I was wondering how every ones delivery experience was. It seems like its a story that women like to share. And there can be so many different stories.
When I went into labor on 10/12/1976, I was single and a RN. (OOH) The first thing they gave me was that horrible ss enema of 1000 ml. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and I'm glad that they stopped giving them. Anyway, I was having back labor and was walking around in the room. I don't remember being monitored or having an I V. After they broke my water, I had to stay in bed.Well that didn't help the back labor. My mom wasn't in the room much but I did have a male nursing student and his instructor. I was given a dose of Demerol once. When I got to complete they let me push,like they could of stopped me.But remember the back pain, one OP head coming down the canal. So they took me to the delivery room(no LDR's back then) and sat me up for the spinal. It was the nurse ,the doctor ,the anesthesia and me in the room. My legs didn't feel like my own. So they put the salad prongs on the baby's head and guided him out. It had to be the most amazing thing in the world to me seeing the birth of my son.
After the delivery, they put me on a stretcher and I threw up. And they circumcised my son on the delivery table.
After the circumcision the doctor took my son out to meet my mother and she kissed him. The doctor was so upset because you didn't do that back then. Grandparents had to be scrubed,gowned masked and gloves before they could hold the baby. Thank goodness that all has changed!!:balloons:
baby #1-i was 19, wanted a natural delivery, but was unprepared for it. I had NO IDEA how bad it would hurt. I was 41w2d, ctx at 3am, tried getting in bath, i tried taking tylenol (LOL) to make it feel better. hospital at 8am, and i did get an epidural. pushed for 50mins, had episiotomy, 8#2oz boy shortly after 6pm
#2 i was more determined to go natural. i came in at 41w0d to be checked out after was in car accident. was fine, baby fine. decided i wanted to ahve a baby and they broke my water. (i requested this). was 5cm,and that was at 10pm. labored for 8 hours. at 6am, i was 7cm. got epidural. baby born 2 hours later.
#3 i was in nursing school. went to class on my due date, went to clinical 1 day after my due date. ate lunch in hospital cafeteria with classmates. one told me that i looked different. i said "im just uncomfortable" and she said "i sit beside you in class, you've never made a face like that before!". left clinical at 2pm,ctx at 6pm. it was funny, b/c i didnt think iwas in labor, but every time i had a ctx, i had to go from standing up to laying down on the floor hugging a pillow, then hopped back up to do whatever iw as doing. i honestly think i did so well b/c i was calm, didnt think i was in labor (my first 2 were at 41w plus, so at 40w1d i really didn't think this was it. was trying to watch amazing race and couldn't concentrate on show b/c of pain. then i thought it must be labor. ctx too painful to time. nausea. to hospital-7cm. gave up on this idea of natural birth. got epidural. had baby 6 hours later, at 3:59am. hubby says "can't we just say she was born at 4am?" i said "NO, b/c she wasn't!" 8#11oz, 9 mins of pushing. was supposed to go to clinical that day, so called at 6am and said that i wouldn't be there that day :) graduated nursing school 1 month later.
#4-now i am labor and delivery nurse. had a great pregnancy. was huge. was bound and determined to go natural. did not want to be induced. at 40w6d ob appt was 4-5cm, had membranes stripped (ouch), was offered pitocin, to which i said no. that was friday morning.the next day was my birthday, when i was 41w0d. that was the worst day of my pregnancy, convinced i'd never have a baby, etc.
next day, 41w1d, felt great, went for a walk, took kisd to park, etc. mild ctx at 6pm. at 11pm i am a little shaky and tummy feels off, ctx aren't too painful or regular, but they aren't stopping. to hospital. was 7cm. wore my own clothes instead of gown. birth ball, sitting on edge of bed, in chair, on knees, etc. went to 9cm. got 50mcg of fentanyl. stayed at 9.5cm for 3 hours. agreed to arom to hopefully speed things along. yeah, thats when i went crazy. i started screaming "help me" loudly. like, hear you down the hall loud. tried to push past lip of cervix, though i had no urge to push. didnt work. too painful, baby too high, not moving. screamed help me for another hour. ob said "do you mean you want an epidural?" and i said yes. now, i realize i was suggestable and never really wanted the epidural. i still regret that epidural and its been 4.5 months. 2 hours later, baby has bradycardia to 70s-90s, not coming up, still have lip of cervix. have to push past it. push for 9 mins, i hear mention of c/s if heartrate doesn't improve/baby doesn't come out, i said h-e-you know what no, i'm pushing. 9mins pushing. eyes closed. feel suprapubic pressure-wasn't expecting that-and baby comes out blue, so didnt get him on my chest. he was 10#7oz, had a broken clavicle. otherwise fine.
next time i'm getting a doula and no epidural, no matter what. i am really disappointed i couldn't do it naturally.
The whole pregnancy I couldn't keep down a thing...well, except vanilla wafers in a glass of cherry koolaid made with two pkgs of koolaid so it was extra strong. I was losing weight at each checkup...taking Bendectin for nausea morning AND night.
27 weeks...I'm changing my neice's diaper when my water broke. Of course I get the "you must have peed yourself" comments, but when they check at the OB's office it was definately amniotic fluid. Away to the hospital I go.
Strict bedrest, IV antiobiotics, Trendelenburg (just once try using a bedpan in Trendelenburgs....HA)
The day I began the 28th week I spiked a fever and had to be induced. Six hours later I delivered a 2 lb 2 oz baby girl. They whisked her away to the NICU and I wasn't allowed to see her until my fever broke.
She stayed in Intensive Care 3 months (most of it on a ventilator) and then another 5 months on Peds. When I brought her home she weighed 7 lb 7 oz at 8 months old!! On her first birthday she weighed 9 whopping pounds.
Today she's 29 years old. Totally blind (not even light perception) but the happiest person you'll ever meet. I've truly been blessed
But if the world would have ended if I didn't populate it, it would have just ended. I never wanted to chance a repeat of that experience....no way.
I am pre-nursing (taking pre-reqs) anyway saw this thread and since everyone is talking about labor stories I have one and I was hoping someone could answer a question I have.
I was in labor w/my son everything was going smoothly (except for pain) until I had my epidural. I started feeling like someone was setting on my chest and I could hear people talking but they seemed far away almost like I was dreaming. My nurse was standing there and I said that I wasn't feeling well and she called for the anestheologist stat. That was the part that got me (stat). The anestheologist came in and did something and I started feeling better. My mom said that my blood pressure had dropped, anyway labor progressed, I had a smooth delivery and never got a chance to ask what the problem had been.
If anyone knows I would appreciate it if you could explain it to me.
#1: I had to change OBs about half way through my pregnancy (hubby got a new job). My new OB was a GP. My water broke at home at 7pm, I started having contractions about a half hour later. We waited until midnight to go to the hospital (I was hoping to save a little money!) I labored all through that night, contractions gradually getting stronger, the next day (Memorial Day) and that night. When the night nurse came on she was appalled that I was still there with very little cervical change. She must have got on the Dr.s case, because he came in, did a
SVE in the del room with sterile drapes (this was before nurses were routinely doing them), ordered pelvimetry and a consult. They decided by about 7am I needed a CS, but someone was doing a gall bladder in the one and only OR (did I mention this was a small town?) so I waited untill 1pm for the surgery, 42 hours after my water broke. During the CS, just before they put me to sleep, I heard the surgeon say to the GP "[expletive], Charley..." but I didn't get to hear the rest. The baby was posterior in a military positon with an unusually large head. The GP later told my mom, a long-time OB nurse, that my membranes weren't ruptured. Sez she"Then why was I wiping vernix up off the floor?" I have often thought I'd have been better off staying with my original OB, except it would have been a 90-mile commute each way.
#2: Scheduled CS. I wanted a VBAC, but it was another small town without anesthesia backup for an emergency, so I was better off with the procedure scheduled.
I am pre-nursing (taking pre-reqs) anyway saw this thread and since everyone is talking about labor stories I have one and I was hoping someone could answer a question I have.
I was in labor w/my son everything was going smoothly (except for pain) until I had my epidural. I started feeling like someone was setting on my chest and I could hear people talking but they seemed far away almost like I was dreaming. My nurse was standing there and I said that I wasn't feeling well and she called for the anestheologist stat. That was the part that got me (stat). The anestheologist came in and did something and I started feeling better. My mom said that my blood pressure had dropped, anyway labor progressed, I had a smooth delivery and never got a chance to ask what the problem had been.
If anyone knows I would appreciate it if you could explain it to me.
It isn't unusual for your BP to drop after an epidural is placed. We check it frequently and give ephedrine in small doses along with IV fluid bolus to help bring it back up and some O2 usually makes mom feel a bit better. You may have been on the way to passing out from a sudden drop. If the BP isn't checked at exactly the right moment to catch the down swing it can be a few minutes before the nurse notices a change. You were smart to speak up and I am glad you were feeling better so quickly.
#1-2003...PIH reared it's ugly head around 32 weeks. I was on bedrest by 34 weeks. 37 week checkup doc said the baby wasn't growing anymore and had to come out. Went to the hospital the next morning for induction turns out I was already in early labor. Everything was fine. I was dilated to 3 and being the big wimp that I am asked for my epidural. My water broke while the doc was in the room. Then the baby's heart rate dropped to 50 out of nowhere. 5000 people converged on me when every acrobatic trick in the book didn't change anything. I was rushed to the OR. They told dh he needed scrubs and bless his heart he pulled out a pair from our suitcase in an effort to save time. He wound up pacing outside the OR door. I think I was having an anxiety attack because my legs were shaking so bad the table was moving. The doc said "I want her knocked out." The anestheisiologist who put in my epidural smiled as he pushed the Propofol. I'm pretty sure he said "think of it as a pina coloda." 10 minutes later baby girl was born 5lbs 3oz 18in apgars of 8 and 9. Her cord gas was hideous but no reason was ever found for her distress. Aside from her smart mouth she's perfect!
#2....coming soon! I'm 31 weeks with a boy and hoping PIH doesn't come back to play. He will be a repeat c-section sometime in late Feb. Wish me luck.
Well little did I know when I originally wrote this that a week later PIH would come back to play. I got sent to the hospital from the doc for labs and to make sure baby was ok. He was but I was given a shot of betamethasone for the baby's lungs just in case and sent home on a 24hr urine. I came back the next day to turn in the urine and get another steroid shot. Baby and bp were fine so I was sent home again on bedrest. Two days later while lying on the couch waiting for the home health nurse to come set up some monitoring equipment my water broke.
I freaked out right away because with dd as soon as my water broke her hr dropped to 50. I don't trust the hospitals in town so I called the answering service while dh grabbed my bag and tried to get dd ready. The answering service failed me miserably. They kept transferring me to some doctor who didn't know me. After 3times and 15 minutes of this I took to screaming threats and obscenities into the phone. Not my best moment but amazingly MY doctor called me back within 2 minutes.
He told me to go the the out of town hospital as planned and he would meet me there. The whole ride I kept thinking about dd and her hr dropping. You wouldn't believe the horrible thoughts going through my mind. It took forever for someone from L & D to come get me and the nurse was very nonchalant which put me over the edge. As soon as we got up to my room I kicked her out! Another nurse came and hooked me up and baby was fine. I felt like an idiot but was very grateful.
My doctor showed up and calmed me down. I was 33 weeks and had gotten the 2 steroid shots so he was confident delivering me was the best option. So a couple hours later I had little Anthony by C-section 4lbs even 17.5 inches. He spend 10 days in the NICU but he is home now and a little peanut but doing well.
I had both of my babies in a free-standing birth center with Certified Nurse-Midwives. Labor was monitored intermittently with a doppler, my vitals were taken periodically, and I had no IV's or other machines. For my first birth, my entire family was in the room with me. I labored in whatever positions I felt comfortable - standing while leaning over a counter, sitting on the toilet, in the shower, kneeling over a birth ball. I actually pushed my son out while on all fours. I had back labor and it felt better in that position.
I did have some interventions. For the last few minutes of pushing with my daughter, I was on oxygen because her heart rate was decreasing. I was given an injection of pitocin after my son was born to help stop bleeding, and he also needed to be resuscitated. I took it for granted that my births were "normal". Despite how I've heard others describe "natural childbirth", I felt peaceful and comfortable during my births. My babies were each placed on my chest immediately after birth, and breastfeeding was encouraged right away.
I have wanted to be a midwife for as far back as I can remember, and even as I started nursing school it was with the intention of doing L&D. But after hospital clinical rotations where I have seen "normal" births managed very differently from mine, I'm not sure I can bring myself to work in that environment. Many things I did during labor would not have even been allowed in our local hospital, and I would have had far more medical interventions for the same births. I never realized how different I was until being exposed to hospital births in school. I like the job I have now as an LPN, and I still plan on going back to school for RN. I'm just no longer enthused about the hospital L&D department.
My four deliveries were all very different and very much like the personalities of my sons.
My first...22 hours of labor, stuck at 5 cm for 4 hours. The MD wanted to do a c-section. I said you are doing Pitocin and an epidural first. Delivered an hour later in two pushes. Number one son is very slow moving, on the lazy side, but decisive when it counts
My second.....emergency c-section after I put myself on the monitor for decreased fetal movement. He had his cord around his neck three times and then around his shoulder, tore when they were delivering him. He is dramatic, with an explosive Irish temper
My third.... four hour induction, smooth as could be. My third son is laid back and gentle
My fourth.....start to finish one hour.... fourth son self-confident, fast in everything he does.
I had my first one in the hospital 36 years ago, was 6 cm when I got there, had an epidural that did NOT work, and ended up with general anesthesia because the doctor wanted to use forceps. Boy do those things hurt! Had the second one at home with a CNM doing the delivery. All natural labor, no episiotomy and I LOVED it. Would never have a kid any other way. course, I'll never have another one anyway since I am 59 years old.
HappyNurse2005, RN
1,640 Posts
baby #1-i was 19, wanted a natural delivery, but was unprepared for it. I had NO IDEA how bad it would hurt. I was 41w2d, ctx at 3am, tried getting in bath, i tried taking tylenol (LOL) to make it feel better. hospital at 8am, and i did get an epidural. pushed for 50mins, had episiotomy, 8#2oz boy shortly after 6pm
#2 i was more determined to go natural. i came in at 41w0d to be checked out after was in car accident. was fine, baby fine. decided i wanted to ahve a baby and they broke my water. (i requested this). was 5cm,and that was at 10pm. labored for 8 hours. at 6am, i was 7cm. got epidural. baby born 2 hours later.
#3 i was in nursing school. went to class on my due date, went to clinical 1 day after my due date. ate lunch in hospital cafeteria with classmates. one told me that i looked different. i said "im just uncomfortable" and she said "i sit beside you in class, you've never made a face like that before!". left clinical at 2pm,ctx at 6pm. it was funny, b/c i didnt think iwas in labor, but every time i had a ctx, i had to go from standing up to laying down on the floor hugging a pillow, then hopped back up to do whatever iw as doing. i honestly think i did so well b/c i was calm, didnt think i was in labor (my first 2 were at 41w plus, so at 40w1d i really didn't think this was it. was trying to watch amazing race and couldn't concentrate on show b/c of pain. then i thought it must be labor. ctx too painful to time. nausea. to hospital-7cm. gave up on this idea of natural birth. got epidural. had baby 6 hours later, at 3:59am. hubby says "can't we just say she was born at 4am?" i said "NO, b/c she wasn't!" 8#11oz, 9 mins of pushing. was supposed to go to clinical that day, so called at 6am and said that i wouldn't be there that day :) graduated nursing school 1 month later.
#4-now i am labor and delivery nurse. had a great pregnancy. was huge. was bound and determined to go natural. did not want to be induced. at 40w6d ob appt was 4-5cm, had membranes stripped (ouch), was offered pitocin, to which i said no. that was friday morning.the next day was my birthday, when i was 41w0d. that was the worst day of my pregnancy, convinced i'd never have a baby, etc.
next day, 41w1d, felt great, went for a walk, took kisd to park, etc. mild ctx at 6pm. at 11pm i am a little shaky and tummy feels off, ctx aren't too painful or regular, but they aren't stopping. to hospital. was 7cm. wore my own clothes instead of gown. birth ball, sitting on edge of bed, in chair, on knees, etc. went to 9cm. got 50mcg of fentanyl. stayed at 9.5cm for 3 hours. agreed to arom to hopefully speed things along. yeah, thats when i went crazy. i started screaming "help me" loudly. like, hear you down the hall loud. tried to push past lip of cervix, though i had no urge to push. didnt work. too painful, baby too high, not moving. screamed help me for another hour. ob said "do you mean you want an epidural?" and i said yes. now, i realize i was suggestable and never really wanted the epidural. i still regret that epidural and its been 4.5 months. 2 hours later, baby has bradycardia to 70s-90s, not coming up, still have lip of cervix. have to push past it. push for 9 mins, i hear mention of c/s if heartrate doesn't improve/baby doesn't come out, i said h-e-you know what no, i'm pushing. 9mins pushing. eyes closed. feel suprapubic pressure-wasn't expecting that-and baby comes out blue, so didnt get him on my chest. he was 10#7oz, had a broken clavicle. otherwise fine.
next time i'm getting a doula and no epidural, no matter what. i am really disappointed i couldn't do it naturally.