TMI Central - labor stories

[paulaswrld]

I am now 20 weeks and starting to think about giving birth. In the beginning I thought I had it all figured out, but if anyone wants to share their stories about what giving birth is really like, I would appreciate it.

Were you induced? Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? (here's the tmi part - I'm curious as to how common this really is) Did you puke or do #2 during labor? What was recovery like? Tearing or episiotamy? (I'm wondering if it's even possible to give birth without either of those) Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help?

I guess I want to be as informed as possible about what may happen in order to make my decision about which method I choose to give birth.

thanks girls!

[Lyndzie]

Hi Paula-
Well I guess the first thing I can tell you is to be open to options when going into labor.
I had my labor planned out to the "T"-- literally had typed my birth plan out and was expecting it to go Exactly as written (hahaha- I'm a serious type A/control freak personality!)
Well- like other "plans"-- most of the time they don't go accordingly.

I went 15 days overdue (Had a CNM because I wanted to go the "all natural" approach) and she wanted my body to "naturally" go into Labor- HA!

As far as labor went- I was induced and Pitocin is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I couldn't even keep up with the contractions- let alone try to breathe through them etc.
The long and short of it is- EVERYTHING went wrong. I stalled at 6cm because I'd had 3 BAGS of IV Fluid but not one D*mned nurse got me up to Pee! Yeah- imagine that!
Huge basket ball of a filled bladder wouldn't let the baby decend!
I begged for an epidural...and HA HA HA it didn't WORK! Made my legs numb but that was it.
Sooo- they took it out and Re-inserted another one! This one only made one portion of my stomach numb for very short time.

18hrs later DS finally arrived with vacuum assitance and a Neonate team in the room because he had meconium(sp) in his lungs (go figure- 15days late!)
The ONLY good thing about my labor is I DID Not Tear- OR need an episiotomy. (And DS had a BIG Freakin' head!)
Dh and I started perineum (sp) massages with mineral/baby oil at about 35 weeks. Softened and stretched out the area and I know that helped with delivery.


so- hope that didn't give you nightmares but I just found out that we're expecting baby #2 and we will be driving 2 HOURS to doctors appts and for delivery. (We moved to a little po-dunk town and I REFUSE to deliver here- they don't do epidurals!)

Yes- even though my first 2 epis failed with DS- I'm determined to try it again! If it doesn't work- I'd rather have a C-section than go though a repeat episode of DS's birth.
Yeah- it was THAT bad.

Oh- My birthing classes didn't do Crap for me on the big day. Some people swear by them- but I'm not the kind of person who can just forget the "NOW" by thinking of a Desert Island beach or imagine I'm getting a massage etc.
Maybe my classes just weren't good- who knows?


Hahaha- I'm really not a pessimist by nature- I'm just Scared to DEATH about this next delivery and pray every single day that it goes better this time!

So be flexible- open to options and there is no such thing as Super woman. And you definatly DO NOT have to suffer through everything to "love your baby more." What a bunch of Hooey.

Some women just have perfect "text book" labors and I sure hope YOU'RE one of them! Best of luck to you and no matter what labor is like for you-- it really is ALL worth it.

[Lyndzie]

Oh - If I DID poop during labor-- I had no idea! That was the last of my worries;) hahahaha
No puking either- Stadol (etc) didn't make me sick- just looping for 15mins.
Again- Good luck and when the time comes- You'll do Awesome!!!

[shelby]

I was induced with both of my girls. The first one was not too bad. I was 9 days overdue. I started the pitocin around 8 AM and she was born shortly after 8PM. I also had problems with the epidural. It wore off and I was going so fast on the pitocin that it couldn't keep up with the labor. Stadol was my friend that day. After 2 hours of pushing, my doctor decided I was getting tired, so he used a vaccum. I had an episiotomy and I tore. I didn't poop on the table either, but I know a lot of people do. They will tell you to push like you are having a bowel movement. I did take the birthing classes and it helped to know what to expect. When my husband finished the class, he said he felt better about things and I left feeling scared to death. When my epidural didn't work, I did use the breathing because I didn't know what else to do. In fact my throat hurt the next day from my hee hee has. I can't say it stopped the pain, but I guess it gave me something else to focus on.
With the second, I was induced 2 weeks early due to gestational diabetes. I thought it wouldn't be bad, since the first one went relatively quick and they always say the second goes faster. I was wrong. I went in Wed. night and didn't have her until Friday at 11:30 PM. I guess my baby just wasn't ready to come. I was stalled at 3-4 cm for 2 days. During those 2 days, the breathing really did help me get through the contractions since they were not that strong. It's once you get into the final stages that it doesn't seem to help too much. Once they finally broke my water, I was 10cm in an hour and pushed for 8 minutes and she was out. This time they just let me tear. This time my epidural worked too. The first shot only did half of my body, but then they did it again and it worked. It was strange though because even though I couldn't feel the pain of contractions, I could feel tremendous pressure. I can't even describe it. I guess since everything started happening so quickly it just put a lot of pressure down there. It was crazy.
I didn't puke or poop with either of them.
Recovery was not bad with either. You honestly feel better the minute you get them out. Not like a million bucks, but much better. With the second, my stitches bothered me more, but that was because they used a different kind of thread and it iritated me. I also had hemmorhoids worse this time.
Best of luck to you. I know it is scarey, but you get in there and you just do it. I kept telling myself it wouldn't last forever and when it was over I would have a beautiful baby to hold. I actually surprised myself because I thought I would be one of those people yelling at my dh and freaking out about everything, but I was fairly calm.

[Stacy]

Were you induced? yes - first one induced - 4cm 80% contractions stopped begged Midwife to induce and they started pitocin -- changed my mind after major contractions started but they said it was too late! - 2nd water broke no contractions not dilating or thinning...used pill to thin and then started pitocin

Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? 1st pain med (don't remember what) only 2nd - pain med did nothing had epidural...she was facing the wrong way so she caused back pain epi was wonderful would do it again in a heartbeat after saying that there was no way I would ever have one :)

(here's the tmi part - I'm curious as to how common this really is) Did you puke or do #2 during labor? No puke, but did have BM! My DH made sure to let me know even though I knew I did...just didn't care at that point!

What was recovery like? One thing no one warned me about was right after delivery they let you shower. It felt so good and I felt so clean in the shower...then I stepped out and looked down and stuff was running all down my legs...I just started crying cause I felt so dirty again...nurse reasured me it was ok and then handed me these net like undies and three super sized pads...she said trust me you need them and she was right.

Tearing or episiotamy? (I'm wondering if it's even possible to give birth without either of those) No tearing episiotomy for both...had to beg for both of them...1st midwife said it would stretch...after an hour of pushing I begged her to cut and she finally did. 2nd Midwifes were off that night and Dr was mean...I had to beg her also...don't understand why cause after the cut both times baby was out in about 2 or 3 pushes. 2nd time I pushed for over 2 hours! Pushing is the worst.

Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help? We took a lamaze class with 1st. It did help some. It was DH's 3rd child so he had been thru class and I was my friends coach so I had been thru it already too.

I agree to stay open because no matter what anyone tells you or describes it really cannot be completly described to you. And you never really know how your body will react to everything.

Good luck :)

[Ekaterina]

Hi there-
I lurk only and felt that i would like to share my story with you as mine ws very different from the pp's

Were you induced? NO DS was 10 days early!

Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? NO- %100 natural i did ask for a break though! LOL- :) i went in knowing that this was what i wanted to try to do it without, but i was open to taking them if i really needed it

Did you puke or do #2 during labor? YES!!! UGH but only a little and like PP i was not aware if it at all ( i had other things on my mind I did puke once in transition ( but only a little)

What was recovery like? MM good question- over all not too bad- the one thing i would reccemend is to get those little peri bottles- I could not pee without one for a few days -OUCH!!!( and dont worry about #2 it was not half as bad as i thought it would be! ) :) I was a bit of a car wreck down there for a few day sand it was hard to sit on hard chairs...


Tearing or episiotamy? tear- still can feel where it was

Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help? Yes I think it helped the others more than me but i had my family there as well mum sister and hubby so it was good to have them

I had a midwife and I had wills at home, which was my choice. I found birth was amazing and i was lucky enough to have everything go smoothly and quickly less than 7 hours from water broken to baby. For me i loved the whole thing- the last journey of my baby with me and then having him on my tummy immed after birth was an amazing moment i was blessed to have. My sister had a c-section after labour did not progress and her recovery was uch more difficult that mine, so i saw both even though i did not myself expereince that.

My midwife told me that "birth will be hard, it will hurt and you will get through it" that was the motto for me during my labour. I am also very stubborn and that heloped too! LOL
Good luck with your brith and i hope that you have an amzing story to tell that meets with your expectations.

Katya

[Air]

Here's my experience with labor. I can honestly say that it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Now mind you, I was extermely terrified of labor. When I watched my first delivery in nursing school, I passed out. That's how terrified I was! I even asked my doc if he could knock me out completely for the entire thing. He laughed and thought I was kidding, I was dead serious.

Okay, I was induced 10 days early, due to elevated BP and swelling. Went in at 8am, was hooked up to the Pitocin around 8:30am. Now when I started I was 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated. Was exteremly bored and starving from 8:30am to 1pm. I was having contractions (that's what the monitor said, but I didn't feel them) (I never had any Bh either, not that I know of anyways). Doc came in around 1pm and broke my water. That's when I started feeling the contractions. Got a shot of demerol, didn't do a darn thing, started getting my epidural around like 2:30pm and I was in major pain because my contractions were on top of one an other, no breaks. Fully dilated at 3:15pm, pushed once and had to stop because he was coming and doc was in the other room delivering another baby. Started pushing at like 3:30pm, puked all over my nurse twice! My guy was born at 4pm. I tore just a little bit, but not much. Recovery time wasn't too bad, I was sore for a few weeks. Really slow moving. But other than that, I wasn't really tired or anything from labor. I didn't sleep hardly that night in the hospital, was ready to go home as soon as possible.!

Air

[qtgrk]

Great thread!

Were you induced? - Yes - after being at fully enfaced and 3cm for 4 days, went in at 7pm to be placed on monitor (hadn't had one contraction throughout pg and sure enough didn't have any while on monitor) - had dr break my waters at 10pm - felt nothing by midnight so I got a high dose of pictosin (??) - nurses had it on full blast through the IV - at 2am the contractions started and so did the pushing! I was a different type of case for the nurses because my contractions were 7 mins apart the WHOLE time -- even when my daughter was born.

Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? (here's the tmi part - I'm curious as to how common this really is) - NO Meds! No time -- I went from 5cm to 8cm to 10cm within 20 minutes ...

Did you puke or do #2 during labor? Yes, did both! Didn't help that I had just finished a steak/potatoe/corn dinner prior to going to hospital (didn't know I was gonna be put into labour that night)

What was recovery like? My recovery was really good -- only really sore to pee (burning feeling) - consider having to take a shower everytime you pee - I felt so much comfort peeing in my shower!! YUCKY!! but I had to do what I had to do .... :)

Tearing or episiotamy? NONE - dr & nurses were surprised that with the type of labour I had -- I didn't tear at all.

Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help? Took a class - thought it was great until that night -- everything I learned - well, couldn't remember a thing when I was trying to push my watermelon out!! LOL

Good luck!!
Kat

[maple]

Love telling my war stories:

Labour #1 DD-
Born 1 day before her due date. My dog had a nightmare (i am not kidding) at 2 am & nudged me out of bed. I went downstairs made a cup of tea and a bagel with peanut butter. Got up to put my dishes away, and LOUD POP! Water EVRYWHERE. Shouted to DH "My water broke"- he flew down the stairs, fully dressed and with my suitcase in 5 seconds! So cute. We drove to the hospital right away because I noticed some blood...but we did stop to return a DVD, didn't want the late fee.
Got into a room, puked all over the place, got the shakes and then got the epidural at 8 cm a few hours later. DD turned face up during delivery and ended up having a vaccum delivery. I tore. It was pretty painful but my mom bought me a rubber donut (used for people with hemmeroids) to sit on and that helped.
The birthing classes helped, I guess...but I didn;t get the chance to "labour". I wanted to go in the jaccuzzi, walk, breathe...but I just went too quickly.

Labour #2
Induction 1 week early due to leaking amniotic fluid. I have to say the pain from the induction drugs was WAY painful! I dialted very quickly and when they finally were able to give me the epidural (like the 2 emergency c-sections were more urgent than me!! LOL!) they thought I would have the baby in an hour, so they gave me 1 dose of the epi (and didn't tell me). When I was still pushing 2 hours later and screaming "Let me die" the Dr noticed I had no epidural drugs going into me! Well DS turned face up and that is the hardest way to deliver a baby.
I didn't puke that time, but I noticed that there was poop on me when they handed me the baby...I asked the dr if I pooped and she said "nope, he pooped on the way out!"
My tearing was pretty bad tht time. The peri bottle was a god send....I used it every time I peed for 2 weeks. I also used a stool softner and ate prunes because I was so scared of hurting when I pooped! I also used a sitz bath, that was good too....

But I was just thinking the other day that although it was painful, I do not really remeber the pain. The months of no sleep after is worse!!!

[Jenifer]

With Number "1" I went to a birthing class and was kicked out in an half hour for laughing hysterically! (They told us to imagine that we were tip toeing htrough tulips and they were playing Tiny Tim music!) I went into labor on my due date and went naturally. I was only in labor for 3 hours. After I gave birth I jumped in the tub and felt great! I even lost more weight then I gained.

Now with the twins that arrived 12 years after the first child, I did not take any classes. My water broke and I wasn't in labor for the first little one to arrive. But then my cervix closed up and my second little bean didn't want to come out. So they gave me a pitocin line and 3 hours later and the dr breaking my water my little lady arrived. But the dr had to keep her hand inside of me during contractions which made the entire process PAINFUL. My little lady had decided that she was going to come out head first with her legs over head. So the dr had to keep pushing her legs back in over her head.
I must say that even though I dropped 50 pounds in the hospital I still haven't lost all of my IVF weight gain and a few extra pounds.

[Dollyface]

With DD I think my labor was fast and easy. I started having contractions at 11:30pm while watching Jay leno. My contractions were like 8 to 10 mins apart and at that time I didn't know what it was until maybe 2 to 3 hours later when I tried to go to sleep but couldn't. Then at 1 in the morning I went to the bathroom and when I wiped my mucous plug was coming out along with a little blood. So I didn't think that was normal so I called my OB and she told me you better come in. So I go in and get changed and they examine me. I was in the exam room for maybe 1 to 2 hours before I went into my labor room. Then that is when my contractions started getting closer. I already had planned on not getting epidural. So the nurse asked me if I wanted it and I said no. So I was going through the pain for a while until maybe 6am. I couldn't take it anymore and I asked for the epi which was too late. Then at 6:30am my water broke. That was when the pain got so intense and by then all I had to do was just deal with it. Then by 7:30am I felt the urge to push then we started pushing and DD came out at 7:42am. That was my story. I'm hoping with this one it will be easy as that. I also walked a lot too. That last day I also walked and I think thats what triggered me to go into labor 11 days before my due date.

[Tamara]

OK here goes with my wonderful story.

Were you induced? No I was not induced went on my own 3 days after edd. Was 5cm the day of edd and OB said I wouldn't make it to Monday and she was right. Went into labor late Saturday evening.

Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? When I finally arrived at the hospital I was already 6-7cm and I got a shot of something to help with the contractions until I got the epidural. And I am all for that epidural. Worked wonderfully until the on call OB I had turned it off.

(here's the tmi part - I'm curious as to how common this really is) Did you puke or do #2 during labor?I didn't puke but did #2 and a lot of it. Doesn't help matters that I ate very well at Steak-n-Shake before I went into labor. The hospital where I delivered was an hour and a half drive so needless to say once I knew I was in labor, it was a long drive ahead of us. My contractions felt like I had to poop and I seriously couldn't get off the potty as I thought I had to poop, but I couldn't. Needless to say I made it to the hospital, got out of my truck, had a contraction, and pooped at the same time. Sucked really bad. The one thing I didn't want to happen, happened. I also did just a small amount while pushing, but I think most people do a little bit. Why wouldn't you?

What was recovery like?Well after a long while pushing my son refused to come out and his heart rate kept dropping and they needed him out so I had to have a c-section. The recovery was long and hard. My hubby helped me out so much I don't know what I would've done without him. He showered me, dressed me and even cleaned my area below with the water bottle when I couldn't. He was a 100% champ and will love having him there for the next time as well. The nursing staff that I had was wonderful also. That always helps.

Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help?I personally feel that it did for me. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know and just had fun being out of the house and doing something like that with my husband. When the OB on call shut off my epidural, I was 10cm pushing so hard to get my son out and he wasn't budging, and then wasn't allowed to push as his heart rate was dropping all while they prepared me for surgery. It sucked. Had my husband not been up to speed on what I needed as far as the breathing and not pushing, it worked total wonders for me. You never know what is going to happen till you are there. Once you are there, there is no going back and wishing things were different. I say go to classes even if you think that you know what you are doing as I did, but it really came useful for both DH and I. Next time I have to have a scheduled c-section and I am actually looking forward to that.

I wish you tons of luck on your upcoming delivery.
Tamara

[ButtonsAndBows]

You know, I've been told that I would forget all about the labor and delivery part of the pregnancy, but 17 months later, and it is still vivid!:eek:

I was induced 7 days early because the Dr. said he couldn't find much fluid. I went in on Thur. night and rec'd my 1st round of cervidil (sp?). Friday morning at 4:00AM, I start having contractions, but they aren't doing anything to change my cervix, so here comes round 2 of cervidil around mid-morning. I'm in pain by the afternoon, but am not given anything because my cervix has not changed significantly. By 4:00PM, Dr. comes in, checks, I'm in real labor now, about 4-5cm. For some reason I missed, they do not give me anything for pain. (This hospital is the only hospital on the island of Ketchikan, AK, where we were stationed as DH is in the USCG. The staff was so small, there isn't anyone there to perform epidurals. Ever. So, at my birthing class, I knew epidural was no longer an option:( ) I do get to labor in the jacuzzi for about an hour. While in the tub, I feel like throwing up. Nurse checks me after I get back in bed, I'm in Transition, thus the feeling like throwing up. I labor throughout the rest of the day, night and early morning with no change from the 8cm.

I labored in every position there is, even on the toilet. The nurse had me do practice pushes, and yes, I did the BM:o . But like a lot of other women, I didn't care. They did give me stadol, which I found to be totally useless. The only thing it did for me was put me in La-La land in between contractions. By 3:00AM Sat. morning, the Dr. decided I had had enough and decided I should have the C-Section. I was ready to kiss him!

I had DS at 3:41AM Sat. morning. Recovery went really well. After my operation, I was up and walking that afternoon. My SIL always told me that the hospital will not let you go home after a C-Section until they know you've had a BM. That was not the case here. They let you and then call to follow up on how you're doing and ask questions about pain and the incision and your gas and BMs:D .

I don't think I'll ever forget this one! I'm just glad I'm in a city where hospitals give epidurals out like candy!

[paulaswrld]

I love reading the stories. Thank you everyone for sharing.
~Keep em coming.

[honeybee]

Great idea for a thread- Hopefully it won't scare any Mommies to be!! I still haven't forgotten my labor either 3 1/2 years later but now after trying for 3 years for #2 I would go through it all again this second!! Here goes- I lost my plug at about 5 am 2 days before EDD. Contractions started about an hour later and got pretty intense quickly but were irregular. Went to the hospital around 5 pm where I was only 1cm- they monitered me for 30 minutes and I went to 4cm so I was admitted and was given the go ahead for an epidural- but before they gave it to me they gave me a shot of Nubane- which put me in lala land and really made everything after that hazy- which is probably a good thing. The epidural was wonderful- by 11pm I was fully dilated and started pushing. Three hours later I was still pushing to no avail- his head was there the whole time but never went any further- and his heartrate dropped so was rushed into emergency c-section. I did tear during the pushing so I had to get stiches even though didn't deliver vaginal. When they were doing the c-section, they tore my uterine artery when they were pulling my son out so I immediately was put all the way under and had a 2 hour surgery to repair the damage- almost had to have a hysterectomy due to hemmoraging but thankfully didn't. They did not tell me that anything had gone wrong-I just remember hearing him cry and than having the mask put on to put me under. I was in the hospital for 5 days following my c-section- 2 1/2 of which I wasn't allowed out of bed and had to catherized. The worst part of recovery for me was the day of delivery-I was so out of it and visitors came by non stop so I never got to sleep. I really was fine outside some minimal pain once I got home.
Now to answer 2 of your other questions- I did not poop during my 3 hours of pushing but was so paranoid about doing it that the first question I asked once I came out of anesthesia was Did I poop- not how is my son or why the heck am I coming out of anesthesia but did I poop!!! But in retrospect even if I had I absolutely wouldn't have cared!! And as far as birthing classes, I think they are great for the reason of getting your DH prepared for what is coming.
I hope my story wasn't too long and I hope I didn't scare anybody!!! But at the end you have a beautiful child that would do it all over again for!!!

[SWaters]

This is a great thread, keep the stories coming!!

Two questions: What's a peri bottle? and for those of you who had long labors, were you starving the whole time or did you get to eat anything? I am pretty worried about this because I hate being hungry!

[honeybee]

SWaters- I am not sure on the peri bottle thing but to answer your question on being hungry during labor- I was not. My contractions started around 6 am that day at home and I only had a little bit to eat around 11am- I ended up delivering at 3 am the next day. I Hate to be hungry too but it was never an issue that day. Actually the whole day I couldn't have eaten because my stomach was really upset-spent alot of time on the potty(sorry tmi!!!) before I went to the hospital...They say sometimes your body cleans itself out before you deliver and mine definately did!!!! Hope that helps!!

[Lyndzie]

Hi SWaters- my 'peri bottle' was a small squirt bottle that I filled with warm water and used every time I went potty. "Peri bottle" short for Perineum bottle-- to be used "down there" because basically toilet paper hurts to much for a long time after labor!!:D

And I was allowed to eat small things (energy snacks etc) but like Honeybee- I really had no desire to eat anything during labor and I was in labor for almost 20hrs! Just sips of water was all I wanted.

Hope that answers your question!:)
*smiles*

[SWaters]

Thanks Lyndzie and Honeybee, that definitely helps. Now my only thought is, oh my gosh what have I gotten myself into!!!! I do not want to use a peri bottle!!

[maple]

Trust me...you WILL want to use the peri bottle. Use it while you are pee-ing what a relief!

I didn't get to eat during Labour #1 and I was STARVING! They only let me eat ice chips. After the baby was given to me and everything and everyone was checked out I sent my sister downstairs to teh cafeteria to get a cup of tea and some toast.

For Labour #2 they wanted me to walk around to help with the induction. So since I didn't get a chance to eat before going to the hospital, my mom and I walked down to the Tim Hortons (coffee shop chain) in the hospital and I got a bagel and a cup of coffee! The nurse was horrfied (not in a bad way) when she saw me walking down the hall with my coffee, bagel and my IV...she said "I know I said got for a walk but please don't go that far. People in the coffee shop get nervous when they see a pregnant women hooked up to an IV" LOL...If I'd have known that I would have put on a little show down in the coffee shop- clutching my stomach, moaning OHHHH OHHHH" maybe I would have gotten my coffee for free!!!

maple

[maple]

oh forgot to add...you will want some stool softners too (I used Colace and prunes)....I didn't poop for 3 days because I was scared of the pain. of course not pooping for three days just makes it a million times worse!!!

[T&J's Mom]

Maple,


The story of your first birth was so funny, I know it probably wasn't funy at the time, but I nearly peed my pants laughing so hard. Thanks for sharing you guys, this is a great thread.

[maple]

I forgot to add in the first post that if my water hadn't of broken I would have been the proud owner of the REVO hairstyling system....I was watching the infomercial on TV, thinking "wow a rotating brush that will staighten my hair...what a GREAT idea!"...fortunately my water broke before I could get to a phone!

[paulaswrld]

I forgot to add in the first post that if my water hadn't of broken I would have been the proud owner of the REVO hairstyling system....I was watching the infomercial on TV, thinking "wow a rotating brush that will staighten my hair...what a GREAT idea!"...fortunately my water broke before I could get to a phone!

OMG! LMAO!!!

[2aprilbabies]

I was not induced. I went 3 days late with first child and 2 days late with 2nd child. First labor was 12 hrs from start to finish and second labor was about 9 hrs. I thought the pushing part was the easiest. I only pushed about five times with each child and they came out really quickly.

As far as complications go, With first child, he was in distress and they had to use the vaccuum to get him out. He wasn't breathing and his apgar was a 3. Because they needed to take him so fast I tore horribly!! It took a very long time for my doc to sew me up. It hurt to sit for a good week. I also had a hard time with my epidural. It wasn't working well at all. I had to have a second a third one done before it took effect. Mine was hard to place because I have scoliosis.

With the second child they had a super hard time placing my epidural and it kept sending shocks down my leg. I was crying it hurt so bad but they did finally get it placed but they soon realized it had been placed too high and it was causing serious complications. I couldn't breath very well and I couldn't swallow my own spit. I had to spit out my saliva into the puke dish. They had to give me oxygen and had to have a nurse with me constantly to monitor my situation. Since I had tore with my first son so badly I wanted the doctor to do the perineum massage(sp?) I think that caused more problems because I was so swollen from her doing that that I couldn't urinate after I had delivered. They couldn't even cath me because everything was so swollen down there. I was crying because I had to pee so badly and I couldn't. They finally called in another nurse who was finally able to put the cath in and then I was able to get rid of some of the pressure off my bladder. I had had 3 bags of IV fluids to stabalize me after the epidural ordeal so I had alot of excess urine in my bladder. After my son was born I had horrible headaches that wouldn't go away. During the process of placing the epidural they had punctured the durah(sp?) I had spinal headaches and the only way to fix them is to go and get a blood patch. They take blood from your arm and place it in your spine where they did the epidural and it is suppose to cover the whole and fix the final fluid from draining out which causes an inbalance in spinal pressure. They were worse than any migraine I have ever had.

If I am blessed with another pregnancy I will try to take the all natural route of childbirth. I have had so many bad things happen to me when I have tried to use pain meds. The complications from the epidural were way worse and way more painful to deal with then the actual labor was. I am hoping not to use an epidural ever again. But, I do think it had alot to do with the fact that I do have scoliosis and it does make it alot harder for the anesthesiologist(sp?) so properly place the catheter.

The most important thing to remember is that after all is said and done you won't remember how long the delivery was or how much pain you were in. The only thing that will matter is getting see to your precious little child and holding them. It certainly doesn't deter us from having more kids as usually if you have a child you most of the time want another.

Oh, and I never puked or went poo poo with either delivery. If I would have my DH would have let me know.

Also, if your DH is queazy about medical type things make sure he isn't getting too much of a view of what is going on. My DH dropped like a sack of potatoes when he was watching them try to put the epidural in place. I needed his support but he was out cold on the floor. NOT GOOD.

[luv2laf]

ood q's!

My full birth story is under WE're PG- under February mom's countdown--It was long & complicated, but I'll answer your q's here...

Were you induced? NO- WATER BROKE BEGINNING LABOR. CONTRACTIONS WERE 3 MINS APART AN HR AND A HALF LATER!
Did you have any pain meds or an epidural? NO, ON PURPOSE. I WANTED A NATURAL BIRTH. ALL THE RESEARCH I DID INDICATED THAT EPIDURALS OPEN YOU UP TO RISKS TO YOU & BABY. I WANTED TO AVOID THOSE RISKS IF POSSIBLE.
(here's the tmi part - I'm curious as to how common this really is) Did you puke or do #2 during labor?
YES---BOTH! PUKED 2 X, AND NOT SURE HOW MANY TIMES I POOPED--MAYBE 2X WHILE PUSHING. BUT HONESTLY, I COULDNT CARE LESS AT THE TIME. LOL. I JUST WANTED THE BABY OUT!
What was recovery like?
NOT BAD AT ALL. MY MUSCLES IN MY STOMACH SEEMED REALLY WEAK OR HOLLOW WAS HOW I WAS DESCRIBING IT FOR ABOUT 2 DAYS. FIVE WEEKS OUT I'M FINE. ABLE TO EXERCISE SOME & BLEEDING HAS STOPPED.
Tearing or episiotamy?
SMALL EPISIOTAMY. HIS HEAD WAS STUCK BEHIND MY PUBIC BONE & KEPT SLIPPING BACK IN, SO I HAD ONE TO GIVE HIM ROOM. DH'S COUSIN HAD NEITHER--EPISIOTOMY OR TEARW/ HER FIRST
(I'm wondering if it's even possible to give birth without either those)
Did you take any birthing classes and if so did it help?
BRADLEY-12WEEK CLASS GEARED AT HAVING NATURAL BIRTH.
I & DH FELT VERY INFORMED AND WILL USE BRADLEY NEXT TIME.

GOOD LUCK- THINK ABOUT WRITING A BIRTH PLAN TO COVER THESE ISSUES, BUT MAKE SURE TO BE FLEXIBLE. IF YOU READ MY STORY, I'M POSTER CHILD FOR ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.

[paulaswrld]

luv2laf, I read your story the other day. It was beautiful. I cried.

[luv2laf]

awww thx paula. it was an ordeal for sure.--& I was trying to say good questions!!