My birth experience is such that I had no one around me that knew anything about natural birthing. My mother had 3 C-sections and everyone else kept telling me horror stories of how painful it was. And as bad as my periods were I was scared to death of the pain of labor and childbirth. But I did go through doctor after doctor trying my best to find one who A) wouldn't give me an episiotomy and B) wouldn't use forceps and C) would let me labor how I wanted and to give an epidural only when I wanted one. 

Now having two children exiting my womb in at least a vaginal fashion since not completely natural. I have grown the sheer mental strength to tell people what I want and how I want it despite the places I have had my babies. Hospitals aren't for people who want to have totally natural births and total control of what happens to you. That being said you can have a good experience if you have one thing..

A GREAT PARTNER TO FIGHT FOR YOU

What happened to me was the exact result of having someone emotionally involved fight for me. I would highly recommend going with a doula or some family friend to be in there with you besides your husband/mom/partner to make decisions on your behalf so you don't have to.

Now I know that you can't pick your nurses so be very very very specific about who is in your room. If you don't like them TELL THEM TO GET OUT! It's your birth and having someone tell  you what to do just out of the sake of hospital policy is complete BS. 

If you have risk factors that are not conducive to having a home birth or if you are in my state where midwives are illegal and a hospital birth is your only route then a birth plan is a must and having a diligent partner to argue for you when you can't is MUST HAVE.

That being said I am a proud mama to two happy healthy babies and that is what matters.. so no matter what happens remember that you love them in you and out of you and what happened giving birth is in the past / will be in the past so don't spend too much time grieving over not having the perfect birth or the birth you desired.


First Hospital Birth Experience 

Quirks of Pregnancy




* You could end up burping for a whole hour and a half and stay up all night with heartburn.

* Your breasts might just start to leak everywhere.

* When you laugh, cry, or think, you pee yourself.

* You have no control of any emotion or bodily function.

* Brushing your teeth can make you throw up again.

* Your sense of smell is now a 20 mile radius

* You will be the most organized you ever have in your entire life


So organized in fact that I was trying to get to the fridge to eat a mango for breakfast , but on the way there I hit the junk drawer, after that was cleaned , I had to rearrange all the magnets on the fridge before I opened the door. By this time I had forgotten what I went into the kitchen for and decided then to alphabetize my spice rack. Finally, after all that was done my husband walks in and asks if I had breakfast yet, "No, can you get me a mango? "


Childbirth


* Labor is called this for a reason.


* The birthing suite is not where you will be put until they KNOW you are in labor, until then sit for 4 hours in a labor closet with a shared bathroom


* Your water may break, or leak, but it may just explode.

* People won't listen to your birth plan unless you make them.



I didn't even know I was in labor, I just kept cleaning the house and thought maybe I strained my back. Later that evening I started thinking for kicks I would just time it, because obviously this isn't labor because it doesn't hurt that bad. Well, I tell my husband that I am hurting a little bit before we go to bed ( I was 10-15 minutes apart.) I couldn't sleep so 10 minutes later ( now 5 minutes apart) I called my doctor and their response was ," You should have been here when they started to get 10 minutes apart."


My husband who was rudely awakened and still cross for me telling him it wasn't "real" labor, and now that it was he was rushing around trying to find his clothes and mine( I never got the pajamas so I ended up staying in the hospital gown the whole time.) So we get down to the hospital and they put a monitor on me and tell me to stay in this room ( closet) and the doctor will be in in an hour. 4 hours later... They finally tell me that I am in labor, but only 3 cm and in order to get into a room they must administer pitocin. I was in shock.. I didn't want this. But after talking with my husband we decided that I was already in labor it just needed a jump start and off it went. They came in to break my water ( again against my birth plan) and before they could I exploded. It felt like I had to push... and then pop my water broke. It was like the weirdest feeling I have ever felt.

I asked for my IV to be administered during a contraction so it wouldn't bother me as much. I am deathly afraid of needles. My epidural was easy compared to the IV. The IV was the worst part of my whole pregnancy and childbirth.

My husband almost missed his child being born because of the people of the ARAB police department threatening to arrest him. Sub story: We had a court date the day our son was born and we were fighting a ticket we had received while in that town. SO... he had to make the 2 hour trip there and back before I hit 10 cm. Needless to say the judge ended up not arresting him and even granting an extension to our case. ( but I was about to unplug my IV and go up there myself I was so angry!)

By the time he was an hour away I was at 10 cm ready to push. My doctor who wasn't even supposed to be there came to the hospital just to see me deliver ( I guess I made quite an impression on him) I DH flew like the wind and 15 minutes later he was at my side and 30 minutes after that our son was born. He didn't cry...he just looked around and was at peace with everything. I finally got to hold my little burrito after his bath and I was just thankful for a perfectly healthy baby boy.

August 28th 2006 12:07pm 6lbs 8 oz. 19inches long 

Second Hospital Birth Experience 

Around 1:30am on September 15th I awoke as usual to hobble to the bathroom on one of my many nightly trips. However, this particular trip would lead to me discovering that my water had indeed broken and I perhaps should call my doctor, mother, and tell my husband what is going on.

Around 2:30am we were on our way to the hospital and I had my first contraction on the way down. The ride down however was pleasant and there was a stormy sky so we got to watch lightning in the clouds the whole way down.

We arrived at the hospital 30 minutes before my mother, who was coming to watch William ( although he was an absolute angel the whole time) while I was in labor. They checked my cervix and I was 4cm dialted 80% effaced and still -2 station. They reccommended I go ahead and get my epidural if I wanted one because the of how fast my labor could go.

I received my epidural and was still feeling everything so they gave me a booster which helped but didn't fully work either. I focused on the light above my bed because it looks like the little indentions were water droplets and it gave me something pleasant to think about.

My father made his way to the hospital and brought everyone breakfast, at this point we were all just watching the clock roll by waiting for the doctor. The nurses changed shifts and with it the tone of my labor changed as well... Thus far my birthing experience was exactly as I pictured it and how I imagined.. that was not how it stayed.

The next nurse came and checked me as I told her my epidural was wearing off. The next man who gave me a booster on my epidural was amazing and nice and truly if he would have been the one to give it to me in the first place I wouldn't need a booster. I was a 9 1/2 cm and fully effaced but still -2 station where she pretty much stayed until I pushed.

The nurse had questions about my not wanting pitocin during my labor. I didn't want them to speed my birth up with it , however I said if needed afterwards it was fine and my Dr. was also made aware of this even though my birth plan stated "NO PITOCIN: I wish to augment my labor naturally"

I was told to start pushing even though the Dr. wasn't in the room. I got nauseated during pushing because of the position they put me in..I asked to be leaned forward instead of laying backwards. I started to vomit and by the time I was finished the nurse was begging me not to push because "I don't want to deliver this baby, you need to wait on the doctor" I personally would have loved to wait on the doctor, but if you recall my dear you were the one who started me pushing.

My doctor arrived and not even 10 minutes of pushing later came my beautiful 8lbs 13oz baby girl at 12:11pm who was 20 3/4 inches long with beautiful dark brown hair. I started to cry as they placed her on my chest...she was beautiful and wonderful.. then taken away to be weighed and measured.

My doctor said he would wait and see on the pitocin but that I might end up needing it and I said okay and he congratulated me as he left the room. I only needed 1 little stitch from where I tore and was feeling okay. The nurse came over to take out my epidural and then I started to have a panic attack or what I thought was a panic attack.

I had not stopped bleeding and quickly my poor husband who was watching the ignorant nurses rush about me was split up between a wailing baby who was basically left in the basinet and not even swaddled and his wife laying there across the room fading out. My nurse was about to hook up the pitocin when some nurse whom I never seen before came in and stopped her then started yelling at me " why did you not want Pitocin, now we have to wait on your doctor!" " where did you look the information up" My husband at this point was telling the nurse that came in that we had already discussed that it was okay to give me the Pitocin.

By the time my doctor came in my BP was 60 over 30 and he said " why don't you give her the Pitocin?!"
Already they had been pounding on my belly trying to stop the bleeding manually. My parents waiting outside heard the baby crying and knew she was okay and was born, but then heard nothing else until they heard my screaming from the nurses pounding my poor womb...then they knew something was horribly wrong.
Kevin went outside to let them know what was going on after they had stabilized me. Then came back in as they kept pressing on my belly.

As much pain as I was in all I can think about is the look in his eyes...and how much he was hurting. He really was scared to lose me...but it didn't hit me until I saw my mother when she came in with tears in her eyes and hugged me that I could have been lost. I am an extremely lucky woman to have so much love surrounding me.

I finally got to hold my baby...and hug my other baby who had been so good through the whole thing. While I can't say that the experience is what I wanted it's what happened and what I went through to have what I have in my arms right now, so that being said I will try not to let it upset me..

I am home and happy safely protected by my loving husband and strong little man. Right now I am just going to focus on them and let everything else fall by the way side.

  September 15th 2008   8lbs 13 oz. 20 3/4inches long