I posted in my due date club, but wanted to share here as well. And grab a chair cause it's long.
Beforehand:
I started getting really uncomfortable at around 34 weeks pregnant. My due date was November 7, 2009. At my 36 week appointment, I was given a paper with the on-call days of 2 midwives (out of a group of 4) so that if I "happened to take some castor oil" it'd be on one of the days that I'd get someone I was comfortable with. I was advised to wait until 37 weeks, so I did. We took castor oil at 9pm and it kicked my body into contractions around 3am. I didn't sleep at all because I was waiting on it. Got to the hospital, triage nurse said I was 4cm and admitted me. Labored for 2 hours before I asked why my midwife hadn't been in. They sent her in and she said the baby's heartrate was very high and I was running a slight fever. I was put in bed and monitored. After 20 minutes of contractions every minute, I was given fluids, nubaine, and something to put me to sleep. I didn't want any of it, but they said it'd help the baby. When I woke up, contractions were done with and a new midwife was on call. She hooked me up to morphine and told me she'd break my water when I woke up. I was kept in bed all day and then at 5pm, she came in and told me she wouldn't be breaking my water and because I had been crying, asked me if I'd be willing to submit to a psych evaluation. I said I would but she never had anyone come in. She told us to come in the following Sunday and she'd break my water at 38 weeks, 1 day. Oh, and it took 6 liters of fluid to hydrate me and the baby. No castor oil recommendations from me.
Sunday the 25th: Woke up very early, went for a mile walk with the family. No contractions but at least we got to spend some time together. I talked to the midwife at 10am and she said to come in at noon. Meanwhile, I went to a Halloween party at the park. Pictures show I was incredibly swollen....
Got to the hospital and was hooked up for 2 hours before the midwife came in and checked me. I was 5cm and contracting on my own. Yay! She set me up in the room and broke me water. When she did that, there was so much fluid, it took 5 of those HUGE foot long pads to absorb it. It really was an obscene amount of water.... midwives kept trying to make me laugh to make it come out.... embarrassing. ANYWAY....I was told to walk for a while. We walked from 3pm until 6, when I asked to be checked. I was only a 6 but in a lot of pain. I started feeling the epidural desire...the midwife suggested we get into the tub and see how things went. At 7, she came in and I was still 6cm so she gave me pitocin...................... She was expecting my labor to be very quick (under 2 hours) so she was a little disappointed that it was taking so long. She also had been up the previous night so she was tired and getting cranky. ANYWAY....they gave me a half a dose of stadol to help me through the contractions. After an hour, I was in terrible pain so I got back in the tub and labored for a while. Around 8:30, the midwife was in the bathroom with me and turned up the pitocin because I was only 8cm. She gave me the other half of the stadol dose. I was begging and pleading with her to not turn the pitocin up because it was too much pain but she said I wasn't laboring on my own and needed to progress if I wanted the baby out that night. Around 9cm I started not being able to control pushing. The hospital doesn't do water births and I was told I needed to get out. The stadol was messing with my head and I was in no mood to comply with getting out of the tub when I knew it'd make the pain worse. They told DH I wasn't complying and prepared for a water delivery. The nurse I had kept jabbering on and on about how it wasn't safe and how they weren't allowed to do that, etc. I finally looked at her and told her she talked too much and to be quiet. The midwife decided very shortly after that moment that the water was too cold for delivery and made me get out. I was put on the bed on hands and knees and pushed for 3-5 contractions. Midwife decided I wasn't in a good position and put me on my back for 2 contractions. Then she decided that wasn't a good position either and put me on a birth stool in the middle of the floor. I pushed for 4-5 contractions that way when I heard her say she was going to be moving me yet again. I felt like I was being thrown around and I told her I wasn't moving again. (The whole time, I'm begging the pitocin to be shut off because I felt like it was causing the contractions to be worse.... but I was told that, even at 10cm, I wasn't in labor on my own so she couldn't turn it off.)I pushed like hell through 2 more contractions and out he came. They cut the cord immediately and tried to hand him to me. I was shaking so badly and in so much pain I had to hand him off quickly. They brought him over to the baby nurse and I was put in bed. I asked again for the pitocin to be turned off but my midwife said the placenta needed to come. I told I didn't mind waiting and she said wasn't coming back in an hour for it and that I could push it out now or that she could get it herself. So I pushed through 3 awful contractions and it came out. I was given a 2 minute breather and she started trying to look for tears and such. I asked for a few minutes and she got annoyed, told the crew she needed a 5 minute break, and left the room. I was asked about pain levels and I asked if I could have something, anything, for pain and they said we had to wait on the midwife coming back. She came back 10 minutes later, didn't look at me. A nurse asked her what I could have for pain and she said " "whatever she wants. I don't care." She looked at me finally and said, "he wasn't ready." and then left the room. She never came back to my room...even though she was in the hospital for another 9 hours.
This was also my 2nd time trying to breastfeed. I failed at getting my firstborn to latch on and I was told I shouldn't even try with my 2 middle children. This time, I had been told I would need a shield and I promptly requested one. The nurse I had told to stop talking was still my nurse and would not give one to me until I basically yelled at her that I knew what I needed better than she did. She went to the nursery while my baby had been crying for 20 minutes and finally brought one back. "They said to give one to you because its your baby and you'll do what you want anyway."
I successfully nursed him with the shield until I met with a lactation consultant the next day.
The next day, a new midwife came to check me out and she said I had suspected tear but that it wasn't repaired because I wasn't "behaving" the night before. I was pushing for an early release but because I was told I didn't need the strep B test done and hadn't had it done, they wouldn't release the baby for at least 24 hours. I was in the hospital without my family until 11am on the 27th (they visited but we couldn't really keep 4 kids in a hospital room all that time....).
I do not intend on even going to my follow up visits at 2 weeks and 6 weeks.
I feel so let down with the way things went.
The good news:
Jagger Jason was born at 10:37pm on 10-25-09. He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 19.5" long. He's also nursing like a champ! woohoo!
Beforehand:
I started getting really uncomfortable at around 34 weeks pregnant. My due date was November 7, 2009. At my 36 week appointment, I was given a paper with the on-call days of 2 midwives (out of a group of 4) so that if I "happened to take some castor oil" it'd be on one of the days that I'd get someone I was comfortable with. I was advised to wait until 37 weeks, so I did. We took castor oil at 9pm and it kicked my body into contractions around 3am. I didn't sleep at all because I was waiting on it. Got to the hospital, triage nurse said I was 4cm and admitted me. Labored for 2 hours before I asked why my midwife hadn't been in. They sent her in and she said the baby's heartrate was very high and I was running a slight fever. I was put in bed and monitored. After 20 minutes of contractions every minute, I was given fluids, nubaine, and something to put me to sleep. I didn't want any of it, but they said it'd help the baby. When I woke up, contractions were done with and a new midwife was on call. She hooked me up to morphine and told me she'd break my water when I woke up. I was kept in bed all day and then at 5pm, she came in and told me she wouldn't be breaking my water and because I had been crying, asked me if I'd be willing to submit to a psych evaluation. I said I would but she never had anyone come in. She told us to come in the following Sunday and she'd break my water at 38 weeks, 1 day. Oh, and it took 6 liters of fluid to hydrate me and the baby. No castor oil recommendations from me.
Sunday the 25th: Woke up very early, went for a mile walk with the family. No contractions but at least we got to spend some time together. I talked to the midwife at 10am and she said to come in at noon. Meanwhile, I went to a Halloween party at the park. Pictures show I was incredibly swollen....
Got to the hospital and was hooked up for 2 hours before the midwife came in and checked me. I was 5cm and contracting on my own. Yay! She set me up in the room and broke me water. When she did that, there was so much fluid, it took 5 of those HUGE foot long pads to absorb it. It really was an obscene amount of water.... midwives kept trying to make me laugh to make it come out.... embarrassing. ANYWAY....I was told to walk for a while. We walked from 3pm until 6, when I asked to be checked. I was only a 6 but in a lot of pain. I started feeling the epidural desire...the midwife suggested we get into the tub and see how things went. At 7, she came in and I was still 6cm so she gave me pitocin...................... She was expecting my labor to be very quick (under 2 hours) so she was a little disappointed that it was taking so long. She also had been up the previous night so she was tired and getting cranky. ANYWAY....they gave me a half a dose of stadol to help me through the contractions. After an hour, I was in terrible pain so I got back in the tub and labored for a while. Around 8:30, the midwife was in the bathroom with me and turned up the pitocin because I was only 8cm. She gave me the other half of the stadol dose. I was begging and pleading with her to not turn the pitocin up because it was too much pain but she said I wasn't laboring on my own and needed to progress if I wanted the baby out that night. Around 9cm I started not being able to control pushing. The hospital doesn't do water births and I was told I needed to get out. The stadol was messing with my head and I was in no mood to comply with getting out of the tub when I knew it'd make the pain worse. They told DH I wasn't complying and prepared for a water delivery. The nurse I had kept jabbering on and on about how it wasn't safe and how they weren't allowed to do that, etc. I finally looked at her and told her she talked too much and to be quiet. The midwife decided very shortly after that moment that the water was too cold for delivery and made me get out. I was put on the bed on hands and knees and pushed for 3-5 contractions. Midwife decided I wasn't in a good position and put me on my back for 2 contractions. Then she decided that wasn't a good position either and put me on a birth stool in the middle of the floor. I pushed for 4-5 contractions that way when I heard her say she was going to be moving me yet again. I felt like I was being thrown around and I told her I wasn't moving again. (The whole time, I'm begging the pitocin to be shut off because I felt like it was causing the contractions to be worse.... but I was told that, even at 10cm, I wasn't in labor on my own so she couldn't turn it off.)I pushed like hell through 2 more contractions and out he came. They cut the cord immediately
and tried to hand him to me. I was shaking so badly and in so much pain I had to hand him off quickly. They brought him over to the baby nurse and I was put in bed. I asked again for the pitocin to be turned off but my midwife said the placenta needed to come. I told I didn't mind waiting and she said wasn't coming back in an hour for it and that I could push it out now or that she could get it herself. So I pushed through 3 awful contractions and it came out. I was given a 2 minute breather and she started trying to look for tears and such. I asked for a few minutes and she got annoyed, told the crew she needed a 5 minute break, and left the room. I was asked about pain levels and I asked if I could have something, anything, for pain and they said we had to wait on the midwife coming back. She came back 10 minutes later, didn't look at me. A nurse asked her what I could have for pain and she said " "whatever she wants. I don't care." She looked at me finally and said, "he wasn't ready." and then left the room. She never came back to my room...even though she was in the hospital for another 9 hours.This was also my 2nd time trying to breastfeed. I failed at getting my firstborn to latch on and I was told I shouldn't even try with my 2 middle children. This time, I had been told I would need a shield and I promptly requested one. The nurse I had told to stop talking was still my nurse and would not give one to me until I basically yelled at her that I knew what I needed better than she did. She went to the nursery while my baby had been crying for 20 minutes and finally brought one back. "They said to give one to you because its your baby and you'll do what you want anyway."
I successfully nursed him with the shield until I met with a lactation consultant the next day.
The next day, a new midwife came to check me out and she said I had suspected tear but that it wasn't repaired because I wasn't "behaving" the night before. I was pushing for an early release but because I was told I didn't need the strep B test done and hadn't had it done, they wouldn't release the baby for at least 24 hours. I was in the hospital without my family until 11am on the 27th (they visited but we couldn't really keep 4 kids in a hospital room all that time....).
I do not intend on even going to my follow up visits at 2 weeks and 6 weeks.
I feel so let down with the way things went.
The good news:
Jagger Jason was born at 10:37pm on 10-25-09. He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 19.5" long. He's also nursing like a champ! woohoo!
