Unmedicated birth questions...

[cody82414]

have you talked to a mid-wife?
a doula?
is your doctor pro v-bac births? some are completely against it.
insurance (money talks)

you have the say so in the decision making,
so do your research.

have you contemplated a natural homebirth?
not unheard of

[amylynne01]

With my first DD, I was induced at 39 weeks with pitocin because of pre-e. After 27 hours of labor, 3.5 hours of pushing, the epidural wearing off, and about 3 minutes away from a c-section, she was born. Overall, it was a bad experience.

My second DD was born at 41 weeks on her own. I labored at home for 11ish hours, and we got to the hospital about 5 hours before she was born. I walked around and used the tub and birthing ball. I only had an IV for maybe 15 minutes for fluids because her heart rate was high. I was able to drink OJ to get some calories. No pain meds except a little Novacaine to stitch up a very small tear. The recovery was SOOO much better. If I could be guaranteed another birth like hers, I would have 8 more babies! :)

My thought is you have to be informed. Do the research. Know your options and what you definitely do and don't want. But be flexible because things don't always go as planned. And trust your body. Women were made to have babies (among other things ;)).

[tinabohio]

My friend just had her second baby Monday. Her first she had an epi, he was premature and they weren't sure if they were going to have to give her a c-section. This one she had no meds except for cervadil (that's how they were going to start her induction, they never needed to get to the pitocin!). Baby was born faster than her first and she felt great being able to move around and labor how she felt comfortable.
If you do get to go natural, you'll have to let all of us who can't know how it went (I'd trade my friend who decided not to have kids, her pelvis for my defective one, if I could).

[Tracy_in_Missouri]

I had my first 4 babies in the hospital with the complete *package* vaginal births. I had my second 4 babies at home. I do have some back issues due to epidurals and some scarring problems due to my first birth and the subsequent repair. Laboring at home and birthing without drugs is so different from the hospital/drug experience I almost feel like 2 different people. I initially decided to give birth to my 5th at home because I really wanted to go without the drugs but questioned my will power. Staying at home gave me no other option but natural and I knew that was the push I needed to get my wishes.God showed me what I was made of that day and what I could rely on him for. I discovered some other advantages of homebirth through that experience. Later on I learned of the health/safety advantages to homebirth. My hospital births were all @ 12 hrs because they were controlled synthetically.

I will say though that just because you've had a quick labor before doesnt guarantee another. Here are my 4 homebirths in order for your parusal

Homebirth 1 ( baby 5) 90 minutes labor ( 2 weeks late 8 pounds)
Homebirth 2 ( baby 6) 24 hours labor ( 3 weeks late 11.8 pounds)
Homebirth 3 ( baby 7) 90 minutes labor ( slightly late 10.15 pounds)
Homebirth 4 ( baby 8) 31 hours labor ( slightly late 10 pounds)

[latte]

My son (now 10) was 13 days late.....@ the hospital at 7am because he was so late to be induced, with docs orders not to eat anything before hand. Water got broken @ 8am in hopes that it would start labor but since water was broken they wouldnt let me get up. Noon came the pictosin ........6pm came an epidrual.....pushing started at 9 pm and he was born at 10: 23 pm. That was an absolutely HORRIBLE birth experiance and not one I would recommend for ANYONE unless you like being in a bed with no food and no labor for hours. I blame that they didnt let me get up (I walked on average 5 miles a day while pregnant ) and being induced to such a horrible labor

MY daughter( who is now 8) was a day early. I had a doc apt on 9/27 and had told the doc " Im tired of being pregnant" to which he responded " Well I'm free this afternoon, would you like me to induce you?" Flashbacks of being induced with my son quickly rose and a prompt "NO. Besides I have stuff to do today." All day on 9/28 i had contractions and they finally became regular at 8 pm 12 minutes apart. I stayed home until 730am ( i napped, i showered LOTS, i ate, i made my friend and i breakfast, i read, walked up and down my stairs and in general just enjoyed being home) I got to the hospitals birthing ward (after being stuck in the elevator for 5 minutes and starting to panic that i would have her by myself in the elevator with no help or assitance) @ 745 am. I had 1/2 mg of Stadal which was just enough to help me concentrate on pushing. She was born at 8:01 am. * edit* when I got to the birthing ward, I was @ 9cm, and contractions were 1.5 minutes apart


Labor with my daughter was TONS better then with my son, and I have often joked that if I wanted more kids that I would birth them at home based off of my daughters labor.

Best of luck, no matter what happens:D

[prindcar]

I have two children..both were sunny side up so the dreaded back labor..

DS #1 was a week early.. I went in when water broke and was dialated to 3.. I had to get pitocin because of a problem with my heart rate they would not let me labor over 12 hours.. I dilated so fast we didn't have time to get the second round of antibiotics in for strep B. (6 hrs from hospital to pushing)
Then the pushing.. 2 hrs .. no pain meds until we decided to use forceps then they gave me a temporary block and we got him out. I was STARVING!! and up and moving right away. In my pre-baby jeans the next day.

DS#2 we induced because I had been having contractions for 3 weeks without dilating past 3 was in labor for a while longer than with the first. I made it to 6 cm using the birthing ball and tubs then I opted for the epidural. We went along fast until pushing. I pushed 4 hours and could not get him out we finally had to do a c-section so I would have needed the epidural either way he was stuck in my pelvis and had a huge dent in his head w/bruising from all that time he kept banging his head into my pelvic bone. (Some boys take a little longer to learn that ramming your head into something over and over doesn't solve anything :)

The recovery SUCKED.. but I have a beautiful laid back mild 2 yr old now..

We have debated a third but I would really like to not have another c-section so we will see.

Every labor and delivery is different. My advice is not to put the birth plan in writing as then the Dr. has to stick to it and we all know you can change your mind when the time comes. But definately talk to a doula or midwife so you have someone in your corner or pick a birth coach you know will be able to really help you. (Even if it isn't your husband as they can get a little clouded in their judgment when they see their wife in pain and they can't fix it)
But the best thing you can do is listen to your body.

Good Luck -- and remember regardless of how the baby gets here, whether it is according to your idea of how it would go or not, it is the end result of healthy mom and healthy baby that counts.

[Tracy_in_Missouri]

Healthy babies AND moms matter. You can write a birth plan with flexibility built in. Its simply a way for anyone who winds up taking care of you to know your likes/dislikes and your absolute do's and dont's without you having to be coherent and available to list everything for each caregiver =)

Example :

I prefer to avoid to the hinderance that having an IV causes. If necessary, I will allow a hep-loc incase of emergency.

I do not want an episiotomy in any case barring an emergency situation. I would prefer to tear if necessary. (because the wound will heal faster and more completely).

I would like to be allowed water and icepops in labor rather than ice chips. ( This does not mean you WILL eat icepops but that youd like the option available)

I absolutely do not want my infant to be given a pacifier ( etc )

Do not circumsize my baby if it is a boy. ( Or, I wish for my son to be circ'd)

I prefer to have no visitors while I am laboring ( I permit ____ ____ and ____ to come and go in my room as they please)

[cody82414]

along with what Tracy says, check ahead at the hospital you are planning to birth at.
Some won't allow certain things, etc.

Other things such as:
I will be rooming with my baby,
no formula is to be given (if that is your intention)
I want my baby immediately given to me to nurse (that attachement is so important, and as long as all is well they can do all the necessary tests a bit later.)

Bottom line, it's your baby, your bith experience,
and YOU DO have say so in how it goes!!

[xythnia]

Ditto the last two PPs.

#1: Home birth with midwives. Very smooth, 10hrs labor (only the last 2 were bad), no issues, no meds/cath/etc, minor tearing. FYI: I was a teen for this one.

#2: (15 years later): Birthing Center with a nurse who called me crazy for going natural, 6 hrs hard labor, got to move and everything until the end when the darn nurse put my in 'lay on back where all the pain is anyways" position. No tears at all this time, no med, etc. I did have a minor hemmorage at the end after DD was born so they dumped the "P" word med into me via IV (the one that forced contractions) so speed up my uterus going back down to size. Painless passed a HUGE blood clot a few hours later in the shower (Too much info? hehe).

I will say being INFORMED is the best medicine. My nurse said I was late and the baby wasn't in position so I had to be induced. If I didn't she said they might have to emergency c-section me, gave me this terrible horror story ("Slash and Grab" was the phrase used) to scare me into inducing. Told her that's nice, I have other plans. Left the hospital, told hubby we were going for a walk. Walked a few miles, got home and did a bed romp (Look it up - sex can help "induce" you naturally!) and 1 hour later woke up in FULL labor.

Blah...I hate medical works who think they know everything. There are always options and they are different for each person. Choose what you feel is best for YOU and your Baby!

[mamawhit322]

Thanks for all the birth stories!

I wound up being induced (8 days early). Not out of medical necessity... my doctor delivers at two different hospitals, my insurance only covers one, and it's the one that he doesn't go to often. Since he had another induction that day at my hospital, we went ahead and scheduled it. I didn't complain.

Induction got started at 8am. They popped my water at 10-11ish. Chose the epidural around 1ish. I wasn't having unbearable contractions, but they were right on top of each other and I wasn't getting a break. At 5 the nurse checked me. I told her to tell me that I was 6-7cm. She said, "Nope, you're 8!". She told me to sit up and the baby would drop, because he was still high. I did and it seemed like just minutes later she said that anyone who was not going to watch this birth needed to get out.

My doctor came in as they were putting my legs in the stirrups and the baby was born in less than 5 minutes. I don't think I did 2 sets of pushes before he was out!

I had a tiny little tear on the side, my doctor wasn't even going to sew it up! (he decided to anyway, but it was only two stitches...)

And get this... all the while, we had the laptop up and running using the hospitals WiFi updating FB and the HCW group CC Coffee Shop! lol!!