Labor stories

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

  1. mosaicthreads

    mosaicthreads Member

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    ladies, all of your birth stories are so beautiful. Thank you all for sharing them!

    One of my fav birth stories to tell is the birth of my 5th child Heidi, who was born under the diningroom table. My sweet friend and midwife had to dive under to catch her!

    I just couldn't sit down my whole labor, I always have back labor and walking is what makes me feel best. I had been in labor since the wee hours of the morning and it was getting dark, maybe about 8pm. I had been walking up and down the street, leaning on the back of the couch and now I was leaning on the table. I said "Honey, get this 2 year old off my leg, I just can't deal with her now" so he took her and the other kids upstairs along with his guitar and was playing beatles songs as they jumped on the bed just over my head.

    I was standing leaning forward on the table and said to my midwife "I think I need to push!" I pushed once and called to my husband, but he couldn't hear me over his guitar and the singing jumping kids, so he missed the birth. I pushed a second time and she jumped under the table, between my legs to catch the baby. I think Heidi came out in one big push and felt like a fish....swooosh.....and she was born!

    I sat down on the birthing stool (first time I had sat in 15 hours) and nursed my baby while we waited for the placenta. :)
     
  2. BlackGuardXIII

    BlackGuardXIII fera festiva

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    my mom had me 23 minutes after arriving at the hospital

    then 19 months later, she gave birth to my brother 7 minutes after arriving at the hospital. Her water broke in the elevator, and she had him in the first room off the elevator, not even in the maternity ward, still wearing her sneakers.
     
  3. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    Enigma, that was amazing...................
     
  4. Maggie Sugar

    Maggie Sugar Senior Member

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    I'll do the last baby first.

    I had been in labor for most of my pregnancy. I am (as my freind, a midwife calls me) "A ball of Oxytocin." And I started contracting at about 13 weeks, went on bed rest, (kind of) at about 16 weeks, and then went into labor in earnest at 27 weeks. I was scared, I KNEW what happens to preterm babies and I didn't want Sage in the NICU. We went to the hospital and they tested me and drugged me and I prayed. 12 hours later, I was back to a "normal" 4-6 contractions an hour, so I wanted to go home. Spent the rest of the pregnancy in bed or on the couch. sigh.

    About a month before Sage was due, on a Saturday night, I went into labor again. Bear (my dh) kept saying "Call Erik, call him!" (Erik is my OB.) But I wanted to wait. I had had a terrible migraine for days, and just wanted to rest, I also wanted to give myself a chance to have this baby prepared for birth, as we had a C section planned in a few weeks. I also was hoping I would just HAVE the baby and not need the C section. I labored on the couch, with my dh and my other kids around me, wondering if this was it. I was so tired I decided to go to bed. I'd done this before, so I knew if I was in labor, I wouldn't sleep. I woke up the next morning, no longer laboring.

    I saw Erik on Tuesday. I told him of my labor on Saturday, and he was VERY glad, "It's good for the baby. It will prepare her for birth. It matured her lungs." Then he said he didn't want to do a cervical check (he doesn't like to introduce bacteria into a pregnant womyn.) But, as I was still contracting a lot, and the baby was low, and I thought I was in labor just about every night (but not like Saturday) he wanted the baby born THURSDAY!!! "Maggie, I don't think you are going to hold out too much longer, do you?" I admited, No, I had held this baby in my womb about as long as I could. I could almost feel her head between my legs.

    I have a condition called "Android Pelvis." My pelvis is shaped like a man's instead of OPEN like a womyn's, it is flat, yet I have a "gynecoid dip" which makes the opening even smaller. I labored for 54 hours with my first baby, Sunshine, with more than 3 hours of pushing and she never was born, similar with my second. Moon. IF it was possible, I think I could have done it. Babies just don't exit my pelvis. Lennon was also a planned section. I think one of the reasons I have preterm labor so badly is that my body knows a full term baby won't fit, and it wants to get the baby out while it will still fit. I prefer a full term baby, even if it is harder on me, and if I don't get a vaginal birth, at least my babies will be spared the Horrors of the NICU.

    Bear brought me to the hospital first thing in the morning Thursday, we wanted an amnio done, to make sure this baby, who would be 3 week early, would have mature lungs (again, I wanted to do EVERYTHING to avoid the NICU.) I was terrified. Sage rolled into the needle and they had to pull it out, then she decelled (probaby from fear) and Erik said, "The babies really don't like this. They don't like being disturbed." He also told me that he had seen babies GRAB THE NEEDLE during amnios. THey finally got a good tap (after a scary moment where the Resident swabbed me with Betadine, which I am allergic to, and Erik yelled at him.) They used alcohol and got some good, cloudy fluid. I immediately went into labor!

    They thought maybe it was just the disturbance, but I knew it was labor (one of the reasons I didn''t have any amnios while I was 18 weeks pregnant for genetic testing was I knew I would lose those babies, and I probably would have.) Erik had planned for me to go home until the section that evening, but with me in labor (and the nurse freaking out about the decell) I decided to stay. Erik said the decell wasn't a big deal. "Babies have decells all the time, you just don't wear a monitor constantly and no one knows. Kids roll on the cord, they grab it. Don't worry. The baby is fine."

    Bear and I spent the rest of the day in the Maternity ICU. (I have no idea why, they had nowhere else to put me, I guess.) I was getting more and more nervous. I had the runs, (probably from the labor and being upset.) THe nurse asked if I wanted something for the labor pain, but I didn't. It wasn't that bad, just late latent labor, I think.

    Finally Erik showed up and we got going. When we got to the OR, I decided I wanted to use the bathroom one last time. I would be off my feet for a while, and was starting to feel really out of control of the entire thing. I was in this tiny bathroom the staff uses, in the OR, thinking "I have to go out there." I was scared for Sage and myself.

    I finally exited the bathroom. The anestheologist was a very kind man. In my Birth Plan, I refused to let a Resident do my anesthesia. The Resident was a little put out "I am almost Board Certified." I wasn't moved. If someone is going to make a HOLE IN MY SPINE, I want them Board Certified. Dr.M. put together a cocktail of meds, as they thought they might have to deal with scar tissue and endo implants, as they had with my second and third sections, and it might take longer than thought. He told me I'd be better off with a Spinal than a epidural, as my epidural space had already been punctured three times, and if it didn't work, they would have to do a general. I wanted to be awake. So I said OK.

    Sage was REALLY quiet. I think she knew something was happening. I talked to her and told her we'd get to see each other really soon, and I coulnd't wait to see her. She kicked when she heard my voice.

    Continued.........
     
  5. Maggie Sugar

    Maggie Sugar Senior Member

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    I sat on the table, a nurse holding my hand, Dr. M. telling me everything he was doing. I was shaking so badly, I started to cry. I knew some of the nurses and they were all there telling me the baby and I were going to be fine.


    He did the spinal, it wasn't bad, but I felt the morphine kick in almost immediately! I told Erik he better get the baby out before it got to her, he's always making jokes and he said, "You're right, I never thought of doing it now!" (Bear saw Erik in the scrub room and he said Erik walked around going "Oh my God, I am so nervous, I'm scared of the sight of blood." While wringing his hands. (You have to know this man, he's a little odd, but it did make Bear less nervous himself.)

    Erik asked me how I felt and I said, "Really stoned." and everyone laughed. "GET THE BABY OUT!!!!" Dr. M told me everything that was happening. I had first asked for a labor mirror, they brought it in, and I saw the retractors on the table and had to have them remove the mirror. It isn't the blood or guts that bothers me, I HATE retractors. With my other babies I had had epidurals during my sections, and actually FELT what was going on. But the Spinal was stronger, and I really couldn't feel anything, but Dr, M, the kind anesthesiologist, sat near my head and helped me. I let him know when I wasn't feeling well, and he would adjust things so my blood pressure would adjust (I was having a little problem with very low blood pressure, and it was making me nauseous and weird feeling.) He said I could tell before his machines could, and he wished all his awake pateints were as in tune with thier bodies.

    I heard Erik telling the Resident, "Forget the tools, just get your hands in there and get the baby! You don't need tools, you have hands!" Then the room (there were at least 40 people in the room) got very quiet. When good people are there for a Birth, they are very respectful. They recognise that this isn't an everyday event for the parents, and, if they are VERY good, they feel it is special, even for them. I heard the female resident say, very quietly, "HI BABY!" I didn't know it at the time, but Sage's head was being born, her eyes were completely open, and she was totally alert. Erik and my dh (who was standing to see at this point.) said it was amazing, this tiny baby, turning her head around, not even born all the way. She wanted to SEE! I heard some suctioning, and then her little body was born and people quitely cheered. She was quiet, Erik held her up so we could see, Bear said, "It's a little girl!!!!" and I missed it! I asked if they could hold her up again (my bp was dropping again.) and they did. I yelled at her "Breathe, Sage, Breathe!!!!" and she did. I saw them carrying her to the peds table, screaming her lungs out. I couldn't see how big she was. She didn't look very big. I didn't know it at the time, but Erik had Bear cut the cord, (none of this cutting the already cut end, he REALLY cut the cord) after she was born.

    We were waiting for the APGARs and the weight. A 9 one minute APGAR. Bear was saying "Um six pounds....." and the ped said "Five pounds, twelve oz.!" TINY! I told Erik "You took her too early!" I started to cry again (I had been crying since she was born.) He said she was fine, just a little small. Strong as an ox, he said. I finally remembered to ask to see the placenta, and got to. It was pretty cool. Sage, who had stopped crying, was given an other 9, at five minutes. I WANTED HER SO BADLY!!!! It seemed like hours, not five minutes, I wanted my baby to hold and nurse. I started to feel REALLY bad. My BP was too low and I was afraid I might start to vomit. (It is really hard on your body, major surgery.) I started to shake, but I just wanted my baby. She got a good 9 on her 10 minute APGAR and they gave her to Bear to take her out of the cold OR. I started to cry again, like I did with every baby, when they had Bear take them out, so I could be sewed up. He put Sage next to my cheek, and then they were gone. I started to get really sick. I started to black out, I yelled for them to get Dr. M again (the Resident wasn't doing enough.) They, somehow, were done with the surgery and they moved me unto an other gurney and I started to heave, yelling for Sage and Dr. M. Dr. M. was there (somehow I had gotten into the recovery room, maybe I blacked out, I don't remember.) And he put some strong stuff in the IV to stop the heaving. Bear was there, holding this tiny squirming bundle, looking really worried. As soon as the medicine went in, I was FINE. Magic stuff, Zofran.

    Bear asked if I was OK to hold the baby, then he put her into my arms. OMG. She was so BEAUTIFUL!!!! She looked at me, I was still shaking a little, but the nurses were smiling and everyone was glowing, and I felt wonderful, but weak. Uncharacteristcally, I asked the nurse if I could nurse her. She looked at me oddly (I don't usually ASK, I just DO) and said, "Maggie, she's your baby, do whatever you want with her." So I ripped open my gown, not caring who was in there, and put little Sage to my breast for the first time. She knew just what to do. She latched, and started to suck, and in a minute I heard swallowing. I felt so warm and wonderful. The nurse came over to see if we needed any help (LOL.) And I told her the baby was swalowing. She bent down to hear, and was amazed. "She is! You must have a lot of colostrum." After four kids, your body really knows what to do immediately. The baby nursed, and looked at me. Then she popped off and just stared at me for about half an hour. The phone rang, and I just said "NO!" Bear told my step mom we were both OK, but I was really tired. (No one could figure out how the call came through to the recovery room.) I was shaking really badly again, and Bear said I was a white as a sheet, so he held the baby. All of a sudden, he yelped, and she peed ALL OVER his scrubs. The nurses and I were laughing so hard. They had just left her naked under the blanket. Just a blanket and a hat, so she could get to her mama and dad sooner.

    Bear gave the baby back to me, and in an hour or so we left the recovery room for our room. There was no room ready (the nurse was livid that a new mama and a tiny near premie were lying in the hallway. But I didn't care, I was with my baby. Sage had fallen asleep by this time.) When I finally got to my room, they had to finally take Sage to the Special Care to check her out (she was several hours old and hadn't left our side.) When I got to my room, I started calling Special Care every minute, asking for my baby. "She has low body temperature, as soon as it comes up, you can have her." Uh uh. I said I would Kangaroo her, and they could take her temp in half an hour, and if it wasn't "normal' then, we would talk. (There are perks to being a health care professional. for one other HCPs actually LISTEN when you talk.) Sage was brought to me, Kangarooed on my chest, with two gowns and a blanket around us, and her temperture was "normal" faster than it would have been under those lights.

    Erik came in and chucked the baby under the chin and said he had been there 24 hours and was going to go home (it was after midnight at this time) and Bear was just exhausted, Our day had begun very early. I told him to go home and the baby and I would be OK. He told me to sleep. I knew I wouldn't.

    Sage and I spent the entire night looking at each other, nursing and looking at each other more. We both dozed a little, but mostly we got to know each other better. It was amazing.
     
  6. MattInVegas

    MattInVegas John Denver Mega-Fan

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    If a guy can post in this one? Here's MY story. Short & Sweet.
    Wife went into labor, sneezed in the hospital bed, and I had to catch my daughter to keep her from hitting the floor. Like a bullet that one. That's why I named her Bridgette. We call her Jett for short. ZOOM!
     
  7. Kastenfrosch

    Kastenfrosch Blaubeerkuchen!! Lifetime Supporter

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    I can't tell you guys, how much I love these labour stories! It is so wonderful to read of all these fantastic moments. Thank you so much for sharing :)
     
  8. busmama

    busmama go away

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    What wonderful and inspiring stories.

    My first son was a very typical labor and delivery, ditto with my second. I often joke the worst part was hearing my sister complain that I chose to have my children delivered by a very supportive female MD in a hands off hospital situation. lol. I never had anyone there except my hubby. Now our third child.....

    My water broke 8 weeks before my due date, I had been in the hospital for 5 days, my doc (who I just love) wanted to do as little as possibe as long as the babies health was not in danger, she said every minute she spent in there would make her that much stronger. On her advice I did not have the shot of , oh I forget the name, but its supposed to help develop the lungs. She cited numerous studies that showed it had very little to no effects after the 30th week of pregnancy anyway.
    My husbands gdma had passed away 2 days before my water broke and my hubby still needed to work so it was a nightmare trying to find someone to help with the other two kids and I was very worried about them the whole time my doc was still hesitant to induce, but said she wouldn't stop labor if it started. So on September 15th I started having contractions early in the afternoon. Now I would say that all of the nurses where I had my children were wonderful, (when I had my second they went and got a nurse for me who had been through natural birth herself, feeling she could be better support to me) however, I swear I had the one mean nurse there. I told her I was in labor and she told me no I wasn't. She wouldn't even consider calling my doc, or even a staff DR, as they were all scared to xamine me cuz the water was broke. For like 5 hours I argued with her, being completely alone. I couldn't call my Hubby from my room cuz it was long distance and she would not do it for me. finally about 5 o'clock I was really feeling the pain, so I called my OB's office myself. By then I just broke down and started crying saying I wanted my husband. MY Dr had my hubby called for me and came right over. She agreed I was definantly in labor and really close to delivering. Then I had to hear her yell at the nurse for a few minutes before the decided to meve me from the high risk ward to the labor/delivery area. Now I had been screaming at the nurse who had ignored me and was now I guess trying to make it up to me by pushing IV's epidurals and generally pissing me off. My man said he could hear me when he stepped off the elevator, when that baby came out I was going to kick her a**. My man made it at about 6:15 Georgetta Rose Quartz was born at 7:05. she had come out and the dr asked me to stop pushing so she could unwrap the cord from around her neck, as soon as I seen she was done one final push the baby flew out, she almost didn't catch her. They however did not prepare me for the fact that right in the middle of my birth a whole team of neonatoligists were going to come storming in, or more importantly that they were going to take my baby after just barely letting me see her. So by now I was very irate I was still bitchin about the nurse and where are you taking my baby. The next thing I know I felt a prick, the jerks had doped me up with stadol to "calm me down" Gigi weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs 4 oz. When the drugs wore off I was ready to see my baby. the nurse assured me they were getting a wheelchair for me, I waited like 10 minutes and decided I didn't need a chair I would walk to the NICU which was three floors down. They were amazed to say the least,lol. I was amazed to, I had never even seen such a small baby, it was so scary. She is a very healthy 5 yo now and I thank the great one she is with us, it was a hard road.
    One thing that stands out in my mind from that first night in the NICU is not so much my own pain, but sitting there looking at my baby and hearing the DRs tell the lady behind me that her baby wouldn't live more than another few hours even now I am tearing up just thinking about the pain I heard in her cries.
     
  9. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    When I got pregnant with Candy, I was 16. I used to walk 4 miles to the public health centre for my prenatal appointments, sit all day on these little benches waiting to see the midwife, who saw over 100 pregnant women every day. She was the only community midwife for miles around.
    Still, it was fun going to prenatal clinic. Everyone waited in one big room, fanning ourselves with our cards the midwife wrote our vitals in, talking about our coming labour and birth, the kicking babies, our aches and pains.

    One morning I woke up, and found a big gob of mucus in my panties. Of course, I had no idea what that was about, so I ran next door to my partner's mother and told her. I figured she had 8 children, she'd know what this was. She said,"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry!"
    My sister in law heard, and told me I was going to go into labour soon.
    Since I was only 16, the midwife wouldn;t do a home birth with me, so I had to get ready to go to the hospital in Savannah La Mar, about 30 miles away. I got my little bag packed, but the pains were few and far between. Since we didn't have money to hire a car to take us, we decided to leave early on public transportation, then walk the rest of the way to the hospital.
    When I got there, I was still not contracting very often, but the midwives decided to keep me, since I came from the country so far away. Good thing!

    I got checked in, and sent to the labour ward, basically, a big one room with 8 beds, 4 on each side, facing each other. My partner was allowed to accompany me as far as the door, then he got sent home. Me and another girl got checked in about the same time, and the nurse showed us to our adjoining beds and said, "Take off your panties".
    We looked at each other like, "WTF?"
    The nurse got very brisk and said, "I said to take off your panties! How are you going to have a baby through your drawers?"
    We got scared, and dropped 'em right there, in front of the other ladies labouring on the other beds.
    She made us get on the beds, and prepped us to be shaved. I was never so mortified in my life! Not even a curtian, just right out there in all my glory, getting shaved.
    Then she told us to lay on our sides, while she took our blood pressure and listened to the baby with a pinard horn.
    The lady directly across from me began to moan, and shouted for the nurse. "Nurse! Nurse! Doo-doo, nurse, doo-doo!" Before I knew what was happening, I saw the curly black hair of her babies head beginning to show, and in a few minutes, I saw her baby born.
    I saw 6 other babies born that night, before I had my own. One lady called me and asked me if I was feeling pain yet. I said, no, not really. She asked me to get her a bedpan, as she felt like she wanted to shit. I ran and got it for her, and when she lifted her nightie and squatted down over it, I saw her baby's head starting to come out. I shouted for the nurse, and said, "Lady, that's not shit, that's a BABY!" She reached down and grabbed her baby before he hit the floor, and the midwife came running in. When she saw she had birthed the baby on the floor, she berated her loudly, "What you get up for? And push yur baby out into a bed pan! Nasty gal! Get up on the bed!" and she roughly cut the cord and threw the baby to a nurse, "You better wash that baby well, de nasty gal deliver him on the floor!"

    The young girl on the bed next to me began active labour, and she moaned and asked Jesus to help her, "Lord Jesus, please help me! Ooooh, Sweet Jesus, deliver me safe!"
    The midwife told her to shut up, "Was it Lord Jesus who breed you? Den what you a call him for!" She soon delivered as well. The nurse put the placenta pan on the floor, and as soon as she did, there were rats crawling all over it.
    Another lady, as she began pushing, started screaming, "Me pussy a tear out! Woi! Me pussy a burn me! Lord Jeeeeeeeeeeesuuuuuuuuus, ME PUUUUUUUSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!" The lovely midwife slapped her across her face and told her to watch her mouth. :confused:

    What an education!

    By morning, I was beginning to feel the pains hard, but I knew better than to cry out or make noise! I hummed and rocked myself, and walked the halls, and when the midwife asked me if I was feeling pain, I said yes, but I could bear it.
    Around 6 in the morning, the next shift took over, and the new midwife was a beautiful woman of East Indian descent. By this time, there were only 2 of us left to have our babies. The night midwife said to the new midwife, looking at me, "This one don;t give no trouble, she's a good one." so maybe that's why she was so sweet to me. I started to grunt soon after, and the new midwife came over and held my hand, "You want to push, now, Mommy? Go ahead and try, see how you like it." So I did, and soon I could feel the burning and stretching. "I can't! It hurts!" I whispered, still afraid to make noise for fear of being slapped. She grabbed my face in her hands and came close to me, "I know it hurts, I promise, you won't break. Go ahead and get your baby out!" then she reached down and brought my baby up and showed me. "WHat do you have, Mommy?" she said.
    I saw it was a girl.
    Then they brought the baby over to the cot to clean her up before they let me hold her. Candy was rooting around and licking her lips. The midwife said, "Baby's hungry!" and cheerily left the room.

    Huh?

    What was I supposed to do? I finaly figured out I was supposed to breastfeed her, so I did.

    After about an hour, I was told to get up and go to the bathroom to take a shower. Argh! My belly felt like some one river danced on it all night long. I eased my way to the bathroom, but the water was locked off. One of the cleaning ladies got a bucket fro somewhere and helped me wash the blood off my legs. When I went back to the labour room, a male porter was waiting for me to go to the theatre to get stitched. The wheelchair was broken, so we walked to the elevators, which were broken. So, up 4 flights of stairs we walked, me crying and feeling like I was going to pass out. Finally made it to the theatre, where the doctor asked me if I brought my own lidocaine. Um, no. He asked where my baby father was, and I said he didn;t get there yet. So he said, "Well, I can't wait much longer, I'm going to suture you without it."
    I did not know what this meant, but boy oh boy, did I find out. 2 nurses held me down while the doctor sewed me up without any medication. And then I walked back down the 4 flights of stairs to maternity where I was finally allowed to lay down in the bed with my baby.
    Baby father showed up soon after, with my breakfast (They don;t have lidocaine, did you think they fed us?:p )

    We didn't have the money to pay the hospital, so after a few hours, he went to get a car, and we snuck out of the hospital without paying. We got to the bottom of the hill that leads to our house, and the driver said he would not be taking his car up the dirt road, it was too rough. No matter how much baby father argued that I had just had a baby that morning, I couldn;t possibly walk up that hill (Hey, I walked up 4 flights of stairs, but I wasn't going to tell them that!) he refused to go. So, I ended up walking up the hill anyway.
    At 12;30, just 5 and a half hours after having my baby, I was finally in my bed! With my MIL and 2 SILs to take care of me and feed me soup and cornmeal porridge!

    So, of course, I never went back to the hospital to have a babby again!
     
  10. HippyFreek2004

    HippyFreek2004 changed screen name

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    wow, Brighid...You're one amazing woman!
     
  11. celtgrrl

    celtgrrl batty woman

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    i had both of my babies without any pain reducing drugs. *flexes arms* i am one tough mama!

    for my son, i was standing in my living room talking on the phone when a huge gush of water came out of me. giant puddle on the floor. i called the midwife and she said we should come in. twelve hours later the labor still hadn't kicked in so she said the labor either had to be jump started with pitocin or we'd have to have a c-section. i chose the pitocin. well, the drip was started...and still, nothing happened. this went on for a few more hours...so they increased the dose. doubled it, in fact.

    shortly after that, the labor kicked in. the contractions were fast and furious. hurt like hell, but i never thought of taking anything for it. i wasn't capable of thought really! besides, as some of you probably know, when you are in that much pain, it's kind of ----->over there. sort of out of body. my son was born i think about five hours after the pitocin drip was started, but when the final stage of labor hit, it was fast. i remember his head coming out and the midwife saying, 'just one more push for the shoulders' and me thinking to myself, YOU push one more time, bitch! when he came out i asked, 'what kind is it'? heehee...so that was my baby boy, nicholas thoreau. well, he's seventeen now.

    my second child was born eleven years later. well, it wasn't any easier! she was backward facing...although i didn't realize it until after she was born. the back labor was intensely painful. the only position that slightly eased the pressure was on all fours. when we drove to the hospital (me and my xhusband), i crouched on the floor with my arms and head up on the seat. it hurt far to much to sit on my butt. again the labor was slow. we went to a midwifery center, where i was supposed to give birth in a quiet, homey room. i stayed there for hours, walking around, taking baths, napping even. but it didn't progress. she was stuck in there backwards. finally after something like six hours i had had enough. i said just take me to the hospital and we'll do what we have to do. i was ready for drugs, c-section, whatever!

    but wouldn't you know it, as soon as we got there, she turned around and came out about 20 minutes later, just as they were about to give me an epidural! (it was an omen. she's the most stubborn child!) that was my daughter, aurora cerise.
     
  12. Maggie Sugar

    Maggie Sugar Senior Member

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    Wow, Brighid. What a birth story, you delivered a baby while YOU were in labor! See, you were born for it! I can't beleive they hit womyn who cried out. How sad. No wonder you never went back to the hospital.

    Great story.

    ALL the mamas have great stories.
     
  13. Brighid

    Brighid Member

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    Disclaimer:

    Clarissa's birth is not typical! It's actually the exception, but it's fun.

    Anyway, Clarissa was my 6th baby.
    I was watching tv Sunday morning, there was an editorial I liked to watch Sunday mornings. Baby Fadda was in the kitchen making breakfast, which he liked to do on Sunday mornings. At exactly 9 am, when the show ended, I got up to pee. I made it as far as the table, when I felt the baby drop Whoosh! and I felt tremendous pressure in my butt. I thought the baby was falling out! I could barely breathe, and I peed right there on the floor. I called baby Fadda, and told him to go get the midwife, RIGHT NOW!
    "Right now?"
    "Right freaking NOW! The baby is falling out!"

    I jumped into the shower to wash off the pee, as he sped off on his motorcycle (we had no phones) to fetch the midwfie, who fortunately lived 5 minutes away, by maniacal motorcyclists time, 10 minutes away in real time;) .
    In the shower, I felt another tremendous Whoosh! as the baby moved further down. I put my finger inside and felt her head about an inch up!
    I threw the plastic shower curtain and a clean sheet on the bed, perched on the end to lay down, but felt another rush of pressure. I reached down to grab my yoni and felt her head slip into my hands. At that moment, the midwife came in, dropped her bag, grabbed a towel and caught the baby as the rest of her slipped out. 9:20 am. 20 minutes exactly after I got up to go pee. She (the baby) screamed bloody hell for about 10 minutes, I'm sure she was saying, "What the hell just happened here?" LOL! I certainly was thinking, What the hell just happened here? I did not have one single contraction, not one urge to push, just tons of butt pressure and whoosh! Baby. I don't know when my water broke, if it broke when I peed on the floor, or in the shower. It's not really important, anyway!
    She weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and only 18 inches long. She looked liked a baby ball....... with hair. So much thick black hair I could put it in a ponytail. It took weeks to wash the birth crud out of it!
    Then the midwife cut the cord, wrapped her in a blanket, and lay her on the bed next to me. Clarissa literally lunged about 5 inches into the air and latched on to my breast and stayed there, no kidding, for 5 days. Like a kangaroo baby. Very tricky getting upt to pee with a baby attached to your breast.

    My neighbor had just gone up the lane to check on her cows when I had went to the kitchen for my coffee during a commercial break. I said good morning to her from my litchen door, and she had asked, "No baby yet?"
    Haha, she returned just in time to hear Clarissa screaming about 40 minutes later! She had to come in to see if I had really had the baby in such a short time!

    But, before anyone gets jealous and wishes for such a fast and painless birth, lemme tell ya, every contraction I did not feel during her birth, I got 10 fold over the next three days. The after pains hurt worse than any labour. I even sent Baby Fadda out to score some black market codeine for me, it was that bad. And, I had bled mightily because I had no contractions so I had to get 2 shots of pitocin AND methergine tablets to take every 4 hours. Which, of course, made the after pains doubly lovely. :mad:

    Plus, it took me a while to truly realize I had just had a baby, it seemed so surreal. I mean, one minute I was pregnant, sipping my coffee (I know! Bad Mama!), waiting for my breakfast, and the next I had a newborn latched onto my breast. No time to intergrate, you know? I think it took me about 3 days to realize I had a girl! I kept pulling her diaper to one side to double check, lol!

    Clarissa ended up being Ms. I Have To Do It Now. She sat up by herself at 3 months. Crawled at 5 months. Walked at 7 months. Talked in sentences at 15 months. Potty trained by 18 months. Just as she was in a hurry to be born, she was in a hurry to do everything else as well.

    Interesting side note about how midwives need to rely on their intuition. We had no phone services in that area of Jamaica when Clarissa was born. My midwife was the only midwife for 3 districts. She had actually planned on going to the beach with her 3 children that morning, but at the last minute, sent them without her, turned around, and changed into her birth clothes. When Baby Fadda got there, she was sitting on her verandah with her birth kit.
    She said she knoew someone was going into labour, and she thought it might be me, even though I wasn't officially due til the next week, so she decided to sit and wait. Good thing! But she didn't expect it to be that fast! And thankfully she was close by and my Baby Fadda was a total maniac on his motorcycle! I was fine with catching the baby myself, but I was glad she was there for the bleeding afterwards.
     
  14. HippyFreek2004

    HippyFreek2004 changed screen name

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    Wow Brighid...:eek: I can't even imagine....But that does seem about right for a kid...How they act during labour and birth ends up being a part of their personality for the rest of their life?
     
  15. Kastenfrosch

    Kastenfrosch Blaubeerkuchen!! Lifetime Supporter

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    Yeah, I was 3 weeks late, and had to be induced, and my birth still took veeeeeeeeeeeery long.... and I still like to be at home in my for 4 walls, and only leave them when I have to.... :)

    I even get very psychosomatic sick when I move, and very severe when I am forced to... !!!
     
  16. sugrmag

    sugrmag Uber Nerd

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    Hmm...I never thought about that before...but it seems to fit my girls right now! Maddie's birth was very mellow and easy, and she is a very easy girl-always has been. Virginia's birth was crazy and very tough. And she is definitely the wild one!
     
  17. HippyFreek2004

    HippyFreek2004 changed screen name

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    My mom's entire pregnancy with me was troubled and the labour was tough on both of us...I almost died, and so did she....But as soon as I was born, the nurses said I was a beautiful and "happy" baby...Apparently, I smiled quite early...So that's a lot like me....I can go through extremely tough situations and almost lose myself at times, but in the end I'm always happy and always come out on top of things...
     
  18. hnugginbuggin

    hnugginbuggin Member

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    i am crying right now! brighid's story was so incredible...i hope Romany's birthday goes as well...
     
  19. Butterflygal

    Butterflygal Member

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    First child (my son)

    My son decided to come in the world one day before his due date, December 30, 1999. I had a bloody show and went into labour at around 11 am on the 29th. The midwive came in and checked me. I think I was about 1-2 cm dilated. So we decided to wait and the contractions were getting closer around dinnertime. We decided to go to the birth centre in the hospital and we got there at 6 pm. I was 6 cm by then. The pain was pretty bad because my son wasn't in the right position so I needed to sit in the tub for hours and had gas as well. When it got worse, at around midnight, I decided I needed demerol and one was given. All of a sudden, his head was crowning and the midwife had to get the assistant in quickly. He was born 14 minutes later at 12:44 am. The cord was around his neck three times but his little hand was between his neck and the cords. He wasn't breathing also so they had to take him in NICU to get him to breath. Funny thing, his father was very upset and scared but I felt calm. I didn't realize the seriousness of the situation until a few months later. I realized that it was probably from the demerol I took so I decided I wouldn't do it again the next time I have a child. He was fine and brought back an hour later. He breastfed immediately without any problems. We named him Alexander Xavier. He was 7'14.

    Forgot to add.. The midwife thought the reason why the delivery was so quick was because he turned around and was in the right position. It helped the pushing to go so quickly.

    Second child (my daughter)

    Again, I went into labour on the 29th of June. That day I went to pick strawberries and the squatting probably helped. I realized I was in labour at around 9 pm and called the midwife. I was 5 minutes apart and the labour was easy. I was 5 cm dilated by then and didn't feel anything. I didn't require any painkiller nor wanted any. I just stayed in my room and enjoyed chatting, watching TV and reading. My son was a year and half at the time. He had wonderful instincts and knew something was happening because he stayed up until 4 am with me. It was great having him around to distract me from the contractions. Finally I sent him to bed with his grandma because things were getting intense. I started pushing after 3:30 am and I guess my daughter decided to give me a hard time and turned around. I tried different birth positions but she wouldn't move. Finally at 5 am, I decided to take a shower and it was a smart choice because she finally started to move again. She was born screaming at 5:12 am. She was 8'4. We named her Savannah Sky. She was born on June 30, 2001. The kids are exactly one year and half apart.

    It's funny how both kids labour and deliveries were the exact opposites. I hope I didn't leave anything out. I had a hard time remembering the first labour story because of the painkillers.
     
  20. mrs_eads80

    mrs_eads80 Member

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    Thursday, May 12, 2005 4am
    Once again I herd the alarm clock go off at 4am. Thoughts of my first birth experience ran through my head. 4am was the time I had to get up last time I gave birth. Will this really be the last time I do this? I can’t believe this will be my last child. I drag myself out of bed. Sleep had not come easy to me, as it had not for about 3 weeks now. So much sometimes I dreaded going to bed at night. But this will be the last night of uncomfortable sleep, and the first in line of many nights of very interrupted sleep.

    I try to wake Rusty up, he groans, says he’s awake and turns over and goes back to sleep. I get out of bed and get dressed. Then head into the living room to wake up mom, but she was already up making her coffee. She had been with us for about a week now, she was here to help me out, just like last time.

    I finish getting ready and double check that I have every thing I need. Now I just sit and wait. It’s about 15 after and we don’t have to leave till 5am. I go and tell Rusty to get out of bed. He finally complies and crawls out of bed. I watch everyone else eat, not being able to myself, since I was having surgery. Once again I was going to have a c-section. But this time it was planned, and I did not have to go threw hours of labor before I had my baby. In fact I didn’t have to go threw any labor this time. A fact that I was very happy about.

    5am, we can finally leave. The hour drive to the hospital seems to take forever. I am not nervous yet, but I can feel it creeping up on me. We arrive before the admit desk is even open, but don’t have to wait long. Before I know it, I am in a hospital gown, and getting prepped for surgery. I think at one point I was getting poked and prodded at from all angles. Now I am getting nervous, it’s really almost time. I am so ready for it to be all over with. I have been nothing but a bunch of aches and pains in this pregnancy. I sign and fill out endless forms. I am asked what seems like quit a few times what I am here for. Answer always the same C-section and Tubalagation. Yeah this is my last baby. I guess they just want to make sure I am sure that I want to be “fixed”.

    Now it’s my turn. I am the first on my doctors list of surgery for the day. They wheel me in and get me ready for a spinal. That day I guess I had tough skin. It took the anesthesiologist 3 tries to get the spinal in the right place. It shot pains down my back and into my leg. But once he got it right I got warm, then I got numb. My whole body was tingling like when your foot falls asleep. Rusty comes in and sits beside me. I can’t see her but I know that mom is watching from the door.

    It doesn’t take long at, 7:29 am my baby is born. Everyone around me is saying “Oh, what a big baby!” Then I hear the doctor say “There goes the water works”. He just peed everywhere. It takes longer for them give him to Rusty. I ask if he is okay, he’s really not crying. They tell me he is fine, and I shortly thereafter get to see my baby boy. He is big and chunky, and has a double chin. He is one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. I notice a brownish tinged liquid bubbling out of him mouth. They toke him to the nursery.

    They finish up with the surgery. I can kind of watch them in the reflection of a glass cabinet. I can’t swallow because of the spinal, so I am getting my mouth suctioned ever so often. After spending an hour in recovery I finally get to go to my room. But I can’t have my baby. Ashton was having trouble breathing and his oxygen level was down and he had to stay in the nursery so he could be on oxygen. I am not allowed to even sit up strait till about 1p.m. because I had to be stuck three times for the spinal. A nurse brought me a Polaroid of him so I could see him.

    About 12 hours later I got to hold my baby for the first time. He was still hooked up to an oxygen monitor that was constantly going off. The nurse just said that it was normal, when we moved him around the monitor attached to his toe would move, and would not get a good reading. I got to nurse him for the first time. He did a really good job, something that I was very relieved about. He stayed in the room with me for about half an hour. The nurses wanted him back in the nursery. So I reluctantly let him go.

    About midnight I got a wonderful surprise. The nurse brought me Ashton, and he was off oxygen and the monitor. I could keep my baby with me. He was doing just fine. Now all the present worry was over I could begin life with my last child, my son.

     

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