Birth Stories !!!, all birth stories are welcome.

[Mommieto2Girls]

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)

This post has been edited by MoMMy2Madison on Jun 25 2003, 10:18 AM

[amynicole21]

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

[Mommieto2Girls]

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.

This post has been edited by MoMMy2Madison on Jun 13 2003, 01:25 PM

[supermom]

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!

[amynicole21]

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.

This post has been edited by amynicole21 on Jun 13 2003, 04:00 PM

[CantWait]

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.

[Schnoogly]

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.

[~CrazieMama~]

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.

[msjennbug]

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.

[msjennbug]

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!

[mummyof2boyz]

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.

[Hillbilly Housewife]

Pinned it for ya!

[MommyToAshley]

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".

[booey2]

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.

[booey2]

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.

[Mommieto2Girls]

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.

[booey2]

Love to read them, bumping this up again.

[Kaitlin'smom]

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!

This post has been edited by Kaitlin on Jul 10 2003, 11:23 AM

[MomToJade&Jordan]

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.

[CantWait]

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.

[kimberley]

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.

[supermom]

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.

This post has been edited by supermom on Sep 3 2003, 01:19 PM

[coasterqueen]

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.

[5littleladies]

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!!

[Hillbilly Housewife]

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!