My name is Stephanie and I am the mother of two beautiful boys. My two experiences are vastly different. With my first son, Ethan, I was tempted into an induction at 39 weeks. I was a "good candidate" the doctor said and would have a baby in about 12 hours after they started. Any risk of c-section was completely glossed over as highly unlikely since as I was such a "good candidate". I went to work on Wednesday, September 4th and told them I was being induced the next morning and my maternity leave was going to start on Thursday. I was totally excited and decided to take the rest of the day off to go and get my things together. I went home, gathered my things, and had my sister-in-law drive me to the hospital to begin my induction.
I reported to the hospital at 6pm Wednesday night. I ate dinner and they gave me an Ambien and inserted a foley bulb in my cervix to increase my dilation. At 6am Thursday morning they started the pitocin. I was 3 cm and 90% effaced. At 7am the broke my water (the point of no return). By 10 am I was at the highest level of pitocin. I was still at 3cm. (Knowing what I know now, there are so many things I could have done to try and help me to progress! But no! There I was, flat on my back, waiting for my labor to magically improve!)
At 12pm I asked for a shot of Staydol and slept for an hour (I was at 4cm.) From 12pm till 4pm I made no progress and was in a LOT of discomfort so I gave in and got the epidural. I slept again for two hours and when they checked me at 7pm I had gone to 7cm. They checked me again at 9pm and I was almost 9cm. I was thinking, "Okay, a centimeter an hour... That's not bad. I can handle another hour no problem!" It is now 11:30pm and I am throwing up and getting the shakes and chills. I have gone back to 7cm and now they say, "Hmm the baby's head isn't molding. Thats not good." Why they couldn't tell that before, I don't know, but that is neither here nor there! Now since my body has been without food since 8pm the day before and has been trying very hard to have a baby all day, I am getting a little shaky and Ethan's heart is starting to race. At 12am Friday the 6th of September, I was taken to the operating room for a c-section. At 12:23am September 6th Ethan was born. He was 8lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. The doctor said that he was face up and had his head tilted to the side, so instead of the top of his head, the side of his face was being pressed into my pelvis. He had a nice little bruise on his face where the contractions had shoved him into my pelvic bones.
For any one who hasn't had a c-section they strap you to a table at your wrists and ankles, it hurt when they pulled Ethan out, and worst of all, I didn't get to hold my baby till about 20 minutes after he was born. I still feel sad when I remember those missed moments. I don't feel that I failed to bond with him or that we aren't as close as we would have been if I had been able to hold him right away. If anything I think I was more protective of him than I would have been in an attempt to "make up" for those lost minutes.
Now my second son, in contrast, was completely different! In between having Ethan and getting pregnant with Colin, I met Heather. Heather was my doula for Colin's birth and she really helped me to see where I could have done things differently. So when I got pregnant with Colin I felt prepared to go about my pregnancy and birth with as little help as possible and definitely NO induction.
When I went to my first pre-natal appointment I discovered that my doctors assumed I was going to have another c-section. They quickly informed me that a vaginal birth after c-section (VBAC) was risky to both me and to my baby. Needless to say I left my appointment just a little freaked out! I immediately called Heather and she gave me all kinds of sources and information so that I could find out for myself what I was getting into if I wanted to pursue my desire for a natural birth. I decided that all in all the risks were minimal and not that much greater than childbirth is anyway! Having a baby can be a risky business even when you are young and healthy. There are all kinds of things that could happen and I wasn't going to have surgery because of "what ifs".
On April 19th 2008 I was a few days shy of 40 weeks and my labor started. I actually went to bed with mild contractions figuring that they were just Braxton Hicks and would go away. I woke up at 11pm thinking that something was going on! I hung around the house, completely comfortable, staying calm and keeping track of the contractions, which were much easier to handle than the pitocin induced contractions. I called Heather around 1am to let her know what was going on since my contractions were getting closer together and hadn't gone away. I had had some false labor before so I didn't want to wake her up for nothing! Heather came and sat with me at home and helped me through some really intense back labor. I labored at home until 5am. When I got to the hospital I was 6 cm and 100% effaced. They put me in bed and started an IV and pestered me to get an epidural for the next 30 minutes. At this point I was beginning to feel the need to push and told the doctors that they could do the internal monitoring but that I wanted to push NOW. The doctor was skeptical that I was ready to push because I had only been there for an hour, but when they checked me I was 9cm and Colin was crowning!!! So much for internal monitoring! I pushed for 10 minutes and Colin was born at 6:15 am on April 20th, 2008. He was 8lbs 10oz and 21in long. Thanks to Heather's coaching and encouragement I was confident in my body's ability to give birth and that I could handle the pain of the contractions. I focused on my breathing and was able to stay firm in my decision to limit medical intervention to as little as possible because I knew that Heather was there to support me. It was the most amazing feeling in the world to have Colin in my arms immediatly afterwards. Having a natural childbirth was actually less painful than my c-section. Heather was definitely my rock!
Submitted by Stephanie
