Re: OT - Labor & Birth

[Guest guest]

OMG...that is some story Kori! I think the first time I gave birth it was

so traumatic for me that I made myself forget it. Then when I got pregnant

the second time I started having flashbacks to the whole labor and delivery

thing. But that changed when my doctor said I had to have a c-section. So,

having given birth both ways " so to speak " ...LOL...I can honesty say that I

won't be having anymore children because as beautiful as giving birth

is.....its just much too stressful and not to mention painful for ME.

Mommy to (12-17-98) and

Christian (1-30-04) LCF - DBB (nights only)

OT - Labor & Birth

yeah, but there was some indication he was posterior right? Stupid me

didn't say a darn word about the back labor. I go into sort of a trance

when in labor, and even with Darbi, for some reason I didn't say *my back

hurts* and by then I totally knew better.

Also, my children are born with very, very tiny fontanels. It is nearly

impossible for them to say for sure what they're feeling because of

this. I had two midwives here at my first birth and neither of them, both

very good midwives, noticed it by feeling the sutures which usually is the

first indication after the back labor. All three of my children also have

a minor case of craniosynostosis where the anterior suture fuses a little

bit early causing them to have a kind of *Klingon Ridge* (as I

affectionately call it) on their forehead that's pretty noticeable upon

palpitation through the years of 1-4. Heck, you can see it. It doesn't

compress their brain so is untreated which is good, but it's there and

likely has much to do with their tiny little fontanels. Their fontanel

closes up completely by about 4mo's, when they're born each is about the

size of the tip of your finger. So I do not fault the midwives at all with

this. Just the way it ended up.

I was fortunate enough to have one of the midwives have hospital privileges

and the docs there respect her, she is an instructor at the midwifery

school there and not too *Medwife*, she attends homebirths for the hospital

actually. I was also treated with total respect by the nurses and docs,

even as a transfer. I really can't say enough about this hospital and the

staff there. So when I got there and they saw Kenton wasn't in distress (he

likely slept through the WHOLE 9 hours of pushing) they let me go on, that

was the additional 6hr. In fact, after the docs tried to turn him they

looked at the monitor and told me I didn't need to go to the section right

then, that if I wanted I could push longer because the baby was handling it

well. I made the decision, there came a time for this doula/wannabe

midwife to have to say it just ain't going to happen and by then, there was

no other way out and I knew it. Hours earlier though?? If I'd just told

someone they would have been able to work around it at home I'm sure. My

fault when it comes right down to it. I absolutely know better. I used to

apprentice midwifery in my late teens and early 20's and I am a doula (who

doesn't work right now because she's got 3 kids and one's a nursling), it's

not like I am clueless about all that stuff. Additionally, after the fact

I've learned about some things I shouldn't have done, one of which was to

induce labor with half a cytotec pill. At the time, my homebirth midwife

had used it successfully and we thought half a pill can't be too intense,

but in 98 it was not as well known the dangers and I'm pretty sure that if

I'd waited it would have been a totally different experience. I had

dysfunctional labor which consisted of over 5 min ctx that had two major

peaks with about 30 seconds rest in between. This was full on like that

from the moment my water broke till I got my spinal for the surgery, about

16hr. Which is why I learned with a quickness how to moan myself into that

trance that actually made me loose hours at a time as far as memory of the

labor. I seriously only remember bits and pieces of the whole 16 hours

post ROM. I'm sure this is what hypnobirthing is supposed to be although I

have no training in that. My other two labors were completely natural and

while the second one was relatively painless (seriously), the third was a

very quick and intense painful labor and that trance thing really was nice

to have on hand hehe.

At any rate, each and every time I've done it all except actually push the

baby out. So I haven't missed the boat entirely lol.

Kori

At 11:30 AM 3/1/2005, you wrote:

>You have my respect Kori, and my sympathy.

>

>I am thankful I was with a midwife when came out posterior - I am

>very confident a hospital would have done a c-section rather than let me

>fight it out to deliver naturally/vaginally. It took hours, but she and

>her nurses kept on trying different positions, etc. to help him move on

>down rather than give up and send me to the hospital.

>

>s.

>

> Re: Re: Ava's funky leg crease & REDUCED

>HOURS!!!!

>

>

>

>my first was posterior, and I had back labor but didn't tell anyone,

>duh!. So, after 3 hours of pushing here at home I went to the

>hospital. And pushed for another 6+ hours. They tried to turn him at the

>end, but it was docs doing it instead of me turning on my front side and

>allowing it to happen. Excruciating pain (like the 9 hours I'd spent at

>10cm wasn't excruciating, but this was worse) so I said no go and told them

>to stop. C-section time. My first. It took them over 4 minutes to get

>him unstuck because I'd pushed him into my pelvis to hard. ugh!

>

>My second wasn't posterior but 6w premature and footling. So automatic

>second c-section. 12days in the NICU but he came out of it a nursing child

>which I know isn't typical. I put a lot of effort into nursing him and

>being there for every feeding so he wouldn't get a bottle and it worked for

>us. I'm pretty happy about that. They called him the nursing baby because

>so few of the other babies in the NICU nursed at all. With my third, I got

>to 10 in about 3 hours but she remained at -3 station (as high as she could

>possibly be) and didn't descend when I pushed. They had me monitored this

>time and the docs who came in insisted her HR was going down (although my

>midwife felt my uterus was doing fine). 2 scars on my uterus freaked them

>out and the midwife didn't see that she was going to come down at all so

>thus, my 3rd section. She too was posterior. My babies tend to turn

>during labor and are all across the board in the weeks prior to delivery so

>we kept thinking it would be ok and then there she is sunny side up

>again. Ugh! The couldn't make the incision in the same spot as the

>previous two because the LUS (lower uterine segment) was too thin and they

>wouldn't have been able to sew it up without the tissue shredding. So I

>have two incision sites in my uterus. Which left it very painful for a

>long time after delivery. I got pg last summer (m/c) and I honestly

>couldn't convey how painful it was to be pg again. My uterus hurt so bad

>it wasn't funny. I ended up with a d&e which also was mega painful when it

>was supposed to be not so painful at all. I was not a happy mama last

>September...

>

>I honestly don't know if I can ever have more children because of

>this. The c-sections messed up a perfectly capable uterus (that labors

>rather well and I progress quickly - my footling baby I didn't even know I

>was in labor and it took about 7 ctx to go from 4cm to 8) and I am not

>pleased at all. I CAN labor just fine (natural). Darbi was my biggest, at

>9#15oz (after she pooped) and I have PCOS which tends to create large

>babies in the first place. I'm stuck, if I should get pg again they want

>to do a scheduled c-section, and the idea of which I am not fond of at

>all. Finding a midwife who will do a homebirth after 3C's isn't going to

>be easy. And that's my only option other than the repeat C.

>

>I know so many people wish they'd ended up with a section after a less than

>good vaginal birth. But in my experience, the sections messed me up way

>more than an awful birth ever would have much because my less than perfect

>uterus may not handle another pregnancy, let alone labor again. Granted

>I've got my fair share of children with 3 under 7yo and I don't even know

>if I want another but it'd be nice not to wonder if I ever did get pg,

>would I die or the child die because of all this?. I have at least one

>friend who had a huge baby and has said time and again she wished she'd had

>a c-section. I honestly believe her that she's got some lasting problems

>because of it (incontinence the big issue) but I often wonder which is the

>lesser of the two evils? She doesn't know she wouldn't have come out of

>surgery with a serious infection like Maureen has been dealing with, she

>doesn't know that she wouldn't have bled out and lost her uterus, and she

>also doesn't know what recovery from a major abdominal surgery is like with

>a newborn. Peeing your pants doesn't really sound so bad when you consider

>that a mistake on our part may mean doctors might tell me I must terminate

>a pregnancy or I'll die.

>

>I don't know, one really has to have BTDT to be able to say one terrible

>experience is worse than another terrible experience and I've never had a

>VB, let alone a bad VB so this is hard to say one way or the other. But I

>sure as heck would like my choice of fertility back. If I could do it all

>over again, I'd do a lot of things differently starting with the first

>homebirth.

>

>I also want to make sure everyone knows I don't want to diminish any of

>their experiences, this is just how I feel personally about my experiences

>with childbirth.

>

>Kori

>

>

>

>

>At 12:41 PM 2/27/2005, you wrote:

>

>

> >Angel,

> >Kai was a pretty good size for 5 weeks early! I bet you thank your

> >stars you didn't go " on time " and have a 10 lb. monster or

> >something! That's awful your doc didn't realize he was face up. I

> >coached a friend through an 8 lb baby delivered " sunny side up " and

> >they kept the pit pumping for HOURS!!! She pushed for almost 5 hrs

> >and ended up needing vacuum extraction...what a mess..Anyway, I

> >don't understand why they would try to turn him at that point. Alot

> >of the time a posterior baby will turn as it moves down the birth

> >canal...but if you're that far along, it's a little late IMO! (not

> >that I'm a doctor!) The up & down thing is okay as far as I know for

> >stuck shoulders, I just question why the doc would allow an intern

> >to do it. That is potentially life threatening, not something to be

> >handled by an intern. Did you have any pain meds? I'm a natural

> >birther, but please tell me you had drugs during all this! There's a

> >time and a place for everything--and that sounds like the time &

> >place to me!!! And as far as the midwife thing, I think just about

> >everybody would be better off in the care of a midwife! Sounds like

> >you had a pretty rough time of it...I salute you! Are we crazy to

> >keep having these kids??!?!? :-)

> > mommy of:

> >Guinevere, harrison, Ava 8/4/04 right CF DBB 16-18/7

> >

> >

> > > As for how big Kai was ... he delivered at 35 weeks at 7 lb 4 oz

> >and a 15 " head. Not huge by any means (well, except his head!) but

> >definitely the biggest of my kids even tho he was the only preemie

> >of the bunch. His delivery went so bad because no one read the

> >obvious signs that he was turned face up until I was 8 cm and the

> >doc was pushing pitocin (very bad with a baby turned wrong). At

> >almost 10 cm they attempted to turn him, which is most likely what

> >wrapped the cord. The doc managed to deliver his head, but got his

> >shoulders vertical and stuck on my pelvis. I seriously thought the

> >were going to break my pelvis! Instead of trying to rotate his

> >shoulders the doc had the intern pull down then up, which did

> >dislodge his shoulders, but could have also hurt him pretty bad.

> >Also, it tore every supporting muscle in my pelvic floor. Oh how I

> >wish they had told me that the midwife, whose care MY ob had left me

> >in, was going to be back at midnight! We would have waited and that

> >would have never happened!

> > >

> > > Angel

> > >

> > > --------------------------------------------

> > > " Thanks guys so much for all your support. Angel, your experience

> >sounds really traumatic. How big was Kai? Your experience " reminded "

> >me of when my first daughter was run over. She's fine... "

> > >

> > >