Hi Everyone -will keep this short as possible - here is the story of my first birth experience, Bryan was born July 30th 2003 !
7am - felt like I was having some indigestion - said goodbye to husband who was leaving for work and fell back asleep
9am - after fitful sleeping with intermittent pain in my dreams, woke up and realized labor had started, I was having regular contractions, about 7 mins apart, not too intense, definitely able to handle
Got up - got ready for my day, finished packing the suitcase, cooked a few meals with my sister who was visiting, chatted in between light yet regular contractions
2pm - called Hubby and told to come home from work, I think it might be getting close to the time to go to the hospital but not to rush, it's my first and probably many more hours until the baby arrives
3pm - husband arrives at home, I have a netmeeting with my parents to tell them labor started etc. My husband starts cleaning our aquarium while I take a shower
during the shower - suddenly labor intensifies ! i have a hard time standing up, and have to stop what I'm doing to concentrate on the contraction ! I start applying my lessons from yoga classes on breathing etc.
after shower - tell my husband to get the car ready - everything is going faster suddenly, comically, he insists on finishing to put the aquarium pump back together
4pm - finally in the car, having really intense contractions, although I didn't want an epidural, at this point I tell my husband I may need one after all if this pain continues much longer ....
4:30 - arrival at the hospital and midwives (we're in France) put me directly into the delivery room, I'm at 3 or 4 they say, after a painful pelvic exam
from this point on it's all a blur - they hooked me up to oxygen as I was feeling fait, then the IV, and fetal monitor, all while asking me strange questions about my name, address, etc. I had a hard time answering questions during contractions, and I was like - look at my file you idiot - my name is written on it ! There was a flurry of activity, my husband was helping me breathe through contractions ... I heard some disagreement between the midwife & the dr, about my genital herpes and whether or not I should have a c-section. The midwife said I was too close to delivery and it would be too bad if they did a c-section now. I remember them saying I was at 7cm, then it felt like only a few contractions later, they asked if I felt like pushing, and I did ! At some point, they broke my water but I don't remember when.
I pushed and it hurt - I yelled out ! Pushing was the hardest part. Right before the last push the midwife did an episiotomy, that really helped the head pop right out, and it didn't really hurt (at that time at least) I only pushed 4 or 5 excruciatingly painful times, then at 5:45 pm, a little over an hour after our arrival at the hospital - Bryan arrived and they handed him to me straight away. I got to hold him a few minutes before they took him away for all the newbie care. He felt slippery and strange to me - I was afraid he slither right out of my hands !
During that time, I pushed out the placenta, which was still a bit painful, and they stitched me up. The episio was the worst part of my birth experience, I felt every stitch and cried when she was sewing me up. It hurt for weeks afterwards.
Next day - I was ready to start all over again ! Today Bryan is 17mos and I'm thinking about #2
7am - felt like I was having some indigestion - said goodbye to husband who was leaving for work and fell back asleep
9am - after fitful sleeping with intermittent pain in my dreams, woke up and realized labor had started, I was having regular contractions, about 7 mins apart, not too intense, definitely able to handle
Got up - got ready for my day, finished packing the suitcase, cooked a few meals with my sister who was visiting, chatted in between light yet regular contractions
2pm - called Hubby and told to come home from work, I think it might be getting close to the time to go to the hospital but not to rush, it's my first and probably many more hours until the baby arrives
3pm - husband arrives at home, I have a netmeeting with my parents to tell them labor started etc. My husband starts cleaning our aquarium while I take a shower
during the shower - suddenly labor intensifies ! i have a hard time standing up, and have to stop what I'm doing to concentrate on the contraction ! I start applying my lessons from yoga classes on breathing etc.
after shower - tell my husband to get the car ready - everything is going faster suddenly, comically, he insists on finishing to put the aquarium pump back together
4pm - finally in the car, having really intense contractions, although I didn't want an epidural, at this point I tell my husband I may need one after all if this pain continues much longer ....
4:30 - arrival at the hospital and midwives (we're in France) put me directly into the delivery room, I'm at 3 or 4 they say, after a painful pelvic exam
from this point on it's all a blur - they hooked me up to oxygen as I was feeling fait, then the IV, and fetal monitor, all while asking me strange questions about my name, address, etc. I had a hard time answering questions during contractions, and I was like - look at my file you idiot - my name is written on it ! There was a flurry of activity, my husband was helping me breathe through contractions ... I heard some disagreement between the midwife & the dr, about my genital herpes and whether or not I should have a c-section. The midwife said I was too close to delivery and it would be too bad if they did a c-section now. I remember them saying I was at 7cm, then it felt like only a few contractions later, they asked if I felt like pushing, and I did ! At some point, they broke my water but I don't remember when.
I pushed and it hurt - I yelled out ! Pushing was the hardest part. Right before the last push the midwife did an episiotomy, that really helped the head pop right out, and it didn't really hurt (at that time at least) I only pushed 4 or 5 excruciatingly painful times, then at 5:45 pm, a little over an hour after our arrival at the hospital - Bryan arrived and they handed him to me straight away. I got to hold him a few minutes before they took him away for all the newbie care. He felt slippery and strange to me - I was afraid he slither right out of my hands !
During that time, I pushed out the placenta, which was still a bit painful, and they stitched me up. The episio was the worst part of my birth experience, I felt every stitch and cried when she was sewing me up. It hurt for weeks afterwards.
Next day - I was ready to start all over again ! Today Bryan is 17mos and I'm thinking about #2
