

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    I will stickey a labor thread.

    If you want to tell your labor story, or the labor story of your womyn. Or one you attended (with good masking skills to protect the mama, of course, sigh HIPPA.....) let's do it.

    I am going to have to prepare. My labors were not pretty. I want to hear the good ones.
     
    2 people like this.
  2. FunkyPhreshMama

    FunkyPhreshMama Visitor

    with my son i started staying home for work 2 days before i went to the hospital. had mild contractions those days but the day i went i started having contractions around 10am and they got more and more intense, i walked to the mail box and took a few baths to ease the pain.
    .
    when i called the doc i told him they were 10 min apart and he told me to wait, well 5 min later i said SCREW THIS and went anyways, when they got me to triage (can't spell) I was already 8cm dialated, good thing I didnt take doctors advice.
    .
    got me to a room and hooked me up with my epidural immediately (yes i'm a wussie, had to have my pain drugs)
    .
    it was actually pretty nice, i wasnt in much pain and we watched tv and joked around with the doctor
    .
    it took forever to push him out tho, but in the end it ended up being an awesome day, wasnt nearly as bad as when they induced labor when I had my daughter...

     
  3. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    My first baby was born in a rural Jamaican hospital. I had wanted a home birth, but due to my age (16) the midwife wouldn't attend.
    So, for my second, I booked a homebirth with the midwife who attended my brothers births (well, after the births, my brothers were in a hurry and came out before the midwife got there!)

    Wednesday, 2 days before my due date, my baby was still breech. My midwife was not concerned, she attended many breech births and didn't make a big deal of it. She told me I probably wouldn;t be in labour anytime soon, as the baby was still high up and I wasn't dilated at all.
    So, I went home, and figured whenever tha baby came was fine with me.
    Friday morning, my due date, I got up, did my usual routine. Sometime in the afternoon, while I was getting dinner ready, I felt something big and gooey slip out. I ran to the bathroom and there was a big gob of bloody show n my undies. I thought, this is it! I'll have my baby soon!
    I kept on preparing dinner, and got my supplies ready, the baby clothes, towels, blankets, the unopened jar of oilive oil. I spread my bed with plastic and put the clean sheets on top. My baby was being very active, and rolled and squirmed around like a gymnast. "Getting ready to come out, little baby?"
    Around five oclock, I felt the first twinges of contractions, and all of a sudden, I was starving!
    I took a shower, and while I was in there, the contractions started coming fast and furious. I told my DP to go find the midwife. (We didn't have phones back then, we had to physically go and get the midwife.)
    So he jumped on his bicycle and left.
    I was ravenous, so I started to scarf down my dinner, standing because it was too uncomfortable to sit. The midwife came in with DP, and said, "Are you in labour? You're eating!"
    Then a big contraction hit, and she said, "Oh, yeah, I can see that you are!"

    She told me to finish eating while she set up her supplies, and my mom came running in with a big smile.
    Around 7, I went into my room, and lay on the bed so she could check me. 7 cm! And the baby was head down! All that moving around was him turning around. She said she couldn't feel the bag of waters, she thought maybe they had broken while I was in the shower. I said I didn't feel a pop or a warm gush, but maybe? She and my mom sat on my bed while I walked around and moaned through the contractions, rubbing my back during the peak.
    7;30 I felt that first unmistakable urge to push. "I think I'm pushing!" I said.
    "Go with it. Let your body do the work." the midwife said.
    I lay on the bed, propped up by all my pillows and pillows borrowed from next door. My midwife massaged my bottom with olive oil. "There's very little fluid." she said, "I'm using the oil to help your baby slide out." I didn't care, I was pushing!
    Soon, Brandon's head began to crown. "Take it easy," she said in a soft voice, "Gently let your baby out." With the next contraction, his head was out, and the midwife said, "Lucky baby! It's in the caul!" and she used her fingers to peel the membranes away from his face while I pushed his shouldres and body out in one contraction. My baby took a deep breath, looked aorund, and screamed! He was born at exactly 8:00 on the dot, on his due date.
    She put him on my belly, and said, "What do you have?" I looked between his little legs, and laughed, "It's a boy!" I already had a girl, and thought this one was a girl as well. What a surprise! Brandon was nursing within minutes, before the placenta came out and still attached to his cord.
    I felt a cramp, and a warm gush, and the midwife said to let go of the placenta. I gave a little push, and out it came, plop!
    She clamped his cord, and I cut it.
    Then I nursed the baby for about an hour until he fell off. My midwife took him and used the olive oil to massage him and clean his little body, and checked him out and weighed him in a hanging scale. 8 and a half pounds! A whole pound bigger than my first, and I didn't tear! Brandon just looked around with those wide baby eyes. Then she dressed him, and wrapped him up, made me some tea, cleaned the bed and cleaned me up, and tucked us both in. She sat and watched over us for the next hour, making sure I wasn't bleeding too much and the baby was nursing again and breathing well. Then she got up, packed her bag, and said goodbye, and quietly slipped out the door.
     
  4. FunkyPhreshMama

    FunkyPhreshMama Visitor

    brighid, that was a great story, i am glad you shared it with us =)
     
  5. Maggie Sugar

    Maggie Sugar Senior Member

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    I'm loving the birth stories. A caul baby! My dad was a caul baby.
     
  6. Applespark

    Applespark Ingredients:*Sugar*

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    awsome thread
     
  7. feministhippy

    feministhippy Member

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    You wanna hear the story of how I got here? This is my dad's point of view on the story, because my mom was kind of passed out at the time. Let's just say that I, being myself, had to make a dramatic entrance.

    I'm the third child, and according to them, it's pretty normal for third child births to give the mother some trouble. The labor was going on too long or something, so my mom agreed to have a c-section. So they made my dad go into the waiting room, and they performed the c-section. So the doctor came out, and told my dad that they had finished. My dad asked if we were all right. The doctor refused to tell him anything. An hour later, the doctor said that I was okay, and he can hold me if he wanted. I'm guessing my mom was still sleeping from the anesthetics or something. He asked if my mom was all right, and again, the doctor wouldn't tell him anything. So he said he was holding me, and worried that something had gone wrong and my mom was going to die or something. He was scared about the idea of raising two boys, one 5 and one 3, and now a newborn, on his own. I don't know how long it was until he found out that my mom was okay, but she was.

    Look, I know that doctors don't like to give away information like that quickly, but there was no reason my dad couldn't have been given at least a "Nothing bad has happened" or something. That was absurd.

    Yeah, so that's how I came into this world.

    Odd things happened when all three of us were born. My brother Adam was born on a full moon. My parents are thoroughly convinced that that full that night moon thing is not a myth, because there were so many woman in labor there, there were woman who had to give birth in the hallway. My brother Erich was a huge baby. They thought he was going to be twins earlier in the pregnancy. The doctor said to my mom while she was in labor that she had a couple hours until the birth, and started to leave. 30 seconds later, there was Erich's head. So much for the 2 hour wait.
     
  8. sugrmag

    sugrmag Uber Nerd

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    Maddie's birth was your everyday run of the mill birth. Very nice and easy.

    Virginia, on the other hand, just about killed both of us! Sunday, I was having light contractions all day. I figured they were just Brackston-Hicks because she wasn't due for another 4-5 weeks. The next day, my mucus plug came out. So, we went to the hospital just to make sure I was ok. Well, I was 4 cm dialated. The dr. was going to try to stop the labor, but decided that we should just let it happen. She was already over 6 lbs and looked good on the ultrasound. So, labor was going pretty well. Nothing major...until they broke my water and found meconium (baby poop-pre birth). This is usually a sign of fetal distress, but my dr. didn't act concerned. I think she didn't want me to worry. I got the epidural (big wussie, too) and my blood pressure was dropping. They put me on oxygen. Then, with every contraction, Virginia's heart rate dropped. I had to get on my hands and knees to kinda take the pressure off her umbilical cord (I think).
    Fast forward to delivery>>I was pushing and all seemed fine...until the dr. said that she saw the umbilical cord (prolapsed cord-when the cord comes out before the baby-very dangerous). She jumped up on the bed, shoved Virginia back inside of me and had to hold her in me. I was very scared and confused. She said we had to go to the OR, and I was like WHAT? I had to have an emergency c-section. Tim couldn't come with me in case something went wrong. I had to have my arms strapped down (so I wouldn't start swinging in case I freaked out) and they proceeded to prep me. The whole time the anesthesiologist was petting my head and telling me everything was ok. I really loved him. He made me feel much better. When Virginia was born, she wasn't crying because they had to deep suction to make sure she didn't have any meconium in her lungs. She was so beautiful. Perfect. She was a bit jaundice and had to go under the billi-lights for a few hours, but other than that everything was great! Phew...that was a long story!
     
  9. RainbowSquidney

    RainbowSquidney Member

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    :( All of these stories are making me cry. Of course, I'm eight months pregnant and a little hormonal!!!! Haha....

    They are all so wonderful...even the scary ones.....because in the end of it all, you get this beautiful gift of love......*sigh*
     
  10. Applespark

    Applespark Ingredients:*Sugar*

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    This is from his baby book written to him but it's the story of the labor....

    Nobody could wait to meet you! You were due the day brfore Christmas and you did not show! Instead you decided to enjoy a cozy Christmas in my belly and all the food that came with it. Everyone bought you gifts and came from all over to see you.


    You were born on December 28th 2001 at 3:47 in the morning. I went into the hospital around 1:30 on the 27th because I was three days overdue and my doctor said I had high blood pressure because I had toxemia. My water retention could have caused serious problems for you and I both. So we decided it was best to induce my labor. At 4:30 they gave me the inducing medications and my contractions started and they broke my water. I was on more medication to monitor my blood pressure as water intake. Your daddy was really good about helping me out in the delivery room. He brought me food and clothes and let me hold his hands and do just about anything to him. Grandma Angela was there too...she comforted me a lot. I could not stop shaking and I was sick to my tummy all the time. I tried to have you without medication but when I reached around 5 cm. I was in so much pain I asked for an epidural. After that I was fine. I felt only the pressure. Soon I was hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and a heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, another contraction monitor attached to your head, a catheter, four different things going through one I.V., an epidural in my back, and an oxygen mask. I started pushing and before we knew it...There you were! 7 pounds and 9 and a half ounces. 20 and a half inches long. They handed you to me to introduce us for the first time...and I started crying. You were more beautiful then I had imagined. Daddy cut your cord while I got fixed up and Grandma took some pictures. We were all very happy to meet you finally after all that time.



     
  11. Dakota's Mom

    Dakota's Mom Senior Member

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    Hey, my dad was born with a veil also. And he was born on Friday the 13th. He was his mother's 13th child and he was born on his sister's 13th birthday. Talk about a gifted child. He was a great man.

    Kathi
     
  12. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    This is one of my favourite births, I was touched so profoundly by how instinctual and powerful even a young woman can be during her first birth.

    M. was a tiny young woman form South America, only 17 but she and her baby's father were so in love!
    They came in for a prenatal, and were surprised to hear they were in early labour. it was early in the day, and they lived far away, so we asked if they wanted to go home and come back, or if they wanted to stay around and go to the beach for a little while. They decided to stay. They hugged each other, and laughed, and J. ran out to the car to get her bag while we got her settled into the yellow room.
    We sent them out for lunch, and to take a walk on the beach, Something about the tides and waves that help ladies get in to good active labour.
    When they came back, she was contracting every 5 minutes, and she began to turn inward, holding her little round belly and rocking herself ever so slightly. When the contraction was over, she looked at her man with big black eyes and they smiled and kissed.
    Soon, it was becoming more uncomfortable, so we asked if she would like to get in the tub. "Oh, yes!" she said.
    J. busied himself lighting dozens of candles in the bathroom while we filled the tub. M.'s mother came in, and added essential oils to the bath. M.'s mother braided M's straight black hair, weaving dozens of tiny purple flowers in, and telling her in soft Spanish about the day M. herself was born.
    M was getting a little restless, so we got her into the tub. She sighed a deep sigh of relief as the warm water soothed her body. J. played rain forest shamanic chants on the cd player, and accomanied them with his rain stick. M. looked like an Amazon princess, sitting in the steamy tub with purple flowers in her hair, softly lit by dozens of candles, as she allowed her body to work and surrendered to the power of her labour. She was so graceful and so divinely beautiful, you could see the Goddess personified in her tiny, powerful body.
    Everyone in the room was awed by the holiness of the room, and no one spoke. J. offered her sips of herbal tea between the contractions, and the silence was punctuated only by the occassional sounds of the baby's heart beating. It seemed almost a sacrelige to approach her to listen to the baby, so we did it as little as possible, trusting instead her baby and her body.
    Soon, she was gracefully waving away with a delicate little hand the sips of water. Time stood still, as the contractions stopped and she fell asleep in the tub, resting her head on J.s lap. She slept for about 20 minutes. (We call this the "Rest and Be Thankful" stage) Without opening her eyes, she whispered that it was time to have the baby.
    I whispered back to go ahead and let her body do it's work. She grabbed J.'s hands and the powerful pushing contractions began to move her baby down. She closed her eyes in between and rested, accepting sips of tea and the cool washcloth J. used to dab her face and neck. She pushed, and rested, and pushed, and rested. Soon, you could see the little silver dollar size spot of baby head just peeping out of her opening.
    At one point she opened her eyes and looked at me, and I could see she was getting a little discouraged and frantic, as most first time Mamas do. I whispered that she was doing fine, her body was going slow so she could stretch, the baby was happy, and she had lots of room for her little baby. She nodded, and closed her eyes, and with the next contraction, the baby was crowning.
    "Easy" I said, "Breathe the baby out......" I held her bottom and the head slowly and sweetly slid out.
    "Next push you'll have your baby!"
    "Let me!" she said, and reached down as her baby emerged. She held him and pulled him, out of her body, out of the water, and on to her breast, where she held him close and kissed him on the head, stroking his little body all over. Her baby opened his eyes and looked right into her own, and began to breathe and stretch. J. slid off the back of the tub behind her into the water and stroked and massaged his baby and kissed his girl, now a woman, on her neck, her face, her ear.
    Nobody said a word, I think we were all too amazed at how beautifully, intuitively, and gently this young girl birthed herself into motherhood. Everyone in the room just stood and honoured their first few moments in the family, eyes filled tears. They explored their baby, and eventually she discovered that she had a little boy. "Mira, J! Tu tiene un hijo!"

    Finally, she looked up, and with the most radiant smile I have ever seen, said,

    "I did it!"
     
  13. jamaica

    jamaica Member

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    this is pretty short story but meh :)
    i had a high risk pregnancy and in my 37th week i had to be induced. time was pretty vague for me but i think that around noon they had started the iv and maybe by 3 the epidural? they had me hooked up to a fetal monitoring and stuff and they had to keep turning me to bring the babys heart rate up. it was really scary. anyways at 5:30 that night i was 2cm dialated and starting to have strong contractions. (the epidural had only really taken on my left side, i guess because of all the twisting i had been doing so i could feel it alot on my right side)my ex needed a cigarette and food and the staff had to switch over and check on other deliveries. it was supposed to take along time i guess so everyone left except this one nurse. they had put a clip in to drain my water and nothing had really drained so it was left in. i guess around 6pm i started feeling like the head was coming and i'm telling the nurse and she's all oh no you won't dialate fully for ages, its just the clip -don't be silly and i was insisting UH -NO! finally she decided to check me to make me feel better and i almost kicked her across the room. she was all 'oh dear' because she could see the head. so she paged and everyone started flooding in and my ex came back at the same time. it was kind of pandemonium for a minute or two. my daughter was born at 7:09 :) they had had scn on standby because she was a preemie but she was totally fine and was in my room with me that night. because of my highrisk i was on bedrest the whole pregnancy and gestational diabetic. the delivery was the easiest part. i would have liked a natural home birth though.
     
  14. kraftykathy

    kraftykathy Member

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    sorry this is so long . . . .

    THE HOMEBIRTH OF WILLOW CERRIDWEN

    Willow’s birth was so different than my other’s. It’s so true when people tell you that it’s different each time. At least it is for me. My son’s birth almost 8 years ago was fairly quick and easy. So was Willow’s and yet it was different in so many ways!

    Willow was low in my pelvis a month before her birth and completely engaged a couple of weeks before she was born. I don’t recall that feeling until the birth of my other kids.
    Of course time has a way of making you forget certain details!

    I also had tons of braxton hicks contractions, especially throughout the last month of pregnancy. A couple of weeks before the birth I would have series of bh contractions that were perfectly timed. I would get them every night and they would be gone by morning. They didn’t hurt at all, but I was amazed by the amount of downward pressure I would feel with each one! I definitely had that pregnant lady waddle!

    The few days before she was born the evening contractions began to get more uncomfortable. I would feel them all the way around to my back and the peak began to start feeling a bit painful. They would wake me from my sleep as well! The day before the birth I had good strong contractions half the night. I even kept the kids home from school thinking that this must be it. I mean I’ve been through all this before so I know what’s what! Well by 9:00am the contractions were pretty much gone. I would get one occasionally through the day, but nothing regular. I was so surprised by this prelabour. I didn’t have anything like that with my son and I figured that it would be the same or even shorter this time around. But now it seemed like I couldn’t even get going. I was so ready to finally meet my baby and I was getting pretty tired and moody.

    I had planned from the beginning that the kids should be there for the birth, but I began to realize that the idea of having the kids there was making me feel a bit inhibited. I had shown them birth videos and talked about birth sounds and such, and they seemed very comfortable with the idea. But I guess I wasn’t. I didn’t want them to worry about me. (Even though they probably wouldn’t have been too worried.) And I needed to be free to be loud and uninhibited. I began to think my body was reacting to these feelings and I thought it might be waiting for the kids to go to bed that night.

    Well, as soon as they were in bed I was contracting again. I got a nice hot bath going, scented with essential oils and listened to soothing music. It was great and really helped me relax. And get into the sensations. I’m sure that going into labour you just have to be in the right space in your head sometimes. It seemed to be the case for me.

    After awhile I came out and sat with my hubby and tried to watch a movie with him. The surges were only coming every 10 to 20 minutes, but they were sharp at the peaks and made it hard to really enjoy the movie. I decided to go to bed and see if I could get some sleep. I still wasn’t convinced anything was really happening since it was the same drill as the night before. I spent another night waking up with each surge, but I could still sleep in between. The still seemed like really early contractions by how irregular they were. They were still anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes apart. Sometimes there would be a half hour of no pains. Other times there would be just a few minutes. I had felt this pattern with the births of my other kids. I was surprised how strong they felt though since they were so short and usually pretty far apart. Since I was trying to sleep I would wake at the peak of each contraction. It was a little harder to deal with the sensations since I couldn’t get prepared for them.But I still managed to fall asleep between each one. I was so tired from the other nights of surges!

    I got up at 6:00 am so that I could rest on the couch. It helped to be sitting up! Made them way more manageable.I dozed on and off for another hour with only a couple of surges. I still couldn’t decide if it was going to happen that day or not. I decided to send the kids to school since keeping them home the day before had not worked out at all. I made their lunches, packed their back packs and went to wake them up. I stopped every once in a while for a contraction. They were still pretty irregular. Occasionally one would be pretty strong and I would need to stop for it. But I only had a couple like that as hubby and I got the kids fed, dressed and off to school. I told them that we might have the baby that day but then again we might not. They’d already heard that one a few times by then so I’m sure they didn’t take it too seriously, hee-hee!

    Once they left I headed straight for the tub again but I didn’t stay in long because it felt just too hot in there. Instead I went back to my nest on the couch and got comfy, I tried to knit but couldn’t get into that at all.

    Have I mentioned how wonderful hubby was yet? I should!!! He was so great! He brought me drinks whenever I asked. Got me my soothing music. Tempted me with his yummy baked treats and rubbed my back and belly whenever I looked uncomfortable. There was so much that we didn’t get to do when our other children were born. Our first had been at the hospital. We got there very early and had had almost every intervention you can think of other than a c-sec. We were pretty scared, not well prepared and just did what we were told. Our next birth was also at a hospital, but we were very well prepared that time. It was a great birth, but since Peter had to spend all of my active and transition part of labour driving us to the hospital, it wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for I’m sure. And since I arrived ready to push, he was pretty much shoved aside while they bustled to get ready. This time we were alone, relaxed and this may sound odd but it was very romantic. His love and support made that day so special. I got to see how gentle and caring he really is.

    By 9:30 am we decided that the baby would probably be born that day, but probably not for awhile. We put the waterproof cover on the bed and an old sheet on top and got cosy in bed. Contractions were still 5 to 8 minutes apart and pretty short, but they were definitely getting strong. I had to breath slowly and deeply through many of them and after awhile I started to shake at the peak. Going to the bathroom at this point was not too fun partly because I had to go downstairs each time and also because each time I went, the contractions got so strong and it would turn out I didn’t really need to go that much after all. I checked my cervix and thought I was probably completely effaced but probably only 3 cm (though I was only guessing) I was disappointed since the contractions felt strong and I was feeling that constant need to go to the bathroom. I felt so much further than 3 cm!

    I suppose at that point I should have stayed up on my feet, but it felt so much nicer to sit in bed resting against Peter while he rubbed my lower back. I was definitely shaking at the peak of contrax and they were about 5-6 minutes apart by 10:00 am. I started thinking that even though I had a long way to go in dilation that it might go very fast soon. There was so much energy and pressure!

    Peter paged our midwife and talked to Sue. She is a student midwife and I was really glad she was going to be there as I felt we had really hit it off. She asked to talk to me and of course that made my contrax stop! It’s amazing what a connection there is between brain and body. That happens to me everytime. I get stagefright! Sue understood though and still wanted to check since she knew how fast things went once I hit active labour with my son’s birth. She said she would come out at noon. I thought that sounded great.

    It didn’t take long after I got off the phone for the surges to start again. Peter and I stayed in bed and continued as we had been before. Sue and Sandy arrived at about 11:30am. Sue checked my dilation and found me to be between 3-4 cm. I was surprised that my guess was so close but a little worried that the contractions were so strong without being more effective. I still felt that under the right circumstances I would go really fast!

    It was exciting watching them take out the little blankets and clothes and wrapping them in a heating pad so that they would be nice and warm once our baby arrived! We talked about options and never did they suggest one thing or the other but left the decisions entirely up to me. They told me that at 4 cm I could have my water broken if I wanted. (entirely my choice, of course) Normally I wouldn’t have picked that route. My water was artificially broken with my daughter’s birth. In fact that was the first intervention that led to many others. But it was like I knew that this was the boost I needed and wanted. I know that might sound strange. But I just knew that it was going to be okay this time. The water bag was bulging with each contraction at this point. I said I would go for it. We got ready for a short, intense ride!

    On the next contraction I was definitely 4cm and so she broke the bag at around noon. They helped me up and I went downstairs for a short walk and to use the bathroom again. They gave Peter and I privacy and he held me up through the next few contractions. They were suddenly very long, strong and fast! I tried the bathroom again and thought I really needed to go. I pushed just a couple of times before I realized what this was. I couldn’t really believe it though since it had been only 15 minutes since my water broke! I told Peter that I thought it wouldn’t be long now and so he helped me back upstairs. Sue checked the baby’s heart rate and had me lay down for a quick look at my cervix. Fully dilated! Wow! Laying on my back was unbearable, as was sitting, leaning back on my stack of pillows. I got up on my knees and Sandy brought over a chair for me to lean on. I told her I was feeling a huge amount of bowel pressure. I knew the baby was starting to move through my cervix then. Sandy was on the phone with a 3rd midwife who was lost on our back roads.

    I asked Peter to sit in the chair I was leaning on so I could hang onto him rather than an empty chair. Then my body began to push! There was nothing I could do to stop or add to that power. It was the most intense sensation! I thought I might explode! I grabbed onto Peter, buried my face in his lap (hey, no jokes!) and just screamed and hollored my head off. I couldn’t not yell! There was so much sensation, power and energy blasting through me it had to go somewhere and boy did it ever. It hurt like hell, but yelling honestly helped me deal with it.

    The baby was coming out fast! I was worried that I would tear and tried to tell the midwives that but I could only say ‘I can’t go slow. I have to go fast!’ Having midwives was such a different experience. They never told me what to do. I loved that. Being ordered about during pushing is the most annoying thing. People telling you when to push and when not to push as if it’s a moment you can control. They just spoke very quietly to each other will I clung to Peter and yelled. I could barely tell they were there! So wonderful! Another wonderful thing was having Peter to hang on to. We had wanted to have him catch this baby. But I really needed him in front of me for me to cling to and get comfort from rather than have him behind me looking at my bum with the midwives while I faced an empty chair.

    As the head began to show I reached down to feel it. I did that with Niki and really loved that part. I was all smiles while Niki was coming out. This time I was still hollering but I started feeling that excitement too. It was still very intense. The burning wasn’t too bad but the pressure was so strong. It still felt like I might blow up into a million pieces. The head crowned and came out in one contraction and I yelled to Peter that the baby was coming out. I felt relief for a moment, but pushing out the shoulders and chest was still pretty hard. Once the head was out I kept my hands on her and as soon as her shoulders and chest were out she slid into my hands. I scooped her up and went straight from yells of pain to whooping with laughter. I started yelling ‘that was amazing! That was amazing!’ I saw she was a girl and told Peter. I love that moment after the birth! All 3 times have been incredible no matter what kind of birth it was.

    From the time that I made my way back upstairs to the birth only 7 minutes had passed!

    I had gone from 4 cm to birth in 27 minutes!

    I felt so high and amazed by the experience. We had done it again. There was this whole new person that wasn’t here before. She was whole and perfect and we just loved her right away. Peter cut the cord, a first for him since he had always felt to overwhelmed with our hospital births. I chose active management for the third stage since I have a mild bleeding disorder. I got a pitocin shot and the placenta came out whole and huge! A quick check of me and baby and then the midwives went quietly downstairs and let Peter and I have a private time with our new baby. I felt so much love for Peter and our baby and Josi and Niki though they had missed the birth after all. I felt that they could have handled it, but in the end I needed to feel completely relaxed and uninhibited to let that birth power carry me away.

    Later we discovered she was 9 pounds. And that she was born with her hand up over her head. No wonder it was so intense! I didn’t tear though and I think being up on my knees helped quite a bit. The midwives checked us over again in an hour, tidied up a bit, hugged us, thanked us for such a nice easy birth and left just as quietly as they arrived.

    By then it was only an hour until the kids would be home from school so we decided not to pick them up early, but surprise them instead. I greeted them at the door when the bus came, just like I always do. Peter had the baby in the living room. They came in telling me about their day just like they always do until I showed them how squashy my belly was. Then I brought them to the living room. They were so surprised and happy, Josi was a tiny bit disappointed at missing the birth, but was still completely happy. It’s wonderful having older kids because you always have hands willing to hold baby when you need them. They are wonderful with their new sister and love her so much!

    Life is good!

    Kathy
     
  15. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    Just beautiful, Kathy! Simply beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
     
  16. RyvreWillow

    RyvreWillow Member

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    You ladies had to bring it up, haha...

    Ryvre Raine
    October 29, 2001, 11:28 am
    8 lbs, 14 oz; 21 1/2 inches

    When i was pregnant with Ryvre, i still lived at home, and my husband (fiance at the time) lived with his parents, because "it wasn't proper" for us to live together before we were married--though, apparently, it was just fine for me to go though my first pregnancy without even the companionship of my lover...but whatever.

    I started having what i "thought" must be contractions, five minutes apart, at 2:30 am, but i didn't want to wake my parents and get everyone all excited and ready for the 1-hour drive to the hospital if i wasn't sure, so i hung out for about an hour, and tried to go to the bathroom (i definately wasn't going to check myself into the hospital for a case of gas). I heard too many stories about false labor to risk looking like a fool, lol. Funny the irrational fears we get at such times.

    Two hours later, things were getting a bit too intense to be gas, so i woke up my mom, called my fiance (his mom answered the phone with a groggy "michelle? is that you? are you in labor??" to which i replied "umm...i might be...can i PLEASE talk to Dale?!?" lol), and we were on our way. That was the longest 30-minute car ride of my life, to meet Dale. The next 30 minutes were increasingly more painful, but at least i was in my/our own car, and didn't have to fear ruining my mom's leather seats!

    We got to the hosptital, did the check-in thing, and at 6:30 they finally called my doc and put me in a room. I tried to do the all-natural, no-drugs thing, but after several hours with little improvement, the nurse suggested whatever they put in the iv, just to relax me. I went for it, and it did calm me down (i still felt all the pain, but i was so stoned it made me laugh). I don't know when my doc finally came in, but she checked me and said i was at 9 cm and should push.

    I don't know if it was my lack of experience, fear, or the drugs, but i couldn't understand what they wanted me to do. Hold my legs where? Count to what? Push on what number? I was so upset, and felt so stupid, i couldn't do anything. My doc was losing her patience, and stongly urged me to get an epidural, because i was being too difficult (also, she mentioned my muscles were clenched too tight, and it would help me relax, lol, but the main reason was that i was difficult.)

    I got the epidural, almost thew up on the nurse (man, that lady was quick with a bedpan, lol), then tried pushing again. The epidural didn't help, except that i held onto the hope that it would kick in "any time now," and it gave me a break from pushing, so when i started again, i was able to breath and push like the nurses suggested.

    I pushed like crazy, but the doc still had to use the vacuum and forceps; at one point i actually laughed when i leaned up for a good push, and saw that she had both legs up on the table for leverage! My poor baby's head! But when the vacuum lost suction and popped off of his head, the blood and tissue flying through the air, all over the faces of the doc and nurses really was a sight!

    When he finally came out...wow. It was like my whole body turned inside-out, but in a good way. Not to mention the relief! I don't think i even felt the placenta come out, the only thing in the world was my warm, wet, sticky, squirmy little ball of life :) The doc asked Dale if he wanted to cut the cord, but he declined. He was too mesmerized by our little person!


    Willow Sage
    July 1, 2003, 3:24 pm
    9 lbs, 6 oz; 22 1/2 inches

    When it was time for Willow to come into the world, we still lived with my parents, which was actually a blessing that day, because i woke around 3 am with contractions (again, already 5 minutes apart--do they start that way, or do i sleep that deeply?), and was able to let Ryvre keep sleeping in his bed while Nana and Papa waited at home until things were underway at the hospital.

    I had had a few minor contractions earlier in the week, so again, i wanted to wait until i was sure it was real labor before i left the house. I packed Ryvre's bag with the toys i thought he'd want at the hospital, and i did some dishes, and got dressed. Then i woke my hubby to let him know it was time. He literally jumped out of bed in a big panic (this was the part he missed with our first child) and i reassured him that we had plenty of time to get there--i've done this before!

    Everything was pretty laid-back and typical; only difference this time was when offered an epidural at 3 cm, i accepted. I had a pretty traumatic memory of the last birth, so i thought i'd give it a shot. Ahh, it was wonderful! I was worried i'd feel like i was missing part of the experience, but i really felt more, because some of the pain was dulled, and i felt the pressure and the way things were progressing, if that makes sense. With Ryvre's birth, i remember very little of the room, and what was going on around me, but this time i actually noticed the machine that was monitoring the baby's heartbeat, and could tell by that when i was about to have another contraction.

    The only thing that concerned me was when the nurse checked me, and said "oh, she's crowning" and that my doc would be there soon, so don't push--she was already at the hospital doing her rounds (wtf???), and then she left the room. Okay, i thought, why isn't she running down the hall to grab my doc and drag her here, or at least staying with me? My husband and i were alone for 2 hours. And i didn't push, though before the nurse even checked me, i could tell it was about time.

    The doc finally came in, i pushed once, and it was over. One push. I could have sneezed, and let my husband deliver her! I should have. For the next two days, they kept testing her blood sugar, they said, because she was "so big." My husband overheard one nurse say "oh no, we're doing that just because she was in the birth canal too long."

    My husband was equally amazed at our daughter's birth, to the point that he forgot to use the video camera in his hand, lol, but this time he did cut the cord. What was really sweet though, was when Ryvre met his sister for the first time; we do have a short video of this. He climbed up onto the bed, pulled the blanket away from her face , and said, sweet as could be, just above a whisper "oooh, bebe bebe bebe, a bebe.." *sniff*


    In about 8 months, i'll be posting another one, lol.
     
  17. StarFaerie

    StarFaerie Member

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    Well, I didn't have much of a natural birth, but it's allright lol. I first started getting the littel contractions on the due date march 24th...I had them all night and really couldn't sleep...Chris tried to go to work in the morning but I called him about two hours later cause I didn't want to be alone...then when he got home I called the hospital and lied about how close the contractions were (luckily I was already dilated a little the week before at the checkup)...so we went to the hospital and by the time they got around to getting me in a room the contractions were where they were supposed to be ...five minutes apart I think...then I had an epidural and fell asleep lol. My contractions didn't even get big until they gave me the epidural...they said I was fighting it too much...I felt nothing after they gave me the epidural ...then when it was time to push I did it for two hours...finally they went in there with a vacuum and forceps! And Jeremy was finally born on March 26th at 3:05am. His daddy cried..I didn't cause I was doped up lol But we were very happy with our puffy marshmellow boy
     
  18. mrs_eads80

    mrs_eads80 Member

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    4am November 11, 2003



    I thought waking up that early would be very hard for me. I was so use to sleeping in till 9 or 10 am. Not to mention the fact that I could not get to sleep the night before because of the anticipation. But at 4am when the alarm clock went off, I had no problem what so ever getting out of bed and getting dressed. Today I was going to become a mommy.

    My pregnancy had gone really good. I had only minor morning sickness. Not a lot of weight gain, only 20 ponds or so total. And above all I loved the experience. Watching my belly grow, and grow. Not even realizing how big it actually was till after I had my baby, and looked back at pictures of myself. I loved to lay back in bed and watch my belly move, as she rolled and kicked inside of me. I loved watching my husband, become more excited as the day came nearer. But during my 7th month my blood pressure shot up. It went from 120/60 to 150/80. Dr. Childress put me on bed rest for the weekend to see if my blood pressure would go down. But it really didn’t. So it was bed rest for me. I was to lie in bed all day. Or if I was out of bed, I was to have my legs propped up. At first it was not that bad. Rusty waited on me hand and foot. Then mom came here to help, and I had her to keep the house clean, and to keep me company when Rusty was at work. But then the boredom set in, and I began to not follow the doctors orders all that well. Of course Rusty and my mother kept telling me to sit down any they would get me what I wanted. But it became very hard to sit still. On November 8th I had a doctors appointment. I had been having one once a week to have a non-stress test to make sure the baby was okay. My blood pressure was still high, and bed rest was not going well. The doctor was ending the appointment, and Rusty asked "How much longer?". Doctor Childress asked if Monday was soon enough. I really don’t remember what all else he said to me. I was in shock. All I remember was that he was going to induce me on Monday November 11th. But he did not expect it to work and told me that I was most likely going to have to have a c-section.

    Today was the day. Today I was going to become a mommy. I was kind of in a daze; the long 30-min drive from my house to the hospital seemed to go by in only mere minutes. We dropped of the dog, because I was going to be in the hospital for a while and there was going to be on one to take care of her. They stared the patocin drip at 7am and right away I stared feeling cramps. It was not long before I was having very hard contractions. They had moved me into the labor room, and broken my water around 11am. By 4pm I was in a lot of pain, and still not dilated passed 2 centimeters, which I had been at for 2 weeks now. I was ready for my epidural. I felt much better after I got it. And made a personal note to myself not to wait so long the next time to get one. I thought that getting an epidural would slow labor and make me progress even slower. Well I was wrong, and I could have gotten it a lot sooner.

    5pm Dr Childress told me he was ready to do a c-section. They stared prepping me. They shaved the area that they were going to make the incision. They unhooked my epidural, because they were going to give me a spinal instead that would make it where I could not feel anything during the c-section. At around 5:30pm he told me that I had to wait a little longer because my baby was doing fine, and there was some others woman's who’s baby was not doing so well. Finally at around 6:30pm or so I was being wheeled into the operating room. Rusty was very nervous. At first he was not sure he wanted to go into the room with me. He had to walk out of the room when I got my epidural, so I know that he did not want to see me cut open. But in the end he came into the operating room with me. Which I am very glad he did. I was very nervous, and scared. I was shaking uncontrollably, and ended up getting sick. I was very glad to see him walk into the room. He held my hand the whole time. I found out that day I had a high tolerance to pain medication. Even though the doctor was giving me lots of pain medication, I was still feeling a lot and in some pain. Then after some pulling and tugging, I herd her cry. They took her to the cleaning table, to clean her off. It was only a few feet away. But I could not see her to well because Rusty’s head was in the way. Then finally I got to see her. All I could see was her face, but it was the most beautiful face I have ever seen. I looked up at Rusty and he was crying. I didn’t cry. I was just in awe that this little baby was inside of me. That this little baby was the one who was kicking me from the inside. Then they let Rusty carry her to the nursery why they finished with me. After closing me up they wheeled me into recovery. I soon found out that I would have to stay in there for 2 hours or so. But right away I started asking the nurse when I could go and see my baby. In about 45 minutes they took me to my room. Everyone was there. Mom, Rusty, Tina and Rose, and Rusty’s mom Sarah. They were all anxious to see the baby. They would not let her out of the nursery till I got out of recovery. They brought you to me, and then I was a mommy
     
  19. enigma_rising

    enigma_rising Member

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    i wanna write Edens birth story on here, but i guess im just not ready, ive written the potted version before, but somehow it doesnt do it justice, im still trying to find the magic that i know is in there somewhere. i'ii get back to you, lol
     
  20. enigma_rising

    enigma_rising Member

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    i posted this on the womens issues forum under the title my transformation, but i guess it belongs here too.

    here we go, The night i became a woman. Well ok, not the actual night, but the night i realised i was, that it had crept up on me, slipped my girlhood into its pocket and taken its place. My Husband is asleep and i cant talk to my brother in law about this so i tell you, i hope you will read this with curiosity, its just the story of one girl, but it means everything to me, and maybe it may mean something to you.

    It was tonight. I lay in my mother in laws house reading a book, fiction, yet compleatly true, and found myself crying tears of relief and understanding. It was 2am. It is the story of three generations of woman, a year in their lives, as one grows close to dying, the other brings a new life into the world, and the third is stuck coping with both. reading these womens thoughts i suddenly realised I'd entered their world.

    I have a son, he is four months old and the darling of my eye. I have changed so much in myself since he was born, all through my pregnancy i thought and thought, without understanding any of it, it is only now, that he is here and the pregnancy/birth wounds have lost their sting, that i can begin to make any sense of it. How does it change, i think now it changed as i lay in that labour ward, deciding to ignore the midwives and do what i thought my body was telling me, and then later, on the bustling maternity ward, so totally exhausted after three days of labour that i thought I'd die, i was so stunned that i hadn'd died allready. It was so hard, devastating, and yet i survived and got up six hours later when he decided it was time to see what all this fuss was about,to nurse my son. i had become mum, and here i was, in the worst physical and emotional state i have ever been in, and yet i was taking care of him, i used to be so selfish, still am but he overrides it.

    How do we women find the strength, sometimes it feels as though there just isnt any more, we weep and we feel as though the whole thing is too much and yet after a cup of tea we carry on for our babies, such love, even before i felt i loved him, i must have, its only latley that ive just started to feel he is my baby, even though i felt his head as he began just to show from inside me and saw him the second he was born, it was almost as if i was babysitting deep down. on the surface of course i knew he was mine, when he looked at me with those big turquoise eyes i felt it, but it was so fleeting, so distant, only now when he smiles that knowing smile at me, the one that says, hey mum, you know were in this together, right? do i know he is truly mine forever.

    his creation story, i have tried so hard to write this down, its all twisted up inside me and even now i wont be able to write it well enough. I'm going to cry and i havent even started, its so strange to be pouring all this out onto a computer screen, but where else should it go? i could tell you about what i wanted, the calm natural pregnancy full of joy and glowing with health, im young, what could go wrong, people have said to me i should just be glad i have a healthy baby but i cant help but mourn what i lost, the dream, and so much of my health, though at least some of it will go back to normal eventually. So i'll tell you the bad, and them the good, so you'll be able to see what a miricle the joy is, how potent and transforming it was.

    I was so sick every day from 5 weeks till the day after he was born, my hips began to seperate as my ligaments loosened far to early, i couldnt walk by 6 months for more than the distance to the bathroom, or to my mums car with crutches. there was pain ever day, my gums, (also softened, so prone to toothache) my joints, all of them, most of all my pubic bone, so painful i couldn't speak or move from a spot for hours, the constant nausea, burning acid as i was sick again and again, i felt as though my body were turning on me, like i was dying to bring him safe to the world. by thirty five weeks i was relieved to be in early labour, and then so guilty at that feeling as i knew he would be at risk. I hung on untill 38 weeks and was induced. big mistake. they made the labour so strong and painful, there was no getting used to the contractions, they went from sore but managable to mind rottingly excrutiating in a minute. the midwives were rude, dissmissive, argumentative and performed unneccesary procedures on me without my consent. i felt so utterly useless, weak and incapable, when it got to the point when i could no longer not push i asked to be examined to check i had lost my final bit of cervix, the midwives refused, then gave me conflicting advice, so i switched off and did the rest by myself, and then it came, what i had been waiting for, a rush of power and wisdon so sublime it had to come from the spirits of all the mothers, in fact all the women in the world. This was the moment, this was the good.

    I pushed my son out into the world with a failed epidural in my back, drips in my hands, wires all over my belly and all these people talking at me, i could hear noone, when i look back all i hear is my heartbeat and a voice in my head saying RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaai, an animal noise from deep in my chest that spurred me on. it was a metamorposis. i was frantic, desperate to do this now, a little confused but so determined, i pushed with all my strengh and so so soon i felt a rush, a warm, tingling gush like part of my body had slid out and bashed its face on the bed. he didnt like that. i pushed off my nighty and pressed him to my skin, hungry for him, his eyes squeezed shut against the light, his tiny fists frantically waving, his lips pursed at the intrusion on his comfortable water world and he nuzzled against me and stopped crying and that moment, that one instant made it worth everything.

    And of course life goes on, you slowly recover, you deal with all the emotions, eventually, its never easy or quick. How you feel like youv'e been disfigured, that your private parts will never be the same again, like your body has been swapped for someone elses. How its like you have dissapeared into the background now that the baby is here, they all want to meet this new person, but fail to realise that another has been born too.
    You learn your trade, mothering, like anything else, and then slowly the love comes, and oh, when it does! :)

    There is beauty in hardship and there are miracles everywhere.

    Peace and joy to you all, i was born again today.
     

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