Labor/birth experiences?

Question

I am wondering about your labor/birth experiences particularly in young women. I know it's a personal thing, but I'm interested in hearing others stories, so if you feel comfortable, please share :) This is my first pregnancy... would a c-section only be used if this was a high risk pregnancy or if there were other complications at the time of birth? Is it always recommended to have a vaginal birth? Thanks for your input :)

Answer 1

A C-section will not be done unless there is medical cause.  And trust me, you don't want to have one if you can avoid it.  The recoup is much harder and longer and will prevent you from caring for your baby the way you want (you'll still be able to care for him/her, just not without a lot of help).

Answer 2

hello

I would recomend a natural delivery.  Try to keep a c-section for if you are recommended one by your obs/midwife. or emergency.

I had natural births with all 3 of my children & the best one for me was my 3rd. I had no pain relief & was able to labour in the bath on the labour ward. I could not have a water birth as they were not allowed at the time in our hospital. But i would have loved to have one. My little sister is due in nov & she has opted for water birth. I found the water helped a lot & despite my begging for stronger pain relief i am so glad i didn't coz at least i can remember this birth clearer than my first two.  I also before i went into the bath moved around alot - walking & sitting on  a birthing ball.   I also remember at the time my son was born we had low lighting - just a lamp - it was 3am- & the radio playing low in the background. everything about it for me was perfect & i would do it all over again.

Good Luck

Answer 3

you dont want a c-section. it is twie as hard to recover both mentally and physically afterwards. they do a c-section only if there are other medical issues already at hand.

my experience:

i was going in for my 38 week check. there was 16 inches of snow on the ground and i couldn't wear shoes because i swelled up too much. so i walk into the doc office with shoes in hand. he tells me he doesn't want to be here on Christmas (the day was dec 17th, and i was due dec 24). so he asked if i wanted my membranes stripped. he told me it could take a week usually for active labor to being.

so he strips my membranes at noon, and before he can push himself back from the table, my water broke in his lap. for a second we both just sat there looking at him covered in c**p. finally he gave me a towel and told me to go to labor and delivery. so i drove myself there and went up stairs. He came in at 230 and said i was fully dialated, but he had another appt at 4 and asked if i could wait. i already had drugs and was bored out of my mind because i wasn't feeling a thing. he acted like i was going to go somewhere.

anyways, he came back at 415, i pushed three times and our son was born at 421.

i think my labor was easy because my pregnancy was less than glamorous.

Answer 4

First to answer your questions before jumping into my story.

A c-section wouldn't be necessary unless there were complications and you needed it done right than. I was high-risk with my first pregnancy because I have a history of an eating disorder, but only delivered vaginally. It's normally recommended that you deliver vaginally instead of having a c-section done. The doctors try to avoid those at all cost, if possible.

As far as my story...

My water broke at 4am. I starting having mild contractions. I told my mom about it (since my husband and I were living with her) to make sure my water did break and it did. So I woke my husband up and off we were to the ER. My husband was hungry and need some food and since my contractions were mild, we stopped at the ATM to get money out so my husband can eat while at the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, the nurse took me straight to the labor and delivery area where I had to get changed. While changing, a gush of fluid came out and all I could do is laugh. I got hooked up to the machine where they monitored the baby's heart beat and checked on me every so often. My husband did get something to eat from the cafeteria and was eating in front of me. Since I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything (just in case they did have to do a c-section), I told him to leave with his food, since I was also hungry. About 10am, I wasn't getting any contractions and they gave me petosin (spell) to help bring on the contractions. At about 11am on, I never been in so much pain in my life. If I had to rate the pain from 0-10 scale (10 being the worst), I'd rate it as a 70. Seriously, I screamed! It was horrible. Now that I'm pregnant again, I'm getting an epidural. I am not going through that pain ever again. Around 3pm, I started pushing (not sure the exact time since all I could do is scream from the pain - BAD IDEA -  don't scream). During the time of pushing the baby out, they had to give me an episionomy (spell) - 4th degree (worst you can get).  Anyways, my daughter was born at 3:48pm. After they sowed me up and went to hand her to me, my blood pressure dropped dramatically, and I was unconcious for a good 4 hours. Everyone told me I almost died. But I'm glad I pulled through.

Now, I don't want to scare you with my story, but that is how it was for me. Every pregnancy, labor and delivery, and person is different. You'll have a completely different experience and this pregnancy that I'll have will be different from the first. Take care of yourself, don't freak out by my story, please.. This wouldn't be good for you and your baby.