The Best Birthing Experience Ever!

by Laura
(Newberry, SC)

With my third child, after I moved over an hour away from the hospital I'd chosen to give birth at, and with a history of short labors (less than five hours with my first, and three hours with the second) my OBGYN was concerned that if I went into labor naturally, I'd wind up giving birth on the side of the highway on the way to the hospital.

As a result, scheduled induction was decided on, and the appointment made as soon as I had begun to dilate. That morning, we got up early and headed off to the hospital to prepare for the birth. My mother went with me, and we took my daughter, though once I was settled in, my mother took her to a relative's house to wait for the new baby to arrive.

As things got settled, the pitocin was started to induce labor, and I got settled and ready for the pain of the contractions I was used to from my first two deliveries. I'd advised the doctors and nurses that I wasn't comfortable having my water broken, as I'd heard horror stories of complications from this process, and the doula I'd requested, although she disagreed with my concerns, pushed for my desire to be met.

As a result, labor progressed slowly, but surprisingly painlessly. I and everyone else involved seemed absolutely shocked that although we were seeing contractions on the monitors, I wasn't feeling a thing. Personally, I wasn't complaining. I waited for about two hours, during which time, the nurses and the doctor seemed to be getting frustrated with my progress, and came in to suggest breaking my water again.

Finally I had a talk with the doula about my fears, both for the health of my baby, and of the pain that I was still expecting to arrive at any time. She had a solution though, and I decided on an epidural before the breaking of my water. Unfortunately, without the distraction of painful contractions, I have to say, the epidural on its own was the most horribly painful thing I'd never expected. I got over it though, and once it settled in was perfectly comfortable when the doctor came in and finally broke my water.

It was at this point that we found out why he was concerned about moving my labor along. There was a scheduled c-section he had to do and he was concerned about not making it back in time. Everyone assumed we'd have plenty of time now based on how slow things were going before my water was broken, and everyone was in good spirits, so he went off to deliver the baby. I rested and chatted with my mother and the hospital workers for about an hour before any kind of real discomfort occurred though.

At that point, I asked the nurse how I'd know when it was time. She informed me that I'd just feel the need to push. I explained the feelings I was having the best I could, in that, I wanted to throw my legs over the back of my head, and spread them as wide as possible. She seemed concerned then and decided to check me again. The blanket was lifted, but was almost immediately put back down, and I was told (yes this is word for word) "cross your legs and try not to sneeze".

It was about then that the excitement started. The OBGYN hadn't finished with the c-section yet, and apparently my daughter wasn't planning on waiting for him. So there I sat with my legs crossed, waiting, when he finally rushed in, though apparently was relaxed about the situation. He sat at the end of the bed for his own inspection, and the same process occurred again, although this time, instead of the instruction to cross my legs and not sneeze, he shouted to me not to push while simultaneously catching my daughter who'd apparently decided that she was coming whether he or anyone else was ready or not.

The uncomfortable part came next. Apparently my placenta had begun to break down already, and didn't come out in the usual manner. (As a warning, this is gross) My doctor actually had to reach in and fish it out piece by piece. Having had an epidural, I didn't feel a thing, and was more concerned with what was taking them so long to hand me my baby (I found out later, grandma was hogging the snuggle time at that point). It wasn't more than a few minutes though before they finally set her on my chest, still slimy and gooey and wet and alien looking, and she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

I found myself amazed by her every detail, and realized that this was exactly the feeling they describe in all of the "perfect" birthing stories you hear about (with my first child, he was adopted at birth, so there wasn't much in the way of bonding time, and I had post partum depression with my second, so my third was the first real opportunity I had to bond with any of my children at birth.)

It was an amazing experience, and far from the terrifying pain you always hear about.