Baby's First Meal

"But it was still a shock to me when I sat down to play scrabble with my husband, and my water broke."
By Jennifer Richardson of Indpls, IN

Birthdate: 03-31-70
Doctor: Patty and Jan
Length of labor: 11 hours

I was 37 1/2 weeks along (according to other people--I knew I was further). But it was still a shock to me when I sat down to play scrabble with my husband, and my water broke. We called the midwife, who told us to wait and see if I actually had any labor pains, and then call back. The pains started around 11:00 and by 2:00 a.m. we were heading for the birthing center.

I had planned on having my mother at the birth, we are very close. However, just the night before my water broke, I had taken my mother to the airport, so she could hike the Grand Canyon with my brothers. When I called she was upset that she wasn't there. But I talked to her for a good long time, and that helped both of us.

After arriving at the birth center (where my room is actually more like a bedroom, with a comfy double bed) we settled in and made ourselves comfortable. The contractions were now very strong and with less than 2 minutes inbetween. The assistant midwife, Jan, with whom I got along very well, gave me herbal drops to ease the contractions a bit, and I climbed into the jacuzzi to ease my back labor. Jan was the most patient woman I have ever seen, so encouraging and positive. I began to push, and found that the toilet was a very comfortable spot for this. The pushing lasted for 2 and a half hours, and at that point my husband called my mother, and put her on speakerphone. Her voice was reassuring to me and soothing as she described the beautiful sunrise on the canyon walls. At 8:49 she heard her grandson as he wiggled his way into the world, wailing. We all cried much over the beautiful new boy.

It was a beautiful experience, and I highly recommend midwives and birthcenters to those who are able. , The room I delivered my son in was the room where I had visited often at the birth center. I was very comfortable, and the midwives were so supportive and positive, following my birthplan and making the experience one I would always cherish.

"So after pushing for 2 hours I finally had my boy."
By GINA of WEBSTER CITY, IA

Date: 1-5-76
Length of labor: 25 HRS
Doctor: DR. SUBHASH SAHAI

I WAS NOT DUE FOR ABOUT 2 MORE WEEKS AND FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS I'D HAD CONTRACTIONS EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR. THEY ONLY LASTED FOR ABUT 20 TO 30 SECONDS. SO WHEN I WOKE UP THE MORNING OF DEC. 4TH I DIDN'T THINK ANYTHING WAS ANY DIFFERENT.

I AWOKE EARLY THAT MORNING BECAUSE I HAD A LOT OF CHRISTMAS BAKING TO DO FOR OUR FAMILIES CHRISTMAS THE NEXT WEEKEND. SO I BAKED GOODIES FROM ABOUT 9:00AM UNTILL MY DOCTORS APT. AT 4:15 THAT AFTERNOON.MY MOTHER IN LAW AND MY HUSBAND WENT IN TO MY APT. WITH ME BECAUSE MY MOTHER IN LAW SAID THAT SHE THOUGHT I WAS IN LABOR. I SAID NO WAY, IT'S JUST THE CONTRACTIONS THAT I'D BEEN HAVING FOR WEEKS. SO WE WERE OFF TO MY APT.

WE ARIVED AT THE DOCTORS OFFICE AND WENT IN TO SEE HIM AND HE SAID WELL I WILL SEE YOU AT THE HOSPITAL EITHER LATER ON TONIGHT OR IN THE MORNING, YOUR IN EARLY LABOR,. I SAID YEH RIGHT! STILL IN DISBELIF WE WENT HOME AND EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY WAS CALLING TO SEE IF I WAS READY TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET? DRIVING ME INSANE. I HAD TO GET OUT. SO WE FINALY WENT TO MY HUSBANDS PARENTS HOUSE BECAUSE HE HAD A BASKETBALL GAME AND DIDN'T WANT ME TO BE A LONE. I TOLD HIM TO GO, AND THAT I WAS FINE NOT TO WORRIE. I STILL WAS IN DANILE. WELL HE LEFT AND I FELT LIKE EVERYONE WAS STARING AT ME AND WANTING TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME. THEN ABOUT 6:00 PM THE CONTRACTIONS STARTED TO COME EVERY FIVE MINUTES. MY HUSBAND WASN'T BACK YET AND EVERYONE INCLUDING ME WERE GETTING NERVOUS. I CALLED THE DOCTOR,AND HE TOLD ME THAT I NEEDED TO COME TO THE HOSPITAL TO SEE HOW I WAS PROGRESSING. EARLIER I WAS DILIATED TO 2CM.I STILL DID NOT BELIEVE IT BECAUSE MY BACK HURT A LITTLE BUT THATS IT. AT 7:45 MY MOTHER IN LAW SAID WERE NOT WAITING FOR YOUR HUSBAND ANYMORE LET'S GO. AS WE WERE WALKING OUT THE DOOR HE WAS COMMING IN. I WAS THANKING GOD.

WE GOT TO THE HOSPITAL AND MY DOCTOR SAID THAT I WAS DILATED TO 3CM NOW AND THAT I HAD TO STAY SOTHEY GOT ME HOOKED UP TO ALL OF THE MONITORS ANDEVERYTHING. I TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD LIKE TO WALK AROUND. NOW I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS SO NERVOUS. WELL I WALKED AROUND UNITLL 12:30AM AND THE MY MOTHER IN LAW SAID I THINK YOUR WATER BROKE. I SO THE NURSED CHECKED AND SAID IT TORE UP HIGH AND THE DOCTOR WOULD HAVE TO COME IN, IN THE MORNING AND BREAK IT THE REST OF THE WAY IF IT HAD NOT BROKE YET.THAT WAS THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, NOW THE 5TH.

DR. SUBHASH CAME UP AT 6:00AM AND FINISHED BREAKING MY WATER AND STARTED ME ON PATOSSIN AND SAID IT SHOULD SPEED THINGS UP. WELL IT DID AND MY CONTRACTIONS CAME FASTER AND STRONGER. THE DOCTOR SAID HE WANTED TO HOOK THE BABY UP TO A INTERNAL MONITOR TO MONITOR THE CONTRACTIONS AND HEART RATE BETTER BECAUSE I WAS HAVING BACK LABOR AND THINGS WEREN'T READING RIGHT. SO I SAID FINE. BY THAT TIME I WAS IN PAIN,SO I ASKED FOR SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN,THEY GAVE ME A I.T.O.. WELL IT WORKED VERY WELL I WAS ABLE TO REST BETWEEN CONTRACTIONS. AROUND 12:00 MY BACK FELT LIKE IT WAS GOING TO SNAP AND THE HAD NE UP ON MY HADS AND KNEES TO RELEAVE SOME OF THE PRESSURE ON MY BACK. MY HUSBAND RUBBED THE WHOLE TIME AND KEPT ME GOING. THE NURSE GAVE ME SOME NUBANE-VISTEROL BECAUSE THE DR. COULDN'T GET AWAY TO GIVE ME ANOTHER SHOT. IT DIDN'T EVEN PHASE ME.HE CAME UP ABOUT FOUR O'CLOCK BECAUSE THE INTERNAL MONITOR CAME OUT AND IT NEEDED TO BE PUT BACK IN IMMEADATLY. THEN SAID THEY WERE GOING TO UP THE PATOSSIN. WELL IT MADE THE CONTRACTIONS HARDER AND FASTER BUT I WAS ONLY DILIATED TO 5 1/2 MAYBE 6. THEN HE GAVE ME ANOTHER I.T.O.. AFTER THAT THEY LAIED ME DOWN AND I PASSED OUT AND THE BABIES HEARTBEAT FELL! I GUESS WHEN I WAS BENT OVER TO HAVE THE SHOT IN MY BACK THAT I PINCHED OFF THE CORD. BUT THEY PUT OXGYEN ON ME AND THE BABY AND WE WERE FINE.I WOKE UP AND HADN'T HAD A CLUE WHAT HAD HAPPENED. MY HUSBAND EXPLAINED IT TO ME. I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK I WAS NEVER GOING TO HAVE THIS BABY AND BY THAT TIME I WAS GETTING SCARED. THEY LEFT THE OXGYEN MASK ON ME THE REST OF THE DELIVERY.

ABOUT 7:00PM MY CONTRACTIONS WERE ON TOP OF EACH OTHER AND THE PAIN WAS AWFUL. THEY GIVE ME MORE NUBAIN- VISTEROL AND IT DID TAKE THE EDGE OFF FOR A WHILE.AT 7:30 THEY TOLD ME THAT I WAS FULLY DILIATED AND FULLY EFACED, I COULD FINALLY START TO PUSH AND I WAS ALMOST IN SHOCK BECAUSE I THOUGHT THE TIME WOULD NEVER COME!! MY HUSBAND WAS GREAT WITHOUT HIM I DON'T THINK I COULD HAVE MADE IT. HE HELPED ME BREATHE AND KEEP FOCUSED.THE NURSED TOLD ME THAT PART OF MY CREVIX WOULDN'T GO OVER THE BABIES HEAD.SO THEY STOOD ME UP, ROLED ME FROM SIDE TO SIDE AND IT JUST MADE EVERYTHING WORSE( PAIN WISE), IT DID NOTHING. WHEN THE DOCTOR ARRIVED HE HE SAID THAT THEY WERE GOING TO PREP ME FOR A C- SECTION. SO I THOUGHT GOOD IT GOING TO BE OVER SOON. BOY I WAS WRONG! HE CHECKED ME ONE MOR TIME AND HE WENT OUT AND GOT MY HUSBAND AND TOLD MY FAMILY THAT THE BABY WAS ON IT'S WAS. WHEN HE CAME BACK IN HE HAD A RESIDENT WITH HIM WHO HAD NEVER SEEN A BIRTH BEFORE AND WAS AMAZED. HE TOLD THE NURSE TO HAVE THE EPIOSOMATY TRY READY BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO NEED ONE. HE SAID ARE YOU READY ?OK, PUSH. THEN THE BABIES HEAD CROWNED FINALLY ANDHE WAS READY TO DO THE CUT AND I COULDNT HELP MY SELF AND I PUSHED AND HERE CAME HIS HEAD! THEN THE DR. SAID PUSH AGAIN AND I GOT A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY!! HE WAS 8LBS.6.5OZ. AND 20 INCHES LONG. SO AFTER PUSHING FOR 2HOURS I FINALLY HAD MY BOY. HE WAS BORN AT 9:23PM.

I ENDED UP TEARING FROM MY FRONT TO MY BACK SIDE INSIDE AND OUT, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, AND IT TOOK THEM 30 MIN. TO STICTH ME UP. THEN IT WAS TIME TO GO TO MY ROOM. WHEN I CAME OUT THERE WERE 20 OF MY FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS STANDING THERE TO CONGRAGULATE ME. THEY TOOK ME TO MY ROOM AND EVERYONE LEFT, AND MY HUSBAND BROUGHT OUR SON AUSTIN DANIEL TO ME.

THE NEXT DAY I GOT WHAT THEY CALLED A SPINAL HEADACH AND COULDN'T HARDLY GET OUT OF BED. SO I ENDED UP IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A EXTRA DAY UNTILL IT WENT AWAY.

IT WAS A VERY HARD EXPIERENCE AND VERY LENGTHY, BUT I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT I REMEMBER THE PAIN BUT NOT HOW BAD IT HURT. THIS WAS MY FIRST CHID AND WE PLAN TO HAVE MORE, I JUST HOPE IT GOES SMOTHER NEXT TIME., I HAD A VERY HARD TIME AND EVERYONE TRIED TO MAKE ME AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIABLE. THE ONLY THING THAT WAS NOT FOLLOWED ON MY BIRTHING PLAN WAS I WANTED A EPIDURAL IF THE PAIN GOT TO BAD AND THE NEVER GAVE ONE EVEN THOUGH I ASKED.THOUGH I STILL DO NOT KNOW WHY.

"I got to the hospital at 4:15 a.m. and my daughter was born at 4:23 a.m."
By Amy H. of Carneys Point, New Jersey

Date: 6-28-97
Length of labor: 2 hours +
Delivery: Vaginal, natural Birth Plan: None
Doctor: Unknown

The day started with my oldest daughter falling out of the bathtub while my husband was watching her. I thought I had a backache from holding her while she cried. I went to a marriage renewal ceremony and had a good time. When I got home I had trouble getting to sleep. I must have been sleeping for about three hours when I woke up with a very bad backache. Not realizing that I was in labor, I took a hot shower and tried to relax. That lasted about two hours, then I called my friend to take me to the hospital. I woke my husband and he took a shower while I waited for the babysitter to arrive to care for my oldest. On the way to the hospital I was in a lot of pain. As I stepped out of the car in front of the hospital my water broke. Still not realizing that I was in labor, I thought I needed to use the restroom! I ran to the restroom and pushed like crazy. I was screaming real loud. There were two little boys in the waiting room listening to me scream. Finally, a nurse dragged me out of the restroom and sat me in a wheelchair. She told me that my baby's head was on the way out! I got to Labor and Delivery and they had just enough time to have me changed and deliver my baby. The real funny thing is that I got to the hospital at 4:15 a.m. and my daughter was born at 4:23 a.m. It doesn't sound long, but it felt like I was in that restroom for hours! As I was leaving Labor and Delivery, my husband was just arriving. He didn't know I had already delivered. He had been stuck in Admitting signing me into the hospital, so he missed everything! After the delivery, the doctor and nurses were real mean to me, telling me to "Shut up" because it was 4 in the morning. Also, for as quickly as i delivered, i was all by myself the whole time. They would let no one in to hold my hand.

"Since I was an emergency case, I got whatever physician was on duty"
By Lisa Z. of Athens, Ohio

Birth date: 1970
Doctor: witch doctors at OSU Med Center
Length of labor: 15.5 hours
Delivery: Vaginal with forceps
Birth Plan: yes
Followed: no

I was originally scheduled to be induced on Monday, March 10th since I had severe preeclampsia. I was on bedrest and had a home health nurse coming in daily to check my blood pressure and urine proteins. The Thursday before my scheduled induction, I went in for my regular check-up and my doctor told me he would be out of town and had another OB covering. If anything happened, I was to call the hospital and they would page the backup. I knew then that something would happen, and went home determined to take the weekend EXTREMELY carefully.

On Saturday, the nurse discovered that my blood pressure was WAY up, and so were my urine proteins. She called the doctor and I was sent to the hospital. After being there for two hours and having blood work done, the doctor decided, without coming in to see me, to send me to the med center in Columbus--over an hour away. Once there, I didn't see a doctor for five hours. When I did see the doctor, it was at 11pm, and she told me they were inducing me there. I had been told at my hospital that they would probably just stabilize my blood pressure and send me home, so I was not expecting this. And since I was an emergency case, I got whatever physician was on duty.

Labor was rather uneventful. I got a headache early in the morning, and after two doses of Tylenol didn't do anything for it the nurse gave me Nubain. (I didn't ask for anything!) At least that let me sleep. But I woke up 4 hours later and still had the headache, so they gave me another dose. I was so far out of it, I couldn't talk to anyone or even put a thought together.

At 6pm Sunday evening, I started feeling like I had to push. The nurse first told me I had to wait for the doctors to arrive, but when I insisted, she let me push a few times. Next thing she knew, my baby crowned. The doctors finally got there, and after a couple more pushes, the resident decided that the cord was around the baby's neck and told me she was going to do a forceps delivery. The med tray was pulled over, and she gave me a pudendal block with lidocaine, which I am highly allergic to, and which does NOT numb anything on me. Then, trying to insert the forceps, she tears me (3rd degree). THEN she does an episiotomy (2nd degree), and apologizes...telling me it's her first forceps delivery!

My baby is delivered, and as he comes out, my husband is able to see that the cord was nowhere near the baby's neck. He doesn't see the sex, however, and they don't say. So, I ask him to go find out. It's a boy. His apgars were both 8, so he hadn't been in too much distress if any.

THEN, the "witch" starts sewing me up. I neglected to mention that I was screaming in pain the whole time she did the delivery. When she started the stitches, I started crying again and said it hurt. She said, "It couldn't possibly--I gave you lidocaine." My dear husband speaks up, asking her if she read my chart or noticed my allergy band on my arm. When she realized what had happened, she asked why I hadn't had an epidural. At that point I lost my temper and told her that until her incompetent self walked in I hadn't needed one. She told the nurse to give me demerol and finished up.

When my doctor saw the chart and monitor print outs, he was as upset as we were about what happened. He said he suspected that the resident's attending probably thought I would be an easy forceps since my son was so small (just over five pounds).

Regardless of the nightmare, I now have a wonderful son who I wouldn't trade for anything! If you can't tell from the above story, something's wrong.

" They tried tipping me upside down...nothing worked!"
By Cathi K. of White Bear Township, Minnesota

Birthdate: 9-3-93
Doctor: Dr. McCarthy
Length of labor: 14 hr.
Delivery: C-Section
Birth Plan: no

I was 12 days overdue with my first child when I had my weekly check-up. The doctor was more encouraging this time and said if I don't have the baby over the weekend, we'd induce the following Tuesday (it was Labor Day weekend). That very afternoon I started having contractions, but I wasn't sure it was really labor. I called my mom and my sister to consult. They both urged me to call the doctor. I called about 3:30, so I could talk to the nurse before they closed. Contractions were about 6-7 min. apart, but not really strong. She said it certainly sounded like labor and that when they were about 1 min. long and 3 min apart (I lived close to the hospital), to go on in. I called my husband home from work (just needed company). He stopped and picked up a movie--actually two, but we only watched one.

I decided around 7 pm that we should go in. I was positive that they were just going to send me home! We got there and got settled in. Found I was dilated to 3 (which was good--I was only at 1 cm that morning). It actually WAS labor!

Contractions got harder until about midnight, so I asked about pain relief. I was having back labor and it really hurt. They suggested Nubain which would allow me to relax and take the edge off the contractions. I hated it. It knocked me out between contractions and made them feel like they were right on top of one another.

I dilated to 10 by around 3:30 am and got to start pushing. Yeah! It wasn't painful at all. Unfortunately, it wasn't doing the baby any good either. Every time I pushed the heart rate dropped to the sixties and recovered only slowly. They tried tipping me upside down, laying me on my left side, laying me on my right side...nothing worked. Finally we made the decision to do a c-section.

I had an epidural and my husband was allowed in the operating room. My daughter Samantha was born at 4:52 am weighing 9 lb 1 oz!

We had a slow start to nursing, but she finally caught on. She's now a happy, healthy almost 4 yr. old who thinks she knows everything (smile).

Recovery went well and the nurses were great.