You know a funny thing happens right about 25 weeks into your pregnancy. Reality. Yep. I'm really going to be going into labor soon people. I'm really going to push a screaming human out of my...well... let's just say it's not pretty to think about reality.
But, I really am curious about it. So this week...week 25 I'm not going to tell you about how I feel being pregnant. I want you to log into the comments or link up a story on your blog and tell me exactly how bad (or good) labor will be.
Be honest, I can take it.
6 comments:
Glutton for punishment, are we? Here's a short version on my labor with Ben. 5 weeks before his due date, while I was cuddling with my husband after a nap, my water broke. Pop Gush. We were at the hospital within twenty minutes. And while I was getting changed and settled into my room, the contractions started.
The next hour or two is a blur of pain and agony. I didn't feel any let up between contractions where I could "rest." It was all pain, all the time. Then after five unsuccessful pokes, my epidural was finally in place. Getting the catheter installed was actually incredibly painful for me. But once I was settled back in bed, the next four or five hours went by smoothly, pain free.
Around nine o'clock that evening, seven hours after we got to the hospital, it was time for me to start pushing. And the epidural no longer kept the pain back. Pushing sucked. I hadn't had a chance to "void" before labor started, so I ended up pooping with every push. So awfully embarrassing. They tell you that you won't care, but I did. I gave up pushing a couple of times, and my doctor got very fed up with me. He just let me lay there until the pressure grew too much and I HAD to push. But the bastard yelled at me every time I screamed.
Ben came out after an hour and fifteen minutes of pushing. I needed three stitches from tearing. Ben was rushed off to the NICU because he was a preemie and needed help, and I had to stay in my room until the epidural completely wore off. I took a shower and cleaned myself up. I saw Ben around midnight for the first time.
The next few days were painful as well. Felt like I had slammed my crotch into a brick wall at 80 mph. I alternated between vicodin and ibuproferen until I figured out that I was allergic to the later. I sat on an inflatable tube pillow to ease the pressure on my whacker.
I'm not looking forward to labor a second time. But it's just something you have to go through to get the prize. It won't last forever. That's my mantra. It won't last forever.
My dd's 13th birthday is coming up on Sunday. I plan to post her birth story then. Keep checking www.pediascribe.com
(and, you may be interested in bookmarking my dh's podcast: www.pediacast.org --it'll answer lots of your new mommy questions! And if it doesn't, then you can ask them and get them answered!)
I have posted both my birth stories on my blog.... look in August of Last year to read them if you haven't already.
It wasn't fun, i won't lie to you. But I am willing to do it again, so there you go. It does hurt, but the epidural really helps, but other pain medication really doesn't (not for me, at least). You'll do fine.
Came here from Mom to the Screaming Masses and I haven't had a chance to read much of your site yet. So I probably will say something you already know. :) Main thing is that every birth is different.
I'll be posting both my birth stories on my blog within the week since I know I'll get rolling and write a novel here. Short versions: First labor was horribly painful until the epidural, then I took a nap. Second labor was calm and cool until the epidural. It was almost too late to give it to me and then they kept wanting me to push even though I couldn't feel anything. So I pushed as hard as I could. Which is how I ended up with many small rips in the muscles in my abdomen. All I know is that the minute the baby is in your arms, the world narrows and selective memory sets in. Nothing is sweeter.
Oh, and having "3 Little Birds" by Bob Marley going in your head makes it even easier.
I popped over from Mom to the Screaming Masses and thought I'd leave my two cents. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times, but here goes:
I have four children and have had a wide variety of birth experiences. No c-sections, but everything from hours of agony with a million complications, to nearly painless (except for the last 20 minutes), to no medical intervention. And no, they didn't go in any particular order (most painful to least seems to be a common misconception).
So my advice, if you want it, is to be very informed. Know exactly what your doctor's usual routine is, and whether you want to be a part of it. It's your body. With my last one, I insisted on no IV, because it bruises my arm and makes it painful to hold baby for a few days. I knew I wasn't going to have any drugs (they don't work for me) so I didn't need it. It was just an unnecessary part of the hospital's routine. I could go on and on; let's just say I had a list of things that I refused. The only one anybody gave me any guff about was no eye drops for baby, and that was only about a two-minutes conversation. So know what you want and don't want, and stick to your guns!
I've got dd's birth story up on my site:
http://www.pediascribe.com/20070708/i-am-officially-the-mother-of-a-teenager-ack/
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