I am 20 weeks pregnant ( Still have half way to go ) but I am very nervous about the whole going into labor and actually giving birth. Does anyone have any stories they would like to share? Or does anyone know of any documentaries I could rent?? Any story or tip would help =)
2007-08-20 05:09:36 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
My first baby was a c-section and that's a whole different ballgame but here is my labor story for my 2nd:
Luckily going into labor happens kind of gradually as the contractions build over many long hours, so you have time to prepare and learn to work through them.
When my labor started with mild contractions that didn't go away, I didn't wake up my husband right away. Instead, I started cleaning the house b/c I knew we would be having company and visitors soon after the birth. I doubled-checked my hospital bag, took a long hot shower and had a light snack. This went on for about 10 hours.
Finally, when it was getting difficult to talk through the contractions, I woke my husband up and we went to the hospital. They took me straight to triage and checked me and I was at 5 cm.
For the next 10 hours I worked through "active labor" changing positions alot, going into the bathroom and sitting on the toilet when I wanted to get away from the nurses (LOL) and just basically trying to stay on top of the contractions which were getting more painful.
I was hoping for a "drug free" birth but when we got to the transition stage I was hurting so bad I cried like a baby and begged for an epidural. So I got that and felt like a beached whale for the pushing phase - they had to hold my legs up for me - couldn't feel a thing!
All in all, a very positive birth experience. A 21-hour labor (which is very normal) and about 1 hour of pushing.
My 3rd baby was totally natural with a midwife. No epidural this time - hurt like hell and screamed and cried but she coached me like a champ and found the perfect position for giving birth - hands and knees! This labor was about 10 hours long (cut in half from last time) and about 30 minutes of pushing (also cut in half)
You'll do fine - just have a good labor coach or midwife alongside you. Watch the birth stories on TLC or read The Birth Book by Dr. Sears. Lots of personal experiences shared.
Congrats!
2007-08-20 05:18:20 · answer #1 · answered by Veritas 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
IF you want a good birth experience there are a couple of thing you MUST have.
First you must be 100% comfortable with & trust the doctor/care provider 100%. If you do not then your birth will be more difficult because you will not be able to be calm & relaxed. Ask your chosen provider if he/she will come in for the birth of your child- so you don't just get stuck with whoever is on call.
The second thing that has to happen- you have to be calm & relaxed. Remember birth is a natural process that happens everyday. It is NOT a medical condition.
If you have these 2 things you will have a good birth, it will be easier & closer to your expectations.
I will also suggest a water birth or at least spend some of labor in a tub (whirlpool is best.) These help you to be calm & relaxed & are very peaceful (less painful) births. THe amount of pain you experience depends on your individual pain threshold & how relaxed/calm you are. Personally I didn't think labor/birth hurt that badly (getting my wisdom teeth out was much more stressful & painful.) Had my water not broke with my first child they would have sent me home because they would not believe I was in labor. (I wasn't tense or in enough pain for them.)
I saw a midwife for my pregnancies, however she was out of town for a couple of my births. The births with the other provider were more difficult than with my chosen provider, because I didn't have the trust & comfort with them that I had with my provider. Have a good bith plan & make sure your hospital & care provider have it before you give birth. Also, have a good labor coach (try a doula) that you can trust- someone other than your partner (husbands/partners tend to get squeemish & don't always remember that you need extra help/support during this time.) This is someone who should know your feelings about birth & is willing to stick up for you & your rights (even us tough mommies aren't so tough when we are in labor.)
ADDITION: I would recommend the book : "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" before the "What to expect ..." books. You may also consider : Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities: "A Guide to the Medical Literature"
2007-08-20 05:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by T 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was 17 when I gave birth to my son 9 months ago and I too was very scared. I had my heart set on getting an epidural. I just am not good with pain But due to insurance they wouldnt cover it and I was young and broke. So I was induced and it took about 2 hours for the potocin to work and all the prep work. So then I was in full blown labour. The pain was not as bad as I thought. The number scale from 1 as the least pain from 10 the highest I was at a 7 in my worse. about an hour in i was 5 centemeters and Im going to be honest contractions feel like you have to poop and you have really bad poop cramps. lol sorry for that but that is the best way to describe it for me. and about 30 min. later I told the nurse I need to push. So she checks me and low and behold I was 10 cent and ready. So then they were calling the doctor but he went to his office real quick because I was only 5 so he is rushing to get back as I was ready to push. And let me tell you I did not care if that doctor was there or not I was pushing he did get there on time and I had a beautiful boy that was 8 pounds and 19 inches good luck you will have a story of your own soon.
2007-08-20 05:22:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Look I would like to give you a piece of advice. Do not take to heart anyone's birthing experience. The reason I say this is because your pregnancy and birthing experience will be unlike anyone elses. Yours will be different in so many ways because you are unique.
Do not get too upset if your dreams of having a certain birth don't happen. I wanted a water birth and I had an energency csection with no time to prepare for anything. It happened so fast I didn't know what in the heck was going on.
Read "What to Expect when you are expecting". It is a must read for all expecting Moms. Take things with a grain of salt. Ask lots of questions of your OB. That is what they are there for. Visit the hospital that you will be birthing at. Take classes when they are offered. I never did make it thru my first one since I kept going into prelabor. I was sad that I didn't get to go.
Really take the time to enjoy your prenancy. Rub your tummy, talk to your baby, play music for your baby(they can hear in the womb), take a happy attitude towards life in general, eat healthy and enjoy those little indulgences, have fun shopping for your unborn, get familiar with your body. Do not borrow trouble when it comes to your birthing. Just go with the flow of things. When it happens just let nature take its course. Pain is a small price to pay for such a beautiful thing. Plus they have epiderals that cut the pain.
Make sure you right down a good birthing plan for a natural birth and a csection just in case. You never know. You may start out having a natural birth and they may have to do a csection. It happens sometimes.
Write down all your wishes- epideral or not, what family members to be in room and which to not, having cathetar put in after numbed during csection. This one is important. You don't want them putting that in until you can't feel it. It isn't that pleasant and you want your birthign eperience to be as pleasant as possible, playing a music cd in the operating room if csection. I had a lullaby tape playing and it was so pleasant and nice. Helped me to relax a little more.
I have only had one child. I had a very difficult pregnancy after 9 years of waiting for my pregnancy to happen. My daughter is now 5 1/2 by the way. I was very tiny and my baby was a preemie weighing 4 pounds 9 oz, but very healthy other than jaundice. I was able to take her home even though she was under 5 pounds. I was so thankful for that. She stopped growing and thriving in the womb so that is why they decided to take her before anything serious happened to her or me.
I had zero time to prepare for my csection. I had no idea what it was or what was gonna happen, but the nurses and my doctor were very caring towards me. Thank goodness. My husband was there in the operating room with me.
I had a longer recovery because they gave me too many meds and I had a hard time feeling my legs. I finally came around. yes it felt like I had been hit with a mac truck in my gut, but I did not take any meds after the intial morphine wore off. I managed to get thru without Tylenol or anything. I was bound and determined to do it. Now if I had to do it over again I would take the medication because it helps you to recover a lot quicker.
Follow the doctors instructions. They know what they are talking about!! This is important. They have birthed so many babies and often know what is best.
I wish you the best and hope you have a wonderful experience. Enjoy for the sake of your baby!! Take one day at a time and try not to think about the future too much. It will be here before you know it.
2007-08-20 05:27:31 · answer #4 · answered by hsmommy06 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I will say it hurts alot, but in the end you get your precious baby and the pain doesn't matter. I was pushing for 3 1/2 hours. I was starting to think I was going to dispise the baby when he came out, seeing as I was so tired and in so much pain, but once he came out, I fell in love immediately and it was all worth it. I would do it again in a heart beat! Try to avoid Pitocin if voluntary. I had to have it due to my water breaking the night before (and once that happens they want you to have the baby within 24 hours) and no contractions. I went from painless contractions to extremely painful ones every 2 min. Not fun. To see what to expect, I HIGHLY recommend a birth class. You usually can also get movies from the birth center where you are planning to have your baby. Call and ask!!!
2007-08-20 05:24:32 · answer #5 · answered by xraydri 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My birth story is, i think, very exciting and little bit scary.....It was 4th of July and i was at the movies with my friends. I was feeling extremely uncomfortable. Well i was in light labor for 24 hours and finally went to the hospital on July 6. The doctor broke my water and the countdown started. Well 6 hours later i was getting frustrated and tired. My "coach" was having an asthma-allergy attack and fainted in the hallway. Well at the same time the doctors checked me an said i had along ways to go....so as the docs were helping my "coach" my son decided it was time ...As he was coming down the birth canal i was trying to scream, yell for help, but nothing would come out of my mouth, i couldn't believe i was having my baby all by myself. His head was out and i finally was able to make some noise. The doctors heard me and came in , just in time!! He is now 24, and it seems like it was just yesterday that i wondered what he would be like, all grown up!!
2007-08-20 05:32:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
First of all, my best advice would be to take a birthing class offered in your area. There really is nothing better than getting first hand knowledge on things you can do to cope with labor and delivery. And its great to be with other women who are in your exact situation.
I don't know if you're much into reading or if you have the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting", but that has a lot of great information.
If you have a good connection speed on your internet, a website with good informative videos on giving birth is:
www.babycenter.com
(Punch in this address
http://www.babycenter.com/2_the-stages-of-labor_1287352.bc
for a video on the stages of labor. It's a little graphic-as is birth- but is VERY informative.)
Another good website with lots of pregnancy/parenting information is:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/
I have used all of the above information with all three of my pregnancies. I found them all very helpful in preparing for what was to come. The best thing you can do fo yourself is to get as much information as you can. The reason why some women fear labor is they don't really know what is going to happen and feel they will have no control over it. Knowledge is power and if you go into it with some know-how you will be better able to relax and cope with the task at hand: giving birth to a beautiful baby! Best of luck to you!
2007-08-20 05:32:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
My delivery was great and I'd do it all over again. I really suggest getting an epidural! That was the one thing I was scared to get the most. Seriously...you don't feel it. They numb your back and you might feel the prick of the needle poking the skin, but that's it. I didn't even feel that. I was concentrating on not moving too much.
My water broke at 6:30am, so my bestfriend picked me up to take me to the hospital. (Our husbands are deployed). I just had back labor, so my back was burning and that was it. No contractions yet. I was at 1 centimeter when they checked. I was put into my room and a few hours later they checked me and I was only at 4.
They put me on Petocin to help me contract and that's when I felt contractions. They were too bad at first, but she up'd my Petocin and that's when I couldn't handle it anymore. She gave me Stadol in my IV. It's a numbing medication. It was too early for an epidural. Oh my god, it was like liquid ectasy! I was hallucinating...seriously! The bathroom door was open and I saw a cartoon poster on the tile wall and it started to wiggle and then disappeared. Then the bins you put the dirty towels in turned into a garbage can. After that I closed my eyes and went to bed hahaha.
I finally got to 10 and they gave me my epidural. That went perfectly. I had a friend who delivered 2 months earlier and they took a half hour to get hers in. I was very numb and comfortable after that. I was still able to push like a champ as they said I did. I did the pushing for over an hour to get him to drop and crown. That's when you really want to put all your concentration on pushing like you're going to pass a BM!! If you take too long they will make you get a c-section. So knowing that, I pushed as hard as I could.
After he crowned, it took a few more pushes. I never felt his head or shoulders come out. Then, there he was!! Oh ya, my bestfriend held my left leg up while another friend videotaped from behind my head so my husband can watch the birth on his R&R. They gave him an earlier R&R date since Brayden came 20 days early. He was born on Nov. 4th and Keith flew home on Thanksgiving Day instead of in December.
Make sure your hospital bag is packed up and ready ahead of time. You never know when that baby is ready to come out. Also, concentrate very hard and push with everything you have to get him out and get that epidural!!
2007-08-20 05:24:03 · answer #8 · answered by Due Feb 25th with a girl! 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I always like sharing my birth stories!!
With my second ...
I was 41 weeks along. At 4:30 am I awoke to a MAJOR contraction. I also thought I peed myself a little (tee hee), but I soon realized it was my water breaking.
I woke up BD. We got to the hospital at 5:30 am. I was 9 cen dilated!!! No time for pain meds, I had to go natural!
It took me a while to cooperate, but I eventually agreed to push. Sawyer was born at 6:30 am. 9 lbs, 22 inches long!
2007-08-20 05:19:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Do not let the stories scare you, everyone's labor is different. The pain you go through at the time is only a small part of the delivery, The best part is that beautiful baby you have in the end. Just remember, you are in charge, it's your body. Ask a lot of question. Be informed. Good luck and God bless.....
2007-08-20 05:21:09 · answer #10 · answered by Jana 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋