I had my final Dr. appt. on May 3rd (fairly typical prenatal care). I was dilated to a 3, but had been dilating already for about 2 or 3 weeks. My doctor scheduled the induction for 6 AM on Friday morning the 5th. Myles and I planned to go on a date on Thursday night and just have some fun by ourselves before our little one invaded our privacy, but Thursday morning (the actual due date) my doc called me and asked, "How would you like to have your baby today?"! Well, I told her yes and about 4 hours later we were admitted into the hospital!
Of course Myles had to leave work early. We arrived at the hospital at around 11:30 AM. By 11:45 we had our room and an IV in. They started the pitocin at around 12:45 and I was considered in active labor by around 4:00. Soon after that the contractions started getting sharp, and fast. The doctor had an internal monitor put in, after I had been trying to tell the nurses that the contractions were hurting pretty bad, so that they could actually measure the intensity of each contraction. At around 6:15 I was given an epidural when they were finally convinced I was in much pain by that time. (Apparently I can take more pain than I thought. The nurses were expecting me to be crawling off the bed!) Once the nurses saw how intense they really were by inserting an internal monitor, they were quick to get me the epidural and backed way off on the pitocin!
The epidural was wonderful! I still had some feeling on my left side, but it was tolerable. I could feel all of my contractions, but they didn't hurt at all! By 8:00 I was still only dilated to a little more than a four. The nurse had me turn on my side to see if that would help. At this time everyone was expecting Jonathan to be born in the early hours of the morning.
About an hour later the nurse was about to go have some dinner and decided to check again before she left. We were glad she did. I had already dilated to an eight! Things began moving quickly after this. The nurse didn't even get to eat. Myles went out in the lobby to give everyone an update and while he was gone I reached a nine! I didn't think he'd make it back in time, and our moms were wondering why he even left in the first place! (He was just excited and wanted to share it with everyone else.) After a few more minutes went by, his mom went to get him and said he was watching TV! (He said he just happened to look at it for a second when she walked in the room! They give him a hard time about that now.)
I don't remember the exact times of everything, but by 11:15 I was at a 10 and pushing. By about 11:37 he was crowned and the doctor came in for the catch. She almost didn't get gowned in time! Everyone told me not to push, so I didn't, but he came out on his own on the next contraction! The doctor turned around just in time to catch him! Myles' mom told me later that she thought she was going to have to run over there and catch him before he hit the floor! It was pretty funny actually. :)
Jonathan David was born on May 4th at 11:39 PM weighing 9 lbs. 2 ozs. and was 21 3/4" long. He obviously had a great set of lungs and beautiful skin color! Everything went so well. We were so excited!
When Jonathan was about 5 days old it was very apparent that I had a UTI. I was able to get an antibiotic and recover fairly quickly, but that first day or two of it was horrible. It was around the time my milk came in and I was still having problems with breastfeeding (learning to use a nipple shield due to flat nipples), so it was not a good few days there for a little bit.
Skip ahead almost 7 years......Wow, I can't believe he is about to turn SEVEN!
As I look back on this account of his birth, I do have a totally different perspective now. First of all, I do NOT want to be induced any more! I really don't see any medical need for it, and it can put the mother and baby at risk, not to mention that the contractions are so much more painful than when you go into labor on your own! I would not want to be checked for dilation and effacement either. What's the point? I'm going to progress regardless, and it can only make things worse, not better.
I would refuse to be monitored, and I would not get an epidural. I remember the epidural not giving complete coverage, and when I think about that now, it's pretty scary! I remember being very uncomfortable on the bed. I had no option of getting up and walking around because of the monitors, pitocin and epidural. I was getting miserable just laying there. I remember changing to my left side, which helped me dilate more quickly, probably because I was able to change positions.
The UTI I know was from the catheter and internal monitors. They also had put some type of monitor on Jonathan's head, so he had one or two SCREWS in his head!!! It really is true that all they (medical professionals) want is a good outcome, and they don't care how it comes about. We were disillusioned into thinking that everything was great because I didn't have to have a c-section, I didn't feel any pain after the epidural, I didn't have to push very long and our first child was very healthy. If I remember correctly, I think he scored an 8 and 9 on his two apgar tests, so that was pretty good.
Actually, another thing I just remembered is that right after he was born, they did all the routine things that hospitals do for babies; eye drops, shots, heel prick and then a bottle of formula for his FIRST feeding because his blood sugar was "borderline high"! I am so sad about that now, that I didn't get to nurse him for his very first feeding. :( Honestly, I don't even remember them asking me or giving me a choice, they just tested his blood sugar (because he was "big") and then gave him a bottle....right in front of me, but I didn't get to do it.
Another thing that scares me thinking back on all this is that Jonathan was seriously coming out on his own with each contraction. There were probably 20 people in the room (can you say "privacy"?), and NO ONE was moving to get him. I was on the bed where they break away the foot part and put my feet in stirrups, shine the lights right on that area and raise the bed up high, about to chest level. Now picture a baby being born from that height with no one to catch him and about 20 people standing there just watching! That is seriously what was happening, and my doctor had her back to me putting her gown, mask and gloves on! She literally turned around just in time! They were telling me not to push and to wait for the doctor, but HELLO, I couldn't stop him from coming out! Scary, scary, scary!
Also, I tore really bad and was sore (bruised) for a good 3 months. I wonder if this could have been avoided if I had not had such hard contractions and progressed at a more natural rate rather than them increasing the pitocin and making me go faster. I also couldn't feel anything when pushing, so I don't know if I was actually ready or if I pushed too hard, etc. The entire experience, really, was not fun looking back on it. And I hate to admit it, but this was probably the best experience of my 3 labors/births.
Of course Myles had to leave work early. We arrived at the hospital at around 11:30 AM. By 11:45 we had our room and an IV in. They started the pitocin at around 12:45 and I was considered in active labor by around 4:00. Soon after that the contractions started getting sharp, and fast. The doctor had an internal monitor put in, after I had been trying to tell the nurses that the contractions were hurting pretty bad, so that they could actually measure the intensity of each contraction. At around 6:15 I was given an epidural when they were finally convinced I was in much pain by that time. (Apparently I can take more pain than I thought. The nurses were expecting me to be crawling off the bed!) Once the nurses saw how intense they really were by inserting an internal monitor, they were quick to get me the epidural and backed way off on the pitocin!
The epidural was wonderful! I still had some feeling on my left side, but it was tolerable. I could feel all of my contractions, but they didn't hurt at all! By 8:00 I was still only dilated to a little more than a four. The nurse had me turn on my side to see if that would help. At this time everyone was expecting Jonathan to be born in the early hours of the morning.
About an hour later the nurse was about to go have some dinner and decided to check again before she left. We were glad she did. I had already dilated to an eight! Things began moving quickly after this. The nurse didn't even get to eat. Myles went out in the lobby to give everyone an update and while he was gone I reached a nine! I didn't think he'd make it back in time, and our moms were wondering why he even left in the first place! (He was just excited and wanted to share it with everyone else.) After a few more minutes went by, his mom went to get him and said he was watching TV! (He said he just happened to look at it for a second when she walked in the room! They give him a hard time about that now.)
I don't remember the exact times of everything, but by 11:15 I was at a 10 and pushing. By about 11:37 he was crowned and the doctor came in for the catch. She almost didn't get gowned in time! Everyone told me not to push, so I didn't, but he came out on his own on the next contraction! The doctor turned around just in time to catch him! Myles' mom told me later that she thought she was going to have to run over there and catch him before he hit the floor! It was pretty funny actually. :)
Jonathan David was born on May 4th at 11:39 PM weighing 9 lbs. 2 ozs. and was 21 3/4" long. He obviously had a great set of lungs and beautiful skin color! Everything went so well. We were so excited!
When Jonathan was about 5 days old it was very apparent that I had a UTI. I was able to get an antibiotic and recover fairly quickly, but that first day or two of it was horrible. It was around the time my milk came in and I was still having problems with breastfeeding (learning to use a nipple shield due to flat nipples), so it was not a good few days there for a little bit.
Skip ahead almost 7 years......Wow, I can't believe he is about to turn SEVEN!
As I look back on this account of his birth, I do have a totally different perspective now. First of all, I do NOT want to be induced any more! I really don't see any medical need for it, and it can put the mother and baby at risk, not to mention that the contractions are so much more painful than when you go into labor on your own! I would not want to be checked for dilation and effacement either. What's the point? I'm going to progress regardless, and it can only make things worse, not better.
I would refuse to be monitored, and I would not get an epidural. I remember the epidural not giving complete coverage, and when I think about that now, it's pretty scary! I remember being very uncomfortable on the bed. I had no option of getting up and walking around because of the monitors, pitocin and epidural. I was getting miserable just laying there. I remember changing to my left side, which helped me dilate more quickly, probably because I was able to change positions.
The UTI I know was from the catheter and internal monitors. They also had put some type of monitor on Jonathan's head, so he had one or two SCREWS in his head!!! It really is true that all they (medical professionals) want is a good outcome, and they don't care how it comes about. We were disillusioned into thinking that everything was great because I didn't have to have a c-section, I didn't feel any pain after the epidural, I didn't have to push very long and our first child was very healthy. If I remember correctly, I think he scored an 8 and 9 on his two apgar tests, so that was pretty good.
Actually, another thing I just remembered is that right after he was born, they did all the routine things that hospitals do for babies; eye drops, shots, heel prick and then a bottle of formula for his FIRST feeding because his blood sugar was "borderline high"! I am so sad about that now, that I didn't get to nurse him for his very first feeding. :( Honestly, I don't even remember them asking me or giving me a choice, they just tested his blood sugar (because he was "big") and then gave him a bottle....right in front of me, but I didn't get to do it.
Another thing that scares me thinking back on all this is that Jonathan was seriously coming out on his own with each contraction. There were probably 20 people in the room (can you say "privacy"?), and NO ONE was moving to get him. I was on the bed where they break away the foot part and put my feet in stirrups, shine the lights right on that area and raise the bed up high, about to chest level. Now picture a baby being born from that height with no one to catch him and about 20 people standing there just watching! That is seriously what was happening, and my doctor had her back to me putting her gown, mask and gloves on! She literally turned around just in time! They were telling me not to push and to wait for the doctor, but HELLO, I couldn't stop him from coming out! Scary, scary, scary!
Also, I tore really bad and was sore (bruised) for a good 3 months. I wonder if this could have been avoided if I had not had such hard contractions and progressed at a more natural rate rather than them increasing the pitocin and making me go faster. I also couldn't feel anything when pushing, so I don't know if I was actually ready or if I pushed too hard, etc. The entire experience, really, was not fun looking back on it. And I hate to admit it, but this was probably the best experience of my 3 labors/births.
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