Giving Birth

jennbaby Posted: Mar 20, 2003 07:20 AM

Giving Birth

I hear so many views on giving birth. How did you find it to be? Is it as 'bad' as they say?

JennRenee Posted: Mar 20, 2003 07:23 AM

Re: Giving Birth

It's funny you would bring this up, because it was the topic of conversation yesterday at lunch at work. All of the girls were telling HORROR stories which ended with, 'but it wasn't SO bad, because you forget right after.' My face must have looked terrified, because they were all joking around saying 'be careful or Jenn will never want to get pregnant'. If only they knew...

kptoys Posted: Mar 20, 2003 07:43 AM

Re: Giving Birth

It hurts!!!! But its not that bad. If youve ever had a kidney stone thats worse (I had one 2 months after I had Emma). And yes you do forget the pain afterwards. I cant remember what the pain felt like to be in labor but I knew it hurt.
Its not something that people cant handle... its something you probably dont want to do on your day off just for fun though.

AND in the end... you have a little baby. Definately something worth 200X the pain.

jennbaby Posted: Mar 20, 2003 08:10 AM

Re: Giving Birth

I had gaul stones & ER surgery to remove my gaulbladder (sp?). The woman surgeon told me the pain i had from my gaulbladder stones & my gaulbladder about to burst is worse than labor. She said I should have no problem with giving birth because of how good I handled the pain. I hope she's right when my time comes!

anna Posted: Mar 20, 2003 08:17 AM

Re: Giving Birth

Jennbaby-youre asking alot of questions on the parenting boards, hmm ???

Yes it was EXTREMELY Painful, but YES you forget it as well as soon as you see this breathtaking little precious human being....

JennRenee-For a minute I thought you told at work already !!

Edited to add - i Think we had a long thread on this once with more details.

HeatherandNick Posted: Mar 20, 2003 09:15 AM

Re: Giving Birth

Karen - You said it perfectly. It definately hurts. Its not something you would wake up and say okay Iam going to do this now. But for what you get out of it, its definately worth it.

bearsbabe_113 Posted: Mar 20, 2003 10:01 AM

Re: Giving Birth

You know, I might be a weirdo (don't answer that ), but I'm not afraid or nervous about the labor at all. I've had 4 surgeries and a kidney stone/infection, so I know about pain -- I know it's not the same thing, but let me tell you, I've gone through some nasty pain in my day!! LOL

I'm more nervous and worried about how Joe is going to handle it. I'm going to be writing about how he passed out and they had to revive him and forget about me!!!

Now ask me this question again in 5 months and we'll see what my answer will be!!!

michele31 Posted: Mar 20, 2003 10:46 AM

Re: Giving Birth

It is important to look into all of the different birthing options available to women today. Too often we all just run to a traditional OB and let him/her take control of our labor. There are many options and many different types of birthing that you can look into.

Wendy Posted: Mar 20, 2003 11:23 AM

Re: Giving Birth

JennRenee you have just described one of my pet peeves in life. Arghhhhh! Don't listen to people's childbirth horror stories if you can help it. I don't know why, but whenever most women see a pregnant woman they feel this great need to share their worst experiences of childbirth . This happened to me with both of my pregnancies and I see it happen everytime I am around someone who is pregnant. I know I for one would much rather hear happy things, especially since each woman is different. Sure childbirth is no walk in the park, but it is also a joyous, wonderous and awe-inspiring experience, which changes your life forever. . There is nothing horrible about it and if there was, no one would ever have more than one child.

I have to be honest and say that I don't have any horror stories to tell. I was in labor for 4 hours with my daughter (barely made it to the hospital) and for only 3 hours with my son (the boy with a bigggg head and huge shoulders..still has them too!). Now ladies no glaring at me... I had both of my children without taking a single drug. Epidurals weren't very common back in the olden days Now I am off on an Anna tangent!

Back to the subject. Don't listen to all the bad stuff. It will only make you crazy. Enjoy this time because it is so special.

NIHA Posted: Mar 20, 2003 11:35 AM

Re: Giving Birth

Thanks Wendy for your post. I stopped paying attention to birthing stories that are described as horrific. I also ignore people's comments when they tell me that I'm crazy or don't know what I'm getting into for planning a natural childbirth. It's ridiculous for people to make comments such as I'll change my mind and get an epidural at the end.

anna Posted: Mar 20, 2003 12:53 PM

Re: Giving Birth

Wendy, well said !!

LOL about the Anna tangent, making fun of me ? naming tangents after me ?

Wendy Posted: Mar 20, 2003 02:29 PM

Re: Giving Birth

LOL...with love and respect Anna!

jennbaby Posted: Mar 20, 2003 06:00 PM

Re: Giving Birth

what are all the different birthing options?

LisaAnne Posted: Mar 20, 2003 07:55 PM

Re: Giving Birth

I had a c-section and it was so painfull. I was in the hospital from 9 in the morning to 200pm getting a stress test. They sent me 400pm my water broke. They were going to give patocin but they decided the best thing for me and the baby was to get her out ASAP. I also had a reaction to the epi and had to have benadryl every three hours. The baby had IGUR, i had the strep and I also had diabeties and when I got to the hospital they said I had preaclempsia(sorry cant spell it) and my blood presure went so high they had to have someone watch me for the first 7 hours arouind the clock and i didnt see the baby for the first 8-9 hours The baby had a knot in her cord and it was wraped aroung her neck twice. She was 5 pounds 4 oz. I had no labor but I was in the hospital for 5 days. My pregnancy and my experience was a nightmare.
To make a long story short I WOULD DO IT AGAIN in a second. So do be scared about the pain or the experience because you will get the most precious thing you will ever get in your life. I wish you luck Jen when your time comes.
Thank you for listening to my story.

XOXO
Lisa

JustJodi Posted: Mar 21, 2003 07:13 AM

Re: Giving Birth

I was induced cause I was 2 weeks late.
All I can say Jen is YES it is an uncomfortable pain but I wouldnt call my labor a horror story.
For me it was, In the hospital at 12pm and my son was out at 4pm. Very quick.
There is medication for the pain if you choose it. I most certainly did.
Dont listen to ppl's horror stories. For everyone that can tell you a horror story there is one to tell you its an incredible experience.
I cant wait to do it again, pain and all.. the result I got bringing my son into this world, well,I would of endured far greater pain to have him here with me.

MichelleW Posted: Mar 21, 2003 10:05 AM

Re: Giving Birth

I had a c-section with Brandon, but I had to get knocked out because the epidural for some reason wasn't working.

Every one has a different pain threshold, so what might be uncomfortable for them may be tolerable to you. Just remember in the end you will have a beautiful baby in your arms, so everything will seem SO WORTH IT

phyl Posted: Mar 21, 2003 03:48 PM

Re: Giving Birth

wow...as Wendy said- dont glare at me...but I gave birth completely drug free ...and that was on 1.5.03!
(Ok I'm a LITTLE proud of myself!)
But i had the support of a great midwife, a doula, a great coach- my hubby...and a great class- Bradley Method- instead of lamaze.

Get as much information on different birthing options. REalize that you dont necessarily need to have any interventions. Our moms, grandmas and centuries of woman have given birth-

YES it is painful...but prob would be more painful to me if I didnt know what was going on in my body at every point in labor. That is why I say get educated.

Yes painful but as they told me- how ever long your labor is at the end you have a BABY!!!

Misha Posted: Mar 21, 2003 06:57 PM

Re: Giving Birth

Phyl-Who did you take your classes with? I too am taking Bradley Method and love it. I am hoping to do this drug free too (i'm due in 5 weeks) but i am leaving my options open. But it is so nice to hear a 'nice' birth story rather than all the horror ones for a change. All of my friends just say 'get the epidural' but I really don't want to.

phyl Posted: Mar 23, 2003 12:21 PM

bradley method...

hi to all....here is the info on the Bradley Method teacher ....
Her name is Celeste Rachell
# is 516-484-6545
Seems that quite a few bradley instructors are TAUGHT by her.
She was an EXCELLANT instructor. We had about 12 sessions at her home on Sat or Sun Nights. I dont remember which night.
She gave out a lot of information and hand outs. CLass had about 5 couples. We watched tapes as well.

She was VERY supportive...
For the person who is due soon and who has friends pushing the epi on her..
DONT DO WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO- simple as that.
KNOWLEDGE is POWER= know what other techniques are available and how they work.

MAKE INFORMED CHOICES...maybe for you the EPI may be an option you want to explore. There are NO judgements here...just KNOW what is avail to you and HOW it effects you, your delivery and your baby.

Thats it!