OK... I have a question because I am 100% positive it is going to come up with my midwife again and I want to know where I stand going in before I talk to her about it.
I've had two full term pregnancies and multiple miscarriages. I also have endometriosis. All of my miscarriages have completed without a D&C and all but one were at home and uncomplicated (during one I had an ectopic twin so I had surgery for that as well as going through a miscarriage with the other twin). No excessive bleeding with any of them.
Delivery #1 was an induction with cervadil. 36 hours of labour and then my water broke on its own. I started throwing up due to some abuse memories that were triggered a few hours later and got an epidural after other remedies including gravol didn't work. Epi worked to relax me and I stopped throwing up. I was complete 11 hours after water broke and pushed him out in 20 minutes. 3 minutes after he was out (I have my records, it really was only 3 minutes) it was decided my placenta was taking too long and the resident pulled on the cord to get it to come out (not gentle traction, but actual pulling, my midwife was standing there and got really upset with her but I was a transfer of care because of the epidural). I had a PPH, which was managed with pitocin and cytotec. Stopped in the delivery room. I went home the next morning and had a normal recovery.
Delivery #2 was an induction after prolonged rupture of the membranes with pitocin. Started pitocin at 8:00pm and it was increased quickly. Sometime after 1am (when I got my private room) it was increased to above the maximum amount they normally dose to. The resident felt that I couldn't possibly be in real labour because I was still talking and not in huge amounts of pain (which I did right until he was out). So up it went and at that point they wouldn't let me off the monitor to walk around (they had been allowing me short trips) because I was told I was being watched because my chances of fetal distress or uterine hyperstim or rupture were greatly increased. He was born 18 hours after the pitocin was started and at that point my bleeding was well within normal limits.
This is where it gets a little crazy and time isn't as clear for me. About an hour after he was born I started getting hugely bad cramps. I was told the afterpains were worse with second and subsequent babies. By the time I was taken out of the delivery room to my own room I was screaming in pain. I was bearing down every time a cramp (or contraction if you will... that's what they felt like) would hit. I had just gone through a labour with hugely high levels of pitocin with absolutely no pain meds and now I was bawling... in way way worse pain. And the blood would not.stop.coming. I was bearing down as I said and therefore was bleeding with every contraction. I got up and peed at one point and that actually made the pain a little better. I then got back in bed and it was nightmarish again. 7 hours after he was born (looking back I cannot believe they let me go that long), after 2 or 3 shots of demoral I went to go pee again and two huge clots came out. By huge I mean each was bigger than my fist easily.
Right after that I felt a million times better (you know how labour is painful and then the baby comes out and many times people say the pain is just immediately over? That was me with these clots). No more contractions, no more pain. My hemoglobin was very low, but I went home the next day (I was offered a blood transfusion and another night but I refused because I figured I'd heal better at home and I was right). I had absolutely no problems again. My bleeding postpartum was lighter than with #1 and everything healed up well.
From what I can tell both hemmorhages were probably caused by things that happened (in the case of DS1) or drugs given (since PPH is a known possible side effect of pitocin in large amounts) in the hospital. Given that do you think that homebirth would be safe with another pregnancy? Why or why not?
My thought is that I'd really really like to avoid the hospital because of my previous experiences. With DS1 I feel like my midwife could have handled the PPH I had with him (although I also feel like it would not have happened given that she would not have pulled so hard on the cord). With DS2 if my PPH was not caused by the pitocin I would have gone to the hospital in time to be seen and cared for because there is no possible way I would have stayed home in the brutal pain that I was in after he was born especially not with the amount of blood as well.
But... I'm open to hearing what other people think. I know that medical advice isn't allowed to be given but I'd especially really love to hear from midwives about what you'd do if it was your own birth.
Thanks!
I've had two full term pregnancies and multiple miscarriages. I also have endometriosis. All of my miscarriages have completed without a D&C and all but one were at home and uncomplicated (during one I had an ectopic twin so I had surgery for that as well as going through a miscarriage with the other twin). No excessive bleeding with any of them.
Delivery #1 was an induction with cervadil. 36 hours of labour and then my water broke on its own. I started throwing up due to some abuse memories that were triggered a few hours later and got an epidural after other remedies including gravol didn't work. Epi worked to relax me and I stopped throwing up. I was complete 11 hours after water broke and pushed him out in 20 minutes. 3 minutes after he was out (I have my records, it really was only 3 minutes) it was decided my placenta was taking too long and the resident pulled on the cord to get it to come out (not gentle traction, but actual pulling, my midwife was standing there and got really upset with her but I was a transfer of care because of the epidural). I had a PPH, which was managed with pitocin and cytotec. Stopped in the delivery room. I went home the next morning and had a normal recovery.
Delivery #2 was an induction after prolonged rupture of the membranes with pitocin. Started pitocin at 8:00pm and it was increased quickly. Sometime after 1am (when I got my private room) it was increased to above the maximum amount they normally dose to. The resident felt that I couldn't possibly be in real labour because I was still talking and not in huge amounts of pain (which I did right until he was out). So up it went and at that point they wouldn't let me off the monitor to walk around (they had been allowing me short trips) because I was told I was being watched because my chances of fetal distress or uterine hyperstim or rupture were greatly increased. He was born 18 hours after the pitocin was started and at that point my bleeding was well within normal limits.
This is where it gets a little crazy and time isn't as clear for me. About an hour after he was born I started getting hugely bad cramps. I was told the afterpains were worse with second and subsequent babies. By the time I was taken out of the delivery room to my own room I was screaming in pain. I was bearing down every time a cramp (or contraction if you will... that's what they felt like) would hit. I had just gone through a labour with hugely high levels of pitocin with absolutely no pain meds and now I was bawling... in way way worse pain. And the blood would not.stop.coming. I was bearing down as I said and therefore was bleeding with every contraction. I got up and peed at one point and that actually made the pain a little better. I then got back in bed and it was nightmarish again. 7 hours after he was born (looking back I cannot believe they let me go that long), after 2 or 3 shots of demoral I went to go pee again and two huge clots came out. By huge I mean each was bigger than my fist easily.
Right after that I felt a million times better (you know how labour is painful and then the baby comes out and many times people say the pain is just immediately over? That was me with these clots). No more contractions, no more pain. My hemoglobin was very low, but I went home the next day (I was offered a blood transfusion and another night but I refused because I figured I'd heal better at home and I was right). I had absolutely no problems again. My bleeding postpartum was lighter than with #1 and everything healed up well.
From what I can tell both hemmorhages were probably caused by things that happened (in the case of DS1) or drugs given (since PPH is a known possible side effect of pitocin in large amounts) in the hospital. Given that do you think that homebirth would be safe with another pregnancy? Why or why not?
My thought is that I'd really really like to avoid the hospital because of my previous experiences. With DS1 I feel like my midwife could have handled the PPH I had with him (although I also feel like it would not have happened given that she would not have pulled so hard on the cord). With DS2 if my PPH was not caused by the pitocin I would have gone to the hospital in time to be seen and cared for because there is no possible way I would have stayed home in the brutal pain that I was in after he was born especially not with the amount of blood as well.
But... I'm open to hearing what other people think. I know that medical advice isn't allowed to be given but I'd especially really love to hear from midwives about what you'd do if it was your own birth.
Thanks!
), I was 3 weeks over due, and I was in active labor for 51 hours.
