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Parenting Club Forums > General Pregnancy and Labor Discussions > Birth Stories !!!

Posted by: Mommieto2Girls Jun 13 2003, 12:40 PM

Here is the birth of Madison Elizabeth , my EDD was 9/9/02, this was written on October 23, 2002, I also added to the story. Sorry I haven't been on in a long time but had comp problems.Back on August 26 I went for my 38 wk checkup, I was dialiated 1cm and had high bp so doc decided to induce at 12:00am after my bp was stabialized. I was already having contractions about 3-4 min apart. I got to the hospital about 4pm(they were so busy I had to wait a hour and a half to get a bed)I got an iv and my bp still stayed the same. At 12am the pitocin was started which was on very low and everytime they tried to turn it up my bp would get higher.So they kept turning it off. At 7:00 am my doctor showed up and broke my water(I was only at 2cm)the pain was awful.at about 10am I was finally at 4cm and got my epidural which felt great then the excitment began. The babys heartbeat started going down they put me on a breathing bag and the nurse started tapping on the babys head(yes still inside)everyone was running around getting some kind of meds ready and then finally her heartbeat went back up I had to lay complety on my back and tilted to my left side,then the epidural wasn't working , so they gave me another shot in the iv but since i was on my left side I felt all the contractions on my right side. At about 12:30pm I was at 6cm and stayed there until 2:30. I was checked and was still 6cm and the anasteologist gave me something different to see if it would help with the pain, within a half hour I felt 2 urges to push but wasnt sure because I didnt think I was ready.Boy was I wrong . The last shot was working then my doctor came in and checked me and I was at 10cm yippie. He said lets see how you push, I got to push for 3 contractions and the babys heartbeat went down to 10 beats. They told me to stop pushing and the said he could feel the babys spine, and I need c-section. They started running around I started crying and husband freaked and so did my sister. By the time my husband got in the room to do the c-section they had already began. The baby was face up instead of face down(still not sure why her heartbeat went down).The doctor told hubby to look and when he did , Maddie was looking right up at them, hubby started crying and I was like what's wrong, DH couldn't even talk, The doctor was telling me everything that was going on. Afer they got her out , doc put her above the curtain so I could see her and dripped blood on my cheek ( which the anasteologist(sp?) wipped off my face. They bundled her up and brought her over for me to see and since my arms were strapped down they put her to my hand and let me touch her, then he brought her to my face so I could give her a kiss before she went to the nursery. In recovery DH went to be with Madison, he kept going back and forth from me to the baby. I was shaking so bad and I was so cold they gave me a warm blanket and gave me a small amout of demarol(sp?). My mom and sister came in , both crying, asking me if I was ok. I told them I am fine. My doctor pretty much stayed there the whole time and there was a nurse sitting at the end of my bed the whole time I was in recovery. I remember my mom asking the doc , will she be able to have any more children, I can't believe she asked that while I am laying there. Of course he said yes. Finally I get up to my room and they didn't bring Maddie in until 8:30pm. Finally I get to actually see my daughter. I tried to BF but they had already given her a bottle. She just wouldn't latch on. I remember the first time getting out of bed, OMG it was awful, they don't tell you your going to bleed everywhere. I thought I was hemorraging(sp?). (the big pad wasn't in place). The nurse is telling me it's ok, your fine , DH almost died,he leaves for a walk with the baby, I was starting to cry. She helped clean me up and the floor. She was really nice. When we left the hospital Madison weighed 6lbs 4ozs. I had my staples removed exactly 1 week after delivery, which was awful to, I had 1 staple that turned inside out, (took 3 nurses to get it out), and another one that the skin started to grow over it(I guess my body didn't want to let it go). Madison Elizabeth was born at 3:47pm and weighed 6lbs12oz and 18 inches long on August 27 she was perfect and healthy.With a apagar of 9,9. Thank you for reading my story. Charlene(25)Chris(28)Madison(8/27)

Posted by: amynicole21 Jun 13 2003, 01:02 PM

HEy! I just read this somewhere... LOL!!

Posted by: Mommieto2Girls Jun 13 2003, 01:06 PM

Yep, hehehe, Thanks for finding it for me. I completly forgot about looking through the archives. Oooops mommy brain , lol If anyone knows how to pin this so everyone can post their story , it would be great.

Posted by: supermom Jun 13 2003, 01:47 PM

Well, I won't go back 18 years - lol - but we'll just do Anders..... I was due on April 11th, but had experienced BP problems the whole pregnancy. They had me on meds for high BP since about the 4th month, and it kept creeping up and they kept upping the meds. We went in weekly for non-stress tests starting in the 7th month, and seemed to be doing fine. Since I had the high BP and also they estimated that Anders was more than 8 1/2 lbs, the doctor decided that I really should be induced. This was supposed to be a VBAC, so we got to the hospital at about 7 am on April 8, 2003. They got me all comfy and started the pitocin, and the contractions were going pretty good. By lunchtime, I was 4 cm, and I asked if I could have an epidural (relief, blessed relief!!). I progressed steadily, and also the epidural helped with my BP too (since your BP tends to drop when you get one). At 3 pm I was totally dialated and ready to start pushing, I was SO excited that I was finally going to get to meet this little person. First push, his heart rate dropped to just about nothing. They let it go back up and let me push one more time, and it did the same thing. So, then all heck broke lose. My doc is telling the nurse to call in another doc (who we also knew) to stand by in case the baby needed to be recusitated. All the while, since everyone went into overdrive, no one bothered to tell us exactly what was going on. They did tell us about the C and started getting me prepped. About then, I grabbed one of the many nurses and told her that she needed to stop and explain exactly what was happening. She told us that each time we pushed, baby's heartbeat decelerrated to basically nothing, and that s/he was going to have to be delivered by emergency C-Section. They took my DH aside and got him ready to go into the surgery room with me and then we were off. Since I already had an epidural that was working well, they started as soon as they got everything hooked up to me (heart monitor, oxygen, etc, etc). DH held my hand the whole time and I was doing a lot of praying and tears were running down my face. The nurses were wonderful telling me that I shouldn't worry, things would be over soon. After the doc cut me open and they started to pull Anders out, they had mentioned the cord was wrapped around his neck, which was why when I pushed the heart rate dropped so bad. He was delivered at 3:37 pm on April 8, 2000. My poor DH didn't know whether to stay with me while they stitched me up, or whether to follow Anders to the nursery. I told him to go ahead and go with the baby (who was perfectly healthy, BTW) because there wasn't much he would be able to do for me...... Guess it was a busy day in surgery, because I got to do surgery recovery right there on the delivery floor because there wasn't any room in the recovery room. So, all of the older kids, and our kids' 'adopted' grandparents, and Eje (DH) got to come in while I was still technically in the "recovery" room, and that was pretty cool. I even got to feed Anders for the first time while I was still in there.... Even though it ended up being (another) C/Section, it was probably one of my best delivery experiences overall. Everyone around me was great, my DH was extremely supportive, and getting to see everyone right afterwards was wonderful. Liked it so much, I'll have another one to post up here in just a little while....teehee Thanks for reading, everyone!

Posted by: amynicole21 Jun 13 2003, 02:59 PM

Here's my novel - LOL! Short story: Sophia Cameron born 9/4/02 at 1:15 pm. 7 lbs 10 ozs, 20” long. Long story: I had been suffering a horrible rash for over a week. It covered my entire body and itched so badly that I was nearly driving myself insane. I went to the doctor when it was just starting to show up in my stretch marks on my belly, and she told me it was just my skin stretching - use cortisone cream. Well, needless to say the cream did nothing, neither did Benedryl, Aveeno baths, Lanicane... I tried it all! I suffered all the way through Labor Day weekend itching and scratching myself until I bled. I hadn’t slept in 2 days and I was losing it. I called the doctor on Tuesday and was told to come in again. I just wanted a steroid shot or something, but when she saw the rash she said, “ok, time to get you delivered!” She asked how I survived the weekend... I was sort of pissed. So they set me up for an induction that night! I ran to work and cleaned up a few things then headed home. DH and I headed off to the hospital at 7pm and got settled in. They inserted some sort of prostiglandin (not cervadil... Can’t remember which) and hooked me up to those horrible monitors. At 1am they started the pitocin and inserted the IV. Now, I am horrified of IV’s and had really wanted to try to avoid using one altogether... Goes to show you how nothing ever goes according to plan! So, I had panic attacks for the next 3 hours, couldn’t look at my arm where the IV was and just cried. My hand swelled up because I wouldn’t move it (I could feel the IV in there so it was better to keep it completely still). At 7am the midwife broke my water and it was ON!! My cntrx were immediately 1-2 mins apart and getting progressively more painful. I always thought I would be quiet in labor, being kind of shy and all. I was just short of shouting through each contraction, feeling totally out of control. DH was so scared! They came in and gave me a shot of Nubian which did absolutely nothing. Then the epidural guy came in 30 mins after the shot and inserted the epi (I was at 3cm). I felt good for about 10 mins until I started to feel everything on my right side. The epi guy came back in a gave me a booster and all was well for 5 minutes. All of a sudden I had to poop - the nurse checked me and I had gone from 3cm to complete in a period of 15 minutes! Time to push. By the time the midwife came in she could see the baby’s hair - this was going to be quick, I was sure. Well, since I had just received the epi I couldn’t feel a thing and was having trouble pushing correctly. She stayed in that “almost out” position for the next 2 hours with me pushing with all of my might. By 1:00 pm all I wanted to do was go to sleep. They wouldn’t let me put my legs down because the baby drew back up every time. So I had my knees to my shoulders for 2 hours. I was so frustrated that I was crying and beginning to lose it. Finally, at 1:15 I did something right (still don’t know what) and the baby finally popped out! She was holding onto her cord close to her face so I tore a bit, but only a 1st degree tear - not a big deal. Until then we had been on the green team, so I was so happy to finally meet my little mystery baby. DH cried and I was blubbering so loudly I think I scared the midwife! She has a head full of fine, straight black hair and the most angelic face I have ever seen. We are having some trouble bfeeding (my nipples look like hamburger meat) but I plan on going to see a lactation consultant this week. DH has been so helpful, I couldn’t have asked for more. Just got back from her 1st appt and the jaundice she had is gone. She is back up to her birth weight and doing great. She has one of those mongolian spots someone mentioned a few months ago - it’s on her backside. Doctor said it would fade over time. I have been crying tears of joy and disbelief since we got home on Friday. We lucked out, she is so perfect. I never knew I could love someone so much.

Posted by: CantWait Jun 13 2003, 03:52 PM

well I'll make this short and simple...... with Robbie, my dh had come home from military training for the labor day weekend. I was still 5 weeks from my due date at this time. The night before he got home my mom and I were at BINGO, I had to keep excusing myself to use the bathroom, thought that I had to have a BM. My mom warned me right then and there that I was in labor, but I didn't believe her because that wasn't one of the symptoms that I had heard about and it was still to early. The next day I woke up and wasn't feeling well, I was crampy and thought I was hungry but didn't have time to eat. Finally I had a little something, and was feeling better. Later on in the day I started to feel crampy again so decided I must be hungry (must be thinking I'm dumb by now), DH ordered pizza, I ate a full medium to myself. After that we went to bed and did the nasty, well I'll be danged, it start to hurt like a son of a ***** if ya know what I mean, half an hour of this going on we decided to go to the hospital to see "what was wrong" They ended up doing a pelvic, and low and behold I was 6cm dialated. About half an hour before I delievered I had a shot of demerol. Well when it came to delivery time, I don't remember a thing, the demerol had finally kicked in and I was too drugged up. Roberto Enrique was born at 2:30am at 6.5 21 inches long, an angel born when daddy was there, even though he was suppose to be born 5 weeks later when daddy wouldn't have been.

Posted by: Schnoogly Jun 13 2003, 06:55 PM

For those who haven't been depressed by it yet, here is Iain's birth story Iain's Birth Story The intro: Iain Samwise was born on Tuesday December 24th, 2002 at 9:20pm. He was 6lbs 10.7 oz and 19" long. My due date by LMP was Jan 1, 2003; by ultrasound Jan 2, so he was 38 weeks 5-6 days. This is my first pregnancy and first baby. I turned 28 two weeks before his birth. In Feb 2002 I was in a major car accident that I was lucky to live through and it made my husband and I reevaluate our family plans--life is too short! Within hours of his birth Iain was diagnosed with a severe congenital heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot and he is currently in the NICU awaiting surgery (as of January 3, 2003). I had no idea of his defect before his birth as my pregnancy was uncomplicated. I also really wanted to have an unmedicated birth but was open to the possibility of an epidural (read on to find out if I got one!). Here is his story! On Thursday, December 19, I had my first internal exam at the OB-about a fingertip dilated, 25% effaced, -3 station, no bloody show, no mucus plug, nothing. OB thinks I'll be late and goes on vacation for the holidays--was she wrong!! On Friday morning, December 20, I woke up with a fever & chills--hello holiday flu season! I spent Friday-Sunday in utter misery with headache, fever, chills, diarrhea, etc. On Saturday I had several hours of pretty painful BH contractions, mostly centered in my back, and a terrible backache. I started to think this was it but fell asleep so I guess it wasn't quite yet--the flu made every pregnancy complaint so much worse! I was just feeling better on Monday December 23 when I was lying in bed at 11pm, felt a kind of popping sensation, thought it was gas, but rolled over in bed and a little fluid leaked out--not so much as it would be obviously my water, but enough to wet my underwear. I told my husband I thought my water had broken and he immediately sprang into action and raced downstairs to put the carseat in the car. I wasn't entirely sure though, so he called L&D and explained the situation. They said that if the leaking continued it was definitely my water; if not, probably urine. Well, it didn't leak at all for about an hour so I decided to go try to doze on the couch so I wouldn't keep my husband awake. Soon after I got down to the couch the contractions started--they were entirely centered in the middle of my back. I was pretty wiped out from the flu so I decided to try to sleep a little--I remember the Tonight show was on and I kept waking up to back pain and Jay Leno's voice, and then falling asleep again. This went on until about 3:30am when I woke up to a big one and there was no way I was going back to sleep! I decided to wait to call my doula until I was really suffering since it was 3:30am, after all, and so I took a shower and started to get things together and timed the contractions. They were exactly 3 minutes apart. Also, when I went to the bathroom after waking up I had a huge amount of really watery clear mucus that had a tiny little blood streak in it. I was still in denial that I was in labor since I really wanted to recover from the flu first, but this began to convince me a little. I woke my husband up at 4:30 and told him the contractions were 3 min apart. He got all of our bags into the car and I spent some time on the birth ball, just rocking. I was worried about the back pain because I knew it meant the baby was "sunny side up" so I tried to get on my hands and knees but this was absolutely excruciating! Only sitting and leaning forward a little was remotely comfortable. At 5:30am I called my doula and she came over around 6. I was starting to have more regular leakings of water and a lot of gooey mucus (yuck) and I explained everything to her. She had me stand and lean on a chair while she rubbed my back. Around 7:30-8 I took a bath and the contractions got a lot worse while I was in the bath-lying on my side or back were also really, really bad positions. The water helped but I just couldn't get comfortable in the bath. I spent more time on the ball & we timed the contractions again. They were now about 2-3 min apart and lasting a minute or more--time to go to the hospital! I arrived at the hospital around 10:30am and they were annoyed that I waited so long after my water broke. They tested me to make sure that it did, and yes, membranes ruptured. They checked me and I was 2-3 cm and 100% effaced and -1 station. The midwife confirmed that the baby was "OP" or posterior, AKA "sunny side up", hence the hellacious back labor. She also declares that I have a "great pelvis," especially for delivering a posterior baby, but that I'll have to push very, very hard. The disappointment was serious--I thought that contractions less than 3 min apart (and which felt like being whacked in the back with a tire iron!!!) plus the shakes, crying, & nausea just HAD to mean at least 6-7cm, if not transition!! This was not a textbook labor. I whimpered, moaned, and asked my doula how much longer she thought it would take. She thought I'd progress fast since I'm 100% effaced-I am not so sure. I am starting to think I'm about to pay big time for having a relatively easy pregnancy. I got hooked up to the monitor and there was a little heart deceleration so the midwife wouldn't let me get in the shower. They spent a great deal of time trying to take blood from my veinless arms, gave me a hep lock for the antibiotics (Group B Strep) and went through something like three different blood pressure machines to get a reading. All the electronic machinery kept malfunctioning around me-I was beginning to think I had been kidnapped by aliens. One blood pressure reading was 190/120 and they freaked out, but it turns out the machine was not working right. I was really suffering at this point since I hate having my blood pressure taken-it hurts worse than contractions! Finally they finished and left us alone. My doula rubbed my feet, my back, and spent a lot of time telling me I could do it. Some time passes; I think it's about noon when they next check me. The contractions were coming on top of each other, with less than 30 seconds in between. I was found to be 4-5 cm now, whoopie! My doula told me I would definitely move fast now. I was losing confidence and focus now though-the back pain was really amazing-I would not wish back labor on my worst enemy!!! At 1:30 pm I was still 5cm, at 2:30 5-6cm, and I had just about had it. I told the nurse that I needed an epidural and asked what needs to be done so I could get one. I apologized to everyone, especially myself, but I really didn't think I could handle 4-5 more hours of this and then pushing. I had not eaten anything for 3 days or slept much because of the flu, and I had no strength at all-I kept thinking that maybe if I hadn't had the flu, or hadn't had back labor, or progressed a little faster I could have done it without meds. The nurse, however, said "I think that is a great idea." She started the fluids and told me the anesthesiologist was in the OR but was almost done. "Almost done" must mean at least half a century in hospital speak! My doula reminded me to ask to be checked again before they did it since I might have progressed a lot more. To be honest I don't remember the next hour very well-all I could think was that the pain would go away soon and I could rest. I remember saying "I just need a break" over and over again (I wasn't getting one from the contractions about 2 minutes apart, holy mama). The anesthesiologist finally arrived around 3:30 and my husband and doula were asked to leave the room-no one should see that giant needle! I hunched sitting over the side of the bed (just try doing that 9 months pregnant without contractions! Then add intense pain and holding still while your back is pricked-getting an epidural is no picnic but worth it, I'd say) while the nice Indian doctor (I could understand not a word he said but he sure knew what he was doing!) stuck me. Getting the epi is so weird-the sting of the local is not as bad as an IV placement, but the test sticks to see how it's placed send weird shocks down your legs. The placement took about 15-20 minutes, I think, and at the end my legs started to feel warm and I started to feel the beginning of a monster contraction and then it just disappeared! The nurse stuck around to make sure it was working OK and asked me if I felt anything. I could still move my legs a lot-they finally felt warm! I had been so cold since arriving at the hospital. The nurse asked if I could feel contractions and I said not really. She said "Good, you're having a whopper right now!" At times I felt a little pressure, like the painless BH contractions I had been having for months, during the contractions. The next 4 hours went by very pleasantly. My doula and husband and I chatted about movies & other fun stuff. I began to progress much faster-about 1cm per hour until at 7pm I was found to be 9-10cm with just a little anterior lip. At one point the nurse asks how my epi was doing and I said "WONDERFUL! That man is getting a basket of fruit!" Everyone laughed. I was glad to be so entertaining. The midwife was called at home (she went home to cook some turkeys for Christmas dinner and clean her house for guests). She got there a few minutes later and we decided to try pushing with the epidural since I had so much feeling left-it really was a perfect epidural. I did feel a lot (well, what I thought was a lot but stay tuned!) of pressure in my butt-like someone shoved a grapefruit up there! I was in a reclined position with my feet in the stirrups to push against (they were deemed too large & heavy to be held by my coaches). I pushed pretty well for about 30 minutes until the head was ready to come under my pubic bone. I spent the next hour desperately trying to get that head under the bone. The midwife stretches me and puts her fingers down in my perineum to help me find the right place to push. My eyes started to bug out of my head & I tried several other positions-hands and knees, both sides, to no avail. Head will not budge. At this point it had to be around 8:00 since the midwife's turkeys had to come out of the oven at 8:15 and there was a lot of discussion about which attending nurse was going to go over to her house and turn the oven off. I kept thinking "I'm working hard here, people, can we shut up about the damn turkeys?" but I think I actually apologized for taking so long. They tried to convince me to turn the epidural off but I was really reluctant to do this since the memory of those back labor contractions was so strong and terrifying. Finally, they talked of more heart decelerations and possibly a vacuum. They turned the epidural off anyway. I was totally detached and really losing any sense of where I was or what was going on. I only remember the pain in my eyes (I had a wet washcloth over them) from pushing. They let me rest for about 10 minutes while the epi wore off. NOW I began to understand what pressure meant, and had a tremendous urge to push! They wanted my bladder to be completely empty so there would be as much room as possible, so I try to pee, couldn't, and they did a little catheter which got hardly anything since his head was in the way. My husband told me later that when the midwife stuck her hand in I then peed all over her, but I had no idea this was happening at all. I also think I pooped a little at some point because I remember someone wiping me, but again, didn't care at all. I pushed and pushed until he's just about out (+3 station) and they made me reach down to feel his head, which was about an inch from out. You would think this might encourage me to get that baby out but his ears were stuck fast. They mentioned the vacuum again, gave me oxygen (which smells like stale air, by the way, yuck!) and the midwife said that she wasn't allowed to do it so they needed to call the doctor on call (another doctor from the practice since my OB was on vacation) and she was doing a c-section at a nearby hospital so I pushed some more. All I could think at this point was that he needed to come out NOW and I didn't care how-if they had to cut me, fine, even though that wasn't what I wanted. The midwife was trying her best to stretch me out but I was so swollen from all the massaging it wasn't working very well. The midwife tells me an episiotomy would be a really bad idea because I have so little space between my perineum and my anus and I might end up with an anal tear. This scares me enough to get in a few more good pushes but that was it. I was done. I had been pushing for two and a half hours and had been in labor for 22--only about 4 of them with the epidural. The doctor came in and things moved fast. They slipped the vacuum in (I hardly felt this at all) and I pushed with the next contraction and I felt a great relief. I know she cut me but I didn't feel it at all. I remember asking "Is he out? I still feel pressure" and then they asked me to push again. The rest of him slipped out and it was the most wonderful feeling. They put him on my tummy and he was so slippery and solid, totally covered in vernix (really thick for an almost 39 weeker) and his blond hair was plastered to his head. They rubbed him and noticed he wasn't crying well so they took him over to the side. My husband must have cut the cord, but I don't remember this. At this point I knew something was wrong as I had wanted him on my tummy while the cord stopped pulsing. The doctor began to stitch me up, which I DEFINITELY felt-the local didn't work at all even though she shot me twice (I don't know what degree episiotomy but I remember at least 20 stitches!). But I kept asking about him and they said he wasn't pinking up or breathing as well as they'd like so they needed to take him to the transition nursery for evaluation. I was asked to push hard to deliver the placenta, which tore a couple of the stitches so she had to redo them. I got to hold him, all bundled up tight, for about a minute. We decided on his name at this point-we wanted to wait until we got a good look at him before picking from our list of favorites. I said "He looks like an Iain" and my husband said "yes." His giant blue eyes kept blinking at me but his nostrils were flaring and he was blowing bubbles so they took him right away to the nursery. This began the longest night of my life. My husband went with him to the nursery and came back soon because they asked him to leave-he was being transferred to the NICU. Our wonderful nurse forged a doctor's order so my husband could stay in my recovery room that night (usually not allowed in that hospital). Iain was put on oxygen and I went through all the post-partum checks, massages, etc., and was moved to my recovery room when the epidural had totally worn off. We were told that Iain probably just had some fluid in his lungs, or perhaps some kind of infection, or perhaps a heart problem. We waited several hours. I was in total denial-I kept telling my husband that he just had some fluid and would be just fine. I think I fell asleep a bit. I had put on the TV to distract me and there was a weird "miracle of Christmas" show on. It was all very surreal-I couldn't believe I was in my room alone without my baby. About 4:00am the neonatologist came in to tell us the baby has a loud heart murmur and they had to do some more tests to figure out what exactly was wrong. She said the murmur was so clear that there was definitely a heart defect, probably severe, and they needed to do an echo to figure out what kind. I was asked to sign a consent form for an umbilical line, and she left. This was the lowest point for us. I remember my husband saying "what if he needs a heart transplant, what will we do?" I was completely numb, I could hardly move or think. At least I wasn't in much physical pain-my body was recovering pretty quickly. At 6:00am she came in with a xeroxed copy of the diagram of the heart defect he has-Tetrology of Fallot--and explained exactly what was wrong with him (a combination of 4 defects). She also said that he has a fairly severe form of it and explained what they could do to correct it (two surgeries, one temporary and soon, one permanent when he's older). I don't remember much of what she said as I was in a daze. My husband crawled into my bed with me and we cried together. About 8am we both were able to go to the NICU to visit him and he had so many tubes and wires-I didn't recognize the same baby that had been put on my tummy and into my arms all bundled up. I touched his head and he flinched and the nurses said he didn't like to be touched-I couldn't even touch my baby or stay with him very long since we were in the way in the small NICU. I asked to be discharged later that day. The worst part of being in the hospital was that I kept hearing all the other babies crying in their recovery rooms and every tech, doctor, etc. who came into my room asked where my baby was and I had to explain all over again. I couldn't stay there in that room without him-going home alone was bad, but I felt better there. I was able to hold & breastfeed him for the first time the next afternoon, and have been able to do so ever since. I'm happy to say that he has been very stable with the medications they have given him to keep his oxygen levels up until surgery next week and have every hope he'll be fine and come home soon! Thanks for reading! Update (January 24, 2003-one month old!): Iain's surgery went excellently on Jan 8th, 2003, and he was extubated the next morning, eating the next afternoon, and came home on Friday morning, January 10th. He has been eating and gaining weight and making us very happy to have him home! He's even starting to hold his head up and is very active and alert. The cardiologist expects that he will have his open heart surgery at 4-5 months or when he weighs 6 kg. Update 3/20/03: Iain had his full open heart repair at almost 3 months--a little early because he outgrew the shunt and began to have blue spells in March. The surgery went very well and he only has a 20% chance of needing more surgery later in life.

Posted by: ~CrazieMama~ Jun 13 2003, 08:29 PM

Here is the birth story of Brianna. On Saturday March 30, 2002 at 6:00 p.m. I was having my baby shower. I went through all the gifts and cut the cake and socialized. At around 7:30 or so, everyone started leaving. I was saying my good byes from sitting in a chair. The reason I was sitting was because I was having a hard time holding my bladder. If I stood up, I would litterally pee myself a little at a time. So, therefore, I was sitting and hugging everyone goodbye and thanking them all for being there. Well, the last woman was walking out the door at 7:45 p.m. and I heard someone yell that she fell. I was shocked and stood up quickly. When I stood up my water broke and my god was there alot of fluid. I ran to the bathroom to make sure that it was my water that broke. Of course it was. I yelled for someone to come, but of course my mom and the woman who threw the shower were at the door with the ladie who fell on her way out. Whe the ladie finally got up and left, the rest of the night was focused on me. I called the doctor at around 9 p.m. He said to go to the hospital. Of course I live like an hour from the hospital. I had no contractions and was in a pretty goot mood. Well, my mom said to wait till morning but I was not bound to wait cause when I had went to the doctor on the Wednesday before, I was 4 cm dilated. I called my sister (Mommy2Madison) She was 1 1/2 hours away. She was working at the time and she left work and come up to my house. I packed some clothes just in case. When she got to my house, it was around 10:45 p.m.My mom, my sister and I got in the car and left for the hospital. We got to the hospital at 12:10 a.m. Sunday morning. The nurse checked me and sure enough my water broke. I was staying!!!!! WooHoo!!! Finally, this was gonna be over with. I don't remember how I was dilating throughout my labor. But I do know that I was laughing throughout the most of it. I had demerol at around 5:00 a.m. or so. But there was no pain really, I wanted to make sure I get because I was told if I do not get it, I would not be able to get it later. So I waited for the contractions to pick up speed and get stronger. I swear it was around 6:00 a.m. that it happened. I was in pain till 6:45 a.m. I pushed and the nurse kept telling me not to because I was only 9 1/2 cm...yeah right!!!! Whe you gotta poop, you gotta push. This was my second baby, so I knew what was happening. The doctor did not make it in time. I pushed a couple times and out she came!!! The nurse delivered her at 6:47 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 13.6 oz and she was 20 1/2 in long. Apgar was 9,9. I had a wonderful experience and would love to have another, when I am married of course!!! Hope my birth story was fun to read. Looking forward to reading others.

Posted by: msjennbug Jun 14 2003, 10:37 AM

I've not read all these posts - but I do plan too! Esp when I'm so close to a due date I LOVE reading birth stories. Here's my most recent, he was born 11/11/01 and this is copy/pasted from the email I sent out about it: For weeks we've been wondering just what we were going to do for childcare when we had this baby. There just wasnt anyone to keep the girls. It was looking like Alex may have to stay at home himself. In October we learned of a airline special that we could fly my mom down for a visit at no cost. She had Veteran's Day off and decided to take the Friday before off and come down for a long weekend. We all began praying that the baby would make his entrance when my mom was here. She could stay with the girls AND she'd get to meet the new baby! OK, skip ahead to two weeks ago. I went to the midwife for my regular appointment and she is worried about the baby's size. Thinks he's going to be really big. There was also some question about my urine sample. So she wanted to check my cervix. She did and it was all closed up. She encouraged me to take the Evening Primrose Oil and apply natural prostaglandins on the cervix as well. I was a bit discouraged that day. I was really tired of being so BIG and pregnant and miserable. And with the contractions that I'd had they hurt enough that I thought surely there were dialating me. NOPE. Next Monday went for my regular appt. The midwife still worried about the baby's size asks how much against induction I am. I said that I wanted to avoid it BUT if she was thinking that she was going to encourage me to go that route that it needed to be this next weekend when my mom was here. Well, she wanted to go ahead and check my cervix again, to see if it was good for induction, if there'd been any changes, stuff like that. For someone who didnt want ANY cervix checks this was a whole lot of checking! Well, I was dialated. Between 3 and 4, but she called it a 3. This encouraged her and ended all talk of induction. She scheduled to have me come back Wednesday to have Evening Primrose Oil put directly on my cervix. At that Wednesday appt the midwife brought in the head midwife with her to see what SHE thought about the baby's size. The head midwife guessed 9#8oz and my midwife guessed between 8#13oz and 9#2oz. I laughed and said, "I can DO that! I thought you guys were talking double digits!" (little did we all know!) She said I was dialated 3-4, closer to 4. I was told to come back Friday and have more Evening Primrose Oil put on cervix. Friday mom came in and I was having a day where I wasnt even miserably pregnant! and I felt like it would still be forever before the baby came. My mom and I went out to eat, just us. Cheesecake Factory. Yummmmmy. I think this is where the baby put on that extra pound! LOL Saturday I wanted my leftover meatloaf from the night before for breakfast. I thought this was strange so ate biscuits with everyone else. Then about two hours later I was hungry again and wanted the meatloaf, so I ate it! Upon a trip to the potty I came out to announce that we had "bloody mucous". Mom asked what that meant. I told her "nothing! baby could still come today or weeks from now" LOL We made plans to meet my grandmother for lunch in a town an hour away so that my mom could visit with her mom while she was here. On the way there I started having the crampy contractions. By the time we got there I told mom that I thought we needed to go back home and not stay. I didn't think I was ready to go to the hospital, but I didnt think I should be an hour away either! We got the kids some food and I started timing contractions. We did go to the hospital. I was checked and said to be 4cm. Ya, thanks, that's what I was Wednesday. They monitored the baby for a while, then had me walk the hospital for an HOUR! I'm not used to walking an hour at a time! My legs were like jelly and I was so tired when we got back! She checked me, no further dialation. So, home we go. At home, I layed down and napped. I still had contractions, they were further apart, but still pretty good size. Then I started to feel totally yucky, flu-like and I had fever. Alex called the midwife to see if this was "normal". She said to go on back to the hospital and we'd "stay all night if we have to". So, off we go again. When we got there I was dialated to 6cm. Contractions were pretty intense for a while and then they started to taper off. They were still strong when I had them, but they were coming further apart. This actually worked out well, I slept! LOL Because of the fever I had to get an IV. I had two bags of IV antibiotics and a bag of "sugar" water. I really hate IVs Thankfully after the second bag of antibiotics they locked it off. The needle was still in my arm but I wasnt attached to anything. (As soon as he was born, the needle came out too) Around 5:30am the midwife came in and checked my cervix. I was at 7-8cm, closer to 8cm. I told her that I was disappointed in my body not working right and asked what we were going to do next. I only heard two of the options before choosing one. 1- go home. If contractions were to pick up again or water to break would most likely NOT make it back to the hospital or 2- break bag of waters and see what happens. at 6am she ruputured my membranes. My friend who was standing in as a doula for us and my dh were sleeping through all of THIS part! When the midwife went to break the bag of waters and they turned on the lights, etc they woke up. GUSH. Then my friend asks, "Jenn, are you sure that's what you wanted to do?" (In the birthplan I had stated I didnt want AROM but would take that over pitocin) I laughed b/c she was a little too late in asking! LOL I told her, "it's better than going home!" Contractions picked up then. We moved to the labor tub. The midwife didn't want to deliver him there because of his size and not being as available to help him if he needed it. I really enjoyed it in the tub. I rolled up a towel and placed it at the small of my back and when I had a contraction I pushed on the towel and it helped tremendously! Midwife said I could stay until the contractions were worse and I felt like I needed to push. Well, that didn't take long! I had to get out of the lovely tub of water and walk back to the LDR room. Upon standing in the tub, I had a contraction and got to push just a little. Then again before getting into the bed. Then everything's kinda fuzzy except for memories of extreme pain, feeling of an elephant coming out of me and some screaming. It felt to me like I had to push forever. The midwife says it was only about twenty minutes and my friend concurs that it wasnt even 30minutes. I think I remember asking for an epidural at this point and seriously wondering waht was wrong with me for not getting one sooner. He came out and I wanted to go back to sleep. I was so exhausted. They asked if I wanted to hold him right then, but I didn't have any strength in my arms! They weighed him and everyone whooped about how big he was. Ten and a half pounds. It wasnt very long before the placenta was delivered. Then everyone oooed over how BIG it was. The midwife said the placenta was a large as some people's babies! But, the baby nurse had already left and taken the scales with her, so we didnt get an actual weight on it. BUT it took up the entire bowl! I tore a little. Ya, a "little". She said it was a perfect tear and asked if I'd had an episiotmy ever. I told her no, that I just have torn. I didn't need any stitches inside. After I was all repaired and felt a little rested I got to hold my baby. He's adorable. He looks a LOT like Caera did. He nursed like a champion right from the start. I had a little run in with the hospital pediatrician and later that night with the nursery nurse. No regrets on the one with the dr, but I felt bad about the nurse. The dr told me that my baby HAD to have the purple die on his umbilical cord. I told the dr, "NO, he does not. We've had two babies get it, two babies not get it. Our babies that did not lost their stump much sooner. He does not need it, we don't want it" The nursery nurse that was on duty then came back later and told me I'd done a good job. LOL But later that night when a nurse came and told me to call them when I was ready to sleep they'd come get the baby. Well... anyway... it ended up I apologized and did let him go the nursery. We stayed as short an amount of time that they'd let us. The pediatrician didn't come until her lunch, so we had to wait 1/2 the day. **The girls are totally in love with him. they want to love on him constantly. Caera wants to hold him. Maegan wants to pet him. Cate wants to sit next to him. Mollie wants to do all those! Now we move on into adjusting our lives to a new member. He's nursing well. My milk came in this evening. I'm a little perturbed that no one reminded me how much latch on hurts in the beginning of nursing a baby! I've given myself a headache from anticiapting the pain and scrunching up my whole head. Thankfully it doesnt last long ) Alex is home this week, he will have to go in and edit some, when? we've no idea! but he HAS to, so we'll figure somethign out. Mom left monday night. She was a big help. she did laundry and cooked a big thing of lasagna before she left.

Posted by: msjennbug Jun 14 2003, 10:41 AM

And our firstborn: (the others I dont think I have on this computer) The Birth Of Our Mollie I'm going to begin this story from it's conception... no further back than that. When we got married I immediately wanted children. In the very beginning we did use birth control pills, but they made me so ill that i discontinued them. Then for two and a half years of doing nothing to prevent a baby we still didn't have one. I cried and cried. Finally Alex admitted that he just didn't think he was ready for a baby yet. So I began to cry to myself, not letting him know just how upset I was, but crying out to God all the time. About a week after his pronouncement that he was not ready, he said he'd been doing some thinking. He was ready. That night was the beginning of our Mollie. Now skip forward to nine months later. Our due date was February 3. We had a doctor appointment the 1st and he set up an induction for the 3rd. So at 1pm on the 3rd we had an appointment at the hospital, where the doctor was going to apply a gel on my cervix to help bring labor closer. He said it usually takes 3 or 4 applications before labor actually starts. He was planning on doing two on that day. They took me in a labor room and hooked me up to all the monitors. One for the baby's heartbeat and one that measures contractions. The doctor finally arrived and put the gel on at 3:15pm. At 7pm the nurse still didn't know if we were going home or staying at the hospital and having a baby. They made me walk up and down the halls to make the baby drop. A little before 10pm they broke my water. After they broke my water I had to lay on the bed with it tilted so that my feet were elevated above my head! Alex began calling everyone to tell them the baby was coming. This is when the pain got unbearable for me. I asked the doctor for the epidural. He said they had to monitor the contractions for so long first. He left and a nurse came in. I then begged her for an epidural. Ten minutes later the anesthesiologist gave me the epidural. Then the pushing started. I barely had time to get the epidural (wish I had known that then). The doctor got ready to wheel my down to the delivery room, but upon inspection the baby was crowning. So he said, "we're going to have to deliver here". ANd we did. I pushed through 3 contractions. Then came relief. Baby was here at 10:21pm. Then they wheeled us down to the delivery room to clean us up. The whole time I kept asking about my mom. "Was my mom there?". When we left the delivery room headed upstairs for our hospital room, Mom was finally there!

Posted by: mummyof2boyz Jun 14 2003, 05:15 PM

Hayden was born on Oct. 3 2002 at 1:25pm. 8 15oz 22in. He was 1 week over due. Thought he was never going to come. I was due 09/26. He was a big suprise delivery. Around 6:30am. I started to have what I thought was gas(I sit back and laugh about it now) My DH worked over nights and got home around 7:30 am. I told him about the pain and we did not think to much about it. around 11:00am I was really in pain and thought that maybe I was constipated(hah). Well DH got me a BIG glass of apple juice trying to help me out. I kept going to the bathroom trying to poo(sorry). Then around 11:30am I called the doc. office to see if there was anything safe over the counter to help my constipation. The nurse told me to go to the hospital because she thought it might be labor. Around 12:00 we get there. They check me, leave the room with out saying anything then come back with another nurse who checks me. Says that I am 8cm almost 9. I was so scared, I said "I need drugs" they say"sorry, you are to far along for them" I say"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" I could not believe this was going this way. Around 1:00pm I start wanting to push, the doc is in surgary so they are telling me not to push, finally I said I am push and so I start to push,Meanwhile my 3yr old is in the room with us, we had to wait for someone to come to the hospital to get him. I am sitting there moaning in pain and he is playing on a chair with his cars telling me to Shut up. I laugh now but then it was not to funny. Anyways, they finally call in a diff. doc and are getting him dressed when in 2 pushes, the Head pops out. The doc ran over just in time to grab him. So after only about 2 pushes we had a little bundle of joy. such a sweetie. Sorry to be so long, just thought I would share my birth story for ya'll.

Posted by: Hillbilly Housewife Jun 16 2003, 06:21 AM

Pinned it for ya!

Posted by: MommyToAshley Jun 17 2003, 07:00 PM

Ok, after a little nudging and hinting (M2M..hehe), here's my novel. Thanks for letting me share the happiest day of my life with you! At 4 P.M. On Wednesday, September 4th, I went for my regular OB appointment. Since our baby's due date by ultra sound was September 1st, the doc discussed the options for induction. He said we could come back the same night, or we could come back the following Monday. But, he would not let me go over a week past her due date. We elected to come back at 8 P.M. that same night. I couldn't believe it was finally time for our little girl to be born -- I had waited so long! We arrived at the hospital only 4 hours after our OB appointment. It was a busy night at the maternity ward, so we had to wait about an hour for a room. Sitting in the waiting room, I still couldn't believe that our little girl would be here sometime the next day. During the wait, we had a little time to discuss her name again since we hadn't decided on a name (we had it narrowed down to a few favorites -- Ashley, Ashleigh, Sierra or Paige). Finally, we were settled in our room at 10:00 PM. I was hooked up to the monitors and I was given the first dose of cytotec, which is used to soften the cervix. The baby's heart rate looked great, and I am having minor contractions (like I had been having all week). Around 3:00 A.M., which is our little one's normal active time, the baby starts to do her gymnastics. The heart rate is irregular when she moves, so the nurse comes into check on her and adjusts the monitor belt. About 1/2 hour later, her heart rate continues to drop and jump around whenever she moves, so they decide to start the pitocin instead of giving the last dose of cytotec. By this time, I am scared about the heart rate dropping every now and then. I lay on my left side, and the baby settles down and the heart rate stabilizes for a short time. The contractions get stronger, and as the morning goes on, the heart rate drops as the baby moves. I am given oxygen as a precaution and the baby settles down. About 7 a.m. the doc comes in and breaks my water (it was about to break on its own) and attaches a monitor to the baby's head to closer watch her heart rate. The contractions get stronger and stronger. I am offered an epidural but turn it down because I want to have the baby natural. At about 10:00 a.m., I am to the point that the contractions are so unbearable that I am shaking all over... and the contractions are coming one after another. The nurse comes in to check and I am only 6 cm dialated. I asked how much longer she thought it would be until I was fully dialated and she said it could be 4 more hours. At this point, I decided to have the epidural ... I knew there was no way I could survive 4 more hours! At 10:20 I was given the epidural, and by 10:40 I was fully dialated! At 10:45, I pushed a few times. The baby's heart rate dropped below 60, so the doc had to use suction to help get the baby out fast. (It was later determined the reason for her heart rate dropping was because the umbilical cord was long and she would restrict the flow through the cord whenever she would do her gymnastics.) Ashley was born at 10:46 a.m. - a healthy baby girl. I remember hearing the doc say, "we have a baby girl, a BIG baby girl. " I waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity (but was actually only a few seconds) to hear her cry. I felt relief and so much joy at the sound of her cry. I begain to cry when the doc (who was singing Happy Birthday) held her up for me to see. She was so beautiful!! Rod then cut the cord as the Doc was now singing "Set Me Free". Her apgars were 9,9 -- a perfect and healthy baby girl weighing in at 8.98 lbs and 21 inches long. This story is only the beginning of our fairy tale and looking forward to "happily ever after".

Posted by: booey2 Jun 18 2003, 08:47 AM

Hi, I have read thru the births and thought I would start with Matthew, my first born. Well I all began back on a Wednesday in June of 1998, I had planned to work until about 1 week before my due date, but because of the way the pay period ended for work and I worked for a Jewish man he decided it would be better if I went on maternity on June 30th. As it turns out it was the best thing to happen. On my last day my company (I worked for a catering company then) decided to have a special dinner and throw me a shower. They had prime rib, red wine the works and a delicious cake. All morning leading up to lunch I was having pretty bad pains in my back and was quite antsy. I didn’t eat any of the lunch or touch the cake. Got some nice stuff as gifts and went home to go to my doctors appt. See the doc and she says I am about 1cm dilated and will see me at the next appt. I ask about the pains and she said it was normal. Go home then and rest. I can’t remember the night but by the afternoon the next day I was pretty cranky and sore. I called the hospital and they said to try having a shower and call back if I wasn’t any better. Had the shower and no change so off to labour & delivery we go. Once there they check me and I am still only 1-2cm but I have fever so they monitor me for a while. I also made the mistake of having a tuna fish sandwich for lunch and some orange juice. All I can say is that it was much better going down then coming back up. The only position I wanted to be in was sitting up leaning over the bedside tray on a pillow. By the time they decide to break my water to check on the babe it was around midnight, and once they broke the water there was meconium in the water so they asked if I wanted to be induced now or sleep til 7am and start then. Well of course I said sleep. They had been giving me shots of nubain to help with the pain. Oh what a great drug until they run out of spots to stick you. Mind you I was and still am a plus size mom so the shots wore off rather quickly. I went to sleep around 2am and DH went home to pack my bag because we didn’t think it was time to have the baby when we went to the hospital because this was July 3rd and I wasn’t due unit July 23rd. He got back to the hospital around 6am and snoozed in the chair at the foot of my bed. July 3rd at shift change the nurse comes in and asks if I am ready, you bet. She starts the pitocin and asks if I want anything for pain and I said I would love some more nubain. We get a couple of shots and I don’t really remember much until they put the epidural in because I was running out of fatty tissue to stick me. Once the epi was in DH wanted to go and get something to eat, it was now around 11am. So off to the café he goes cause they tell him it will be a while yet. All I can say is I am glad he is a fast eater. He got back to the room at about 12:15pm and I was complete by 12:30pm and ready to push. We pushed till 12:50pm and Matthew was born. His apgars were both 9 and he was 6 pound 9 ounces with a full head of dark hair and a perfectly round head. 20 days early. He remained nameless for about 5 hours because we had yet to decide on a boys name. We were discharged within a day and set up the post partum check up later then we were supposed to because the ped here was late and we couldn’t get an appt till after our 4th day at home. As it turns out he was yellow with jaundice and we were lucky we were going to the hospital for our check up. We got there and he was fine and happy, within half an hour he was like limp spaghetti and really yellow. The doctor couldn’t believe we had waited this long to bring him, I felt awful. DH told the doc to back off, we were first time parents with very little support in the city we live in (my family is all out of town) and I was doing the best I could, nobody told us to supplement him if he wasn’t eating enough, I didn’t know anything about my milk not coming in. Hindsight is 20/20 and now we know better. Anyway we spent two days under the lights and everyone is fine now almost 5 years later. Thank you all for reading this far.

Posted by: booey2 Jun 18 2003, 10:11 AM

Now the day Thomas Michael was born, November 23, 2001: I got up Friday morning and got Matthew of to the babysitter and headed to work. After a couple hours there I started to feel mild contractions, thinking they were BH I kinda ignored them, worked thru them and timed a few. I had a muffin for breakfast and only eat about 2 bites of it and didn’t feel right (now this is not like me, I love food). Didn’t think anything of it at the time. I ordered a great club house sandwich and fries for lunch but the whole time while I was waiting for it I thought I had to go #2 so I must of made about 20 trips to the washroom. All the while not telling anyone anything. My DH called around 12:30pm and said he may have to work on Saturday and I said not to make any plans cause this might be it. I had never been in labour on my own so I didn’t know what to expect. When my lunch arrived at about 1:30pm I ate maybe 1 quarter of it and gave the rest away. At 2pm I called my boss and told him I had to leave and go home as the pains were getting unbearable to try and work thru, he said to go straight to the hospital, ya ya. Anyway DH came and picked me up at about 2:30pm got home tried to call the hospital, got put on hold forever, so I decided to have a shower and see if that would help, no luck, tried the hospital again, got thru and they said to come in. Once at the hospital they checked and monitored me, 1 - 2 cm and not enough contractions so they sent me home. I should have stayed there because the walk to the car was H***. I never thought I could be in so much pain. What should have taken 2 minutes to get to the car took about 10-15, I kept stopping with contractions. We got home ( we live 2 mins by car away from the hospital) I saw Matthew gave him a hug and called my sister and mother. All the time talking to my sister (who was going to be in the delivery room with us and she lives an hour away) she kept asking if I was okay. I guess with a couple of the contractions I stopped talking to her to breath. Assured them I was okay and would call if we went back to the hospital. I got into the tub on my left side because the contractions were getting worse. Let me tell you it is amazing what warm water and a bath will do. I was in heaven until I thought I was going to go to the bathroom again #2, got out sat on the john, finished and noticed that my plug had come out so told DH it was time to go back to the hospital. This time I didn’t even call them. DH dropped me at the front door and went to park, I told him I could walk in no problem. Got in the door 10 feet had to stop and breath. Two ladies that I had met on my first trip early that day saw me and asked if I was okay I said yes, but they proceeded to get me a wheelchair, I couldn’t fit into it comfortably (being big again) so I opted to walk with their help. They took me right up to L&D floor where my DH met us and thanked them. Just before we said goodbye I asked if they were nurses, nope they worked in housekeeping. They were much better than some of the nurses I encountered (oops that would be another post another day). Once the nurse came and saw me she took me straight to a L & D room, hooked me up to the monitor and tried, yes tried, to check me. She had to call the doctor to come and check me because she couldn’t get in far enough to find my cervix. As it turns out my bag of waters had bulged so far out the doc couldn’t tell how far along I was without breaking them. Once she did, I was 5-6 cm and thinned out. No wonder I was in so much pain. I asked about my epidural after about an hour and the nurse said to let her check me first, she also said I was doing so good with my breathing that I didn’t need one. My doctor heard her and wasn’t to happy. So they check and I am 7 and my doc says to find the anesthesiologist and get me an epidural. My DH had called my sister and she showed up around 9pm just after my epi was done and I was in great humour. My sister has had 4 children all with epi’s because they came too fast. She couldn’t believe how good I looked. Anyway, we sat around chatting til about 11pm and I felt things get a little strange. I felt like I had to poop again. the nurse checks and we are all ready to roll. I pushed for about ½ hour and Thomas came into this world with more hair on his perfectly round head then Matthew, weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces and he was again early, by 10 days. We again were discharged fast but because he was born on Friday night, they kept me til Sunday and we were booked back for a check up on the Tuesday as well as his circumcision for the same day. He had a mild case of jaundice but was released home. We are all doing great now 18 months later.

Posted by: Mommieto2Girls Jul 3 2003, 07:23 PM

I just wanted to bump this up and let everyone know what a joy it is to read all about the best day of our lives. I love reading everyones stories, I think I've read everyone's twice already. All birth stories are welcome , so anyone that would like to add there story , feel free to start typing.

Posted by: booey2 Jul 4 2003, 04:41 AM

Love to read them, bumping this up again.

Posted by: Kaitlin'smom Jul 10 2003, 11:20 AM

here is mine........EDD 1/15/03 Just a prelude I had told her any time after the 27th of December was okay, for 2 reasons: 1) I would be 37 weeks at that time and I was old it would be ok to deliver then 2) boss was out of town for x-mas so I had to work alone through the 27th. here we go..... I woke up Friday morning Dec 27th about 6am and was kinda having pains high in my stomach, so I woke up DH and told him he asked me to tell him everytime I was feeling this so I did and he said I think your in labor, so he called the hospital and talked with a nurse and she said bring me in to be checked. So we got up and packed (had not finished packing my bag yet). Off we went to the hospital on the way we made 2 calls on to my boss who was in Texas to let him know I would not be able to open the office that day (felt bad about that) the other to a co-worker who went over to the office to put a note on the door leting people know it would be closed and to call the 800# for assiastance. So we got there and the hooked me up to the monitor, this was also the first time DH got to hear her heartbeat he was amaised. They checked me and said I was not dialitad and still hard. They left me there for a while and the contractions I felt stopped. So they sent me home about 1p. We got home and put plastic on the bed (just in case, with new matresses and all did not want them runioned) and laied down and took a nap. I woke up about 4:30p my water broke, I felt like I had peed a little but then I went to the restroom and it kept streeming, I woke DH up and told him he asked are you sure, I told him I have never peed like that before. Well I though maybe I did not so I went to lay back down and felt like I needed to pee again (said to DH she must think my bladder is a squeese toy) and just after I got up woosh, I said yep it broke, well since DH saw it happen he believed me and called back to the hospital, they said bring her in. So off we went again this time druing 5'oclock rush hour. DH called the local radio station to see if there were any problems on 75 and told the DJ why well he patched up right to the traffic guy and he said nope nothing, then they went on the air to warn the 75 traffic to move out of the way, it was sooo funny to hear us being talked about on the air! SO we got there ok and I was ammited again and the took me back to triage and as I was changing I took the towel from me and saw it was green, and told DH who was helping me we have to tell them, thats mecumum. So I got hooked back up and they checke dme and I was dialited 3! So I got my own room, once they got me settled I sent DH to get him some food for it might be a long night. I really dont remember what time it was but sometime I am guessing around 2am I got the epidural, I just could not handel the back labor (she was sunny side up). I really was hoping to go with out it but in the end I was glad I got it. My nurse Rachel was great she talked me through the whole thing and it really did not hurt, the most I felt was a little prick and then the jump from the test to see where they were, heck I think the IV hurt more! So After i got that I was able to sleep well I dont remember much I think I slept for about 3-4 hours. It was about 6am when she can to check me again I was dialited to 9 100% effaced, she had me try pushing (she wanted to be there for the birth) well not much happend so I rested and at 7am I was fully dialted and ready to go So I started to push with the contractions, not much movement by about 7:30a. My doc came in and saw me I asked her if she could see the head, she told me a little more out and she could help. So we push again, not much movement but a little well I pushed for about 1 hours when trouble started, she was not moving down any, her oxigan was low and her heart rate droped down to the sixties. They started rollong me from side to side trying to get the HR back up, it was a little. I heard a nurse in the background calling the doc and tell her we are going. They unhooked everything and rolled me off. I remember looking up at DH and the fright in his eyes was someting I will never forget. They got me to the OR and her heartrate wa sback up, so they slowed down got me ready checked me again and was going to try and have me push again but with everything that they did to get her off the cord she was back up 2c and that was probaly about 1-2 hours of pushing! So they said the best thing was going ahead with the c-section. I said what ever is best for the baby. So sliced me they did! DH came in and sat with me, told me he went a head and made a couple called to my family and not to be mad he just thought they should know incase something happened. We did not want anyone there until after the birth. Well she was born December 28th at 9:05a 7 1/2lbs 20 1/4 inches long. They got all the mecomun out of her and she pooed for the nurses! DH was the first to hold her as I was straped to the table, but I got to see him hold her what a sight that was, unfortunally I could not get a picture of that moment. Then it was off to recovery for me. I did not get to hold her until that afternoon, it took longer for them to realse me from recovery I had a fever they wanted to get down. She was given a bottle first but now she is BF I am soo happy to have her in my life and can not imagine life with out her now. I hope you all enjoyed my story and I think I rememberd it all. If not I can edit it. So now you see why I was happy I had the epidural, they did not have to kock me out whcih would have also nocked her out and DH would not have been able to be there. I also find it funny that she listend and litterly came anytime after the 27th of Dec! Thanks for the tax break! ps sorry for the typos!

Posted by: MomToJade&Jordan Jul 18 2003, 01:59 PM

I love reading birth stories. Here is Jade's: The day before she was born I had an appt. My OB told me that I was 1-2 cm. and 50% effaced. She figured it would be about another week and I was like okay I will see you next week then. That night I had my baby shower. I received everything I needed and had a really great time. After all of the gifts were opened I said okay now I can have this baby. I also told my friend Chris that I would probably sleep until noon the next day. After the shower I went home, which was only three doors down and watched tv with DH. I remember looking at the clock, which said 1 am, and thinking I should really go to bed because I could have this baby any minute now. So I went to bed. At about 5 am I got out of bed to use the restroom. I was hospitalized at 28 weeks for a kidney infection so I was a serious water drinker. I waddled my pregnant self all the way to the bathroom and then all the way back. This is when I looked at the clock and said oh I have lots more time to sleep. So I climbed myself back into bed and curled up. Then my water broke. I jumped out of bed and said honey I think my water just broke. Well DH just shot out of bed and said are you sure. This amuses me when I remember it because my DH is a dead sleeper, he don't wake up for nothing. The fact that I just spoke at him and he woke up was just funny. He got dressed and I went back to the bathroom so I could get a pad on before I tried to get dressed. Everything was packed so we were ready to go. I called L&D up at Tripler and told them that I thought my water had broke and the lady there told me to come down. Now keep in mind that this is Labor Day weekend. I think everyone had a baby on Labor Day weekend. We piled everything into the car and headed to the hospital. Tripler Army Medical Center is up on a mountain and about 15 minutes from Hickam AFB. It didn't take us that long because it was about 6 when we finally got on the road. We got up to L&D and they put me in a room to confirm if my water had broke or not. I was pretty sure though and I soon found out that I was right. The doc told me that I would have a baby by the end of the day. They transfered me to a labor room. All of the LDR rooms were taken at the moment so I had to be placed there. I was feeling mild contractions, kind of like when on my period. They weren't very good so they decided to put me on pitocin. The nurse told me it might take a while for the pitocin to work, but it didn't. I started having contractions right away. It seemed like everytime the nurse came in she was uping the dose. The contractions were getting worse and I had been laboring for a while so I decided that I wanted the epidural. They came in and checked me and found that I wasn't dil enough so they gave me staydol. I got pretty out of it after that. I do remember that my DH held my hand through every con. and told me that I was all right and to breath. The nurse had to put an internal contraction monitor in after a while because the external one wasn't keeping an accurate account. I kept on laboring and vaguely remembered the pain. They came in to check me again and I was still only 4 cm, but couldn't get the epidural at this point because the guy who does them was in a C-section so I was given more Staydol. After that they had to put an internal heart monitor on the baby because her heart rate was droping with my con. I was told this after the fact and I am glad because I would have started to panic and I needed to relax. Finally after finding out that I was still only 4 cm I was given my epidural. I'm not really sure how long I had been laboring at this point, but I am thinking it had to be over 12 hours. I finally had some relief which made me relax. I was fully dil not too long after that. I don't think I had to push more then 45 minutes, and after the laboring this was pretty easy. When the nurse felt I was close to delivering they wheeled me into the delivery room. I pushed for a short time there and was relieved when Jade's head finally came out. I had to stop then because the cord was wrapped around her neck two times and they needed to get her free. It didn't take them more then two secs, then they told me to push and my beautiful baby girl was born. She started to wail immediately and despite her cord being wrapped around her neck was a 9/9 apgar. She was born at 9:37 pm on August 30th 2002. After 14 hours of labor I finally had my baby. She will be 11 months old on July 30th, and despite the tears that this post has envoked I am so happy that she is growing up so happy and healthy. I love her with all of my heart and I don't know what my life would be without her.

Posted by: CantWait Jul 19 2003, 01:39 PM

Well proud parents Ron and Marie and proud Big Brother Roberto are happy to announce the birth of Anthony Christian. Monday, July 14 I started having some contractions, they weren't really regualr per say, however I was having some bright bleeding along with them (now I realize it was just my mocus plug that had started to come out- wasn't really sure how bright in colour it was suppose to be). I went to the hospital that night, but they deemed that nothing was happening, I wasn't contracting regularly and I was only dialted between 1 and 2 cm. The following day, Tuesday, July 15 (my due date) I went for my last drs. appt. She did a lot of fiddleing around up there and said that I was about 3-4 cm dialted. We set up a date for induction just in case, but she said the way things looked and felt we probably wouldn't need it, and that I would probably delivery before then, and probably by the end of the week. Sure enough that day (ty ty ty ty Dr. Evans) I started having contractions around 1:00pm. I was physco crazy and even cleaned my house. By about 8:30 my contractions had started to come around every 5-6 minutes and they were a lot stronger. DH decided that it was time to go to the hospital. So off Robbie went to his babysitter and DH, Mom and I went on our way. I was finally going to meet my little bundle of joy. If he was born today, I would not only get to meet him but get all my money back from sears for all my purchases LOL. We got to the hospital and waited forever to see one of the nurses to check me out. By now the contractions were coming every 3 minutes. Finally one came, and called one of the residents to do a pelvic. Well, wasn't that just great. He had no clue as to what he was doing and he was making the experience a whole lot more uncomfortable then it should have been. Well, the verdit, I was 3-4 cm dialted, the same as the drs. office wayyyyyy earlier that afternoon. However the good news, I was deemed stayable, they would set my room up for me. After walking the halls for nearly 2 hours and resting very little, it was now about 12:30am, I am tired and they really don't want me to lay down, cause it's slowing the contractions down, they ask me if I want to have my water broken, but I knew that things would get worse if I did......I hesitated and finally about 20 minutes later I decided that it would be a good idea. Up until this point, the contractions were very bareable. Nooooo problem. Hahaha!!!! Just like I knew, once my water was broken (and can I say iewwwwww at this point) the contractions got very strong all at once, it was like someone was ripping a 1000 knives through my stomach (sorry to anyone pregnant and reading this right now). It wasn't like this with my first son. The nurse gave me gas, I then had a shot of moraphine, this was at around 1:15am. Nothing was helping with the pain so my mom finally talked me into getting an epidural at 1:30am Just as the nurse was putting the iv into my hand, I had the urge to push. Boy was the anestialogist(sp??? sry) MAD . The nurses hadn't checked to see how far dialted I was before they called her down, had they, they would have known that in the half hour that my water broke, I had dialated 6cm and was ready to have this kid, way to late for the epi. I gave about 6 pushes and he was out, crying right away (he sounded amazing) more gorgeous (even covered in goo) then I would ever have thought. Anthony Christian was born at 2:03a, weighing 7lbs 14 oz, 21 and a bit inches long. His first apgar was 9 and his second was 10. He was and is perfect. He's got lots of black hair ontop his head DH got to cut the umbilcal cord, I got to nurse as soon as my I felt better. I was having some dizzy spells and was very weak. Within a few minutes of having some orange juice I felt better. I got to take a shower while he went to the nursery to do all the things they gotta do to him, then I was showed to my room and got to go watch them bathe him. It was great except that last half hour of pain. The nurses sucked big time. Not impressed at all. The resident did better after that first time he checked me out, and my mom care doctor was great.

Posted by: kimberley Sep 1 2003, 09:37 AM

as you all know, i was terrified of being induced. i birthed both my other kids without help and worried that the induction would only be the start of a myriad of interventions that would be necessary during a forced birth. thursday night was awful. i could not sleep at all and i am sure my BP was through the roof fretting about what was to come at 7:30am the next day. Jamie and i had spent the past 2 days trying numerous natural induction methods praying that we could get baby to come out on its own. i had cx from 7-15min apart for about 6 hrs thursday night and was hopeful. i fell asleep around 6am and the cx were gone i felt completely ill and told Jamie to call the hospital and tell them i was not coming for 7:30am. they said to eat and take our time. he made me breakfast but that didn't sit well and i was sick. we waited a while longer then i agreed to get going at about 10am. we get there and they were busy and put us in the waiting room for what seemed like forever. while we were there, anxiety set in and i told Jamie to tell the nurse i was leaving and to take me home. she told me my OB was at the hospital and he wanted to talk to me before i left, so again, i waited. he once again blathered on about the risks to the baby's health and even convinced Jamie that this is probably the best thing to do. he did a non-stress test for 20 min then told us the baby looks fine but that could change at any minute and he would feel better if we agreed to the induction. he didn't want the death of our baby hanging over him. (BTW, i really dislike my OB right now!) he told us to go walk and eat for a couple of hours then come back and have my water broken. yet another thing on my birth plan that i didn't want done! i finally convinced myself the pitocin would be ok if given gradually then he tells me they are gonna break my water instead!?! my head was spinning. Jamie and i went for lunch, talked for a while then went back only to be put in the waiting room again for hours. i fell asleep from sheer exhaustion then the nurse finally came in and said it was time. they put us in what had to be the smallest room i have ever seen and the on call OB said he was gonna break my water then start the pitocin. i was freaking out. this whole thing was out of control and NOBODY was listening to me. we finally got the resident to listen and they agreed to hold off on the ARM (artificial rupture of membranes) and start the pit. they started at 7pm. by about 10pm the cx were getting a little intense. i could still breath through them, but feared what was to come so i asked for the epi. that took about 20 min to put in. i still felt pressure but no pain. then the resident came back and wanted to do the ARM. i was not considering it, but then even the nurse said it will move things along and give them a better idea of baby's condition. after much thought and fear, i reluctantly agreed. i didn't feel a thing. first thing the resident said is "there is merconium present" and absolute fear came over both Jamie and I. the tears started and i just prayed that the baby would be ok. i thought it was all my fault for waiting so long and i was a horrible mom. not 15 minutes later i felt the biggest cx and tons of pressure. i started to panic that the epi was no longer working. Jamie called the nurse in and she checked me and said you are complete and can try to push. i pushed twice and she told me to stop. she paged the OB, the resident, and the baby respritory (sp?) guy cuz of the merconium. the resp. guy came and the baby's head was crowned. the stupid nurse tells me not to push cuz the Dr wasn't there yet and actually held her hand on the baby's head so it wouldn't come out grrrrr... that is like trying to hold back Niagara Falls with a square of toilet paper!!! Dr or not, this baby was coming out! the head came out and i asked what it was... they said that part wasn't out yet lol. then the resp guy and the nurse delivered the rest of her as she had no plans on waiting for these slowpoke Drs. Jessica Jade Swan was born at 11:25pm on August 29th. the moment she came out the resp guy cut the cord and checked her out. she was fine with APGARS of 9 and 9 and they placed her across my chest while they stitched me up. she is absolutely perfect and i thank God a million times that she is so healthy and beautiful! she weighed 7lbs 3oz and 20" long with lots of dark brown hair. Jamie and I are completely in love. btw, the baby was born covered in a thick coat of vernix. if she was really post term 2 wks, there would have been no vernix at all. it usually disappears or is very thin by 39wks pg so they miscalculated the edd and she probably would have come on her own if given the chance. i was lucky that it all turned out okay but next time, if there is a next time, i think i will go with a midwife and have control over my own labor and delivery. thanks for reading my novel LOL.

Posted by: supermom Sep 1 2003, 11:31 PM

Emily Kay's Birth Story Emily Kay was born on August 24, 2003 at 11:41 AM, and she weighed 7 lbs, 2/10 oz, and was 18 1/4" long. She was a fairly petite little thing! We were scheduled for an induction on that day, Sunday, because of a couple of different things. The doctor was concerned about the weight of the baby; he estimated that the baby would weigh about 9 lbs, 2 oz, and since he knew it was important to us to at least give a vaginal delivery our best shot, he thought it best we induce. I can't say I wasn't ready at 3 days overdue to meet our newest little one, but had it not been for my blood pressure creeping up and the baby's estimated size, we would have probably waited. In his "defense", he estimated my last child's weight exactly to the ounce, so we had no reason to believe we were not going to the hospital to have a huge baby! I had had my last doctor's appointment the Thursday before, and had been having contractions off and on for the last week or so, but nothing regular or constant. We got to the hospital just slightly behind our scheduled arrival time of 6:30 AM, and had followed orders with nothing to eat or drink after midnight, except for enough water to wash down my pre-natal vitamins, iron and blood pressure medication before we left for the hospital. When we arrived, they were all ready for us and proceded to do the wonderful check-in procedure, which included drawing blood. They tried and tried to get a good vein, but because I was a bit dehydrated from nothing to drink, they had a difficult time drawing any blood. They did manage to get my IV started with not too much difficulty, but the blood it took them a while. After all of that, when they did get me hooked up to the fetal monitor, they found that I had already started having some (pretty regular) contractions. Enough for my OB to ask when I had gone into labor on my own. I told him that it had been going off/on for several days, but if I would change positions, or get up and walk, they would go away. Guess they were pretty decent, at least at that time! But at 8:15, they did the Cervadil, and we were getting ready to really get this going. Right before 8:30 they went ahead and broke my water so that he could insert the internal fetal monitor so we could get a better idea of baby's heartbeat and also hoping to get things speeded up a bit, because of the fact that this was an attempt at a VBAC after two C/S. Since I had gone into labor on my own, he also wanted to see how far I would progress on my own. My OB wanted to make sure that I didn't labor very long because the chance of uterine rupture (although small) is always in the back of his mind, and we wanted to not have to do a C/S. Right after they broke my water, the baby's heartrate dropped to virtually nothing. We were made to lay down on our side, with our feet raised up above our head, and I was given two doses of amyl nitrate (that stuff is AWFUL, it smells like sniffing straight ammonia!), and also oxygen. It seemed like forever before the baby's heartrate came back up again, and we were scared. I was crying and praying and hoping that everything would work out. Finally, they managed to get the heartrate back up - it took a good two or three minutes!! That was the most scary part of the whole delivery. They explained that it was somewhat common that after the water was broke, sometimes the uterus could go into a long, sustained contraction (kind of like your heart fibrilating, except it's your uterus), and that was what caused her heart rate to drop so dramatically and so long. to drop so dramatically. To relax both my uterus and myself, he also ordered 35mg of demerol, but I told him to make me as less groggy as possible, so he knocked the dose down to 25 mg. It made me very sleepy, but that way I was also able to relax just a bit and calm down to help me breathe thru the contractions, which were getting pretty strong at this point. Also, they were pumping fluids into me to help me and baby, and the speed they were putting them into me was giving me a bad case of the shakes. I know it kind of scared DH, but I also knew it was normal to have them sometimes, especially when they are giving you IV fluids at the rate they were giving them to me. That's why my hand (where the IV was) still hurts even after a week! Unfortunately, the contractions had slowed down quite a bit, so at 9:20 am they started the pitocin drip. At 9:27, they did try to let me sit up a bit, and also checked my amniotic fluid for any meconium, which there was none. The contractions were getting quite strong, and I was dialated to almost 4. I asked to have an epidural as soon as he felt like he would be able to do it. (I admit, when it comes to labor, I am a wuss!), and at 9:56, even though I wasn't at 5 yet, they went ahead and started the test dose of the epidural. At 10:10, they adminstered the first dose of the full effect. Relief!! At 10:54, the epidural was in full swing, but they still had me on my side for the most part, because of the baby's heart rate. Every time I sat up or layed anyplace else but my right side, we had some slowdown of the heart rate. So, I was relegated to staring at the wall, and having Eje tell me what was going on with everything else. I was still pretty groggy from the demerol, but was trying really hard to stay focused on what ever was going on around me. I know somewhere in this time frame, my oldest DD called to ask if she and Anders could come on over, and I told her to go ahead, that it would be ok if they came in to see me while we were in labor (just not delivery). Since the epidural was working so well, they decided because of the baby's condition (not distress yet, but didn't want to go there, either) that they would "sock it to me" with the pitocin to see just how quick we could get ready to deliver. And still, the baby hadn't moved down into the birth canal. So, at 11:08, we checked the cervix and he told me that if we were going to be able to do this, I had to push the baby down into "delivery position". So, on the next contraction, we pushed three times, and got the baby down where she was supposed to be. They checked again, and I was fully dialated and ready to deliver! I was VERY suprised that it was so soon, because going by the last delivery, I figured we would have another two or three hours of labor at least. I was truly shocked and kept thinking over and over that it wouldn't be but a few more MINUTES now!! So, they got me all prepped (boy did the poor nurses and Eje have fun trying to get my very heavy, epidural numb, legs up in the leg braces to get ready to deliver). After what seemed like forever, we were ready to push. After only 8 pushes, and a little help from the vaccum so we could get her out quicker, she was delivered at 11:41 AM. When Eje said that it was a girl, I was again in shock. I didn't think I would be so lucky twice in a row, it just didn't happen like that!! It was so wonderful to think that we had been so blessed. The only other "bad" thing was it did take a while for them to "make" her cry, because sometime between them breaking my water and her being born, she had passed meconium into the amniotic fluid. So, she had gotten a little stressed, apparaently, and they didn't put her up on my stomach right away, but once they got that all taken care of, then she let out a lot of healthy screams!! It was the best sound in the whole wide world. Her Apgar scores were 5 and 9, because of her "pre partum" trauma - LOL! They cleaned her all up right there, and then I got to nurse her. She nursed for over an hour. Oh, in the meantime, my daughter and Anders showed up, but they had to wait outside until they got me stitched up. All the time, she kept bugging the nurses to tell her whether it was a boy or girl, but they were really good and they wouldn't tell. All in all, it was an awesome experience, although we could have skipped some of the scary parts, but she was worth every minute of everything we went through for her to get here!! Afterwards, both nurses that were with me the whole time (oh, one of the joys of a small town hospital is that you usually don't have to share the nurses when you are in labor!!) told me that they really thought I was going to end up with a C-section, that they didn't think that the birth would go that well and that since I was the one who had to "force" her down that they didn't think it would work out (Glad they kept those opinions to themselves until it was over with, for sure!) Sorry this took so long to get posted, but one of the reasons I waited to post it was because of Kimberely - teehee - I was thinking about her when I thought about posting it, I knew she was already having a hard time being induced, and I didn't want her to have any more anxiety because of what happened to me with my water being broke. After reading her story, I am glad I waited - teehee - hugs to you! And thanks for reading my story.

Posted by: coasterqueen Sep 3 2003, 11:57 AM

Kylie Elizabeth's Birth Story (sorry it's a little long, lol) (Kylie Elizabeth Nation, Born Sept 7, 2002, 8 pounds 2 ounces, 21 inches long at 3:22 a.m.) Ryan and I went for our weekly scheduled appointment to see Dr. Visnesky. She did an exam and said I was dilated 2+ centimeters and that the baby had dropped with her head facing down, which was good. Her heart rate was great; my blood pressure was great, etc. We had talked about my extreme discomfort since Kylie was lying so low, but because of her length she was pressing against my chest making it hard to breath. Dr. V suggested that with as much discomfort as I was experiencing that we should consider inducing labor. She said that we could do it on our due date. Another Option would be to just wait and let her come out on her own and try to bear with the pain. Dr. Visnesky had told us that it would be perfectly fine to do the induction and it would not inhibit me from having a vaginal birth. So Ryan and I went home and discussed the situation. We were so confused on what to do. This baby was our first and we had never been through any of this before. I talked with several friends and family about our decision that we had to make and they suggested that we go for the induction. We were so nervous. Were we doing the right thing? What would be the consequences of having an induction? So many things to consider and so many reasons to be deathly scared. We decided to go for the induction, with great hesitation. We were told to come in the evening around 8:30 pm so we chose to come in the evening before our due date Thursday, September 5, 2002 at 8:30 p.m. I worked all the way up until that day. I decided to start my maternity leave on Thursday, September 5th so I could get things in order, relax and enjoy my last day alone. Well, I was so nervous all day long. Ryan went in to work that day so he could get his affairs in order. I tried to relax but ended up spending the day a nervous wreck. I kept thinking, “Am I doing the right thing? Should I wait to let her come out on her own? Am I being selfish for going for the induction because of my pain and discomfort? All women go thru pain and discomfort, how is mine any different?” The questions just kept piling up in my head and tears just came down my face. I had realized at that point that I was so scared and so indecisive on what to do. I almost picked up the phone and told Ryan that I didn’t want to do it, that I wanted to wait, but I didn’t. I put the phone down and just stared at it for awhile. I then went through my suitcase to make sure I had everything together and ready for the big day ahead of us. I imagined what it would be like to hold this precious girl in my arms. I had waited so long. She was “planted’ inside of me so low that I had pain and pressure from the very beginning. I was so tired throughout my entire pregnancy that I felt as if I had slept it all away. With tears running down my face I realized how scared I was to be a mother. Was I going to be a good mother? Was I going to do things better than what my mother did with me? Would I fail this child like I have failed myself many times? Would I be able to be strong enough for the both of us? Was I smart enough to teach her those things in life that are most important? Would I love her unconditionally? Would my horrible temper come out when I am with her? Will I acquire some patience? I was so overwhelmed with more questions; questions without answers. It was about time for Ryan to come home. We had decided to go for a nice dinner at Smokey Bones since a co-worker had given me a gift certificate as a birthday present. We wanted to have a nice meal together before going to the hospital since I knew that was going to be my “last meal” for awhile. I took a nice shower. As I stood in the shower, I rubbed my belly, holding this precious belly that was soon to be a real life. I was going to be holding a real life in my hands soon. I got out of the shower; dried myself off and proceeded to blow dry my hair. I then curled my hair staring in the mirror at my pregnant belly. Ryan was home now. I had him take a few last pictures of me pregnant before we left for dinner. There was no way I could tell him how nervous I was, how unsure I was of going through with this induction. We packed up the car, looked around the house, and we were off to eat. We sat down, had a really nice meal. We chatted about being nervous and how excited we were to soon have our daughter in our arms. We were awestruck to think that this time tomorrow we would be holding our daughter; we were going to be parents. Ryan paid the bill and we left. We realized we had some time before we were scheduled to be at the hospital so I suggested that we go to JC Penny’s and look around. YAY, another chance to buy baby stuff. We found a beautiful pink and white pajama set. It was white with pink stars and it had a bib, booties, and hat with it. We purchased it and we were off to St. John’s Carol JoVecchie Center. It was such a beautiful evening. We stood looking out of the parking garage at the sky talking about how beautiful it was outside. We grabbed our suitcase and pillows and we headed for the door. We nervously checked in. They took us to our room and asked me to get into the hospital gown. So Ryan unpacked everything and I put the gown on. Now what do we do? The nurse came in and explained what they were going to do to start the induction. This made me nervous. They were going to put something inside of me and I would have to lie on my side for the rest of the evening. WHAT? This was not what I thought it was going to be. I thought I would be able to walk around, etc, etc. Well, I’m here now; I guess I can’t go home. Well, they actually induced my labor at 10:00 p.m. with Cervotek. So I laid on my side, we tried to watch a movie, a few people called to check up on us and we tried to get some sleep with the suggestion of the nurses. The doctors and nurses came in every so often to check on me. Dr. Visnesky checked on me as well. Well, morning came, it was 12:01 a.m. on Friday, September 6 and still no change in my cervix. It was my due day. The doctors actually thought I wasn’t dilated as much as what Dr. V had told me. That made us very upset. They decided to put me on Pitocin. This scared me because of everything I saw on Maternity Ward. I didn’t want it, but went ahead with it. I was so hungry, but they wouldn’t let me have anything. A nice nurse finally told me that I could have Popsicles! What! No one told me that before hand. They told me I couldn’t have the suckers I brought or any other food. Many of my friends had told me I could have anything I wanted. So she brought me a Popsicle. I was like, “keep those coming, lady!” Well, Popsicles just weren’t doing it so she snuck some Teddy Grahams and crackers in to me every so often. I hadn’t had any sleep and I don’t think Ryan did either. I was checked on every so often and was still not dilated. They continually throughout the morning increased my Pitocin. Nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural with the contractions I was having. I decided they weren’t too terrible and was fine. They kept coming in and asking me that making me very scared. I kept thinking why are asking me this so much. The man who gave out the epidurals came in an asked me and I said no, I was fine. He said he would try to come by later. At noon they decided to break my water. That had me frightened what was that going to feel like? It wasn’t too bad. Water was clear and just felt like I pee’ed the bed. All of a sudden I had a severe pain in my back. I was having back labor. I couldn’t stand it. I needed something for the pain. It was the worst feeling I had every felt. I asked for the man who gave out the epidural to come “RIGHT NOW”. I was so afraid of getting an epidural. That long needle and the pain. The man came in and immediately asked Ryan to leave. I begged the guy to let him stay. I needed Ryan there for me. I couldn’t do it without him. I was crying. Ryan was forced to leave and the nurse immediately comforted me. She held my hands and let me squeeze them as they were giving the epidural. It hurt but not as bad as what everyone told me it was going to hurt. People had scared me more than I really needed to be. They gave me a little push button to hit when the pain was really bad. I lay back in bed. Several people came to visit, but no baby yet. Ryan and I thought we would have a baby by now. What was going on? Why wasn’t the baby coming? We waited, and waited and waited. Dr. Visnesky came around 5:00 p.m. or so and told me if the baby did not come with in a couple of hours Dr. Gildener would be the one to deliver our baby. However, she was confident the baby would be here before that even though I hadn’t dilated more than 3+ centimeters. So we thought to ourselves within a couple of hours we would have a baby. It was now around 8 pm, no baby and we knew we would not have our regular doctor that we had had for 40 weeks to deliver our baby. SIGH. Dr. Gildener came in to give me an exam. He examined me and said “do you know how big this baby is going to be?” We replied, “Dr. V. said the baby was not going to be more than 7 or 7.5 pounds”. He just laughed and said, “Try like 8 or 8.5 pounds”. He said this baby is not coming out of here this way”. Hours later after they kept increasing the Pitocin dosage, Ryan finally convinced them to actually turn down the dose to half of what they were giving me. This was at midnight and within an hour I was fully dilated to 10 centimeters. I was so happy when they came in, examined me and told me that. They told us to get ready to push soon. We called my parents and Ryan’s parents and told them the good news. My mother and father were immediately at my hospital room within 15 minutes. By that time I was already pushing and I asked that they leave. We pushed for two hours! The nurses kept leaving the room and we were left there alone to push and hold my legs as they were so numb I could not feel them. It was very frustrating and stressful. Ryan and I were so tired. It had been 24+ hours and we had not had any sleep and I had not had anything of substance to eat. I was literally exhausted and starved. Ryan had gone earlier to get something to eat so he could have the energy to be strong for both of us. I was pushing with all my might! I couldn’t feel my legs but could feel the baby’s head going up and down in my cervix. The doctor looked between my legs and said “She has hair, lots of it”. We started to cry. I had to stop pushing. I couldn’t take it any longer. I had pushed so hard that I literally vomited. I was so embarrassed. Ryan begged them to let me sleep for a bit since I had not slept in so long. They agreed, turned out the lights and let us sleep. I think we had both just begun to fall asleep when the lights flipped back on and Dr. Gildener came in and said “It is getting to close to the 24 hour mark from the time your water was broke. You still have some time, but I don’t think this baby is coming out vaginally. You have two choices. You can continue to push or we can go with a cesarean section. Either way, you can’t sleep, you have to do one or the other for the safety of the baby. I think you will end of having the section, though. It’s your call.” We just sat there scared out of our mind. We were so disappointed that things were not going like we expected and we were so scared to have a c-section. He explained what they would do and made it seem like it was no big deal. We asked for a few minutes to think it over. We chose to push a bit longer. Nurses kept coming in and giving us their 2 cents. We were so confused, scared, not sure of what to do. Finally I was so exhausted and could not even feel the baby move up and down anymore and the doctors confirmed she was not moving down. So we reluctantly went for the c-section. It was around 3 a.m. Saturday, September 7, 2003. They brought clothes in for Ryan to change in to and took him somewhere to get ready. I was so scared. They wheeled me into the operating room. I was trying to be strong, but I started to cry as soon as I got into the room. I couldn’t understand how I could be so scared if soon I was going to be holding my precious baby. The room was so cold. They got me off the roll bed and put me on the table. They started putting things on me and put up a cloth in front of me so I couldn’t see my belly. Tears were running down the side of my face. A man was sitting right next to me and said “why are you crying?” I said, “I am so scared and I want my husband by my side. Where is he?” I was starting to wonder if they were going to let him in. The man replied, “They have to get you set up first and then he will be allowed to come in”. He kept wiping the tears from my eyes. He reached for my hand and I immediately held it tight. It was the only comfort I had and I needed some so badly. I wanted my father there so bad. I wanted my mother there so bad. Where was my husband? Suddenly there he was. Ryan held my hand and comforted me. I was shivering. It was so cold. I looked up at the ceiling. I felt the room spinning. I felt like I was going to loose it. They described what they were going to do to me. They made sure I couldn’t feel anything. Dr. Gildener started cutting. I was crying harder now. I was just so scared. It felt like an eternity had gone by. Then he said, you are going to feel pressure, but it won’t hurt. All of a sudden I felt like a 400 pound person was bouncing up and down on my belly. It was so horrible. I started shaking even more and felt like I was gone. I felt like I had passed out. I felt like I couldn’t see anything. I could hear noises but I couldn’t see anything. I felt like I had left my body, it was so strange. I heard Dr. G say “I can’t seem to get this baby out” as I felt more tugging. Ryan kept looking over the cloth and I asked him not to look. I didn’t want him to see me open like that. He continued to hold my hand and comfort me. I think he was just as scared as I was. (At 3:22 a.m. she was born) All of a sudden I heard a cry and Ryan said he could see her. I started to cry. I asked frantically, “is she okay, is everything all right?” They responded that she was perfect. I sat there crying. They showed her to me. Then they took her over to clean her off and do the tests to make sure she was okay. Ryan asked if he could go over there. I said yes. I wanted to be right there with him. I was crying and severely shaking by this point. They kept wrapping warm blankets around me. They proceeded to tell me that they were going to sew me up. Kylie Elizabeth was born! I was so excited but still so scared. She passed all her tests with flying colors. They wiped her off, took some pictures and handed her to her dad. Ryan brought her over to me. I kissed her and started to cry even more. He sat there and held her while they closed me up. I don’t remember a lot of the rest of what happened. I think I literally lost touch of reality at that point. I kept asking them to hurry, that I was freaking out, that if they didn’t hurry up immediately I was going to loose it. They tried to tell me that they had to take their time to put me back together the same way I came in there. They looked at my uterus and told me I had a few fibroids on the outside. I didn’t care, I just wanted them to sew me up. I was mad and delirious by this point. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking so long. Why were they continually tugging on me? I was freaking out. Ryan tried to tell them he was worried about me shaking so much and I don’t remember if they responded or not. I felt like they didn’t care. I tried to be calm and enjoy my beautiful baby, but I was loosing it. I heard someone over in the corner playing with a stapler. Little did I know that they weren’t playing with a stapler, but stapling my stomach up. They came over and said they were done and were going to wheel me back to my room. The nurse tried to hand me the baby. I looked at her and said, “What, I can’t hold her I am shaking uncontrollably!” I was afraid I would drop her. They gave Kylie to me anyways and wheeled us to the room. We got in the room. I was so exhausted. It had been 30 hours since I last slept or ate. I asked them if they would take her for awhile to let me sleep. We both begged them. They said no and that I had to try to breastfeed my baby. I had almost forgotten that I wanted to breastfeed. I did want to breastfeed as soon as she was delivered, but was so out of it I forgot to ask to do that right away. So we tried to breastfeed. I can’t even remember if she latched on right away because I was completely out of it at this point. I don’t even remember what happened after this for a bit. I remember nurses coming in often to change her diaper, make me breastfeed, etc. Ryan and I couldn’t believe what we had just gone through but were so happy to have this precious baby in our arms, finally. We stayed there from Thursday evening, September 5th until noon on Tuesday, September 10, 2003. We enjoyed every minute we had with her there. We had requested to stay the full time because Kylie had lots of trouble with breast feeding. I had flat nipples and after everything that we tried with the lactation consultant we resorted to a nipple shield. We didn’t want to leave the hospital until we knew we got the breastfeeding down pat. My milk came in Sunday morning, September 8, 2003. The nurses were shocked at how fast it came in. I had my staples out the morning of Monday, September 9. During our time at the hospital I felt depressed. I felt like I was a failure. I failed Ryan and myself by having to have a c-section. We didn’t get to experience a vaginal birth. I felt like a failure as a woman. I realized that getting the induction was a mistake. I should have waited until Kylie was ready. I wondered if we would have had gone through the same experience if we would have waited. There were so many emotions going through me. I was so happy to have my baby girl, but I was so sad inside for being such a failure to myself and my husband. We were on our way home at noon, Tuesday, September 10th. Many days later……We realized: ~ The next time we will have a doula. ~ We question if there was really a need for the c-section ~ Wonder if we should have kept pushing ~ Wondered whether we should have gone for the induction ~ I still feel like a failure ~ We were so new to all of it that we were not very good advocates for ourselves. ~ Wonder if we will be able to have a vaginal birth the second time around ~ We will get a new ob/gyn! We were concerned for a long time that Kylie was too big for my body to give birth. She said, “NO”. Kylie has a scar on her head where she got stuck in me.

Posted by: 5littleladies Sep 3 2003, 12:49 PM

Brianna Laura's Birth story (I just realized that I never posted it ) Brianna was due September 15th. Sadly (for me) that day came and went with no baby. At my next appointment my OB asked me when I wanted to be induced. I was so big and uncomfortable I opted for ASAP so we scheduled the induction for the following Monday. My doctor called the next day and told me that was not going to work and we would have to move it to Wednesday. Fine ok, just so I know this baby will be coming out. Tuesday night I went to bed with major butterflies and didn't get much sleep at all. I woke up the next morning with contractions coming every 10-15 minutes. Not too exciting but hopeful all the same. We dropped the girls off at my parents adn headed to the hospital. At 8:30 we got to the hospital and got all hooked up to the monitors. The head nurse came in and took a look and told me I was already in labor and dialated to 4 cm. YAY!! My contractions were not dificult to manage at all and my OB decided to break my water. She told me there was meconium present and that freaked me out but I didn't have too much time to think about it because the contractions started in full force after that. After an hour or so of awful contractions I asked for some pain medication and the nurse gave me nubaine. I can't express how much I love that stuff!! It relaxed me immediately and I was able to doze off and on for a few hours. (DH even left and got some coffee and I didn't realize it!) It seemed to slow my contractions a bit and that had me concerned but the nurse reassured me that since I was relaxed my body could do it's job more effectively. She was right because it wasn't long before I was 8 cm and a very unhappy camper. I don't remember too much about transition because it was sooo painful and I was somewhat hysterical. Poor DH couldn't do anything for me-I kept pleading with the nurse to help me so she gave me more drugs to try and take the edge off-That did not help at all. The urge to push came very suddenly and I was lucky that my OB was already there because I could NOT stop it. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I don't think I even stopped for breath much, and I couldn't help it-my body was doing it all. It only took a couple pushes for her head to come out and I thought the worst was over. My OB told me to give just one more big push and she should be out. Well I pushed and nothing happened. I was in so much pain at this point I was screaming "Get her out! Get her out!" (My brother and my friend could hear me in the waiting room).It turned out that her shoulders were larger than her head (it's supposed to be the other way around) and she was stuck. My OB had to reach in and pull her out. Luckily I was almost delirious at this point and didn't realize what was happening. DH almost passed out from watching. Brianna was born on September 25th at 1:55 p.m. after less than 6 hours of labor. She was 9 pounds, 7 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long. (Her shoulders were an inch wider than her head. ) She was absolutely beautiful and perfectly healthy (no sign of meconium). She was so large and overdue (10 days) she didn't look like a newborn- she looked like she was at least a couple of weeks old. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days (more so I could have a bit of a break than anything) and then took her home. She is a wonderful little girl and we all adore her!!

Posted by: Hillbilly Housewife Sep 4 2003, 05:18 AM

I just realized I never posted mine for Zach !! August 30th, 2003 DH and I were sleeping, and as usual, I woke up around 3am to go pee. DH is a pretty light sleeper, and so he stirred when I got up to go to the bathroom. I did my business, but just as I was going to wipe, I felt I needed to have go #2, so I did. I finished up, washed my hands, went back to the bedroom. Just as I entered the bedroom to go back to bed, my water broke. I said "Oh Sh!t..." and DH said "what's wrong?" so I turned on the light...and my waters were dripping down my legs into a nice little puddle on the floor. DH started laughing and asked me if I was sure I had been done in the bathroom. Ha ha, very friggin funny. So I stuck a towel between my legs and tried to get somewhat dressed better than a tiny flimsy nightgown (if you want to call it that - hey...it was summer, no A/C.) and shuffling around trying to find everything we'd need to take with us to the hospital. I wasn't having any contractions, no pain, nothing. Then we realized that the baby bag we'd packed the night before had been left at my mom's house so that she could add some stuff to it. We thought it would be alright - Zach wasn't supposed to be born for another 5 days! So When we're pretty much all ready to go (3:30ish am), I call my mom's house, and ask her if it's ok if we come by to pick up the baby bag, she says "Duh!!" so off we go. When we get there, my mom is waiting outside having a smoke, holding the bag. I get out of the car to take it, and I have my first contraction. Not that bad..I can deal with it. My mom asks us if she can come with us to the hospital, to keep us company. DH didn't mind, so she came with us. DH is speeding down my mom's street to get back to the end of the street, where the cross-street takes us directly to the highway to get to the hospital...and it's a red light. DH goes right through it anyways! So now I've had a few more contractions - DH timed them at 4 minutes apart. We get to the hospital around 4am, and by the time all the papers are filled out and I'm taken to my room, it's about 4:20am. The nurse comes to check me out, and I'm at 4cm dilated, she tells me I'll be there all day, and that she hopes we brought something to do to pass the time. Great. Ugh. Around 5, she comes back to check me again, and I'm at 7cm dilated. She says - "Ok, maybe not all day, maybe just until noon or so!", smiles, and leaves. The contractions are still bearable - I just can't speak during them. They are about every 3 minutes apart. At 5:30am, DH goes to call his parents to let them know what's going on. Now my contractions are getting stronger, they're still not that bad though - still no meds. I got into the big tub with jets, and ran the hot water. I shouldn't have done that - I don't know if it was just the timing, or if it was the water, but my contractions got way stronger, and it's like I could feel my hips separating - THAT was painful. I guess the baby was coming down! So I yelled at DH to "get in here!" and when he did, I told him to tell the nurse I wanted something for the pain. He tried to convince me to not have anything, but I grabbed a fistful of his shirt, glared at him and said (in exact words!!) "If you don't call the b!tch right now to stick me with something, you will feel as bad as I do when I'm done with you." So off he went to find the nurse! While he was gone, his mom showed up. She figured she'd come in to see how we were holding up before she had to go to work. Little did she know she'd be there for the birth.... The nurse couldn't give me something for the pain until she had the doctor's approval... and since it was about 6am, she didn't want to call until 7, so that at least it was a decent hour to have him woken up. She was still convinced I'd be there until noon. I got out of the tub, and she checked me again - I was at 9 cm dilated, with just a little bit of lip on the side. She said: "wow...you're quick. I'd better go call the doctor!" (Thank you! Stupid person!!!) so she goes. She comes back at 6:20am, tells me the doctor approved some Demerol, we just have to wait for the something or other to get there with the meds. Great, more waiting... I<m in so much pain, I'm seeing spots. All of a sudden, I feel the unbearable urge to push... so I did. lol! The nurse realized what I was dpoing, and started giving me crap that I wasn't supposed to start pushing until I was told to push, yadda yadda....so I cut her off, and told her to go call the doctor. She said she realized that I thought I was ready, but I just simply didn't understand the procedure. I told her to "F--- off, and call the doctor NOW!!!" and I told DH to go with her to make sure she was doing it. I had the doctor's home number in the baby bag ANYHOW, so I told the nurse that if DH didn't see her dialing in 2 miunutes, he'd go to a payphone and call the doctor himself. Off they go. In the meantime, I'm trying not to push, because it hurts, but at the same time it feels so GOOD....so I'm pushing a little, and I can feel the baby shifting. Wierdest feeling ever!! My mom asks me if I want her and MIL to leave..I didn't respond, because I guess I didn't hear.... so MIL goes to wait outside. DH tells my mom that I don't look like I care at that moment - they've seen me fully displayed anyways, thanks to the nurse. SO my mom gets MIL from the hallway, and they are standing beside me, giggling. MIL senses that there is something about to happen, so instead of leaving, she stayed. (She KNEW I didn't want ANYONE in the room for the birth...Oh well.) So the nurse comes back, by this time it's 6:30am. The bringer-of-meds arrives at the same time, and gives me a shot of Demerol. He says it will take about 10 - 15 minutes to fully kick in. Meanwhile, I'm still half trying to NOT push - so she checks me again, I'm fully dilated, fully effaced, she tells me I can push. I do, and Zach's head crowned. Thankfully, the doctor only lives a 5 minute drive to the hospital - because he had literally enough time to have the nurse drape a gown over his shirt, and he caught the baby. He didn't even have time to put gloves on!! His arms weren't even in the gown's armholes!! His hair was still uncombed... lol Guess he didn't take the time to brush it this morning! Zach was born at 6:46, after 4 pushes. He weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces, and was a little over 19 inches long. He had a head FULL of hear, and the blackest eyes I've ever seen. DH cuts the cord, and Zach is put on my belly to be cleaned off. The doctor starts on my stitches ( I only had 3, just on the inside wall, nothing serious), and I felt the first one, I didn't fell the second one as much, and the third I didn't feel at all. It's about TIME the Demerol kicked in!!! So my mom and MIL got to hold the baby, then MIL went off to work, and told all her co-workers what she'd been through that morning. Typical! After about 20 minutes, Zach was sleeing, and I felt so dirty and gross - I asked DH he'd mind if I took a quick shower to clean myself off - I was still all bloody, and it was started to turn hard. I go into the shower, and like 2 minutes later, the same crappy nurse comes in and starts yelling at me that I<m not supposed to get out of bed unless there's a nurse there, what if I'd have fallen, or had complications...I just told her that she should have told me before, and to please knock tbefore she comes barging in on me naked in the shower again, and that I would only be about 5 monre minutes. She got out, I finished up. I felt so much better! I got dressed (although it was pretty tough to be wearing jeans with this HUGE bulky pad as a seat cushion... heh heh) My mom stayed for a few more hours, then went to work. She owns her own law firm - so it's not like she has to answer to anyone... lol So all in all, things went pretty smoothly, I think....I'd do it again in a second!

Posted by: mummy2girls Nov 15 2003, 10:24 AM

I was just thinking of Jennas birth the other day so i thought i would finally post it here My due date with Jenna was November 5th. 1 week before my due date i developed a very high blood pressure and was retaining alot of weight..i gained 10 pounds in one week, I was swollen up like a balloon...so my OB/GYN sceduled me for an induction on November 1st. On novemeber 1st I went into the hospital at 1030am(with muy sister-inlaw) and the nurse hooked me up to the induction drug and to the blood pressure pump. I was to get checked every 5 minutes with my blood pressure so the pump kept going off...LOL. I was laying in bed and i all of a sudden started to feel light headed and nausious. If i was standing up i would of passed out! This lasted for 5 minutes. The nurse checked my pressure and it was dangerously low, that is why i felt yucky. So i was told i had to lay in bed for a bit before even trying to walk around. An hour passed by and i felt light headed again and my face was turning a bright red! My blood pressure was checked again and this time it was getting worse. But this lasted only a minute then the pressure went back to normal. I layed in bed for about a hour and then decided to try to walk around. I never got one of those episodes for a while. At about 1230pm my ex(babys dad) arrived and also my sister. We decided to go back to my room and lay down. So everyone else took out the p[laying cards and started to play as i was laying in bed having contractions(mild ones)!!!! Nice family eh?LOL after about a half an hour i started to feel light headed once again and it was getting so bad the nurse gave me some medication to help control my blood pressure. it was going so out of wack! And the medication seemed to help as my blood pressure stabilized. My doctor came in a decided to break my waters to get my labour going faster! And boy did i start to feel the labour then!!! i reached about 4 cm and i was having very intense pains so I decided to have an epidural. OH that felt good after that. But my labour literally came to a halt. And i sat at 4cm for hours. I was starting to think i may have to have a c-section as did my doctor. But then i started to feel the epidural wear off and feel the pains. Then i felt the biggest urge to push! So i told my ex to run and get the nurse. She came in and checked me and i was 10cm..WOW! I was thinking maby 5 or 6 cm but to be 10 i was surprised. Then i started to push and 10 minutes later my sweet baby girl was born. She weighed 8lbs and 21 inches long. She was so Chubby!!!!! I beld alot through the delivery so i had to stay in observation for a while to make sure i would be ok and my bleeding would slow down. Then after 2 hours i was put in my room with my beautiful little girl. For the next few days in the hospital i was very worried and scared and happy for my baby. I was getting very nervous she would have what my son had that i lost 4 years prior to this. I was very emotional and falsh backs of then came rushing back. But When she started to stool on her own a big rush of relief came in. My baby was going to be ok!!!!!!! I was discharged 2 days after i had my sweet baby girl.

Posted by: A&A'smommy Dec 21 2003, 01:46 PM

Alyssa's Birth Story. For about a two weeks before Alyssa’s birth I was going to the doctor almost every other day because my doctor was afraid she was getting to big for me to have her naturally. On November 13 I went in for one of my many appointments to be checked. After he checked me he looked at his charts wrote something down and said that I was ready to be induced. We were so excited I was finally ready to have my baby. I arrived at the hospital the next morning around 5:30 Am. In my room of the maternity ward I was being stuck with lots of needles, which to me is torture! After having small contractions that I could not feel for an hour or so my doctor came in a broke my water. That is when the contractions started to get painful, and believe me they were very painful! After the doctor had broken my water Alyssa’s heartrate started dropping. The first time it dropped the nurses came running in and checking on her it got scary. They said it was normal for this to happen after he broke the water, but to me that wasn’t normal! Finally everything got calm. My doctor finally came back and games me my epidural that was the great feeling! I finally got a little sleep and I believe I woke up when my epidural wore off, and then Alyssa’s heartrate starting dropping again. He kept giving me more doses of the anesthesia but it wouldn’t work. Finally after a lot of commotion, pain and worry my doctor asked me how I felt about having a c-section. The nurses took me down to the OR, and finally at 2:23 PM Alyssa Faith Dial was born. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I was so proud that she had chosen me to be her mother

Posted by: Sherry Jul 20 2004, 01:29 PM

Natural Jessica Brooke 8 pounds, 7 ounces 20 ½ inches My estimated due date was August 3, 2002. I was not plagued with morning sickness with my second pregnancy, but I was much more uncomfortable in every other way. Beginning in my seventh month, I had severe neck and back pain, indigestion, and I was already finding it difficult to walk. Despite all those difficulties, I continued to work. During my eighth month, I began to dilate. I was not alarmed even when I reached 2 centimeters because I knew that was a common occurrence and did not necessarily mean that labor was imminent. On the morning of July 11, 2002, I went to the doctor for an internal exam, and the doctor was less than gentle. In fact, for the first time I cried out during an exam. He noted that I was dilated a little more, and he stated that it was highly unlikely that I would reach my due date. He said that the baby would definitely come early. I went back to work disappointed because I had heard that news before. I still had three weeks until my due date, but I was more than ready for labor. I had Braxton-Hicks contractions often, and each time it was more disappointing when it was not the real thing. I was in agony after work, and my whole body ached. In fact, I could barely move. Then I noticed that I was bleeding. I told my husband how rough the doctor had been and how much I hurt afterwards. I eventually called my doctor’s nurse who made an appointment for the next morning just to make sure I was okay. I let Brittany stay home from school to accompany me to the doctor’s office. I had planned to take her to school and proceed to work after my visit. Things didn’t exactly go the way I had planned, however. Shortly before it was time to head to my appointment, I felt a sharp, stabbing pain. About ten minutes later, I felt the same stabbing pain. As I hadn’t really had a normal labor with my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect. I called George and told him about the pains, but I also told him that I didn’t know if I was in labor. I didn’t want to get our hopes up only to be disappointed again. I told him I would call from the doctor’s office when I had more news. On the way to the doctor’s office, I realized that I was, in fact, having contractions and not Braxton-Hicks pains. They were steadily coming every two minutes. I knew I had no business driving myself to the hospital, but I had no choice since I was already halfway there. Brittany stayed calm and tried to talk me through each one. Once I got to the doctor’s office around 10:00 a.m., I approached the desk to sign in. As I grabbed the pen, I felt something leaking down my leg. It wasn’t a gush of fluid, however. I said, “uh-oh,” and the receptionist took me back without another word. A nurse immediately placed me in a room and hooked me up to a monitor because my visit was originally for a stress test. When she came back, I told her the bed was wet, and she said she would do a nitrazine test to see if it was amniotic fluid. Of course, when she pulled back the sheet, she said, “I don’t need to do a test. Your water definitely broke.” The doctor came in and did an internal exam. I was dilated to a “floppy 4.” He told the nurses to go ahead and wheel me over to the hospital. As I was changing into my gown in the bathroom, Brittany watched in horror as the remainder of my water came out in all over my shoes. It was then that the contractions started coming harder and faster. I called George from my bed in the intake area to tell him I was in labor, but I kept getting his voice mail. When I finally reached him, he told me he was in the parking lot. He had decided to come to the hospital even though I told him it wasn’t necessary. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to make it to the intake area because he couldn’t find a parking spot. Then, when he finally appeared, we talked about how excited we were. I didn’t even bother using my Lamaze breathing techniques yet. I was expecting to breeze through labor like I did the first time. Before leaving work, George had called my parents. When they arrived, they took Brittany to the waiting room. My mom did come back and stay with me while George went to grab a sandwich at my urging. My mom fed me ice chips, and George took over for her when he got back. She was uncomfortable being in the room, and I was uncomfortable having her there. Also, Brittany wanted her in the waiting room. I had expected a short labor since my first had been born in an hour and thirty minutes. However, my labor was completely different this time. After several hours of laboring in the holding area while waiting for a birthing suite to come available, we finally got a room. Initially we were told that we would have to drive to another hospital since they were full. Fortunately, they did get a room, though, and they moved me there as soon as it was cleaned. George unpacked the bag while the nurses checked me again and started an IV. I was progressing slowly. It took hours for me to reach 5 centimeters. Then I was stuck at 6 centimeters for a few more hours. Late that afternoon, the doctor made the decision to start Pitocin. I still progressed slowly even after the nurse turned up the Pitocin drip. I labored all afternoon while George and I talked and watched TV. However, there seemed to be endless commercials about food, which tortured me. I hadn’t eaten all day, and that was the worst part other than the pain; the gnawing hunger and thirst I felt. I had planned on eating after my morning appointment; I had no idea I wouldn’t be able to do that After the third time the nurse turned up my Pitocion drip, I felt as though my stomach were being ripped apart. The contractions were much stronger because of the Pitocin. However, I was determined to stay with my natural birth plan. I practiced my breathing exercises, but both George and I felt silly doing them. The nurses were surprised to find me laughing and smiling each time they came in my room, especially since I was having natural labor. By 6:00 p.m., George and I both were exhausted, and my good sense of humor was wearing thin. The pain was intense, but I had managed it that long by telling myself it would be over soon. I started relying more on my breathing exercises, but because of the harder and more intense contractions, they did little to ease the pain. George sat beside my bed and cried at one point because the breathing exercises were of little use and because he felt helpless. I was elated at one point because I knew we would hold our daughter soon. Then I was depressed that it was taking so long. I would laugh, and then I would cry. When I had a contraction, I had a hard time. Immediately after the contraction ended, I was happy again, though. The nurse came in the room when I was at 7 centimeters and said that it was my last chance to get an epidural. I told her I didn’t want one. She said she could give me a shot of Stadol, and I refused that as well. This left George shaking his head because he knew how much pain I was in. I told him I didn’t want to be half-asleep, disoriented, numb and nauseated while giving birth. I wanted to be alert so that I could enjoy it. Several times I asked George to get the nurse to check me because I was getting impatient. At one point the doctor came in to manually stretch my cervix to speed labor. He stated that I was only dilated to 9 but that he could stretch it to 10 so that I could push. He tried this, but it was so painful that I told him I would wait for my body to dilate on its own. I had the familiar feeling of needing to go to the bathroom around 7:40, and I also had a new feeling I never had the first time: I wanted to push. George looked down and gasped. He said that he knew her head was about to crown. I grabbed George’s shirt and told him to get the nurse in a hurry. I didn’t even wait for the nurses to set up the table with the stirrups. I held my own legs while nurses came in the room with the doctor. I pushed once and her head came out; I pushed once more and her shoulders came out. The pushing had been the only easy part. I was able to avoid having an episiotomy again. I literally begged the doctor not to cut me. I did have two tiny tears, but they didn’t require repair. Yet again, the afterbirth did not want to come out, and the nurse had to push it out . Then I wouldn’t stop bleeding. After ten hours of hard labor, I was able to hold Jessica Brooke in my arms for the first time.

Posted by: jen Jul 20 2004, 02:39 PM

Madelyn Rae Parish 3:27 p.m. April 15, 2004 6lbs 13 oz, 19 1/2 inches long I will try and recall this as accurately as possible. On April 13th around 11:00 p.m. I went to the bathroom and was surprised to see I had a bloody show! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOo I of course burst into tears! I was due April 13th and immediately starting having light irregular contractions. My mom was out of town so I called her and told her to fly home. No one thought I would have the baby on time because originally I was due April 22nd and everyone kept changing my date after the ultrasounds! And I am NEVER on TIME so why would my daughter be! I told my husband that I had the show but that I didn't think the contractions were regular. We joked about how we should have paid attention in the birthing classes! ha ha. We didn't know how to time contractions or what was to come so we read the book What to Expect When you are Expecting, I highly recommend it if you need a crash course like we did! So anyway I just went back to sleep because I didn't think I was going to have her anytime soon. Well about an hour later I woke up again with more intense contractions so of course what else to do but CLEAN MY HOUSE I had been nesting for about 2 months so my house was spotless but I still vacummed and everything else! Then that morning April 14th at 6 I called the hospital the nice lady there told me to wait until I couldn't take it anymore because they were full. So I just said well ok. We lived about 20 minutes away so I was ok with that I guess. Then around 8 we went to the hospital, I could take things fine, but I was really anxious. I was checked upon arrival and hooked up to the monitors. My contractions were 7 minutes apart perfectly and I was 2 cm. My doctor was not on call and the other doctor sent me home and told me to take a Benadryl to sleep. They were still full and could not give me a room. I wasn't in much pain but the contractions were getting stronger like horrible cramps. So I went home took the Benadryl and slept until 3. Then I woke up and took a shower. I could tell that my baby had dropped right on top of my bones. I could hardly lift my legs. Then the real contractions started. I laid down on the floor and wouldn't move until they would end. It is bearable but not something I want to remember until the next one! So then we went back to the hospital at 4. I was told they were still full. So they hooked me up in triage. I was hooked up to the monitors and I was at a 2 1/2 or 3 but 100% effaced and my contractions were coming at 4 minutes apart regularly and peaking off the page. They didn't want to give me anything for pain and I STILL don't remember why! But family started rolling in against our wishes, i really wanted to be in a private room. This woman behind the next curtain was showing people her newly shaved crotch! I mean like 10 people and cussing up a storm. I threw a fit and had them all thrown out of there! This isn't how I was going to remember this day! At 11 p.m. I was finally put in a room and my contractions were still at 4 min apart and some irregular ones too and I was only 3 to 3 1/2 cm. My doctor was still not on call. That morning they woke me up and told me I was going home b/c as I had slept with the pain pill I was finally given the contractions wore off for a 15 minute time period. I was LIVID. I started getting dressed then a monster contraction hit me, I took off my pants slipped back on my gown and told the nurse I wasn't going anywhere until I saw MY DOCTOR. My husband was so PROUD! Then he strolled in an hour later. Checked me, asked me if I wanted to have my baby today ( I said yes) and then he kindly broke my water and told the nurses I wasn't going anywhere. I was given Pitocin at 9:40 to speed things a long and about 2 hours later the anetheisieologist came in with the Epidural ( he was an ANGEL). after the epidural I slept until 2:40 or so then woke up and was checked and at a 10! and started pushing after a couple practice pushes the nurse told me to wait and called my doctor and told him to hurry over. She was actually telling me to fight the urge to push, that was the hardest part. Then my dr. got there finally and 10 or so pushes later our beautiful baby girl Madelyn Rae Parish was born. I had 3 stiches and recovered immediately. I was lucky to be able to recover so fast I am told. We had a ton of family in the waiting area and outside the door. My husband asked them to wait 15 or 20 minutes while we started to bond. She latched on immediately and it was the beautiful experience I have ever had. Then everyone came in to meet her. I have to say one of the hardest things is when you have your baby and they take her not even 5 feet away to do the battery of test and clean her up etc. I have never wanted her that far away from me again. Of course her daddy was right there with her. She is now 3 months old and just a glowing happy baby that already loves getting in the pool and trying to voice her opinion! I am lucky to have the family and extended family and friends that I have, that all love her so much and to have the husband I have that has turned into the best daddy! It really made me love him more I didn't think that was possible.

Posted by: jolene555 Aug 22 2004, 12:09 PM

okay, i will make mine very short, i hope. i was due jan 4, 2004. as you can imagine, it was a lovely holiday season. i had a completely uncomplicated pregnancy, and by christmas was reay to be over with. obgyn visit on the 21st said that i was already 3 centimeters (yahoo!!!), so i was asking everyone on ways to naturally induce labor. one of the #1 suggestions was sex. hell, why not, right??? so me and my man were getting busy, ans as often as possible. did i mention i was ready to not be PG anymore? then it happened - he comes down with "something". oh, it was awful. he was in so much agony w/ sinus problems, coughing, sneezing, the works. the doc had decided to induce on the 5th, and i caught his bug by the 3rd. it was horrible. everytime i coughed i thought she was gonna shoot out. i had no idea how i could make it through labor feeling like this. the doc said i could wait if i really insisted. wait? hardly. so we walked into the hospital at 6 am on the 5th. they checked me out, started pitocin, and they broke my water (or, as i call it, the flow that wouldn't end). being 6 am, what do you think barry was doing? oh yah, he was sleeping. so i'm laying there in all my glory - coughing, sneezing, in labor, and absulutely exhausted. i finally crabbed at him enough to come hold my hand, but apparently he didn't understand that nothing he did was going to be right that day. he'll know better next time. i was only having contrations for about 45 minutes when i got "staydall" (not sure on the spelling. that was some good sh**, and it stopped my cold. another 30 minutes later and i was 4 cm, and ready for epidural man. he was a god, and i will never forget him. it was smooth sailing. i had a nice, long nap in my pain free euphoria. i started pushing at 6:25 with the nurse. notice that my obgyn was not there - he was down the street at his office, waiting to be called when i got close. uh huh. i pushed maybe 3 times and was crowning. where's the doctor? still on his way. well, even though i was still on the epidural i was feeling something awful. aparently the epi dosen't completely cover the tearing pain. he walks in, casually, about 7 minutes later. i pushed, she was born. 6:48 pm, 8lb, 1 oz, 20 3/4 inches long. i held her for about 1/2 hour after it was all over and then i slept for 2 hours before they finally moved me to the next room. i was extremely emotional, and not in a good way. poor barry was ticking me off with everything he did. all well, he understands, i hope. 2 days later she finally got her name. georgia bernadette.

Posted by: jolene555 Aug 22 2004, 12:30 PM

thought i'd show you what happens when your ob allows you to be crowning for 10+ minutes. jo

Posted by: Emeraldsmom Nov 15 2004, 11:22 PM

Emerald Victoria's Birth story My EDD was September 2nd. By the time I was in my eight month I was huge and having a hard time getting around. I wanted to work up until I had my baby but I was having a lot of trouble sleeping so my doctor took me off work 2 weeks before my due date. Being off work and at home I was miserable. I just kept wondering when I was going to go into labor. When my due date came and went I was getting very anxious. Finally my doctor said if I didn't have the baby by Sept. 12 I was going to have to be induced. So the evening of Sept. 12th My hubby and I checked into the hospital. That night they put in something called a cervidal in my cervix to help me dialate. I was just supposed to rest that night and they were going to start the pictocin the next day. I had trouble sleeping that night so they gave me a sleeping pill. I didn't expect anything to happen for a while because I wasn't even dialated at all. At 5a.m. the next morning I felt a gush. I went to the bathroom and I had lost my mucus plug. Then at 5:30a.m. I had my first contraction. It was very hard. I was surprised because most of my friends said that their contractions we not hard and didn't hurt that bad until they were dialated to like a 4. But mine were very intense from the beginning. right away they were like 1-2 min. apart. They checked me and I was only dialted to a 2!!! I thought I was not going to make it because I was in so much intense pain already. When they told me I couln't have the epidural until I was 4 cent. I thouhgt I would die. I don't even remember parts of my labor because I was in so much pain. But I do remember I vomited like 4 times. My husband was so supportive but I felt bad afterwords because I was so mean to him because I was in pain. I think around 10 a.m. I was finally dialated to a 4 and I got my epidural. When I was getting it my water broke. (All over my husbands leg.) The pain relief was so good that I feel asleep for a couple of hours. I don't even remember when they started the pictocin. Well my epidural kept wearing off. They had to redue it 4 times!!!! finaly at like 7 p.m. I was ready to push. I was thinking okay this is it. The pushing is the last part and it will be all over. Yeah right. I was pushing really good at first. The doctor was saying how good I was pushing. But then after 2 hours of pushing I kind of lost it. I told the doctor that she was a liar and that the baby was never going to come out. She said that I would push for another 1/2 hour and If the baby wasn't coming down then I would have to have a c-section. Part of me thought I don't care, just get this kid out. But another part of me thought I didn't want to go through all that pain for nothing. The problem was that the baby wouldn't come under my pubic bone. After the doc told me I was going to have to have a c-section, I decided I was going to give it my all. After a couple of good pushed the baby finally came under the pubic bone. But she was still having trouble coming out. So the doctor called in another doc. who is really good with vacum extration. They put the vacum on the baby's head and with a few good pushes my daughter was finally born. It was scary because they rushed her over to the little table right away and she was all blue. The cord had wraped around her head and body and she was actually not breathing. It was scary. But it was only a few seconds before she was breathing again. Oh I forgot to mention that in the middle of my labor I got a fever for some reason so the baby was born with a fever. But it went away quick. When they layed her on my chest I was so happy. She was a perfect pink little baby. Labor and delivery was not what I expected but my little girls was so worth it. Emerald Victoria was born on Sept. 13 2004 at 9:52 p.m. She was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 21and1/2 inches long. She is 2 months now and the doctor says she is perfect. She is now 12 pounds 7 ounces and 24 inches long!!! Thanks for reading my story.

Posted by: kim62377 Feb 6 2005, 03:48 PM

Beautiful birth stories everyone! I myself do not have one as of yet - but hopefully we will by Christmas! Doc says we should be able to babydance in a couple of weeks! Thank God for those of us that are blessed enough to have wonderful doctors that are capable of performing surgery to correct problems with getting pregnant! Now I will be able to be a Mommy! I was hoping that maybe all of you would let me bend the rules a little bit and tell my 'pre - birth story' as in how I have overcome some serious problems discovered during ttc and am now able to have babies! My husband and I were married on October 18th of 2003 - this was the happiest day of my life. We have known eachother for 15 years and been very close friends for all of that. I am 27 and he is 31. We have been ttc for a year and a half. A few years ago I had a tubal pregnancy - this was very upsetting but I was lucky to have a doctor that caught it early enough to us methotrexate instead of surgery thus preventing any damage to my tube. I have had problems as far as being regular with my periods for quite awhile. I would bleed fro the majority of the month and eventually this all escalated into severe pain and discomfort. This reached it's peak approximately 3 months ago. At this time we were still unsuccessful in getting pregnant. I have a wonderful relationship with my doctor and had been discussing my problems and worries with him for awhile. He had exhausted all efforts in trying to regulate my cycle and determined that laprascopic surgery was needed to diagnose what he believed to be endometriosis. This terrified me. I had already been researching all I could on the symptoms that had been plaguing me and knew what endo could mean for us as far as ever becoming parents. Dr. Pace discussed the surgery with me and told me to go home and ask Keith about it. We decided to go ahead and do it - what did we have to lose? We both trusted that Dr. Pace would take care of me and knew that if we ignored this it could mean giving up something we both want so badly as well as me continuing to have to endure the pain I'd been in for many months now already. I called my doctor and had him schedule the surgery. We were set for January 6th, 2005 first thing in the morning. I was so scared. He was going to perform the laprascopy along with hysteroscopy and tuboplasty. He would make sure that there were no blockages in my tubes by running dye through them and checking the inside of my uterus to make sure there were no blockages from the inside. When we got to the hospital I was so terrified and nervous. I had my husband with me but I wanted my doctor. The nurses kept coming in and telling me that Dr. Pace was going to be doing an appendectomy and I would have to stay overnight. I kept telling them that he wasn't doing that unless he needed to. They kept saying he would anyway - they were so aggravating! The anestesiolgist agitated me as well, looking at my teeth talking about the breathing tube and just being outright impersonal - I wanted my doctor! Why weren't they hurrying up? I had never had surgery before and I was scared. Finally, finally Dr. Pace was there. He assured me he would only be doing what was necessary and that he would not mess up any of my 'baby making machine'! When they wheeled me back to the OR I was so very scared. I did not want to know anything that was going on, they wouldn't let Keith come with me and I didn't even want to see the room where they would be performing the surgery. When we got there they got me up onto the table and the anestesiologist put a mask over my face and started strapping my right arm down. I almost freaked. I have severe panic disorder and I just knew I was fixing to lose it. Then my doctor was there. He held my left hand and told me that everything was going to be OK. He told me to just relax and take deep breaths. I think I took about 3 breaths and then I was waking up. Dr. Pace was still there holding my hand. How weird is that? It was as if I had never went to sleep. Except that I was really screwed up and my eyes were blurry. My doctor was telling me that we were going to have to be VERY careful. This scared me even in my drug induced state. I asked him why and he said that we would be pregnant in no time! Just that we couldn't try until I was completely healed. YAAAAAAAY! I had multiple uterine polyps blocking both openings to my tubes which in turn had caused my ectopic from a few years ago. The tissue from the pregnancy backing up in my left tube had caused an infection to develop in the tube and outside in my abdominal cavity. This in turn caused scar tissue to develop around my ovaries and tubes (eventually pulling both sides together and around my uterus - the pictures are unreal!) It took him 2 and a half hours to cut awy all the scar tissue and return my tubes and ovaries to their proper positions. He then had to 'tack' them up in order to allow them to heal properly. He also removed all the uterine polyps that had caused this whole mess to begin with. We were very lucky as none of my plumbing was scarred by any of the infection whereas normally it would have. Dr. Pace said he really didn't think he'd be able to help us when he first got in there. But as it turns out everything was pretty much just 'encased' in scar tissue. I am all better now and have an appt with my wonderful doctor on Monday - this will be my 4 week post op so he should release us to love eachother but using protection of course. I just recently finished my first (and hopefully last) course of Provera and Af should start on her own next cycle (due 2-26-05). After this we are officially free to 'babydance'! I've never been so anxious for AF in my life! A few things I'm curious about after reading everyones birth stories - some words/procedures/medications I am unfamiliar with. I guess I'm a little stupid about some of this stuff being a newbie and all. -What are the negative effects with pitocin? Why is everyone scared of it? -What does APGAR mean? -What exactly is a doula? -What is meconium and how can it hurt the baby? -Why can induction be worse than waiting? Can this cause problems for the baby? -What is the 'test dose' of an epidural? Can it hurt you or something? I know I've rambled on - thank you guys so much for listening - if you've even made it this far!

Posted by: sweetpeas Apr 27 2005, 10:26 AM

Hi, I read most of the birth stories. And thought I'd just add one. Larissa's birth story. She was due June 14th, and I couldn't wait for her to come. Everybody kept telling me that I have to hold her in until Jonathan had some time. The family runs a truck logging business and May is an extremely busy months. So I was just smiling and going along with it. Little did I know that she was listening. The one day her daddy had off in about 3 weeks she decided to come. It was May 31st. At 5.30 in the morning I woke up with some mild contractions. They were 12 minutes apart. I called DH after I had them for an hour. He was working nights at that time. So he rushes home, runs past his parents house without even saying hi. He just called to his mother that I was in labour. Well first thing I did was tell him to go to bed. My contractions were still just 10 minutes apart, and I figured I had lots of time. Turns out my MIL had other plans. She showed up a little after 7 just to see how I was doing. When I told her I was 7 minutes apart, she just says :"Get dressed, we're leaving." I guess she was right. In the car my contractions got closer and closer. I even had a few two minutes apart. I think she was pretty freaked out. We live about 1hr 15 min away from the hospital. She just drove that car as fast as she could. So we finally get to the hospital. I get into my room. The nurses hook me up to all the monitors. And then the contractions slowed down. I was positive that they were going to send us home that day. The nurses were, too. Until they checked me at 10 am. I was 7-8 cm dilated. DH and I couldn't believe it. Just to make sure she was right, another nurse comes in and checkes me. She corrected it to an 8-9 cm. So there was no turning back. A little while later, they told me that I could push. And at 12.25 Larissa was born. They laid her on my belly and that was the greatest feeling I have ever had. DH cut the cord, something he said he'd never do. And MIL who stayed for additional support (best decision I ever made, DH could enjoy it more) was just in love with the little girl. She was so tiny. Hard to believe she took her first steps today. YAY.

Posted by: stanleygirl Apr 27 2005, 08:51 PM

I'm new here so I thought I'd share my compressed version of my Birth stories, Kieran was born 2002, 9lbs 1/2 oz, 21 in long after 22 hours of labor. I was 10 days overdue, and scheduled to be induced first thing next morning when I woke around 1 am, having regular contractions, went in to hospital and was already 4cm dialated. I got the epidural about 4 hours in and after about 6 hours later I asked for more, but the 2nd time he messed something up and only one half of my body froze. The other half well, it hurt alot, but I pushed and pushed and nothing was happening, and after all that the baby's heart beat dropped and they started rushing me into the ER for a Csection. Well damn that was scary, and I was thinking 'I went through all that for a section anyways - no way!' So, I pushed with everything I had left, and the anasthesiologist (sp?) had a gas mask over my face , and the doc said "ok the baby's coming on it's own", but he literally got stuck with just his head a little too big to get out, so they ended up using the vaccuum, but no C-section. Hooray! And well recovery was terrible I had a lot of stitches, and really just was traumatized by the whole experience. Bc (I had also been told that the baby would be born without a kidney, and they were doing tests on, but he actually does have a kidney, it's just small and not where it should be). My second is a much quicker story Braeden was born 2004, 8 lbs 1/2 oz, 20 in long after 4 hours of labor I had problems with early labor symptoms throughout my entire pregnancy, and had gone into labor a month before DS was born, they stopped it with medication though, and I had to take it easy at home bc every little thing would cause contractions. I saw the doc a few days after my due date and she said I was 2cm dlated already, so she swiped my memebranes, and said I'd have the baby in a few days. Well, I picked up my son, went home and had a contraction. I didn't get too worried at first bc I had contractions all the time. In the span of 20 minutes they went from 7mins to 4mins to 2mins. By the time I got to hospital I was 4cm. While they were putting my epidural in I started to push and Brady was out 5 minutes later. We almost delivered without a DR! After all this I would love one more, but DH is adamant that two is all he wants....

Posted by: luvbug00 Jun 13 2005, 05:04 PM

This is soo sweet I love readding thease! Myas story: I went to my first sonagram at ohhh 5 months. (I was young and avoided telling anyone until I was 4 months to prevent forced abortion.) Anyway I was told my little bundle would be a boy and so we planned acordingly and my due date was July 14 2000. Mind you Mya was an escape artist and tried to be born several times. It was july first , my dad's birthday and I woke up in a puddle of fluid. ( not pleasent) not wanting to disturb anyone I called my bf and told him soo we sneaked over to the hospital and they said I was 1 cm dihalated. We were told to stay put and so we did. I called my parents reluctently and told them to come to the hospital. Well, all progressed as normal after several attempts to keep Mya inside they figured she'd be ok. Well I got my epi at 6 cm. and then arround 9:30 I had to use the bathroom bad! real Bad! well the nurse was there and she called in the other staff and next thing you know I was exposed to the world and pushing away. of course not until I f-ed and blinded the staff for having some students in the room and i made them all leave except the doc a nurse and Brad. Mya was born at 10:55 on July 1st 2000. She weighed in at 5 lbs 3 oz, (turns out she was earlier then the docs guessed.) 18 inches long and A GIRL!!! Ohh was I confused. Well she was not allowed to breast feed and she had jundice and was made to stay in the hospital for a week. Now she's four and up to the average and exceling so that's her story. thanx for letting me share.

Posted by: Sarah&Mackenzie Jul 7 2005, 11:36 AM

Mackenzie Rae's birth story: My due date was 11-18-04 and on 11-13-04 I woke up at 11:30 p.m. to go to the bathroom. When I stood up water started running down my leg. I went downstairs to go pee and realized it was time. I went back upstairs and turned on the light and said Bart wake up it's time. He threw the covers back said "oh boy" and went right past me to go get dressed. I put some clothes on and called my mom and dad. Arrived at the hospital a little after midnight. I started having contractions and asked when I could have an epi. They gave me one when I was 3.5 cm. I wasn't progressing as fast as they liked so they put me on patosin (sp?) It wasn't long until I started to push. I didn't feel a thing!! At 1:48 pm on 11-14-04 my beautiful baby girl was born at 9 pds 6 oz and 21 inches long. Healthy as could be. The nurse could not believe that I pushed so well being this was my first baby. It was the most exciting event in my life and nothing could prepare me for the most rewarding job in the world, becoming a Mother!!!!!!

Posted by: huggybugboy Jul 9 2005, 10:05 PM

I had a miserable pregnancy until the week before Miles was born and then I figured because I felt so good that he was never coming! Well Easter Sunday the miserableness came back and I felt awful the whole day, but still didn't feel like I was going to have this baby! I ate dinner (at two pm) laid in bed at the in-laws while my sister in law gave me a pedicure, and then went home and went to bed. I tossed and turned most of the night, I felt crampy but the doctor had told me the week before that cramps were nothing, just my muscles stretching. Well they must not have just been stretching muscles because at 2am I went to the bathroom and couldn't figure out why my underwear were all wet. First I thought it was just my mucous plug so I went to the bedroom and changed my pants and told dh. Well of course then we couldnt sleep and five minutes later I was changing my pants again. We decided I'd better call the doctor and see if we should go to the hospital (I wasn't having really strong contractions but I had the strep b thing so I was supposed to go in if my water broke.) When I got to the hospital I was dilated to 2 and was starting to be in a lot of pain. I got my epidural at 7 in the morning at 3 cm along with some pitocin. Then I felt great for a while but once I really started dilating the pain came back. I got more medication but I could still feel his little head grinding against my pelvis. The nurse said she could see his little head rocking back and forth trying to come out. Well when I finally dilated to 10 I started pushing...and pushing...and pushing... Miles just wanted to stay where he was! He didnt drop down any and wasn't budging. I was so exausted and hungry and thirsty and sick so I couldnt have anything. The doc finally came in and said ok...I think its time for a csection. After all that work... 15 hours of labor, two hours of pushing, and then a csection?? I was so upset and scared - I knew nothing about csections. ATTENTION> EVERYONE EXPECTING> READ UP ON CSECTIONS!! Anyway, they shaved me down (yuck) and wheeled me into this big sterile room where all these nursing students stared at me. Ten minutes later little Miles came out and took my breath away. He was very healthy and hairy I just barely got to see him when the doctor knocked me out. I lost a lot of blood so they put me under for a while and later got a blood transfusion. When I woke up I got to see my little boy and all the pain and everything I had just gone through didn't matter, I didnt even remember it! He was so perfect. AHHHHH... Sorry if this scares anyone. Heres a picture of me & miles right before I fell asleep.

Posted by: JilliansMom Sep 1 2005, 04:00 PM

Jillian Brielle's Birth Story!! We were scheduled for an induction on July 18th at 6:00am. Me, my mom and Jeremy arrived at the hospital, got checked in and settled into the labor room. The nurse came in around 8:00am to start my IV. I was really dreading that part b/c I am terrible w/ needles. She started it in my hand and got it in the vein. She started to draw the blood out of it for labwork and omg...I started feeling really woozy like I was about to pass out. Then my vein collapsed! So she had to withdraw the IV. I seriously almost fainted, so I told them to wait about 30 minutes before they tried again so I could regroup. SO later, another nurse came in to try again. This time she put it in my arm. It did hurt, but it wasn't so bad. Then they started the Pitocin drip. I couldn't tell a difference at all for a while. The doctor came to visit around 8:30 am and I was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced and -2 station. Nothing much happened for a while after that. My contractions weren't painful, just a little uncomfortable. I was able to get up as I wanted to and I tried the birthing ball and the rocking chair. The nurses tried to check my cervix for dilation 2 different times during the day, but neither could reach it b/c of the position it was in. All day, I had family members in and out visiting, etc. I chatted w/ the nurses and watched TV w/ Jeremy and my mom...pretty uneventful most of the day. The doctor finally came in around 5:30pm to check me himself. I was still only 2cm dilated, but was now 90% effaced and -1 station. He talked to me about my options and we decided to turn the Pitocin off and let my uterus and the baby rest overnight and re-start the Pitocin in the morning. The transferred me to a private room on the PP unit for the night - the same room I would go to after delivery. That night, all night I was having some strong contractions on my own. So strong that I needed some pain medicine to help me get through them enough to rest, but I still didn't rest much. I think I was just so anxious and scared about what the next day would bring. The nurse came in at around 2:00am to put me on the monitor for about 30 minutes. I was definetly having contractions regularly. The baby looked awesome, heartrate was excellent.[}] I got out of bed at around 5:30am and took a shower, then got Jeremy up and he did the same. The nurse came in and took me back to the L&D room that I was in the day before. THey started the Pitocin at around 6:30am. The nurse checked my cervix and it had come down some and she didn't have any trouble getting to it. I was just over 2cm at that time. My contractions were getting pretty strong, so I got some Stadol, which helped me through them. The doctor came in at about 8:30 and checked me and I was 4cms dilated and almost completely effaced. He broke my water then, which was nothing! I thought that might be a little painful, but I didn't even feel it! Soon after my water was broken, my contractions really started to get intense. I really wanted to wait a little longer about getting the epidural, so I did my best to cope through them. I had awesome support from my mom and from Jeremy, so I got through each one. The contractions just continued to keep getting stronger and closer together. Finally, it really became unbearable. The contractions were coming about a minute apart, so I barely had a break in between them...even the breaks were painful. It was so bad and I was trying to breathe through them, but that wasn't working. I actually started hyperventilating and caused my whole left side to go numb.[&:] The pain was so intense. I couldn't wait any longer. So I requested my epidural. It took the anesthesiologist about 30 minutes to get there....and that was the longest 30 minutes of my life!! The contractions were still only about a minute apart and VERY painful. Finally he got there. He had me sit on the side of the bed, and Jeremy was standing in front of me. He pushed on my spine, I guess to feel for the spaces in my back and omg..that hurt! Then he gave me a tiny shot of Lidocaine in my back to numb the area where he would insert the epi. I barely felt that. Then he he stuck the epi needle in and YOW! That did hurt! But just for a sec. The all of a sudden I felt a GUSH of fluid come out. I actually thought I had peed on myself, but then realized it was amniotic fluid gushing out. It seems like it came out forever! As soon as he put the test dose in my epi cath, my legs started to go numb. And it wasn't long before I Couldn't feel the contractions anymore. It was such a huge relief! After that, a few family members were coming in and out, taking turns sitting w/ me, giving my mom and Jeremy a break. About 1 1/2 hrs after I got my epi, the nurse decided to re-check my cervix to see if I was making progress. I was hoping to be at least 6cms. Boy, was I SHOCKED when she checked me and I was already complete!! MY mom was in there w/ me, but Jeremy had stepped out to go talk to some family members. So we had to call him on his cell phone to hurry and come in there! The nurse called the doc and he came in and checked me too. And he determined that I was completely dilated as well. So they set me up to get ready to start pushing. I was so nervous and still in shock kind of, but I was excited, thinking "This is it!" The next two hours are kind of a blur. I know that I pushed SO damn hard. With every contraction, I gave it all I had trying to push that baby out. I just had a bad feeling like all my work just wasn't doing any good. I do remember after pushing for so long, I asked the doctor "Am I making any progress at all?" And he just looked down and shook his head "No". I was really upset after that, but still had hope. I continued to push with the nurse, while the doctor left the room for a few minutes. He came back, and still, I pushed hard some more. And I was still not making progress. The baby just wasn't coming down through my pelvis. Finally, after 2 hours of pushing w/ all my might, the doc could see that I was exhausted, and he knew that she wasn't going to make it throught the birth canal and he advised a c-section. I was devastated, but knew that I didn't really have a choice at that time. The doc said I could continue to push IF I wanted to until the OR team arrived, but he didn't think it would do any good, but I could if I wanted to. But by that time, I was so distraught and tired...completely exhausted. I didn't want to push any more...I couldn't push anymore. SO I decided to just take that short time to rest, cry, be w/ my mom and Jeremy and just try to cope with what I was about to face - the one thing I didn't want. I was really upset and crying. Jeremy left the room to go tell all of our family members in the waiting room that I was going to have to have a c/s. Later everyone told me that he was just as upset about it as I was. He was crying in the waiting room, scared and worried about me and the baby. It was very emotional for him as well. My mom stayed in the room w/ me. We hugged each other and cried together. She tried to comfort me as best she could, but I was just filled w/ emotion, so exhausted, upset, and most of all..just so ready for it all to be over and to have a baby in my arms. The nurse prepped me for surgery - shaved my stomach and explained a bunch of things to me, which I never really fully heard. I was too exhausted and tired to listen. The doctor came in and talked to me about the surgery and tried to calm me down and re-assure me that it would be fine. The anesthesiologist came in and adjusted my epi for surgery and then we went the OR. As I was being wheeled into the OR, I was greeted by my mom in the hallway, my dad and my sister. I was so scared. They wheeled me into the OR. It was a green room w/ a bunch of bright lights. I'd seen so many ORs before, but somehow this one seemed different. The transferred me to the operating table. I remember being scared that my epi wouldn't be enough and that I would feel them cut me. They put oxygen on me and rubbed betadine on my stomach, put the drawsheet up. After that is kind of a blur. Before I knew they had even started, I heard Jeremy say "OMG, OMG...Here she is!!" and then all of a sudden I felt like someone had just breathed fresh air into my lungs. It was the strangest feeling as they pulled her out. She was born into this world at 4:21pm. Then they held her up above the curtain for me to see. I remember the first thing I did was look to make sure she was a girl!! It was instant love. An amazing feeling...it's undescribable what I felt when I looked at her for the first time. Then Jeremy cut the cord and they took her over to the warmer to clean her up. I watched the whole time and kind of forgot for a brief moment that I was laying there on the operating table cut open! After they got her wrapped up, they handed to her Jeremy. Then he laid her on my chest and I was just completely amazed. She was so beautiful. I just laid there studying her little nose and lips, rubbing her forehead w/ my thumb. She was so precious and perfect. I only got to hold her for a brief time before they took her to the nursery. Jeremy followed the nurse to go to the nursery and be with them. I don't remember ANYTHING after that except being wheeled into recovery. Apparently, my BP shot up and they had to give me something to knock me out while they sewed me up. When I got in the recovery room, the nurse checked my incision to make sure it wasn't bleeding and she massaged my uterus to make it contract. And she stood there w/ me and filled out a bunch of paper work while I 'recovered'. I stayed in recovery for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, Jeremy was in the nursery w/ the baby, helping to clean her and watching as the nurse did her assessments and everything. A whole crew of family and friends were watching through the nursery window, taking videos and pictures. Finally, they wheeled me out of recovery to go to my room. First, though, they took me to the nursery window where I got to see the baby. Then they took me to my PP room and I got settled in and family members came in and out to see me. They brought the baby to me and I breastfed her for the first time. I was still pretty drugged up, but wasn't in any pain at that time. Overall, the c/s and recovery after wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. It took a while for the epidural to wear off, so I had some pretty decent pain relief just from that the first 24 hours. I just remember how unbelieveable THIRSTY I was! But I couldn't have anything by mouth until 8 hours after my c/s. But one nice nurse let me have ice chips at about 10:00pm. Then at 12:00 midnight, I got to have a Sprite. It was the best sprite I had ever tasted!!! They made me sit up on the side of the bed the next morning. That was painful, but not too bad. I got to eat breakfast, but wasn't at all hungry. I just ate b/c I had to. That whole day was pretty painful. But I did get up and walk, even took a shower. I had too..they made me.[] But I wanted to anyway. The 2nd day after was even more painful than the previous, but I just tried to get up and walk every couple hours so that I wouldn't be so sore. And all in all...even that day wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The doc came in to see me and said that since I was doing so good, I could go home a day early if I wanted to...and I did! I was sick of being hospitalized. So the next day, at about 1:30pm...we all went home.[] And that's about it!

Posted by: Noahs_mommy Sep 22 2005, 09:25 AM

Noah’s Birth Story As I am writing this more than 3 ½ years after the fact, some details will be left out. But I will do my best to remember. Around 7:00 pm on January 14th, (the day before my due date) I started having mild contractions. They progresses through the night. The next morning, I told my husband that I thought that this was it. The contractions were still fairly far apart and not very strong, but were still progressing. To get things moving, we went to the mall to walk around 8 or 9 am. We walked and walked and walked. The contractions were steadily getting stronger and closer together. We went into the arcade and played some games and won a cute little stuffed horse that we still have now. Well my contractions were finally about 5 minutes apart and I couldn’t walk through them and could barely talk through them. So around 11:00 we were off to the hospital. By the time we got there and the got a monitor on me, the contractions had slowed a whole lot. We stayed and I was monitored for a while longer. A long while. Because I was still having contractions and they wanted to see if they’d pick up. Finally, the doctor came in to check me, I think I was only at a 2 or 3. I was so worried they were going to send me home. But, nope! She said she didn’t want the baby to get any bigger. So off to a L & D room I went! By the time they got me hooked up in there it was about 4:00 pm! They started me on an IV with some Pitocin. And after just a bit, the doctor came in and broke my water. Between the Pitocin and the broken water, the contractions started progressing fast. But not so fast they were unbearable. I had visitors a lot. I remember my grandpa being in there for a contraction and asking if I was okay and if it was supposed to be like this. I hadn’t even hit hard labor yet! He had just never seen a woman in labor before. It was cute how concerned he was. We assured him it was all normal. I also remember that , for some reason, my cousin thought it necessary for me to meet her new boyfriend at this time. It didn’t bother me, but I thought it was odd. I guess it didn’t scare him too much, because they just got married a couple months ago! Well around 7:00pm, hard labor started. I remember when it first started getting hard is the one and only time I cussed during the whole time. And everyone thought it was funny because I asked my husband for permission before I did it! They checked me and I was at 5cm and they said I could go ahead and get an epidural or I could get stadol and try out the hot tub. Well, the idea of the hot tub appealed to me, so I chose the stadol. I got in the tub and the nurse injected the stadol into my IV. As she was, I asked her how long it took to kick in and she said it would kick in at any moment. And right after she said that I told my husband I saw two of him. I felt like I was drunk. It took the edge off the pain, which was good. But pretty soon it started to feel like I needed to push. I knew it wasn’t time yet because I was only at a 5. It was just without the pain, I could suddenly feel this incredible pressure. I was scared I would hurt the baby if I pushed. It was all I could do not to though. Every contraction I had my feet plastered against the end of the tub, forcing myself not to push. I think about 30 minutes to an hour went by like this. And they checked me again and I was at a 7. They asked me if I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural. I’m like “OH, YEAH!” The anesthesiologist told me I’d feel a burn when he injected the local anesthetic. That burn hurt almost as much as a contraction, but it was well worth it! Not long after, I asked the nurse how long it would take to kick in. (I know I’m impatient) And she was like, “Well, can you feel that?” and pointed to the monitor, where it showed I was having a doozie right then. It was so nice to be able to rest. I love epidurals!!! They checked me again 30 minutes to an hour later and I was finally fully dilated. It was time to push! I could feel nothing from my stomach down so they had to tell me when to push. I think I only pushed about 30 minutes. The nurse told me that I did excellent for not being able to feel anything. Noah Patrick came into this world on his due date, just barely, at 11:27 pm on January 15, 2002. He has been the apple of my eye ever since! And he’s getting ready to be a big brother. I’m scheduled to be induced to have his little sister next week on September 27, 2005!!!

Posted by: Kay Bear's Mommy Nov 8 2005, 10:09 AM

Ok, this is Kayla Jean's birth story! Before I begin, I want to make it clear that DH and I like the gender to be a surprise, so we had no clue if it was going to be a girl or if it was going to be a boy. All we knew was that if it turned out to be a girl, we were going to name her Kayla Jean, and if it was a boy, we were going to name him Jonathan Bryce. So, when I woke up on April 21, almost a week before my due date (I was due April 27), I started having some mild contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. I didn't worry about it. I just went on with my day...but then, later that afternoon my water broke and the contractions became more severe, so I called DH and he got off from work and went to the hospital with me. Turns out I was only at 2 cm. I was in SOOOO much pain you wouldn't believe it. I vomited several times. By midnight I was only at 4 cm. I was getting so restless, I couldn't sleep, I just wanted the kid to come OUT!!!!! Soon enough I was able to get my epidural, so that helped ease some of the pain. But I still just wanted to get some sleep. Well, at 3 AM I was only at 5 CM!!!!!!! I was getting mad. A little over an hour later I was at 7 cm. At least I was progressing a little further! At around 5:30 I was FINALLY fully dilated and let me tell you, I was SOOOOOOO happy!!! After an hour of pushing... My beautiful little girl Kayla Jean came at 6:25 AM on April 22, 2004. She weighed 6 pounds, 8 oz and was exactly 18 inches long. I was so relieved to hold her in my arms! We were discharged at noon on April 24. So...that's my birth story! Kind of boring. But whatever. lol.

Posted by: MomToJade&Jordan Nov 9 2005, 10:12 AM

Here is Jordan's birth story... First the stats: Born on Oct 11th at 4:02 am Weight: 5lbs 11oz Length: 18.5 inches Apgar: 8/9 Well as you all know I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia at 33 weeks. This was new to me because I didn't have a problem with bp while pg with Jade. Anyway because of this I had to go to the hospital twice a week for a non-stress test and to have my fluids checked. So on Oct 11th I hoped into the Jeep and drove the 30 minutes to Bethesda (for those of you who don't know Bethesda is the President's hospital). I went up to L&D I they hooked me right up to the monitor. I wasn't on there for long when the nurse came in with an OB doc. They looked at the little chart that records the fetal heartrate together and the next thing I know I'm being told that the baby would be coming today. I was like wait, hold up, WHAT! Apparently Jordan's heartrate was going down with the mild contractions I was having. I had been having them off and on all weekend, but didn't think nothing of them, they were braxton hicks. I lost it at this point. All I could think of was Jade. I had been scheduled for my induction on the 17th and was going to spend that last week spending time with my first born. She even told me before I left not to go to the hospital and even watched me from the door as I hopped into the car. I just wanted to hold her so much and was in plain shock because I hadn't been expecting this at all. Not to mention that my Mom was going to be there on Sat. and I really wanted her to see at least one of her grand children born. So here I am bawling and trying my darndest to calm down enough to call DH. I couldn't get a hold of him. We hadn't had a chance to get a landline yet and our cellphones didn't work well in the house. So I called Cary. I was in a total panic and fortunately she was able to get the MPs out to my house to inform my DH that I would be induced. I have no idea what I would have done without her that day. DH finally called me and told me that he would be there as soon as he could get a hold of my BIL (in and amusing aside to that he apparently called Josh, who was at work, and was like so when will you be off work. Josh was like oh about an hour what's up. Oh well they are inducing Carrie today. Which Josh replied well geez Zack in that case I can leave right now.) So after checking to see where the baby's head was and putting my IV in I was shown to one of the LDR rooms. They hooked me up to all of the machines and then started the magnesim drip and the pitocin. I had to be on the mag drip because of my bp and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It didn't take long for the pitocin to start working. I didn't expect it to since it was the same way with Jade. A little bit later one of the docs came in and decided it would be a good idea to put this little device in to help me dialate faster. It's just this little balloon thing they fill with water. She told me it would come out when I was 4 cm. I was like okay if it will help. DH arrived soon after that with BIL in tow. Jade was at a co-workers house and would be taken by Josh to our house later. I just didn't want her to see me hooked up to all of that stuff. It wasn't too long after that the little device they put in came out. I was 3-4 cm so it was time to break my water and put in the internal monitors. I opted to stay away from the staydol this time so all of that was quite uncomfortable. The contractions were starting to hurt more, but I breathed through them and decided I wouldn't get an epidural until I thought I needed one. I don't remember how long I was laboring when the doc came in to check me and found out I was 6 cm. I do remember it was dark out and that I was quite tired. I decided then that I would get the epi. Let's just say it took him forever to put it in, which led to me having a spinal headache. I did get to rest some after that though, but not for long because that is when the trouble started. Jordan's heartrate was really starting to drop with each contraction. The doc checked me and saw that I was 7 cm. I think this was about 3 in the morning. That is when they decided to shut the pitocin off and try to stop the contractions for a while. I'm not really sure what they gave me, but it made my heart race and made me shake all over. I really didn't like that at all, I had no control over my body and it scared DH really bad. Of course the contractions were not stopping so the doc said they would have to give me more of that medicine. I was like um I don't think so. My heart was still beating pretty fast and the shakes just would not stop. That's when the word c-section came into the pic. I knew going in that it would be a possibilty, but I was determined not to have one. The doc was like okay let's see how dialated you are. I was a 9. I think that happened within a half hour. The doc decided then that maybe we would should try pushing. I was like all right anything to avoid a c-section. The pushing actually helped the baby. I don't think I pushed too long in there. They decided that we would keep pushing, but in the OR just in case. So I got wheeled down to the OR and the pushing began. It only lasted about 15 minutes and Jordan was born. The OB who had decided that I had to be induced that day was there and she was awesome. She told me I was a great Mom and that she was glad that we did the induction that day. DH actually cut the cord this time and it wasn't long before I was shown why we were having such a problem. Jordan had a knot in her cord. Apparently our children are so acrobatic in the womb they can do amazing things with their cord. Jade had hers wrapped around her neck twice. I am happy to say that Jordan is now a wopping 8lbs 2oz and quite healthy. She is a joy and I just can't believe that 4 weeks have gone by so fast. She is starting to make noises so I am going to wrap this up. Thanks for reading my novel.

Posted by: CAMSMOM1 Dec 9 2005, 10:28 PM

I'm new here, and love reading birth stories! Here's mine. I found out I was pg 6 months after we got married, it was a pleasant surprise! I had a wonderful pregnancy. I'm one of the weird ones, I LOVED being pregnant. I had a belly that was larger than life, I would actually have people ask me if I was having triplets!!! I was measuring a month ahead, that's how big it was! Strech marks like you wouldn't believe! Since I had such a big tummy, and the baby was sitting so low, everyone had bets that I would go early. But to everyone's surprise I was a week overdue, and had to be induced. They hooked me up to Pitocin, the worst thing that man ever made! They started me at a low dose, but I just wouldn't contract. The maxium dose you can get is 20, and if that doesn't work, you have to come back later. So they got me to a 20 dosage of Pitocin, and finally my labor started. Because I was at such a high doseage I was having back to back contractions, no breaks in between. I swore I was going to have a natural birth, no meds. But after 8 hours of back to back contractions and only getting to 4 cm dialated, my doctor suggested getting meds. I started with demeral, and I remember saying, "Wow, this is the good stuff, keep it coming doc!" Actually, it wasn't that great, it got me so out of it and didn't take the pain away. So then came the epidural. It took the guy 45 min. and 3 tries to get it in my back. The guy must of been on drugs, cause I have never heard of it taking 3 tries! First it only numbed one side, then he took it out, and put it in and out, finally it took. I was so glad I got it, it's a wonder drug! I went from 4 cm to 8 in one hour! It really helped my body relax and open up. Then the problems began. My son's heart rate went extremly low. They put me on oxygen, and put a fetal monitor in my son's head....that was scary. They kept rolling me from side to side. I got to a 9, and my doctor came in and was actually pulling me open to get me to a 10, because I needed to deliver this baby fast. Luckily I had a high risk doctor, even though I had a normal pregnancy. The reason my son's heart rate was low was because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times. I even had a ultrasound to detemine the weight before labor, and the tech said she saw the cord wrapped, got a second opionion and they said everything was fine. Well, it wasn't. It took me 2 and a half hours pushing. They had to take the epidural completely out because I wasnt pushing right. So needless to say, I felt everything. The doctor had to unwrap his cord while he was still inside me. THen he cut me all the way down, and you could actually hear the skin being cut. That was freaky! My son came out complete BLUE, and not responding. They rushed him to the station next to us, and everyone was praying. I had always imagined holding my crying baby after I delivered. Not so. It took a couple of min to get his lungs cleared and him responding. His whole body was limp, not something a mother wants to see. Once they got him to respond, they weighed him. Well my big belly wasn't for nothing, he weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce! And 21 1/2 inches long. He had the biggest hands and feet. Lots of hair, and he was born with a 3rd nipple. We named him Cameron Vail, the middle name runs in the family, the third to have it. I didn't like it, but it was important to my husband. And now I liked it. His birthdate is APRIL 1ST...my little April Fool's Baby. It totally fits his personality. Even though my labor and delivery was hard and scary at times, I can't wait to have another one! Not pg yet, but we're going to start around his second birthday. Cameron's now 20 months old. He is in the 100 percentile for his age group for his height and weight. He is wearing 3T-4T clothes and a size 8 shoes! Big boy! His favorite hobbie is eating, seriously, never seen a baby love food this much! Thanks for listening to my birth story! Hopefully soon I'll have another one to write about. Ann

Posted by: TsurugiButterfly Dec 13 2005, 09:05 AM

I only recently found this board... I never thought I'd have a birth story to post so soon! My SO and I finally moved out of our parents houses in April, and around the middle of May, I had missed my period and I began to wonder if I was pregnant. Of course, my SO is a Star Wars geek (Actually, so am I) and he had been planning for MONTHS for the opening of Episode III, so I didn't want to ruin his day by telling him I might be pregnant... I waited until the next morning. We got a home test kit, and it was positive. So we called and made a dr. appointment, and sure enough, I was already 6 weeks along. I didn't have a lot of difficulty through the pregnancy... I did gain a bit too much weight and it turned out that I had gestational diabetes, but luckily I was able to control that with diet. Eventually, we had our last ultrasound at 34 weeks and 5 days on Monday Dec. 7th. He was already head down, and otherwise fine. The tech estimated that he was about 5 pounds and 5 ounces at that point -- a little big, but nothing to be alarmed about. I knew then that more than likely he would be early.. either of his own accord, or that the doc would want to induce me so he wouldn't be too big. I was not going to make it until January 11th. Little did I know how right I was... On Wednesday the 9th, I had my first non-stress test. Things went rather well. His heart rate was good, and it didn't take us long to get some good movements. The SO and I went home happy and excited. Thursday was alright. He didn't move as much as he had been over the past months, but I had read that sometimes the baby will slow down as he gets closer to the due date. I still got well over ten movements in ten hours, so I thought I was fine. My SO works overnights and since I'm not working, I tend to sleep during the day while he does so we can spend more time together. So I woke up Friday afternoon like any other afternoon around 2pm. By about 6pm, I still had not yet felt one movement from the baby. This is the longest he had ever gone without moving, but even according to my doctor's standards, it hadn't been long enough yet to start panicking. Around 9pm, I still had not felt him move. I called my mom, and she too thought that maybe he was slowing down and "getting ready to be born." She said that when she had had us kids, the doctors never worried about kick charts and getting X movements in 10 hours and whatnot. I'm glad I didn't listen to her. I stayed up all night Friday night terrified. I went online and started researching everything I could about baby's movements in the third trimester. Everything I read said, if you don't feel a movement in over 12 hours, call the doctor. By then, it was about 3am, my SO was at work, and the weather was very bad. Needless to say, I waited 3 more hours until the SO came home at 6am. I told him I still hadn't felt him move. So being a Saturday morning, we decided to go to the emergency room. When we got there, the lady at the desk asked if my doctor had told me to go there. I told him I don't even have a phone number for my doctor except for his office, which was only open Monday-Friday. They sent me up to Labor & Delivery outpatient and got me hooked up for another NST. The nurse I had was wonderful. We tried several different positions, and lots of ice water, but still no movement from baby. In the meantime, she started putting together information for delivery, so that, even if I didn't deliver that day, I wouldn't have to worry about it when I did get there. Thank goodness for her foresight! Finally Dr. G, the dr. on duty came in and felt my belly, and decided we'd take a peek at the ultrasound. During all this time, the baby's heart rate had been fine -- averaging in the 140s. In other words, no sign of distress. The ultrasound didn't reveal anything that seemed to be a problem. Dr. G didn't tell me this until later on, but he had decided that either way, I was going to deliver that day. He finished the ultrasound and had me lie on my side for a little while. So I laid there quietly, just listening to the sound of the heart monitor. Suddenly, I heard the sounds get slower and slower. I couldn't read the monitor from my position so I asked my SO to tell me what the number was on the machine. He said 84. 84! I told him to run out into the hall and find a nurse, or Dr. G. or someone and tell them the baby's heartrate was dropping. He was already gone before I could finish the sentence. Dr. G came right in and confirmed what I had thought. He listened to my belly with his stethoscope and said "We're going to deliver him now." Suddenly my body started shaking... I don't know if it was just nervousness or being so excited or what. I was feeling (and I'm sure so was my SO) all sorts of different emotions at once... I was a little scared of the surgery as I had been up until that point trying to avoid c-section -- I wanted a natural birth. Otherwise, I was just so excited.. the big moment was finally here, no turning back now. The nursing staff was great. They even allowed me to actually go pee and change into a gown before they put in the catheter. Which actually didn't hurt as much as I was afraid it would. They even let my SO use his cellphone to call both sets of parents from the room we were in instead of having to go to the main lobby. Which was fun in itself. We called my folks, and my 14 y/o sister answered. She said my dad was working (he's a firefighter) and my mom was at the store. So we told her what was happening so she could get ahold of my mother. I guess she put us on speakerphone because suddenly I could hear my 8 y/o sister in the background screaming "She's having the baby?!?!?!? I'm gonna be an auntie today!!!" So then we called the fire station. My dad was on the ambulance returning from a call, so the dispatcher patched us through to him. He wanted to drop everything and come right over but then they got sent to another call. We couldn't get ahold of his parents! and they must not have had their cellphones on.... but there was no more time. We had to get going. They whisked Michael away to get scrubs on while they brought me to the OR and got the IV in me. I was still trembling like a leaf, and I was worried that my shaking was going to make it difficult for the anesthesiologist to inject the meds into my spine, but she said everything was fine. They laid me back on the bed, and I immediately started to feel cold from my tummy downwards -- kind of like jumping into a cold pool. I was still shaking, but I was coherent, and everyone was just so helpful. (And impressed that I didn't even feel a shred of pain when the spinal injection went in.) Since I had had water to drink, I was concerned about getting sick from the anethesia, but they gave me some medicine in the IV for it, and I felt fine again. Michael was by my side, and the doctors began the procedure. I was a little worried for Michael, he always says he has a weak stomach (he doesn't even like to HEAR about blood, never mind see it) but he did great, considering he could see most of what was happening. What a trooper. They delivered Tristan at 11:23am. They held him up for a split second, and Michael saw him. I craned my neck to see over the drape, but they whisked Tristan away before I could even catch a glimpse of my son. They started to finish me up and asked Michael if he wanted to see Tristan. So he left the room while they finished me up. Michael came back a few moments later and told me that Tristan looked very pale. I knew Tristan would be sick, and needed special care, but it still hurt to not even have gotten a peek at him, even for a second. I craned my neck into the next room while they were wheeling me to recovery, but the doctors were conveniently trying to keep my attention away from the window. I spent the next couple hours in a recovery room. Not so much because I needed to recover -- I was completely awake and coherent, but obviously still had no feeling. Within a few minutes, I could move my feet and legs. The nurse that was with me was really impressed at how quickly I was recovering. Mike had gone to make phone calls, and another nurse came in to see me and asked me and the other nurse "Where's your other half?" I told her, and she told me to have him swing by the nurses station when he came back. He did, and he came back and told me what they showed him about Tristan. I guess part of me was feeling a little annoyed that they were showing my son to Mike and telling him what was going on, and they wouldn't even say a WORD to me. I felt a little helpless. Mike told me that Tristan had been very pale when he was born, and that he would need a blood transfusion and that they would be transferring him to another hospital with a NICU facility. He said the doctor told them to tell me that they PROMISE (the doctor's own words!) that they will bring Tristan to see me before he went. In a few moments, I was ready to be wheeled to the room I'd be staying in for the rest of my stay. The nurse and I tried to peek through the windows into the nursery, but the transfer team had already arrived and we couldn't get a good look at Tristan. So we went to my room and got me settled, and Mike made several trips back and forth with news and information. From what Mike told me, and what Dr. G later told me himself, they were rather impressed at the type of questions I had been asking. I chalk that up to my being a Libra, and being obsessed with researching things. Around 4pm, the doctor leading the transfer team came in and had me sign some consent forms, and he explained a little bit about what was happening with Tristan. We were still unsure as to what had happened to him so they would be doing some blood tests on me. He seemed very positive, however, about Tristan's progress and said we may even take our baby home by the following weekend, and he PROMISED us (yes, he said "Promise") we'd have him home for Christmas. By now, I felt a lot better, and lot less like I was in the dark. While we were speaking, the transfer team came in with the incubator. I can't say they looked too excited about coming up to my room. From what I understand they do not usually allow for stops like this. Normally they just whisk the child away. But I guess the doctors taking care of us understood that I must have heartbroken about not even having seen my baby yet. Words cannot express how I felt when I first saw Tristan. Sure, he was a little pale, as he had just started receiving the first transfusion, and he was thin (though very long) but he was just so beautiful. I could only talk to him, and hold his hand through the incubator for a moment, but it gave me so much relief. My parents came to visit with my sisters a little while later. Dr. G. had snapped some polaroids of Tristan before he left, so we had those to show off. They visited with Mike and I for a little while. In the meantime, the nurse on duty had been amazed that I wasn't in a lot of pain, and she asked me as my folks were getting ready to leave, if I wanted to try standing up. So my family got to watch me stand for the first time, just under eight hours after having the c-section. We FINALLY got in touch with Mike's parents. So we told them the whole story. his mom is a nurse, and she couldn't believe that I had already been standing and walking! This was pretty much the theme for the rest of the next day or so. Apparently, I was recovering amazingly fast. There was talk of having me transferred to the same hospital where Tristan was on Sunday. However, I have the Massachusetts "free" insurance, and being a Saturday, there was no way of knowing if they would pay for my transfer since the hospital we were going to would be in another state. So we couldn't even think of transferring until Monday. But since I was doing so well, the nurse hinted that maybe I could talk the doctor into possibly discharging me late on Sunday. I really shouldn't have believed her. So Sunday morning came around, and here I was wondering if I could get discharged. By 9:30am I had my answer. No way, no how. Dr. G couldn't let me go so soon, despite the fact I was recovering at lightning speed. But, he did have some news. The results of the blood test done on me Saturday night revealed that my veins contained 97% my blood... and 3% Tristan's blood. There were no marks on him, so Dr. G. thought that perhaps the cord itself had been damaged and he was bleeding out into my body. Tristan had lost about 5 ounces of blood. Dr. G. went on to explain that what had happened was called a maternal hemorrhage. He said this is usually caused by trauma of sort, like being in a car accident, or getting hit. This wasn't the case with us, so he theorized that perhaps the cord was starting to get wrapped around Tristan's neck and he tried to free himself. Either way, he said it was rare that it occurrs, and even rarer that both mother and baby survive. He said we were VERY lucky that we came in when we did... a couple more hours and Tristan might not have made it. A few hours earlier, and Dr. G. might not have been able to detect it. Fate certainly smiled on this little boy. We called Women and Infants several times on Sunday for updates, each one sounding better than the last. The nurses at W&I are great, and as parents, we can call at any time of day to ask about our son, and they were more than happy to tell us! Tristan received his last transfusion at 12:30pm Sunday, and by 7pm Sunday they said he was a beautiful rosy pink. They said he had had two wet diapers, and had a large BM already, so he was certainly working fine. For the most part, he had been breathing on his own, but having a little trouble exhaling, so they put him on a vent, but on the lowest setting. Meaning he was still doing most of the work himself. By Sunday he was on only 25% oxygen and looking better and better. I was doing better, too. Sunday morning the catheter came out, and my IV was capped my lunchtime. By dinner they decided I didn't need it and it was taken out altogether. Monday morning rolled around, and I was very antsy. Dr. G. had promised (here we go with the promises) that he would be around bright and early Monday morning to discharge me. Let's just say the on-duty nurse was doubtful. She said "There going to transfer you to W&I today." and I said "No, I'm being discharged this morning." She said "There's no way that can happen. You haven't even been out of surgery two days yet. You won't be able to discharge until Wednesday." I held my tongue, and all I said was "Well, I'll wait and see what the doctor says." Dr G. had his hands busy with another delivery, but the doctor that did come see had heard everything, and he checked me out and appeared pleased with what he saw. He said "I've never discharged a woman so soon after a c-section, but then again, I've never seen one up and walking around and taking care of herself so soon, either." I was free! Woohoo! So needless to say I spent most of yesterday gathering things. I came home, made some phone calls, and got ready to drive to W&I to see my son. I should tell you in the meantime, I'd been trying to pump to get my milk to come in. I had a lot of colostrum on the first try Saturday night, but I got absolutely NOTHING out between then, and all day Monday. This with the electric pump at the hospital. They let me take my kit home, which also converts into a manual pump. We went to see Tristan, and spent about three hours there, holding him, cuddling him, and taking pictures. He had opened his eyes finally, too. They are a beautiful midnight blue. I hope they stay that way I couldn't get over how well he has already bonded with Mike. Mike had never held a baby before (i of course, had had to take care of my little sisters, so I was a semi-pro, LOL) but he was a natural, and he talked to Tristan about all sorts of things. All the while I'm taking picture of the wonderful facial expressions! Tristan just seemed so mesmerized by Mike. The two of them will get along famously. Of course he liked sitting with Mommy too... so much so that he fell asleep. The NICU unit at Women and Infants is wonderful. They let parents in at any time, and for as long as you like. The only restrictions are during change of shift and during rounds. But you are only asked out of the room when the docs happen to be rounding your baby's area. When they move onto another section, they let us back in. The staff is very helpful, and provided us with lots of information. They also encourage you to bring in toys and clothes and even to participate in his care if you wish -- all around us were other parents holding, changing, feeding, even bathing their tiny angels I'll admit I've never had the joy of changing a little boy before, especially a newborn, so I was a little nervous, but I did fine. Mike even got to change his first diaper, too. He had been a little apprehensive about my being adamant about not wanting him circumcised, but after seeing it himself, and realizing how easy it is to care for, he was OK. Tristan is doing very well. He is off the vent, and only on a small amount of oxygen. The nurse caring for him told us that he may very well be off the oxygen by Tuesday. She also said Tuesday they would try feeding him, and if he eats well, they will remove his IV. She said if he continues to progress this well, having him home by the weekend is not out of the realm of possibility. I came home Monday night, and attempted once again to pump. This time, I had to do it manually. I don't know if it was because I had kept up pumping all that time before, or if it was just because I finally got to hold my son, but it pretty much opened the floodgates. The milk is coming in I am storing it right now, and I will bring some of it with me to the hospital today in hopes that we might get to try feeding him.

Posted by: MyBrownEyedBoy Dec 13 2005, 10:03 AM

Okay, I'll try to remember most of the important details, 15 months later. Logan Read T_______ born Sept 5, 2004 7lbs, 0oz 20 inches long I had a wonderful pregnancy, no sickness to speak of and only mild tiredness. But as I neared the 40 week mark, I was so ready for it to be over. I was due 9/5/04. On my weekly appointment on the 3rd of September, I asked my midwife what I could do to speed things along. She said she would strip my membranes and that sex would usually work too. Well I wasn't doing that. I work in the lab in that hospital and I wasn't about to have the other techs know what I was doing that night. (Sometimes a urine specimen is sent to the lab for analysis. Not going further on that.) But that night Aaron and I went to a college basketball game. Pre-season. We got home around 11pm and I went to bed, I was exhausted. Around 2 am I woke up convinced that I had to poo (Sorry if TMI). Nothing happened when I got to the bathroom. I made the potty trip 2 more times before I realized that I was in labor. LOL, first time mommy. Since I couldn't sleep through them and they were pretty regular, I laid down on the couch and read a book and timed contractions. By about 11am they were to the point where I couldn't talk through them and I decided it was time to call the midwife and head to the hospital. She arrived about 10 minutes after I did and didn't leave for the next 15 hours except to eat something really quick. She and Aaron rubbed my feet, walked with me, helped me change positions and were fantastic coaches. At about 6pm she asked me if she could break my water, I was 6 cm dialated and not progressing very rapidly. I said, let's do it and scooted down on the bed. As I scooted, my water broke on it's own. I didn't have an epi because I didn't want one, but I did end up with IV pain meds when they started pitocin because my contraction pattern slowed down after my water broke. Pitocin was evil, that's all I'll say. Finally at midnight on Sunday, September, 5th (my due date), I was ready to start pushing, after 2 and 1/2 hours, Logan Read was laid on my stomach, then swooped away and had his stomach pumped, he had swallowed a lot of bloody amniotic fluid. We found out later that night that he had a heart defect, but you can read other posts for details about that. That is the story of my happiest day.

Posted by: kimberley Dec 30 2005, 09:12 AM

Kaleigh Anne Born December 27, 2005 at 7:26pm 7lbs 19.5” This is one story that will be remembered by many for years to come. It’s not quite as short as you may think. Monday night I had trouble sleeping. Didn’t feel well. By 9am Tuesday morning, I started feeling contractions that were different than all the others. They were all in my back and very uncomfortable. They continued all day ranging from 5min apart to 20min apart. I chalked it up to more Braxton hicks. I was supposed to go with my dad and his gf to the cemetery because it was the 10th anniversary of my grandmother’s passing. We usually have lunch in her honor afterwards. I also had a midwife appt but cancelled it because I just didn’t feel right. By around 5pm, they started to get more intense but not regular. We called the midwives and she decided to come and check. In the meantime, Jamie and my dad’s gf set up the pool and the bed. The midwife arrived just before 6pm and she was impressed how prepared we were. Her exam showed I was about 80% effaced and only 4cm dilated. I was a little surprised because the contractions were getting unbearable at that point. The only way I could get through them was on my knees on the floor leaning over the edge of the bed. The second midwife came after 6:30pm and also did an internal with the same results. I was still about 6min apart. We concluded that this baby was likely a ways off (probably not coming til the next day) and they would catch up on some paperwork and recheck in an hour and likely go home. They sat on the edge of my bed (where I was laboring ) and did their work, so I moved to the kitchen to walk it out. I have to add… these two midwives were like watching an Abbott and Costello routine. They didn’t quiet for a minute and were quite annoying during transition labor lol. A few minutes later, I felt a huge contraction come on and fell to my knees leaning over the kitchen bench. This was the worst one of them all. At the peak of the contraction, I uncontrollably beared down and out came the bag on waters intact!! So here I am, unable to talk through the pain of contractions, with some foreign object hanging in my track pants and no one could see. I managed to spit out “its coming” and the midwives shouted for them to bring me to the room. YA RIGHT ! I was already bearing down because the baby’s head was right behind the membranes and there is NO reasoning with a woman that deep into labor . It took 2 midwives, dh and dad’s gf just to get me out of the hands and knees position and pants off to birth. There was just no time, so they frantically ran back and forth from the room to the kitchen bringing in the supplies. The bag of waters broke, soaking the midwife who then started cursing about her wet socks and dh is watching helplessly as the fluid starts creeping towards him and the computer because when they flipped me over they had my head and shoulders in his lap and his legs were pinned to the floor LOL . Not two pushes later, I had a beautiful, pink baby girl in my arms. DH cut the cord and we all just sat in amazement about the eventful 15min of birth. I never made it to 10cm. she said I couldn’t have been much more than 8cm when I gave birth. I had no idea you could birth before 10. No stitches thankfully but I did get violently sick that night. Not sure if it was the shock of a fast delivery or a bug but I threw up all night and cramped so hard I thought I would die. Labor didn’t seem as awful as that. I am better now and totally in love with my sweet baby girl . She is so perfect. My milk came in after a day and she is nursing like a champ . Tandem nursing is challenging but I’m willing to give it a go. 3days old and she has only lost 2oz. I am now the going joke at the mw office.. the 15min kitchen baby

Posted by: Maddie&EthansMom Dec 30 2005, 11:10 AM

What a dramatic birth, Kimberley!!! WOW!! I wish I were there to hug you in person!! (and hold that sweet baby ) I'm glad things are going well now, but sorry they didn't go 'as planned'....they never do, right? I can't wait to see more pictures. Do you think she looks like Jade? Were you shocked it was a girl? I'm glad you are feeling better, too. I got sick like that after giving birth..both times. I tend to think it is just such a shock to our bodies. Of course it could be any number of things. I was so sick after I had Ethan that I couldn't function. So, I know how you feel. It's hard to enjoy everything and appreciate it all when you feel so rotten. But, Kaleigh is here. Congrats again!!

Posted by: gr33n3y3z Dec 30 2005, 11:47 AM

That is a wonderful birth story Kimberley and your right no one will forget that either

Posted by: My2Beauties Dec 30 2005, 12:23 PM

Wow what an eventful birth story. Goodness I didn't know you could give birth before 10 cm neither, never heard of that. I am so happy for you and your baby girl is beautiful!

Posted by: TANNER'S MOM Dec 30 2005, 12:30 PM

Aww that is a wonderful story. It didn't hurt them to get there socks wet. I am sorry you got so sick afterward. I was going to mention to you at some point..the more children you have the easier the labor the worse the after pains..but i forgot! I am glad you are up and feeling like telling us your story! Congrats! I am glad it worked out..the home delivery is awesome!

Posted by: Insanemomof3 Dec 30 2005, 12:49 PM

WOW! She is beautiful and I am so glad you are feeling better.

Posted by: SOUTHERN MOMMY Dec 30 2005, 01:24 PM

WOW Girl I would have passed out with all that pain Congrats she is beautiful

Posted by: 3_call_me_mama Dec 30 2005, 01:56 PM

Simply Beautiful Kimberly!!! Waht a lovely story adn you are right it will eb remembered forever!!

Posted by: ~Roo'sMama~ Jan 1 2006, 09:11 AM

what an amazing story Kimberly! I'm sorry you got so sick afterwords. I can't wait to see pics of her!

Posted by: moped Jan 1 2006, 10:03 AM

You tell a great story - I am going to read that one over and over!!!!!!! She is wonderful!!!

Posted by: A&A'smommy Jan 1 2006, 01:00 PM

WOW Kimberely that is an AMAZING story!!!!! Kayleigh (I hope I'm spelling that right )made quite a dramatic entrance CONGRATULATIONS again

Posted by: Elza Jan 1 2006, 03:03 PM

Anna was induced after being two weeks overdue. I had a midwife and she was great! I was alone during most of it because my husband seemed to get bored easily. I decided not to have any pain medication or an epideral. It wasn't that bad until the last part of labor. The in laws kept coming in the room which was annoying me and I finally yelled at them to leave me alone (a particular painful contraction was happening at the time). My parents stayed in the waiting room and didn't bother me the whole time (it would have been nice to have my mom there after the fact but oh well). Toward the end of labor they gave me some type of seditive and it was horrible to sleep for two minutes and wake up with every contraction (i guess they wanted me to save up energy for the pushing but it didn't work very well!!!) Finally they decided I was ready to push and after about what seemed like forever I couldn't push anymore I was so exhausted they had to bring in more nurses and they all pushed on my stomache and out came Anna at 8 oz 11 pds and 21 inches. Oh she was so little and adorable!!! My second baby didn't go as well. I decided to try a doctor and at 6 mths this doctor decided to tell me her life story at one of the checkups and it thoroughly pissed me off (I am a bit mean when I am pregnant) so I decided not to see anyone again! I thought I would just have my husband take me to the hospital when I went in to labor. Well I finally went into labor and the ambulance took me to the hospital ( I refused to have a bumpy car ride with my husband at the wheel!!) I got to the hospital and they were a bit pissed I didn't have a doctor but everything was going along very well until the babies heart rate started to go down. All of the sudden about four doctors came in and told me I had to have an emergency c-section!!! I yelled at them to get out of my room and they finally left and I tried to calm down and relax which brought the heart rate back up and then my husband finally talked me into having the c-section! I never had any surgery before or anything drastic happen to me (except the first birth) so I was terrified. Good thing I had the c-section Ivan was 10pds 4 oz!!!!! He was huge! It was great when we got home cause everyone helped me out and I got to stay in bed for two weeks!!! Ivan is still adorable although he is a skinny little guy now although pretty tall for his age! The third one was a great surprise! I thought two was enough and all of the sudden I am prego again! I completely had forgotten everything about babies having only toddler info stored in my brain. I decided to have the same doctor that did my c-section and he decided that I should have another c-section because it wasn't very long after the first one. It was nice having a scheduled date to have the baby!!!! I was still a bit terrified but my husband was there holding my hand so that was cool (plus he looked cute in the surgery get up!) I had my tubes tied at the same time no more little ones !! Bryce Jasper was 8 pds 8oz and 19 inches. He is a chunky little toddler and is trying to climb everything in sight!!! He has cute curly sandy blonde hair and looks like his dad. All the kids have my husbands hair colour My two year old looks alot like me though!

Posted by: holley79 Jan 5 2006, 05:46 PM

Kimberly, sounds like you knew more then the mw. LOL. I hope that you are enjoying your prefect little angel. I can't wait to see pictures of her.

Posted by: holley79 Jan 5 2006, 06:03 PM

All right here goes nothing. I'm sure you can guess that Annika is asleep right now. I probably should be also but I can't. Annika Lily 8 pounds 9 ounces 19 3/4 inches long Dec 28th 2005 at 0948 hours. We arrived at the hospital at approximately 1201 hours on Wednesday December 28th. We checked in and went up to Labor and Delivery floor. The nurse that took care of me when I was admitted was my nurse again. She is such a sweet lady. I dressed out into a gown, did the famous tinkle in a cup (boy am I going to miss that LOL), and got hooked up to the monitors. She came back in to put in my IV. I forgot to tell her I had scar tissue on my left wrist where she was trying to put the IV in at. OUCH! I started crying and Shawn remembered about the tissue damage there from a break. She apologized to me and went into the top of my hand. Piece of cake then. We got all the paper work taken care of that needed to be completed by them and braceleted up. They put the low dose of Pitocin into my IV and gave me an Ambien to be able to sleep at 0130 hours. I had been wired all day so I didn’t nap. My mom and sister showed up around the time they started the drip. Shawn and my sister fell asleep. My mom and I sat there talking. (I guess it's got to be hard thinking that your little girl is fixing to be a mommy.) Shawn would wake up when I was getting up to go to the bathroom. It’s so much fun unhooking all the monitors and totting the IV with you to the potty. My blood pressure was still up so they were watching that closely. Around 0300 hours I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. The nurse came in about that time and used one of the strips to check to see if it was amniotic fluid, DUH right. LOL. Nothing like wetting all over the place to just make your night go so smoothly. (I had been checked about an hour prior to that and was 3 cm and she could feel the top of her head.) Well after my water broke I started having contractions and they were fast and hard. Not to mention there was nothing cushioning her head down there any longer. I said some really nasty things. (Of course Shawn reminded me of this. LOL) I also told the nurse that I wouldn’t like her anymore if she pushed anymore Pitocin through my IV; I was doing well enough on my own without the help of that. She just smiled and did it when I wasn’t looking. The pain was pretty intense at times. She came in and gave me a shot of narcotics to help ease the pain till anesthesiologist could get there for my epidural but it didn’t even touch the pain. I asked the nurse if the other girls were in labor and she told me they were sleeping. I told her that was no fair to go wake them up and really push the Pitocin for them, why should I suffer alone right? She got a kick out of me. I’m such a dork. At 0700 hours the nurses switch shifts. My daytime nurse I had during my prior stay walked into my room to check on me. I asked her if I was getting her again, she told me she would be more then happy to be my nurse today. (There were three on the floor that day, so I got to chose.) She told me the anesthesiologist was there and asked if I was ready for my epidural. I asked her if she was kidding me. She moved my bed to the highest position and helped me sit up. It was quite painful sitting up and leaning forward because Annika’s head was so low. (I was still only 3 cm.) She had me lean on her shoulder. I never even saw the man that walked into the room. I felt him back there working but that was about it. I felt the little sticks but it was no more annoying then my tattoo was. I felt him putting tape on my back and asked my nurse what he was doing. She said he was taping the catheter in place. I looked at her with amazement and asked her if he was done. I didn’t feel a thing and she helped me lay back down. Around 0800 hours I was still 3 cm but the pain was easing with the epidural taking effect. My nurse came back in and checked me around 0850 hours and I was 9 ¾ cm. I still had control over my legs even though I couldn’t feel them. I was able to get my behind to the edge of the table without any problems. The doctor was happy with that. (When you have broke both knees and they have been in braces for so long you learn how to move dead weight with bone and brain alone.) I started serious pushing at 0905 hours. At 0948 hours Annika Lily was a part of this world. It’s amazing the emotions that you go through when this little person is laid upon your stomach for the first time. You see this blue little bundle of squirmy flesh and you think “This is my daughter.” I counted her toes and fingers; there were ten of each. I couldn’t get over the head full of hair she had. Shawn cut the umbilical cord. There are not any words that can explain the look of pure, unconditional love that was present on his face looking down at his daughter. The emotions were just raw. The nurse took her to get her cleaned and swaddled while the doctor stitched me up. He was unable to locate a tear that was internal for a bit but was finally able to locate it. I lost a lot of blood during that time. I don’t think I have ever been so exhausted in my life. They brought Annika back to me and I got to bond with her for a little while. They then took her to the nursery for her further evaluation. I couldn’t tell you who all came to my room and who didn’t. All I wanted to do was sleep. Not to mention I was starting to feel like I was going to get sick. (Which I did.) My nurse removed the catheter and told me when I felt that I was ready to be up and about to let her know. Well I finally thought I was ready and she and Shawn helped me to the bathroom. I was fine on the way but once I was in there it was all downhill. Everything went white before my eyes and I thought I was going to pass out. They helped me into a wheelchair and took me back to the bed. She told me my other room was ready and that she was going to move me down there. We got to the other room and she re catheterized me. She didn’t want me back out of the bed at least for 12 hours. Around 0130 hours on December 29th, Shawn and I took Annika to the nursery for her vital check. It was a slow walk but we made it. It felt good to be up and about. She called about 30 minutes later and Shawn went and got her. I was unable to sleep because my bottom hurt so badly. Around 0900 hours my daytime nurse was back. She un catheterized me and told Shawn that when I got up to go to the bathroom to help me and to let her know. From that point on I was able to move about a little bit. Shawn would hand me Annika from her bassinet since it took so long for me to get up and down. She got checked over by the pediatrician and was given a very clean bill of health. The following day (December 30th) we were allowed to go home. She was a little on the fussy side. I have learned that she does not like change in environment. LOL. Oh well she got over it. Shawn was walking the floor with her and I was putting together the aquarium bouncer. LOL New Year’s Eve night I ended up with the worst chills of my life. I was laying there in bed shaking so violently that I was in pain. Shawn had to get a diaper bag together, called the hospital, loaded up Annika; and then loaded me up. He dropped Annika off at my mom’s house and took me to the ER. All my veins had been blown previously during my hospital stays so getting blood and starting IVs was pretty painful. I was also re catheterized a 3rd time. They told me I was probably going to have to stay overnight. Well now all I could think of was Annika and how she was going to have to be fed a bottle. How, here she is only 3 days old and I’m not even able to be there to take care of her. Needless to say it was a moment of pure water works. I was told I had a Urinary Tract Infection and they were going to have to put me on antibiotics. I was not going to be allowed to breast feed for 17 days. I was going to have to either feed her formula or get donors milk. Again, here come the water works. I was a little on the devastated side. My mom called an on call LC at one of the bigger hospitals in our area. They gave my mom the name of an antibiotic that I could take and was still safe to breast feed on. We got home 10 minutes till midnight. It’s not an experience that I am sure to soon forget but all the pain and turmoil were well worth it. For all that went wrong there were more positives then negatives. Annika is the most precious that I have ever been given. Shawn and I ( ) have the perfect

Posted by: jaytrevjax Jun 7 2006, 12:04 PM

I hope it's o.k. if I tell you all about my unique birth story, since it's been awile since anyone has shared one. I have 3 DS, but I'll tell you about the birth of my youngest, Jaxon. In Dec. 2003, my younger sister found out she was pregnant with baby #2 . Back then my cycles weren't very regular so I never really could use a missed period as a sign of pregnancy. All throughout Jan. I new something was up. I wasn't sick, but just felt different. Finally after a month and no period, (I'm not THAT irregular) I took a pregnancy test and it came back possitive. We weren't trying, and I was acually still on the pill. Well, my mom is an O.b. nurse at our local hospital, so she got out her pregnancy wheel, and I was due Sept. 21, the exact same day as my sister!!! Well, the next few months, all we would hear is stuff like, "Whoa, you guys must have had some freaky party" ect. We all got a good laugh out of it. I was very sick with this baby. When my mom went to draw my first set of blood work, she couldn't find a vein that wouldn't burst, and after she finally got the blood she needed, I had a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my arm. I ended up in the hospital with IV's and ended up loosing about 35 lbs before I started gaining it back. Well, August came and went. My sister had been put on bed rest because of something that had to do with amniotic fluid leaking or something like that. But Sept. 1, the dr. (we both go to the same dr.) decided he needed to take the baby c-section so she wouldn't go into distress. I told my mom to give my husband and I a call when she went in to surgery and we would come out. So about 11:00 p.m. mom called and we got my in-laws to come stay with our kids while we went out to support my sister. And I am not kidding, once we hit the hospital doors, my contractions started, nothing terrible, kind of like braxton hicks. I just told my self that they were sympathy pains because I had to have a c-section with my middle son. Well, the whole time they were in surgery, the contractions got worse and worse, but I kept thinking, "This is Miranda's day, not mine", so I just sat on the floor and rode them out. My husband knew something was up, but I just kept telling him I was fine, but when my mom came out of the O.R., she looked at me and said "let's get you in a room and hooked up to a monitor." I got all hooked up, and sure enough, I was in full fledged labor. already dialated to a 5+, I just had enough time to get an epidural. So needless to say, my dr. just stayed in the dr's lounge and my son was born Sept. 2, 2004 at 4:13 am, just 5 hours after his cousin, in the same hospital, by the same dr. We all laugh about it and say that someone had this set of twins, but knew neither my sister nor I was prepared to have twins, so they came together, to the same family, just to different mom's. It's been fun having them grow up together, but they also have thier different birthdays, so they don't have to share!

Posted by: theluckiest018 Jul 15 2006, 06:36 AM

I was due July 21st and went into early labor between 31-32 weeks. I had to be airlifted and put on magnesium sulfate (which was the absolute worst). I was kept in the hospital for a week, then sent home on Procardia (nifedipine) and bedrest. Well 2 weeks later the same thing happened. Went in for a routine checkup and was 4 cm dilated... another airlift, more magnesium sulfate, and another week in the hospital. The next week I went into labor a THIRD time and was stopped, this time using only fluids and requiring only a 3 hour hospital stay, and no airlifts.. 8 days later.. labor again.. and they finally let me have my son I went into labor at 5:30pm, went to the hospital at 8 and was dilated 4cm, they broke my water at 9, was dilated 8cm by 10, and had Ethan Matthew at 11:16 pm on June 27, 2006. He was 6 pounds, 8.8 ounces and 20 inches long.. absolutely amazing and beautiful child SOOO just wanted to say... that as FRUSTRATING as it may be if you go into early labor and have to keep getting stopped... DONT REFUSE THE MEDS. After I had magnesium sulfate the first time and was incredibly sick from it for 2 days straight (couldnt eat, move, stand, sit up, etc without throwing up) the doctor said I could refuse it the second time I was admitted (he said many women do). I was THISCLOSE to refusing it because I knew how sick I was going to get.. and I was at the point where I just wanted to see my baby instead of going into early labor and being stopped.. but DONT REFUSE IT!! When Ethan was born at almost 37 weeks perfectly healthy I realized how important that magnesium sulfate really was. It kept him inside long enough to be healthy and not need any help breathing SOO if you have a sucky few weeks with medicines, hang in there, it's worth it times a million.

Posted by: BabyOwen427 Jul 15 2006, 10:09 PM

Ok, here goes. For those who remember Aprilnewbee, well that was me. After Owen was born, I decided to change my name. My due date was April 14, 06. That day came and went, so did many others. We decided to induce on the 26th. That night, 10pm, (I dunno why they wanted me there at night, but they did), I went to the hospital. The room we were given was huge! At least as big as my living room, and the night nurse was a girl I had gone to school with, so I was really comfortable with her. At 11pm they put the cytotec on my cervix, to make it dilate (I was only at 1cm). I got a couple more doses of that med, and by 5am I was having strong contractions. As the day progressed the contractions got more intense, especially after I got the pitocin drip at 7am. At 1pm my doc broke my water, and tried to put the scalp electrode on the baby, she couldn't get it to attach properly. We had been watching my contractions get stronger all day, and his heartrate drop. At 1:30, my doc told me his heartrate was 80 bpm and dropping fast. He wasn't recovering from the contractions, and I had only dilated to 2cm, so doc decided to do a c-section. At 2:02pm Owen Reed was born. It all happened so fast. After I agreed to the surgery I was in the operating room in 5 minutes. Since I had been laboring all day without any pain meds I got a spinal. Me likey spinal After they pulled him out they started shouting lots of medical jargon, and I later found out his umbilical cord only had two vessels. They are spose to have two arteries and one vein, he only had one artery and one vein. Which helps to explain why he was two weeks late, why he couldn't handle the contractions, and why he was so petite. After I saw him, I fell asleep, and slept in the recovery room for a couple of hours. Around 5 I was wheeled into the room we would spend the rest of our stay in, and it was not the same room we checked into. It was so tiny!! They moved us to a room a 4th of the size we had origionally. Not fair. Apparently the first room is the labor and delivery room, but since I had a cesearean I was put into a surgical recovery room. Anyways, that didn't matter because I have a beautiful baby boy. Owen was born 6lb 13oz, and 20in long. He was so petite and tiny. Now he is 13 lbs 10oz, and 24.5in long!! Amazing how they grow. Anyways the rest of our stay was normal. I rained the whole time, which I didn't get to enjoy (we'd been in a drout since Nov). After I got home, I did some research on his umbilical cord issue, and it is referred to as Single Umbilical Artery (SUA). And it is more common than I thought, about 1 in 100. I read that with SUA induction is not recommended because the contractions are too intense for the baby, that continuing the cytotec would have been the ideal plan. So that got me all emotional that I could of prevented the cesearean if we had just had a u/s done later, my last one was at 18 weeks, doc says that would have been to early to detect the vessels in the cord. So now that I have had one cesearean, I have to have repeat ceseareans. Doc says that in the state of Oklahoma our malpractice insurance won't allow for VBAC's (Vaginal Birth After Cesearean). They say it is too risky. I feel like I have been robbed. Robbed of my ability to deliver naturally. I was so looking foreward to pushing out the baby, having him lay on my chest, letting Curtis cut the cord. Now I have this big ugly scar that has become a constant reminder of how I will never deliver my babies naturally. I think I have gone on to talk about something I should save for the ppd forum. But I can't stop thinking about it. I am going to try to post a pic of Owen now. So we can see why it is all worth the trouble.

Posted by: MyLuvBugs Sep 3 2006, 09:29 AM

Lexi Alice....Born: August 31st, 2006 OK! Birth story time......But first I want to preface this by saying.....I have the best husband, midwife and doula. So, on Wednesday night (30th) at around 7:30pm I had a contraction (AGAIN! ) right in the middle of dinner. But considering I'd been having them off and on for days....I really didn't bother with it. So, we get done with dinner and I have another.....hmmmmm.....So, we sit down in the living room to watch a little Project Runway, and they start coming 5-6 minutes apart. I looked at DH and said "I'm going to miss the new episode b/c this kid wants to come out!" LOL Needless today we called the Midwife and the doula and went to the hospital a little after 9pm. We were all checked in and in our room by 9:40pm, and were all hooked up to the monitors for 20 minutes and in comes the midwife....Let's check ya and see if we've changed since this morning. (In her office that morning I was 4cm) She checked and I was almost 6!! WOW! So, she says "well, you're definately staying here and having a baby tonight." So, I got my IV antibiotics started and got up on the ball, walked around, did the slow dance thing with DH, and kept feeling this pressure, but was able to breath through the contractions just fine. They didn't really hurt, just a lot of pressure and stretching. KWIM? So, the midwife thought we'd be comfy in the tub for a little bit....By now it was almost midnight. The tub was fine...took all the pain away but not the pressure feeling. By 12:35....I was tired of the tub. LOL and needed to be checked....Still 6cm. Grrrr.....(what happened to the fast labor I was promised? LOL ) Anyway....We decided to walk around and do some more ball and some squatting.....well the pressure and length of the contractions got worse, but the pain was still managable.....So, at 2am I'm getting tired and I'm only 6.5 cm. The midwife says "well, if you want we could break your water"....I of course say...."HECK YEAH!! Let's get this party started...I'm tired." (famous last words ) Water breaks (2:17am) and it's filled with Merconium (sp?)So a water birth is out of the question, and I'm now restricted to the monitors to make sure she's ok. But the contractions kicked into FULL GEAR!! and I instantly became 7cm. ....45minutes later and several 2 minute long contractions I was saying the F-bomb left and right, and the midwife says "Ahhh! She's in transition now!" B/c Aparently that's what the F-bomb means....LOL , so she calls the nurses and stuff in to get ready and checks me...I'm 8cm and completely effaced. She and the doula are massaging my feet and back. DH is holding my hands and rubbing my head....and I screamed that it hurt and I didn't want to do this anymore. The midwife gets her "deliver outfit" on and checks me....I'm 9 cm with a lip (3:04am) and I said "NO!!! I need to push NOW!!!" and she checked again...10cm and crowning (3:05am).......pushed and screamed....pushed and screamed.....and at 3:37am she was born in one big push! Her head didn't even cone. BUT !!! I didn't tear, so I'm really glad about that. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but so worth it. Sorry that was sooooo long, but I hope you all enjoy it!

Posted by: mckayleesmom Sep 3 2006, 09:44 AM

Wow...did you go drug free woman?...I bow down to you....I can't wait to see pictures.

Posted by: 1lilpeanut2love Sep 3 2006, 12:16 PM

Wow! That's amazing. TFS!

Posted by: wcs40110 Oct 10 2006, 06:58 AM

I looked at the clock, it was 7:00pm. “I don’t care if this makes me a loser I’m going to lay down.” I told Jeremy. By 7:30pm he was snoring. I lay awake awhile longer then gave up and turned the TV off. At 4:00am the next morning I understood why we fell asleep so soon. I woke up with horrible pain in my lower back. It didn’t matter how much I tossed, turned or flopped, it didn’t go away. I gave up and climbed the mountain that was Jeremy to try to lay on the couch. He woke up and I told him where I was going. I paced the house a few times and stood next to the bed. Jeremy looked up at me. “I don’t think I’m going back to sleep.” I told him. “It’s alright,’ he says, ‘I was kind of up already, you know the 7:30 bedtime.” I paced around the house while he settled in for his morning coffee and finally gave in to the urge to take a shower. The warm refreshing water gave me a new urge, the urge to take a bath. I switched the water over and plugged the drain loving the nice warm water. All too soon I noticed the water was getting cold, and the bath wasn’t getting and fuller. I yelled for Jeremy who brought me some saran wrap to help plug the drain but we both gave up that idea quickly. I wandered around the house in my robe for a little while in too much pain to get dressed. The back pain had turned into contractions. I had a feeling these weren’t the Broxton Hicks that had kept me awake the two nights before. I brought out a notebook and started writing down times. Jeremy looked at me a little scared, but a little excited. I told him “Just in case.” trying not to get his hopes up again. Around 6:00am I decided to call my boss and tell him I wasn’t going to make it into work. He asked me if I was going to the hospital and I told him I wasn’t sure but there was no way I could work with those contractions. An hour later I was on the phone with the hospital asking when a good time to come in was. The contractions weren’t regular, they would range between 15 and 7 minutes apart so the nurse told me I’d probably be more comfortable at home but I could come in if I wanted. She suggested that I aim more towards under 5 minutes apart. I called my mom to bug her even though it was 5:00am her time. She laughed because she’d been up since 3:00am her time, when I’d first woke up. I talked to her and my best friend trying to calm down. At 9:00 The contractions had moved to 3 to 7 minutes apart. Whenever I had one I was convinced we had to go to the hospital right away. When I wasn’t having one I figured I could wait it out all day. On the way to the hospital I called my mom, my best friend, and my dad. My step mom answered the phone and told me her dad had just died. She promised she’d tell my dad and reminded me to breathe. When we arrived at the hospital we followed the maze across one and a half football fields of construction to the mother baby center. They checked me into triage, the first room I enter to see if I was going onto labor and delivery or back home. After donning a really sexy backless gown a nurse came in to check if I was dilated. I’d moved from a 2 with 70% effacement to a 4, or 5 with 100% effacement. 9:30am the ‘official’ labor had started. They gave me some medicine to take the edge off the pain since I’m a woosie. (The nurse was amazed I’d make it that far on my own.) and Jeremy’s family started showing up. We kept the mood light by cracking jokes and doing everything to distract me from my contractions. At 1:00 they decided to move me into labor and delivery and asked if I wanted an epidural since my pain medicine was wearing off. I wavered a bit but when a really bad contraction hit I decided I’d take anything they gave me that wouldn’t hurt the baby. They checked if I was dilating anymore since I’d spent the last 3 ½ hours having contractions but I’d only moved to ‘A good 5.’ The nurse reassured us that in a first time pregnancy with pain medicine it was expected that I would dilated at about 1cm an hour, putting my delivery time at about 7:30. I tried to relax again and laid on my side until I started getting a horrible pain in my hip. I figured it was due to how my big mommy hips were laying so the nurse helped me switch sides. It didn’t help much. She reminded me I could hit the button on the epidural but that didn’t allow much relief either. At last I said it might be the baby’s head putting pressure on my nerves and the nurse decided to check my progress again. “Oh my.” She said. I was nervous, Jeremy was at full attention. She looked at me and said “Your at a 10 and the babies head is right there. It’s time to push! I’ll go get the doctor. “ My doctor wasn’t available so I got the on call doctor, one of her partners I was comfortable with. As he prepped for the delivery and I pushed a few times my doctor came in. She was shocked to see me pushing already. Jeremy held my leg and told me how great I was doing. The first push the nurse said “It’s got hair!” Jeremy was all grins, but still nervous. What he said was about 9 pushes later they told me the head was poking out. “Little pushes!” my doctor said. I gave little bursts of pushes and felt sometime slide out. They nurse wrapped my baby in a blanket and laid her on my chest. I was amazed at the full head of dark brown hair. Jeremy stood holding my hand in shock of the little thing I held in my arms. The nurse looked over and I told her I’d had a textbook pregnancy , she said “Honey, even in a story book labor doesn’t usually go this fast.”

Posted by: JamieR Dec 8 2006, 03:29 PM

Hey, interesting stories ladies...am sure they will be helpful for me too

Posted by: HuskerMom Jan 3 2007, 05:48 PM

Wow everyone's stories are interesting and it's amazing because the end is the same (the baby) but everyone's experiences are so different. I started having contractions halfway through watching a Nebraska football game. Of course we had to stay home to see the end When we finally went to the hospital my contractions had slowed down but still were pretty strong. We waited hours and hours, watched Pulp Fiction, which did a good job of taking my mind off of the pain After sixteen hours they gave me an epidural which was great Then about two hours later the doctor checked me and I was at 8 cms and my son was breech. Too bad they couldn't have figured that out sooner. So the doctor said he had two other c-sections to do then he'd do mine. Then he came back a couple minutes later and said that he was going to do mine first. I was very worried at first about it but now I'm kinda glad I had a c-section cuz it was so quick and easy. I think between the time they wheeled me into the room and rolled me out was maybe a half an hour. And my doctor was really cool. When he came in to check me he was wearing a sturgis shirt instead of regular doctor clothes until the c-section of course, and the whole time him and the nurses were talking about amish people. They did a good job of making me feel as comfortable as possible in that situation. The only thing that sucked was that I couldn't quit shaking. My DH watched the whole thing, must have a strong stomach apparently, but he said it was pretty cool. Another good thing about the c-section was that my son didn't come out with a conehead But I did have to stay in the hospital an extra day But my son, Keith, was perfectly healthy, he was 6 lbs, 15 oz.

Posted by: Mommy2BAK Oct 15 2007, 09:37 AM

Ayden EDD 9-22-07 On Monday, September 17th I went in for my 39 week appt and my doc recommended that we come in on Friday to be induced. Friday, September 21st we woke up at 4:30 and took Blakely to her grandparents house and headed for the hospital. We got there at 6am and they had me change into my hospital gown and we got started. Before they even started the pitocin I began having regular contrations about 1-2 minutes apart, I didn't even realize I was contracting. At 8am the anisteiologist came in and administered my epidural, that part went much better than I remember it going when I had Blakely. When I went in I was 2 cm dialted, by 9am I was only at 2-3 cm, so I was a little discouraged. Around 11 or so the nurse came rushing in to tell me that the baby's heart beat had dropped way down, and put me on oxygen. At that time we all started watching the monitor along with the nurse and the heart beat would drop from 150 or so down to about 70 and then a few times it went blank as if there were no heartbeat at all, we all began to worry and my nurse told me that we were going to try a few things before we get too worried, she made me lay on my side and that seemed to do the trick, apparently he was smashing the embilical cord each time I had a contraction, which made it appear to us that there was no heartbeat. The next time the doc came in it was around noon and she said I was at a 3 or 4, so again I was feeling discouraged and thinking that this day was going to take forever. She broke my water at that time and said see you in a few more hours. Then at 2 oclock she came in once more and said I was at a good 4 and that she'd see me in a little while. As soon as she left I began having hard contractions for an hour, at 3 my nurse came in and said that we were 3rd in line to have the baby (there were 4 inductions going on that day), I told her that I was having hard contractions and thought that I may be getting close, she checked me and said oh my goodness, you are completely dialted, hold on just a second, you just moved from 3rd to 1st. At that point I began to get really nervous, I really didn't expect it to happen that fast. So all of my family that had been hanging out in our room all day got their stuff and exited the room. I told Blakely one last goodbye before her world was changed forever and that sent me into a world of emotions, I was boohooing like a big baby all the way into my first few pushes. The doctor and nurses thought something was hurting me and kept asking me if I was alright. They gave Larry a warm rag to wipe the mascara off of my face so I could still be cute whenever everyone came back in to see the baby. So pushing began around 3:50, it was the weirdest thing, I had absolutely no coaching whatsoever from my doctor or any of the nurses, they told me to just do what my body tells me to do, finally I asked larry to start counting to 10 because I needed something to focus on rather than just pushing as long as I could. At one point I asked my doctor "how many more pushes?!?" she said probably only 2 or 3 more, so that got me excited and I started pushing better than I have ever pushed before, because I was determined to get that baby out of me NOW!!! And sure enough on the 2nd push after she told me 2 or 3 more she told me to open my eyes and when I did I saw a beautiful baby boy face facing towards Larry and then shoulders and then the whole baby! She laid him in between my feet to suction his nose and mouth, I was filled with emotion but then I got scared because the baby still hadn't cried, so I asked why he wasn't crying and as soon as I asked he started crying... LOUDLY! They laid him up on my lap and I didn't even know what to do, I just wanted to kiss him and love on him, but then they took him over to clean him up and get him a blanket. I told Larry to go over there with the baby, but he was wanting to make sure I was alright first, and I was. He was born at 3:59pm, after 9 minutes of pushing... not bad at all! We named our son Ayden Carter -----, he was 7lbs and 9 ounces, he measured 19 inches in length.

Posted by: moped Oct 15 2007, 09:50 AM

Ah Tamara, that was fun to read.........would love to see some more pics

Posted by: A&A'smommy Oct 15 2007, 09:59 AM

Thats a great story Tamara

Posted by: lee1 Jan 26 2009, 01:14 PM

first, I, too, have enjoyed reading all your stories!!!Thank you for letting me be apart of something sooo special. Here goes. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from home, an american girl, ) months pregnant, as big as a cow (no joke), starts having pains at 6 am on a Monday morning. She wakes her husband because she is moving around in bed trying to get confortable. The husband knows something isn't right. He jumps from the bed with eyes as big as quarters, about ready to pop out of his head, starts running around the room trying get his clothes on..like a crazy man..all the while, the ¨soon to be mommy¨stares at him, trying not to laugh. After the ¨mommy¨clams him, to get some sense out of his jibberish, she gets dressed, instructs him to get the little case, hands him the car keys (because he is vry confused!) and they head to the hospital. They enter, the pains are more stronger, the woman is scared. This is the first for her. Everyone around her is talking in spanish...boy oh boy....her spanish isn't very good and she wants her mommy, but that is not going to happen. Well, in the bed she goes...monitors on for the baby...and the race is on!!!!.....pain...pain..pain..spanish on all sides..the husband is translating...pain and more pain...the doctor speaks english..she arrives....push darling, push. and the mommy thinks...does she think I like suffering?? I AM PUSHING!!!! (REALLY WAS FUNNY IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON ALL THEIR FACES!!!) ok...problems...the baby's heart rate is fading...(7 hours of this stuff!!) the baby can't pass..(they finally figure this out)..call for the anesth...., to the operating room....ahhhhhh...relief...5 minutes later....the MOST BEAUTIFUL, PAINFUL, LOVING thing that could have happened to me came into this world......healthy. 7 lbs. 3 ozs. 21 inches long. The most hermosa mix of spanish/american that I have ever seen....coal black hair with BIG dark blue eyes. (she is blonde now!!! lol) I would never trade this experience for NOTHING..she is best gift that God could ever give to me..but I DO NOT want to repeat it!!! lol

Posted by: mummy2girls Jun 24 2009, 06:04 PM

Breanna Elizabeth's Story.... On June 18th I recieved a call from the hospitalt o come in to get induced. We arrived there and was taken to our room. At around 2pm I was checked for dilation ( I was at 2-3cm) and then given the gel. I had to lay in bed for an hour before I could get up. At 305I was allowed to get up and roam the halls and eat. At this time Marcus's mom came by with Jenna and she had bought me a slush:) We walked the halls for a bit and then at 430pm jenna left. At 5pm Dinner arrived and i ate that. At 6pm my cramping started. And then at 7pm it turned into full blown contractions. I was abl to handle the pain ta that point still. Then at 8pm the doc came in to check me again and I was at 2-3cm still. So she decided to break my waters. and hook me up to Oxycontin. (sp?). Then I started to feel the pains in my back. I handled it to a point and then I begged for the epidural. They came and put that in. I sat back into the bed and then I started to feel nascious and light headed. My blood pressure dropped to 80/56. And then They gave me some meds to help my pressure. Then i felt better but then the feeling came back but waaaaay worse. I started to feel as if i was going to pass out my blood pressure dropped to 66/36. They layed me down and then i threw up everywhere. They gave me another dose of meds and that stablized my pressure. They cleaned me up and the bed and then my doc was called back in again. She checked me and I was now 3-4cm. and that was it. i stayed at that forever! Then the bay's heart ratye soared to the 190's. and then decelled. so at this point the on call OB was called in, my doctor, the anesthesiologist, and nurses was called in to check the baby and we were about to be prepped for a c-section. At this point i started to panick! Then the OB said lets check her again. and boom i was at 5cm. Then i started to feel pressure down there with each contraction. Which was a good sign. Then in 30 minutes i was from 5cm-10cm ready to push. So i pushed for 15 minutes and the head emerged. Then the shoulders were a bit stuck and they had to twist her and pull which hurt! then out she came. The doc turned her around and she says.. daddy take a look. he looks and then looks at me and yells ITS A GIRL!!!! They put her on my tummy. And then the nurse put her on the warmer. The checked her heart rate and it still was in the 180's. Then she pooped. They weighed her and all i could hear is marcus yelling... 10ls, 7oz you beat my sister...LOL. They wrapped her up and gave her to marcus. He sat down beside me with a big smile on her face and kept saying shes beautiful. I have 2 little girls, im so happy!!!! He showed me her and she was beautiful! Then she pooped 2 more times with in an hour. So they didn't have to check her or screen her for hirschsprungs!!!! YEAH! They gave me meds for my bleeding. All in all a tough delivery but so worth it in the end!

Posted by: A&A'smommy Jun 24 2009, 06:22 PM

wow girl!!!! thats a big girl and that is SOOO awesome that you were able to have her!!! Congratulations again she is absolutely beautiful!!!!

Posted by: ZandersMama Jun 24 2009, 07:04 PM

awsome birth story, i came on tonite looking for it, congrats!!

Posted by: Swood75 Jun 24 2009, 08:44 PM

Well,you got a BEAUTIFUL baby girl out of it..I am so happy for you Marcus and Jenna..CONGRATS again!!

Posted by: coasterqueen Jun 25 2009, 04:50 AM

Awe Shelly, I am so happy for you and your family. It was worth it in the end, for sure. You are going to L O V E having two girls. It is the most fun ever and I bet they become as close as ever. Tell Marcus to enjoy being the only male. I secretly think they love it, even if they complain about too much estrogen around.

Posted by: grapfruit Aug 13 2009, 03:41 PM

Ok, here's the story of Miss Isabelle Rayne - 8/11/2009 8 lbs - 20 inches long - born at 10:34am Sunday 1 cm dilated - 75% effaced Went into the hospital to "start" the process. That night they inserted a cervical gel stuff to get my cervix ripe and ready to start pitocin in the morning. We rested that night, minor contractions from the gel Monday 2 cm dilated - 75% effaced 8am - started the pitocin. Mild contractions all day. Never anything above a "3" (got to love that number system). My dr was suppose to come at noon to break my water. For whatever reason, she was unable to get away from the office (off site) and it got later and later in the day. Although my contractions weren't bad, my drs are super strict. I had to be hooked to the monitor at all times. The only time I was allowed off was to potty. I was able to stand and sit on the ball and in the rocking chair. The problem was the pain, well discomfort, was in my hips. Not back, not stomach nothing but my hips. It wasn't so fun. Unfortunately my body didn't corporate and my contractions never got on a good schedule and never really got strong. At 5 or 6 my "normal" dr came in and said that b/c I'm diabetic, he doesn't like me going w/o eating for long stretches of time. So he decided to stop the pitocin, let it get out of my system and let me eat and then start bright and early in the morning. Tuesday 2 cm dilated - 75% effaced 5:30am - started pitocin. Immediately the contractions are a bit stronger then the day before. 7am - checked again - 3 cm!!! At this time the dr decided to use a follo bulb. Basically like a water balloon they stick in your cervix and force you to dilate to a 4. They gave me a shot of nubane before this b/c well, it isn't so comfortable. 9am - now at 4 cm, time to break my water. The dr said she'd see me that evening to have a baby. She leaves to go to the office. Pretty much w/in 10 mins or so the contractions started getting REALLY strong. My husband had went down to the cafeteria for breakfast before they closed b/c, well, we expected it to take all day! By the time he got back the nurse (who was great and never left the room) had me on focused breathing to get through the contractions. I asked when I could have some more nubane and she said not until 10 (had to wait 3 hrs). She suggested we try going pee to see if that relieved some "pressure" (yeah, pressure). To my surprise we got out of bed and made it to the bathroom And to my FURTHER surprise, even though I never peed, sitting on the toilet was better. I told her it felt like I had some pressure "down there". So she decided to check me. At this point its close to 10. So she had the nubane ready and was asking to see if she could give it early. So she checks and immediately calls the charge nurse for a second opinion. To everyone's surprise I was 10 cm and 100% effaced. And I wanted to push. She called my Dr and told her to get to the hospital, I was ready. I pushed for 24 mins and she was out. The dr didn't make it to the hospital in time. And the dr that was just across the hall BARELY made it in to catch her. So all in all. Once labor STARTED, it was only 1 hr 34 mins long!!!!! My dr said if we have more babies, to make sure we get to the hospital sooner rather then later! On a sentimental note, her birthday is 2 months after mine and 2 months before our wedding anniversary

Posted by: A&A'smommy Aug 13 2009, 05:51 PM

awwww Casey sounds like a PERFECT labor!!! Congratulations again she is beautiful!!

Posted by: ZandersMama Aug 14 2009, 04:10 AM

beautiful, congrats

Posted by: ChristineA Sep 10 2009, 02:04 PM

I was 38 weeks with Riley and I had a cardiologist appointmet to on the thursday with anika and we were to meet our new family doctor on the friday. My mom called me wednesday(the 4th) and told me that she really had expected me to go into labor that day because I had the appointments the thursday and friday. I sat down for dinner and told my boyfriend and his parents and they all sort of laughed and we went about our dinner. I finished dinner walked downstairs and reached over a big pile of laundry I had just washed and was going to hang out and WOOSH..water breaks all over my clean clothes. Water broke around 7, got to the hospital around 8 (colin had to stop for tim hortons). I was checked and was 3cm. Around 9 the contractions started to be uncomfortable but still only a 3 they sent me to the antinatal unit saying I was going to be there a very long time but they couldnt send me home because my water had broken. Around 1230 I asked for some demoral so I could relax and get some sleep. She came and checked me and I was 4 1/2 so they sent me back to labor and delivery. Around 230 I requested an epidural and after 6 or 7 tries he finally got it in because my body was involuntarily tensing up and he couldnt get it in properly. At 4 the nurse came in to put a cathedor in and checked me.. I was a stretchy 5. A couple minutes later I was feeling intense pain, the epidural wasnt working at all and she went to check me again but didnt have to because she could see Rileys head. She started running all over trying to get things ready as they didnt think he would be born for a few hours. The doctor made it in as rileys head was coming out, she had to leave another woman who was in the process of pushing because riley was comin faster. I had to stop pushing because the cord was around his neck. All in all I pushed 4 times and he was out. 6lbs 5oz and 20 inches of handsome little man. a much better birth then with anika which I will post also when I have time.

Posted by: ChristineA Sep 10 2009, 02:14 PM

ok maybe I have some time now hah Anika was due march 15th. On the night of the 16th I started having really really bad back pain and was lying on the couch watching tv on my hands and knees with my butt in the air. Around midnight I started having slight cramping and by 4am it was getting worse. Still didnt realize it was contractions. I went to the bathroom and noticed a bit of blood so decided that hey maybe I should time these' cramps'. By 5 am I decided I was in labor and tried to wake up colin, took me 5 minutes but once I got him awake enough to tell him what was happening he took off soo fast. We got to the hospital around 6 and I was only 2 cm. At 730 I had the epidural because the nurse kept pushing it on me even though I said I wanted to wait and by that point I was so tired from not sleeping all night I didnt care anymore. They noticed that Anikas heart rate kept dipping if I layed on my back or right side so I spent from 730-2 on my left side with periodic checks and all that fun stuff. I was a full 10 cm at 215 and started pushing shortly after. Around 245 her heart rate was dipping very dangerously low with every contraction and everything went crazy. I remember the doctor yelling things, at least 20 people in the room......and then I saw them........the forceps....ugly ugly claws haha. He told me that they needed to get the baby out NOW or I needed an emergency c section because her heart was going so low. Anika was born at 259 with the help of forceps and a great big second degree tear for mommy. She was 7lbs15oz and 21.5in long. Her heart rate had been dipping because the cord was right up against her neck and when Id contract it would squeeze it.

Posted by: raven092177 Feb 14 2010, 02:06 PM

Raina-Rane' Jazmine's birth story now this has been almost 12 years ago so some of the details are a little fuzzy but i'll do the best i can. shortly before christmas 1997 i started having pregnancy symptoms. one of the big tip offs was the fact that anytime i tried to eat eggs and orange juice in the same meal i'd puke my guts up. seperatly i could eat them just fine but not together. now at the time my periods were extremely irregular so according to a 'normal scedual' i wasn't 'late' yet but i went ahead and took the test anyways. it was positive! . i'd started having some pretty bad cramping pains so i call the clinic and tell them i need to come in for a PG test. they ask me when my last period was and since it wasn't actually 'late' yet they want to make me wait another month to get in. i keep trying to explain that i'm very irregular but apparently they didn't get it. i call my regular Dr. and they have me come in and do a blood test. i was still having pains and they were thinking it might be an ectopic pregnancy, so they send me to the ER. so they do a sono and the lady goes "i don't see anything at all." now at the time i'm seeing this tiny little speck and was wondering what it was. however since the 'expert' didn't see anything that the test was wrong and i wasn't pregnant. well when i got home the Dr called and i told them what the hospital had said. they tell me that the blood test came back positive so i was most definitly pregnant. they called the OB and got me in the next morning. i go in that morning doctor looks at me with the sono and right away goes, "yup there's the baby" it was the same little speck i'd seen before that the 'expert' at the hospital said was nothing. . apparently my uterus is tilted, very tilted and the baby was pressing on it even more and that's what was causing so much pain. i was having some pain and bleeding off and on for the next few months. interestingly they gave me a due date of august 18. (she wasn't born on that date but her sister was born on that exact date 11 years later.) don't ask me how but i just 'knew' that the baby would come before that. i even told them that nope 'it'd' get here before august. well on july 6th i had an appointment. i had about 6 weeks to go and so they did an exam. so i'm alying there and the nurse practitioner is checking me. she tells the nurse to go get the doctor. doctor comes in and checks me. he goes "well it looks like you're having a baby" i tell him "hum yeah obviously that's why i'm here." he says "no i mean today or tommorow." i tell him "no in 6 weeks" he tells me that "no i'm 4 centimenters and i need to go over to the hospital." now at this point i was having no pains aside from the normal ones i'd been having through the whole pregnancy. i certainly wasn't having 'contraction' like pains. so i go over to the hospital and tell them what's up. tell them i think the doctor is mistaken but he wants me checked in anyways. lol . my fiancee (husband now) was out of town so we got ahold of him and told him what was up. they check me at the hospital and tell me that yup she's on her way. now i'm still not having in real pains so i still think they are wrong. lol. so i'm laying there watching tv and talking. they come in later and check me again and i was 7 centimeters. well my labor ended up 'stalling' that night so they gave me something to help me sleep. i wake up the next morning and the doctor comes in to check me around 8:30 that morning, well while checking me my water breaks. so at this point i'm starting to believe they might be right and that she's comming today. . i was still about 7 centimeters then and was starting to have some pains. being as it was my first baby they figured it would still be a while before she got there so i went ahead and had they epi done. well about an hour and a half later they check me again and i was at a 10. since she was 6 weeks early they were worried she's have problems so in addition to my doctor and nurse, they also had another nurse and the pediatrician in the room and the helicopter on stand-by just in case she had to be transported. i don't remember pushing for very long maybe about 20-30 minutes and at 10:43 am miss Raina-Rane' Jazmine was born. she weighed 5lbs 11 1/2 oz and was 18 inches long. they had to do chest compressions on her because she wasn't breathing right. she ended up having to stay in an oxygen tent for a few hours. after that though she was fine. she did end up staying a week in there due to some pretty high juandice. i remember i'd have to leave the 'door' to the incubater open when i sleep or else i couldn't hear her because her cries were so tiny. she sounded like a little bird lol after a week in the hospital she was able to go home.

Posted by: Momma716 Jul 5 2012, 06:19 PM

I'm new here, and I decided that I would post my birth story (for now) for my frist son, Ravioli Michael. Rav's EDD was May 12, 2006 ALSO: WE DID NOT CHOOSE TO FIND OUT RAVIOLI'S SEX! IT WAS GONNA BE A SURPRISE, AS IT HAS BEEN WITH EACH OF OUR KIDDOS! Okay, so, the night of May 9, 2006, around 11pm, my hubby and I were watching a movie on the couch. We were sitting there, cuddling and all of a sudden, i felt this huge rush.. Like niagra falls just exploded in my pants. The couch and my pants were drenched..So we called the hospital and they said to come on in. I had to pack a bag fairly quickly, because I wasn't expecting to go to the hospital that night. I was still in my nasty pajama pants, so I quickly changed and we left for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 1:00 AM May 10, 2006. I wasn't in any pain whatsoever. I was so excited I could barely contain myself! The lady at the nurse's station got all our info and that sh!t, so we got settled into the L&D room around 1:15/1:20am. As soon as I got up from the wheelchair to get into the bed, i had my first contraction.. I said to the nurse getting me settled "I think I just had a contraction.." and she then said "oh, you'll know when you have one of those" I was confused, but you know, whatever. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and stuff, I didn't know much about medical stuff, I still don't.. But all I know is they wrapped this huge thing around my belly to measure the heart beat at all times. I kept getting these small crampy-type things every 5 minutes, which I told the nurse about. She then said that I waws having contractions. She checked me and said that I was 3cm dialated. At 3:30 ish, the nurse came back and checked me again, saying I had moved up to 4cm. My contractions were stronger and longer, about 3 min apart. She said we were making pretty good progress, and if we kept this up, (1cm/hour) we would have a baby by 10AM!! I was so psyched, just to think, i could possibly have my little baby by that morning.. Hubby and I had fallen asleep for a while, although my contractions began getting stronger and harder to handle. I have a good pain threshold but i really started feeling terrible when i had the ctx. I was almost 5cm and they were about 3 min apart and getting stronger. Hubby of course, got more sleep, while I sat there in pain every 3 min.. At 7am I couldn't sleep anymore, so I called my parents and told them we had been at the hospital since 1ish, and they could come over any time..We would probably be having the baby that day. They were so excited and came right over with my brothers Kevin (15 at the time) and Kyle (17 at the time) I woke up the Hubby and told him to call his parents and tell them to come over too.. So he called them, and they brought along Hubby's sisters, Luanne and Leanne (twins who were 15 at the time) so Kevin and Kyle could have someone to hang out with.. At this point, my contractions were 60 seconds apart and very strong.. A nurse finally came back to check on me after I sent out my hubby to get someone. By 8, my ctxs were so strong and lasted almost one minute per ctx. they were still about 1 minute in between. The nurse checked me around 7:30 and said that i was 6cm dialated, and said i could have an epidural if i wanted one. i said yes. She said she would be back with it in a few minutes. It was 8, a half hour later, and she still wasn't back. I was very irritated and sent out my Hubby to get her in there right now!!! She came right in, and by 8:15 i could no longer feel those horrible ctxs! thank god for pain meds! By 10:30, my parents, Hubby's parents, my brothers Kevin and Kyle, hubby's sisters Lianne and Luanne, my friends Sara and Drea, and my cousin Kristen were all there to witness the birth of our first child...The doctor came in and examined me, saying I was 8cm and would be delivering soon. While we waited, the entire family and I all wrote down names for baby girls & baby boys and put them in a hat and drew them one by one, saying if we liked them or not.. We had not chosen a name for the baby, but had a few in mind. since we did not know if it was a boy or girl, we had to keep our options open. My mother had suggested Ravioli for a boy and Anyelisa for a girl. I had said "why Ravioli, ma? kids are gonna make fun of him.." She said that Ravioli, although a pasta dish (LOL), was a mixture of names from our family & things having to do with my life.. -Ra came from my grandfather Ramos, -vio came from the street that my Hubby and I first met on (he was visititing his uncle who lived right next to us) on a street called Violo Street, and -li from my dad's name, Lionel. I had to admit, at first, i thought it was so stupid, but i came around to it.. it sounded very italian and unique. note: we were going to name our first son after my husband, Dale.. and call him Dale jr., but my Hubby already had a son from a previous relationship, named Dale jr... Sucks, i know. My cousin Kristen suggested we name the baby Karter if it was a boy, which i also really liked.. she said we should name it Kailee if it was a girl..which was also very cute. My brothers said for a boy, we should name the baby Augustus, and for a girl, Leah. The name options were between Ravioli, Karter, and Agustus for boys; and Anyelisa, Kailee, and Lean for a girl.. we just had to wait and see what came out! We were all sitting around, playing cards when the doctor came in around noontime. I was ready to have a baby. He said that i was 10cm, and we were ready to start pushing. I wanted everyone in the room to see me give birth, I didn't care who they were.. However, there was a 5-person limit in the room.. So, it was me, my hubby, my mom, his mom, and my cousin Kristen. (my friends wanted to stay, but we drew names, quickly, and my cousin Kristen was the one who got to stay). The doctor was teaching me how to push, and it was easy at first, because i still couldn't feel anything..But then they turned down my eipidural, and i began to feel the ctxs again.. i wanted to cry. I pushed for 15 min, and the doctor said that the baby was moving closer, but slowly.. So he had me push with the nurse for another 20 minutes, and he came back with a gown on and gloves, and we went in for the kill. I pushed really hard for 5 minutes, and i screamed the whole time. Then, He told me that he could see the head, and to give a huge push like i had to poop. My hubby was holding my hand and counting, as was my MIL. my mom and cousin were holding my feet back, cheering me on. I pushed for another 5 minutes and finally, i felt a pop, it hurt like hell, and i screamed but the head was out!!!! I started crying, as did my Hubby, my cousin, and my mom.. Getting his shoulders out was the toughest part, my boy was big! All the pain was so worth it!! Finally, at 12:58 PM on May 10, 2006, our first child, our babyboy, our oldest prince, Ravioli Michael Orsh was born! He weighed in at 9lb 1oz and 21 inches long, and was perfect from head to toe.. The moment I laid my eyes on him, I fell in love. I knew he was a Ravioli when I saw him, he was half me, half Hubby, and we're both very weird people, so we decided that our child should have a unique name! and we love it! We now call him Ravi, Rav, and Ravvster! They took Ravi away, they weighed him and measured him, my whole family minus my Kristen went over to see him.. She stayed with me the whole time, holding my hand and telling me what a good job i did. Ravioli got wrapped up and handed to me, and from that moment, he had me wrapped around his little fingers... all the pain was soo worth it. & After that first baby, we went on to have 5 more, and we have another coming in less than a month!!

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