Sleep (for me!) after births

813 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by applejuice, Jun 22, 2004

doctorjen

Discussion Starter · Jun 19, 2004

For those of you that attend deliveries, I remember not too long age having a thread about getting back to the real world after attending a birth. I don't remember it well, though. I find that I have a heck of a time sleeping, sometimes for a couple of days after a birth, especially ones that are particularly stressful or just moving. I tend to replay and replay as I try to fall asleep. Also, if I wake up in the night, I have a hard time going back to sleep (and my little nursling is still waking once or twice a night, so I tend to get woken up.) Sometimes, talking through the birth story with the mom, or my office nurses, or L &D nurses is helpful, but not always (plus I think the nurses think I'm a little odd - all the other docs just catch and go home!)
What do you do to disconnect from your profession?

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CarolynnMarilynn

· #2 · Jun 20, 2004

I find that sharing stories with my collegues helpful. I usually stay with women 3-4 hours after the birth and by that time I am calmed down and starting to get a little sleepy, if I have been up all night. I really try to quiet my mind when I am in bed, willing myself to sleep so if I get called again soon, I am as well rested as possible.

I, too, find that I am still sleepy for a couple of sleeps after I have been up all night. I avoid t.v. and stimulating activities, and just allow my kids to wear me out!

Carolynn

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pamamidwife

· #3 · Jun 21, 2004

I like to write down the birth story, maybe process with another mw if it was difficult. I also like to take a shower, eat some good food and rest a bit.

I find that I'm not always tired for the first 24 hours after a birth (well, I sleep, but I don't get that exhausted feeling), but the next day I'm gone. Just dumbfounded tired. It's weird. Even if I have a quick daytime birth, I'm still a bit emotionally tired after it.

Reading. Knitting. Going out in the sun.

But, I still struggle.

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doctorjen

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 22, 2004

Boy, I hear ya about being tired the next day. Childbirth is exhausting! My second to last birth was a lovely teenage mom, who waltzed into the hospital at 6:30 in the morning 9 cm dilated. She acted like she was barely getting into active labor. I told her to feel free to start pushing when she felt like it and she wandered around the room for a bit, then curled up in the bed. After a while she started with that involuntary grunting at the peak of contractions, and in a few contractions was pushing well. Her membranes ruptured after about 30 minutes of pushing, and 5 minutes after that she slowly pushed out a beautiful, chubby baby boy, who went straight to her arms. Born at 8:04 am, 8 lbs 4 oz, after a labor with 1 vag. exam, no procedures of any kind, and hardly a skid mark on her perineum. First time mom, too, who is just 5' 1" and weighed 105 lbs prior to pregnancy! Not one thing for me to do, but catch. It was an extremely unstressful birth for me, didn't even disturb my sleep (or my office hours!) and i still felt like I'd run a marathon. The next morning this young mom looked rosy and refreshed, and I looked like I hadn't slept in a month, and she'd been up most of the night nursing the baby!
I'm thinking about starting a birth story log for myself. Perhaps writing them out would help?

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pamamidwife

· #5 · Jun 22, 2004

isn't that weird how even the short, easy butter births wipe us out emotionally and physically? just goes to show that it's more than just a job!

that sounded like such a great birth!

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applejuice

· #6 · Jun 22, 2004

My Father delivered me and my siblings.

After my Father witnessed my first birth, delivered by Dr. N.B. Ettinghausen with his midwife and Mrs. Ettinghausen present, my Father remarked, "What kind of life do these people have?"

I would think my Father, a doctor, would know!

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