Did your children cry right after they were born?

[Greaseball]

I hear a lot of homebirth babies don't cry. My brother and I were born at home. I was born awake and did not cry for several minutes. I was alert and healthy, though, and looked around curiously. My brother was born asleep (really sleeping, I mean, not half-dead like in the movies.) He also did not cry for a while.

[kama'aina mama]

Bonnie made one wail just after she was born at home. I will swear til I die that it sounded like she said Mama. To bursts and then she was quiet.

[Moon]

You specified homebirths, so you might not want my imput, but neither of my girls cried after birth. Maeve (birth centre, midwife) and Sophie (hospital, midwife) were both naturally born, non-drugged, and alert. They just didn't *need* to cry, I guess.

[Greaseball]

All input is welcome! I didn't consider peaceful births outside the home. Unfortunately my dd was born by forceps which was not very peaceful for her, so she cried the way they all do in the movies.

Doctors worry if they don't cry. They give the highest APGARs to the babies who cry the loudest. A nurse told me "She's so healthy; she came out screaming and yelling!"

I don't think it's normal. I think it means they are in pain and not happy. Why else would anyone cry?

[PumpkinSeeds]

My ds didn't cry until he was 2 mos old. Really!

At night I knew when he was hungry, because he would wake me up with all those slurping noises!!

[indigolilybear]

dd (HB) didn't really cry very much but was born floppy. after the suctioned her a bunch, she cried a little but not very much.

ds (HB/UC) cried a lot...well, probably not a lot but he did cry right after birth, then i think he mellowed out, nursed and felll asleep.

neither one seemed really rattled or upset though, KWIM? just kind of surprised. LOL

[MysticHealerMom]

This is how Leboyer described it

As you state it, this is how he described birth in his book, Childbirth with out Violence, I believe this was originally printed in the '70's.

He said when the circumstances are right, and the baby is allowed to birth naturally, when they are born and the cord isn't cut and they area allowed to practice breathing air while still getting oxygen from the cord, they'll mew a little when they first take in air, like a shock, then just settle in. It's when they're scared that they cry. He said some women he was working with freaked because their babies didn't cry, they just didn't know that they shouldn't need to.

My mom said I came out crying, and they put me in a box, then closed the lid because I wouldn't shut up.

Thanks for the thread

[melamama]

dd didn't cry. she was born in water at home with delayed cutting of cord. She came out with her eyes open and just watched us. The midwives gave her an apgar of 10/10.

[cottonwood]

Re: This is how Leboyer described it

Originally posted by MysticHealerMom
He said when the circumstances are right, and the baby is allowed to birth naturally, when they are born and the cord isn't cut and they area allowed to practice breathing air while still getting oxygen from the cord, they'll mew a little when they first take in air, like a shock, then just settle in.

That describes pretty well what happened with my babies.

[joymum]

DD#1 homebirth, waterbirth, delayed clamping of cord, almost dark room, etc. no crying.

DD#2 all the same except. . . room was not dark enough. She came out of the water looked around and scrunched hers eyes closed tight then let out a yell. No crying after that but she didn't open her eyes again until the next morning. I'm certain the lights hurt her eyes. She came quicker than #1 and even though we all planned to dim the lights everyone forgot to. Wish it had been different but compared to all the awful things I hear about hosp births I guess it's not a terribly big regret.

[Nankay]

ok..I volunteer to be the odd one here..LOL My 1st was Pitocin induced, hospital birthed, midwife attended. She came out eyes wide open looking around like , "What the Hell just happend here?" No cries though.

#2 Midwife birthed, labored at home, very peaceful, private hospital birth. I swear he was crying before he was all the way out and didn't stop for and hour later! Sheesh!!

In retrospect..their personalities are holding. #1 is 7 and RARELY cries..for ANYTHING. #2 is 4 and cries and protests at the drop of a hat. Hmmmm

[LiamnEmma]

#1, urgent c-section, I don't know what he did, I was "asleep", but I'd guess he wailed because his apgars were 9 & 10

#2, c-section, no wailing at all

[Tanibani]

Hospital birth, 18 hour labor, no Epidural and pain-free labor thanks to HypnoBirthing class I took.

Problem... I was STARVING and DH was denying me food/drink because he was trying to follow "hospital rules" (he meant well)

So no food and drink, by the time I reach 10 cm, labor stalls. I run out of energy.

(Side bar: I was angry at Dh for a long time, consulted a very good psychic over the phone (LOL) and she said that he wasn't to blame (read on) because she got the sense I didn't eat much the 2 days home, knowing I was going to go into labor - and too excited/scared to eat - very true. Therefore, THAT was the reason for my low energy stores.)

We opt for Pitocin (knowing the risks) because A) we completely forgot about nipple stim and B) I did NOT want a C-section.

2 hours on low Pit, me in lithotomy position (I was TOO WEAK to squat or sit up. Another rant - Furious at OB who knew I was goign to tear, didn't instruct others in room to help hold me up right.)

My son was born SCREAMING and ANGRY.

I was shocked. I expected a calm baby.

But, considering my poor position (flat on back) and his poor entry route THEN on top of the hits of PIT which compromised his Oxygen I'm sure.... that would explain why he was so damn loud & angry.

OR............. it could have just been his personality. He was (is) an intense "high needs" baby. Had to be held 24/7. Had to touch my body to sleep.

Today he is outgoing, sociable, gets energy from being around other people/kids, strong reactions, happy, spirited....

Rant # 3... maternity ward nurses let my son CRY (no, not cry, Scream & wail) then only brought him to me when a, b, c wouldn't work. I didn't realize this till I got home. I felt sooooo bad about this for a long time.

I couldn't focus on him because of all the damned distractions in my room all day long.

NEXT BABY - will definitely be a peaceful homebirth. Can't wait.

[BowenTherapist]

WE HAD A PEACEFUL HB IN WATER AND SHE WAS CRYING AND LATCHED ON ALMOST IMEDIATELY. I WAS SO SURPISED THAT SHE WAS CRYING !I THOUGHT ONLY HOSP BABIES CRIED... MAYBE LIGHT WAS TOO BRIGHT : WHO KNOWS.BUT SHE DIDNT CRY FOR TOO LONG, SHE WAS TOO BUSY NURSING

[BusyMommy]

My second son cried for just a couple of minutes. He had a 15 inch head so I can't blame him. But, he's almost 2 weeks and hasn't cried since.

Wonderful homebirth experience.

ds#1 cried a lot and was also at home in the hottub, but I was so tired that I think I was too out of out to bond w/him immediately.

[shanetedissac]

Very quick second stage.....

My little guy Issac, came out screaming! My second stage labor was extremly quick (1 or 2 pushes) and he did not like to speed of delivery so he cried. I had planned on a peacefull transition in the water from the womb. He was born in the water but it was far from peacefull. He had no time to savor the moment, then again neither did I!!!

[us2]

Sorry--I'm just wondering....

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how I would know (and not freak out) if the baby is OK if it doesn't cry right away? This is a dumb question for me to ask because I am such a no intervention person, and I can't believe I'm asking it!! But for the next baby I want to be completely ALONE, no husband, no midwife, NO ONE and at home (2 bad experiences in the past and I don't want to do it again!) and I'm afraid I may get freaked out if the baby doesn't cry, but on the other hand I don't want it to because I want everything to be peaceful.

Any answers?

[MysticHealerMom]

He's breathing. For one.

You should read the unassisted childbirth threads, it's a lot to cover here, but basically, a lot of those stories started with the baby being blue when it was born, and no one paniced (ie: the mom) and taking the baby and rubbing it's back, cord attached, the baby started to breathe.

I can't even cover all the anticdotes they described - search for unassisted birth under homebirth. there's a ton of info. also, some babies will cry anyway, they just shouldn't have to.

Find LeBoyer's book, I think they have it at Powells, he describes the process very well.

Best of luck with that, it should be a wonderful experience, and I think the unassisted stuff will help you create a good vision about how you want it to be.

[rainbowmum]

My first was born in hospital and she didn't cry, just looked at me peacefully. My next three were all homebirths. The last 2 cried loads after birth, despite me holding, feeding, dim lights etc. They also had more difficult feeding problems and colic but I don,t know if that's a link!

[CanOBeans]

My cesarean born baby cried, but not much. Stopped crying when he heard daddy's voice. Cried buckets as a baby and will still burst into tears often (from anger and frustration mostly). He was terribly colicky and difficult for his first year or so.

My homebirthed baby cried. Quite a lot, actually, although not right away. She was definitely stressed by something during pushing (she came out at the wrong angle, for one, with her shoulders all scrunched up and her cord wrapped in a funny way), was very pale and had an APGAR of 6. I would say she cried for at least five minutes despite the fact that I was holding her skin to skin, there were no bright lights or noises. It was a fear/pain cry.

Weeks later, I took her to an occupational therapist for breastfeeding problems. This OT did some cranial sacral work designed to help her release her emotions as well as resolving some physical issues, and taught me how to do some rebirthing work. DD was very calm when the OT started (and later when we did rebirthing at home) but in a few minutes started to cry exactly the same way as she had at birth. A friend who was with me noticed as well how different her crying was from "normal" crying.

After several sessions of rebirthing work as well as more cranial sacral and chiropractic work, she no longer cried like that and our breastfeeding problems were resolved. She's a very easy going girl now and very, very good at expressing her emotions at 28 months.