Who's having a hospital birth (and looking forward to it!?) - Page 3

[Katico]

We currently have no legal midwifery or homebirth options so we will be having a hospital birth.  And you know what?  I am totally okay with that!

With DD we had a midwife but they legislated midwifery the month before we were due, red tape held everything up and basically, anything but hospital birth with an OB was illegal.  

We had to be induced because of BP anyway, and it was a pretty traumatic event for me - I was terrified of induction and knew the pain was likely to be worse, I was scared of the hospital and imagined all sorts of terrible outcomes, and I was pretty hysterical by the time I caved and had the epidural.  

Now though?  We LOVE our GP, who also specializes in pregnancy and birth and hope she will be there at this delivery as well.  I am no longer terrified of the hospital, it turns out it was a wonderful place with very supportive nurses and doctors.  I am really hoping for a natural start to labour, no induction, and hope that the labour will be a bit less painful/more manageable and my state of mind will be less panicked, and I also know when I should ask for the epidural.  I don't feel guilty about getting it any more - as soon as I got it and stopped panicking, my first labour went very fast and very smoothly.  And I am no longer afraid of the post-partum stuff either.  I had a very fast recovery after DD.

So, all around, I am much less frightened, know what to expect, and know that if I want it, pain relief is no longer a scary/guilty thing for me.    I'm kind of excited!!

[JanBrady]

I'm comfortable with it, which is much more accurate than 'excited'.  I'm excited to give birth, I'm excited to be a mom, and I'm excited to meet my baby.  The WHERE of where I'm birthing doesn't excite me, but it does comfort me.

I started this pregnancy off thinking I would birth at a freestanding birth center with a midwife.  But, at 20 weeks, I've had a few too many "iffy" experiences with the MW that has caused me to want the security of the medical field.  (example: she didn't catch that I had a bladder infection because she doesn't do uninalysis at any visits, and felt my cramping was 'normal'.  I went for an OB consultation, where they did a urinalysis and found it. In case you haven't had one, bladder infections can lead to kidney infections or a UTI, which can lead to pre-term labor).

I'm looking forward to knowing that I have all of my bases covered in case of any unforeseen circumstances (OB, hospital equipment, and a NICU).  I'm birthing in a VERY natural-birth/baby-mom-bonding friendly hospital (their POLICY is to delay all measuring and handling of the baby until 50-60 minutes after birth so the baby can be held by momma) with an OB that is on board with my Birth Plan. I've also hired a doula, and visited the Hospital Birth Center twice to get comfortable with it.

They have labor balls, squatting bars, personal tubs and showers in each birth room, and the portable EFM machines.  They are also very used to giving women Hep Locks instead of IV's right off the bat.

[Dreamy]

Hello fellow October moms-to-be(-again) :) It's been a while since I've been on the boards - thought I would jump in here.

We'll be having another hospital birth. My first experience wasn't ideal, but wasn't bad either. DS' heart plumetted at one point, so I was definitely happy then to be in the hospital in case they couldn't get it back up again (I think I was having a tetanic contraction that was squeezing him too much).

Our hospital is certified baby-friendly by UNICEF and I felt well taken care of by the staff. I'm currently under the care of my GP, who is associated to the hospital (a teaching hospital), and will be switching to an OB resident in just over a month. The resident we had last time was very excited to be following my pregnancy, and was very open to hearing my ideas on things, such as delayed cord-clamping. I like the idea of helping a new OB learn some things she may not have picked up in medical school ;) She even ran to the hospital on foot when I was in labour because her car broke down - she really didn't want to miss it! I hope I get someone we like so much this time around. The actual OB I had deliver was very experienced, and actually administered a pendudal block - unfortunately I had never heard of it before, and thought it would have no effect on the baby, so I agreed to it - turns out it [i]can[/i] cross the placenta. Live and learn. I'm hoping to avoid the epidural again this time - reading a book on hypnobirthing and using some of the techniques made the contractions much more bearable than I had anticipated.

My first labour was about 9.5 hours long, including nearly three hours of pushing (now THAT was torture). No tearing though! They even had to use the vaccuum for a bit since he wasn't descending, and anytime I stood up his heart rate plummeted again. Hopefully I can move around a lot more this time.