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I totally kept saying that I was going to do this yesterday and I just forgot! But better late than never. This week we are talking about our birthing experience.
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I got pregnant with my first child very soon after we got married, like I got married and had a baby in the same year! So, my life really changed that first year of marriage. Anyways, everything was going great with my pregnancy until I reached 31 weeks. I got preclamsia and I had to go on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. Now I tell you I have always wanted a big long vacation where all you had to do was lay down watch movies and read alot! Boy was I wrong! I hated it. I guess being used to doing some big project everyday at work left me felling bad when I had nothing to do at home! I started having contractions when I was 33 weeks, I stayed in the hospital for one day and was sent home that night, still on bed rest and a new med for stopping contractions. I asked my mom to come and stay with me to help me at the end, but she would not because she lives far away and takes care of my sisters kids. So, a friend of mine came and asked me if I had packed my bag for the hospital yet. I told her no and she said we are going to do that tomorrow. I stayed in my bed and she packed everything I needed and even some things I never thought to pack since she had a baby. We made a list of the other stuff to put in there and the next day, I was 35 weeks, I woke up at about 6 am and the dog had gotten too close to me and I asked my dh to pull my arm to pull me back in bed and that was when I felt like I was peeing on myself. I ran to the bathroom and my water was breaking like a faucet. I took a shower and got dressed and went to the hospital. They ran a test on me and said the lungs were not underdeveloped but not fully developed so they would not induce labor and we could wait 36 hours until they had to induce. They put me in a room for the night. We watched tv and I remember watching The Wizard of Oz and I would have what I thought were gas pains but they would hurt so bad I would jump out of the bed! The nurse finally came and told me that she thought they were contractions that I should just start timing and sure enough they were. I was moved back into the labor room and was there until the next night when they finally had to send me to the OR for a c-section. When I got back to my room, I was just glad it was over! I did not even care about the baby. They finally brought him in but I did not even want to hold him. The next day, the nurse made me hold him. I do not know if I did not want to hold him because my birth did not go as I wanted it or because I was in so much pain and really did not know how to hold him. I guess it was a little of both. When I held him for the first time though, I remember crying and thinking how stupid it was that I did not want to hold him, it was love at first site! We went home and I had a severe case of PPD that took me a couple of weeks to get over.
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My second pregnancy came after many years of trying to get pregnant. I did not go get any help though, I just told myself that if all I had was one healthy child, I'd be happy! Anyways, I went to the doctor because my periods were so irregular for two months I had spotting, he gave me some meds that was suppose to start my period back. Well, I took them and nothing. I was feeling kind of weird, so I just decided to try another pregnancy test and this time, it was positive! I was so mad at the doctor though because that meds was like so bad to take while you were pregnant. So, I started looking for another doctor. I was like 6 weeks pregnant and went to a different doctor and they sent me to ultrasound first. My dh was with me and the ultrasound lady asked, "Do you have twins in your family?" I looked at her really funny and I said yes, but you are not telling me I am having twins. She said okay I won't. I think I was more asking a question than telling her not to tell me, but I saw the two dots. My dh and I were in shock! Actually my dh did not talk to me or anyone until the next night when he told me he was sorry, he just had to take it in. Since I had been on blood pressure meds with my last pregnancy, my doctor put me right back on them, my blood pressure was already going up. I did fine until 30 weeks when I told my dh that I felt like I was in labor. We went to the clinic and sure enough I was. They sent me to the hospital and tried to stop labor, when finally they put me on mag, it is awful stuff! You can not eat or get out of the bed. But at least it was keeping my babies in a little longer! They sent me home after a week. When I got home, I was on bed rest, but I could not stay down because I was having pains again! By the time I got Nicholas to his grannies and to the hospital, my contractions were like 1 minute apart. Once again they tried to stop my labor, but it just seemed to not be working and there were no doctors or midwifes there. They kept telling me that they were going to send me to a bigger hospital, when the day nurses came in and she showed me how to make myself comfortable, she gave me several pillows and my contractions finally stopped, but I was dilated 1cm. They sent me home and I woke up on Christmas day throwing up and crying. I told my dh to go to his mom's house without me, I just felt so bad. That afternoon, after not keeping my bp meds down, dh took one look at my face and legs and told me we were going to the hospital. My doctor must have not wanted to come in and the nurses started tring to stop the contractions again. This time, I could feel them but they did not hurt. The pressure down there hurt worse! I had a lot of pressure down there this pregnancy because I was having twins, at least that is what my doctor said. I forgot to tell you that I really wanted to have a VBAC, but as soon as my doctor found out that I was having twins he said he did not recommend it. So finally the night of the 26th at 11 pm the nurse decides to check me and I was 3 cm. She told me she was going to call the doctor. Things went really fast after that and at 34 weeks I had my twins by c-section. I knew I was having a boy since my first big ultrasound, but had just found out about baby b being a girl two weeks before! The big difference this time was that even if I wanted to see my babies, I was not allowed. They finally brought my boy in and I got to be with him, but my little girl had a lot of breathing problems when she was born and I did not get to hold her until two days later. Once I was allowed to get out of bed, I visited her but they would not let me hold her. She stated doing really well. The weird thing was when they brought me the babies, they would not suck there bottles. The doctor told me that there sucking reflex was not working, but they soon did better on that although even after I got home, it was still frustrating! I ended up taking my little girl home when I went but they kept my little boy to stay under the lights for his jaundice. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do to leave him there. I picked him up at 9pm the next night. It was really nice to have both of them home! I had a hard time with breast feeding and my iron going so low that I would just about pass out, but I finally got better and learned how to deal with twins.
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My last child was born about 6 months ago. I had a very uneventful pregnancy, I believe because my doctor had learned to up my dose of bp meds sooner. As soon as I have had my baby my bp always goes down. Anyways, this time I had a planned c-section. We were set for Feb 6th. That is our anniversary, what better to do on your anniversary than have a baby, right! Well, it was so nice to not be in labor and having a c-section! Everything seemed easier. This baby got to 371/2 weeks. My doctor told me from the beginning that he did not think I would go past 35 weeks, but I did really well this time. As soon as I got to the room, I was dying to see my baby! My baby had some gas problems that come with being a c-section baby and he had some problems going to the bathroom, but they worked on that and did lots better. Here is a picture of my whole family after his birth. This is our last baby!
