So I was a newbie at one time and knew nothing, here is my first birth.
Get ready, I tend to be a little long winded!
With my first son I was under the impression that I could have a natural drug free birth in the hospital. Well when I got there and my ob was not there then all of that went out the window. I informed them of my drug free plan that I talked about w/ my dr and the nurse looked at me and said well the problem with that is "your" dr isn't here. So I had to fight VERY hard for a natural childbirth. Before they had even checked me to see if I was in labor (it was false labor) they had the nurses in there trying to hook me up to an IV which I had already refused (I really wanted a natural birth and thought if they stuck that in me then they could sneak drugs in without me knowing). So after 7 hours of me telling them I would not have an IV or any other drug they checked me and determined I was not in labor. They also made me sign a paper saying that since I refused the wonderful drugs they thought I needed, whatever happened to me and my baby was my own fault! The next day I really did go into labor and when I went to get check in the nurse gave me the roughest vag. exam I have ever had and broke my water when I was only 1 cm. That was at 5 am and around 8 am they told me that if I did not progress by noon they would be starting pitocin. Well that did not sit well with me and I was starting to get tired and hungry and asked for something to drink. They refused and gave me ice chips and told me they had to hook me up to an IV incase I became dehydrated. I was like well if you would let me drink some water I will not be. The lady came in to put in the IV and as she did she hit a vein and warm blood came spilling out over my arm (A LOT OF BLOOD). I told her to get away from my arm or I was going to scream, and she chuckled and insisted that she had to put it in my arm and I said again, if you do not get away from me I am going to scream. Well for some reason I think she might have been deaf or just had selective hearing so I pulled my arm out of her grasp and sat up and screamed for her to get away from me. That did the trick! I did not need the damn IV I needed a glass of water! After I calmed down another nicer lady came in and put the IV in. I'm sure by this point I was the talk of the floor. So by noon I was at 6 cm and that was ok for them and did not need the pit. Around 4pm I was to 10 cm and ready to get the baby out and all the sudden the room is flooded w/ people that I did not know and had not seen all day. I later found out the were like the NICU team. Nobody had said anything to me about anything being wrong with Jax so I did not understand what was going on. Come to find out there was some meconium and they claimed that he had pneumonia so he had to be on antibiotics. Then I was trying to nurse him and they said he was under distress and he needed to be taken to the NICU. As soon as I was put into a new room and I wanted to go see my baby they tell me that I have a fever and cant see him for 24 hours! I was livid. My mom and Brad went to stay with him because at this point I had lost all trust in this hospital. So I pumped out the whole time I was not allowed to see him then when it was time I went into this room where all the babies were 2 lbs and under and here was my 7lb 10 oz baby that was healthy but had to be on drugs for 8 days. So he had to stay there for those 8 days. I stayed with him all day and night and only went home to shower and change clothes. On day 6 I went with my mom to get some lunch and in that 30 minutes while I was gone they gave my breastfed only baby formula because he was fussy. It was not time for him to eat and I was in the building. Once again I was livid. So this is what prompted me to have my second son at home. I really have nothing nice to say about that hospital except I hear they do great deliveres if you want drugs! All of my friends have had their babies there and all had drugs. I am out of the ordinary and I like it that way!![Wink <img src=]()
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Another birth story just not as sweet. I do have other memories from his birth but this is what is burned in my memory and made me the person I am. I used to be a big push over until it came to the birth of Jax. Ok I will give a better version of his story, this is the one that is in his baby book.
August 12, 2001
At 4:17am I thought I was feeling contractions and woke Brad to have him time them. Sure enough they were coming regular so we decided to go to the hospital. We got there around 5 am and go to get checked in and I am only dialated to 1cm. The nurse who checked me broke my water so now they had to admit me, there was no sending me home. Labor was very hard on my back and I had to have Brad and my dad take turns pushing on my back to help with the back labor. I was not allowed to get up and walk, which I thought would help the back labor. The only time I was allowed out of bed was to use the bathroom, and the one time I got up I just had to pee and a contraction hit me so hard I grabbed the closest thing, the hand rail by the commode and held tight as I had the contraction and I broke it! I started bawling and freaking out. I pulled it straight out of the wall. I was yelling for Brad to come in and help me so he did and all he could do was laugh at me. I did not think it was vey funny. So back to the bed with me to labor. I was in that bed all day and I was getting pretty tired of being at the hospital all together. I was checked several times by my nurse Mandy, who was very nice and very helpful. I was finally to 10 cm around 4pm and it was time to push. My dr. arrived just in time to deliver me. I had not seen any other Dr. the whole time I was there, just nurses. So she comes in and gets ready for the big pushes. Then the room was filled with people from the NICU team. I had no clue why they were there but I really couldn't think about them right then. I am supposed to be pushing but the baby really doesn't seem to want to come out. My dad is counting from 1-10 for me and stroking my hair out of my face. Brad has one foot and mom has the other. I am straining with all my might to get this baby out and it is just not happening. I am tired and hungry and ready to be done. My body is not wanting to go anymore. It is now around 4:45pm and I seem to have a burst of energy. I have been pushing for almost an hour and Dr. Bea tells me I can see his hair, look down here and feel his hair! I say "Are you crazy?! I want him out then I will feel his hair!" I continue to push and I can feel his head coming out, that is some intense pain. I don't really know how to put it into words but that was really bad. His head is out and they tell me not to push b/c the cord is wrapped. I look at her like she is nuts cause all I have heard for the last hour is PUSH! PUSH! PUSH! and now you want me to stop! They get his cord off and I get to PUSH again. This pain is worse than the head, I am trying to push out his body and I can feel myself starting to get weak. Brad, mom and dad are all telling me I am almost done so I keep pushing and at 4:56pm he comes screaming out. Dr. Bea says "It's a boy!" Well duh we kinda knew that! Brad cuts the cord and Jax is taken to be cleaned up. He is screaming his little head off the whole way. I can't wait to hold him but it seems that they are taking forever to bring him back to me. They weigh and measure him, 7 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches long. They start to tell me it is time to deliver the placenta but my mind is so far away from that I want to know why my baby isn't with me to start nursing. I was told that nursing will help get the placenta out. My nurse and Dr are both pushing on my uterus, OUCH! That was pretty painful after I just gave birth and I really did not like them after that. My placenta came out and was all intact. I still do not have my baby. Brad goes out to tell his family all about Jax and they want to come in and see me. I was so not pleased with this. They threw a blanket over me so they could come in to see us and I haven't even got to see my baby yet! I WANT MY BABY, NOW! So finally they decide to let him try to nurse, I have a full audience for my first time to nurse my child, how nerve racking was that. They decided that he wasn't getting what he needed after 5 minutes and whisked him to the NICU. Now I am left with no baby and a room full of people asking me how I feel. Well I could never say to their faces how I felt that day. I was so pissed though that Brad could see it and decided to clear the room. All I could do was cry. My baby was gone and I had no clue why. I didn't know if I was ever going to see him again and if I did would he be alive. I was so scared to know. Finally someone came back to inform me that his blood sugar was low and that he had drank some meconium. I have no clue what all that means but they tell me that he is going to be started on antibiotics. I send my mom and Brad to be with him as soon as I get into a recovery room. I do not trust anyone anymore. They come in to see how I am doing and find that I have a fever and tell me that I can't go near the baby for 24 hours! They have got to be kidding me. After all that I went through to get him here I can't see him! I know 24 hours is not a long time but I just gave birth and you are banning me from my son. More tears. Well my dad stays with me cause he wants me to see Jax first. My mom and brad take video of him and bring it back to me. He is so tiny and I just want to hold him but I can't. They make video of me talking to Jax and take it back down to show him, goofy, but I thought it was sweet. My dad went out to bring me dinner and brought me my favorite Outback! I had chicken and salad and the yummy bread! Oh he brought food for brad too but I forgot what he had. To pass the time I sat in my room coloring and reading magazines. I took a shower with help from my sweet hubby. Then it was finally time to see Jax! I was so excited I could have ran, but my tush hurt. I had to get all scrubbed in and when I went into the room all I could see were tubes and monitors. It was very scary and shocking to see all that attached to him. But I picked him up and breathed in his sweet smell and cried. I couldn't nurse him just yet from all the tubes but I did get to give him breastmilk through a tube. All of my hard work to have a natural birth and my baby still ended up in the NICU. I think the hospital has something against me. Jax had to stay in for 8 days I was booted after the 2 1/2 days but I stayed with him the whole time, except to eat and shower. I slept in a chair there in the NICU so I could wake up with him when he was ready to eat or be changed or just to cuddle him longer. He is my little precious as I have started calling him. On the 7th night brad and I got to stay in a room in the hospital the day before we took him home. It was nice to have a bed to lay on and have Brad there with me. He worked the rest of the time so I was there alone or with mom. We got to give him a bath on the 8th day together and he sprayed clear across the room! The nurses all had to laugh at that! What a boy! Bringing him home was so relaxing. Just to finally have him beside me and not have to worry about that dumb monitor anymore. He was a healthy baby so I thought it was pointless to have him there that long. I am just glad to have him home and healthy! He is such a sweet baby and I love him more than words.
So there is it, nothing like I wanted it to be. But I still hold Jax very close to me because of those 8 days. It was a very hard time for me emotionally and I am glad that I went through it but at the same time I wish Jax didn't have to go through it.