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Welcome to the third week in our 10 week series on Preparing for Birth! This week’s focus is on Choosing a Care Provider. You don’t have to go with the first person that’s recommended to you or use your gynecologist. Just because they are a good fit for your gynecological health doesn’t mean they will meet your needs for the birth you desire.

I’ll be sharing my process for choosing a care provider for my three pregnancies this week and also have these to share with you!

• Birth is a matter of trust at Living Peacefully with Children.
• Musing Mommy shares her post, The Difference of a Midwife.
• If you are looking for a new pediatrician, Dionna at Code Name: Mama offers questions to ask that focus on natural parenting concerns.
• Click Clack Gorilla shares part one in a two-part series about how she decided on her midwife (and why she decided to go with midwife care and not plan for the classic hospital route). She also touches on midwifery in Germany (where she lives) in general.
• Lactating Girl of Adventures of Lactating Girl feels it’s important that you feel safe with the care provider that you choose for your birth, even a home birth midwife. While most of the questions that she ended up asking the woman who helped her while she was birthing her second daughter ended up being unnecessary, they still helped her to get a better feel of what kind of midwife she was and how she could help her get the birth she deserved.
• Julie of Inexplicable Ways gives tips on preparing for a smooth hospital birth.
• Have you considered the midwife model of care? Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares how it might look different from the care you would receive with a more traditional OB.

Want to participate? Learn more in my Call for Submissions post.

Continue reading »]]> This week 4 other bloggers shared their thoughts and experiences with childbirth education. Be sure to check them out!

Melissa of Vibrant Wanderings writes about her discovery of natural childbirth, how that led to her first natural birth, and what she’s doing to prepare for her second.

Gretchen of That Mama Gretchen shares about the beginning of her Hypnobabies home study as she prepares for baby number two due in August.

Sarah of Parenting God’s Children shares Childbirth Education Can Make or Break You.

Adrienne of Mommying My Way describes how her experience as a childbirth education student was so great, she decided to go on to be a childbirth educator herself!

Continue reading »]]> As I mentioned in the intro post for the Preparing for Childbirth: Childbirth Education week, I took many classes during my last pregnancy. I have also taken one during this pregnancy as well.

I personally feel it is a very wise decision to, at minimum, take a breastfeeding class and childbirth classes. If these options are not available to you locally, some methods have home study courses you can take and, of course, there are plenty of books written on both subjects. I’ll likely share more of those during the Childbirth Resources week as part of the Preparing for Birth Series.

Locally, we are lucky to have lots of options.

• Independent Childbirth Education classes offered: Hypnobabies, Mindful Birth, Instinctive Birthing, Bradley Childbirth, Classes by Carolina Doulas
• St. Francis Eastside offers the following classes: Breastfeeding, Caring for Your Baby, Birth to 10 Days: What to Expect, Childbirth Preparation, Comfort Measures for Managing Labor, Great Expectations*, Heartsaver CPR, Infant Massage, Natural Family Planning, New Family Celebration*, Sibling Preparation Class
• Greenville Hospital System offers the following classes: Prepared Childbirth Classes, Multiples Class, Breastfeeding Class, Breastfeeding Support, Siblings Class, OB Tour*, Friends and Family CPR, Getting Ready for Baby featuring Happiest Baby on the Block, Beginnings and Beyond
• Spartanburg Regional offers the following classes: Prepared Childbirth Series, Refresher Class, Sibling Class, Breastfeeding Class, Infant Care Class, Infant CPR, HypnoBirthing Relaxation, Infant Massage, Table for Two-Baby and You

I personally did not take any of the classes offered at our local hospital with the exception of HypnoBirthing. I took several at hospitals in the Charlotte area as we were going to be living there at the time (Breastfeeding, Infant CPR, Newborn Care). I also took Bradley classes in Charlotte as well. This time around I chose to take Hypnobabies classes.

For me, as far as childbirth preparation the Hypnobabies classes are hands down my favorite. It is a comprehensive program which covers everything from nutrition and exercises, to comfort measures and all the stages of birth. Of course, the best part of the program is the hypnosis program. You are given several CD’s to guide you into a relaxed state and even your birth partner gets their own special CD. Joyful pregnancy affirmations, visualizing your birth, fear clearing, and easy, comfortable birthing are just a few of the CDs to help you into that perfect, relaxed state and get you ready for your birthing time. If you don’t have classes local to you, they do offer a home study course and you can buy several of the CD’s on the website, (and 2 are free)!

I also enjoyed and greatly benefitted from the HypnoBirthing classes I took with my pregnancy with Marcella. If you are local, you can take this free at Spartanburg Regional. I actually loved the 2 relaxation CD’s I got with this program. The Rainbow Relaxation is so peaceful as is the CD that comes with the book. I listened to both of these during Marcella’s birth and they greatly facilitated my relaxation. I thought before my birth when I would watch a video of a women in hypnosis that there was no way I would be that calm during birth…but I was! I was so quiet I had to actually make a sound just so my husband and mom would know I was having a contraction. I have a very low tolerance for pain (in other words, I’m a big wimp!) so the fact I could relax through contractions and actually even sleep through some is a testament to how well hypnosis can work during labor. These classes cover If you don’t have classes local to you, the book is really good on it’s own and comes with one CD. If you want to buy the Rainbow Relaxation as well, they do sell it on their website.

The Bradley classes were probably the least beneficial to me, mainly because I had read Husband-Coached Childbirth already and knew a lot of the information beforehand. It is very comprehensive, however, if you don’t already know a lot about labor. It goes into exactly what happens during the different stages of labor (as does Hypnobabies) and what to expect. This really helps you have an expectation of what is normal during birth. It also covers nutrition and exercise. It’s a 12 week course (although the one I took was 6). If you don’t have classes local to you, you can buy the books, (Husband-Coached Childbirth and Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way) and work through them with your birth partner.

Whatever you decide, I hope you do decide to take a childbirth class! You will greatly benefit from the information and know what to expect from your birthing time.

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This post is part of the Preparing for Birth Series. Guest Julie of Inexplicable Ways shares her thoughts on childbirth classes. For more information about Julie, be sure to check out the bottom of this post and for more posts on childbirth education, check out our week of childbirth education posts here on the blog.

We have some amazing childbirth classes in my area. Taught by seasoned birth workers. These classes all fall in about the same price range. Some classes, however, are underpriced and for couples looking only at the price tag, it can seem a steal. Are they apples to apples? How do you know which to pick?

I’ve had a few couples who did not take my classes because they felt it was too expensive.

Now, to me, there is a difference in the couple that tells me they can’t afford my class and the couple who says it is too expensive. I lower the price, barter, or work out payment plans all the time for folks who can’t afford it.

What are you paying for when you take a childbirth class?

1) You’re paying for the instructor’s credentials. I spent ton o’ money to become certified as a Hypnobabies Instructor.

2) You’re paying for materials. For example, Hypnobabies students receive 7 CDs, three books, a tote bag, and loads of handouts.

3) You’re paying for class costs: travel expenses, space rental, supplies, business expenses, etc.

Hospitals and some birth centers/childbirth businesses offer free or very low cost childbirth classes. The hospitals do it because they want you to be a good patient and to understand your options (i.e. hospital policies and procedures). The birth groups are perhaps trying to bring in business for other services.

I’ll use hypnosis for childbirth as an example. It is so hip and trendy to use hypnosis for birth these days. There are several programs available: Hypnobabies, Hypnobirthing, Hypbirth. These have been around for a while and have wonderful outcomes.

But hypnosis for childbirth is more than simple relaxation and it is more than listening to a script. It is a rather complex process. For Hypnobabies, before I could even train as an instructor, I had to complete 50 hours of hypnosis training and be tested on the materials. And let me tell you, that was some intimidating stuff. Self-hypnosis is not something I could just teach one of my doula clients outside of a class. It takes weeks of practice and compounding.

When you pay for a Bradley class, you expect it to be taught by a certified Bradley instructor. Not someone who used Bradley for their birth or who read Husband-Coached Childbirth a few times. By the way, we do have an amazing Bradley instructor in town: Mary Kury.

So when you’re shopping for a childbirth class, ask some simple questions:

1) What is the instructor’s background? I don’t think everyone needs to be certified. There are some wise women out there who are treasures and I could sit at their feet all day long. I could care less if they are certified. But listen to the instructor tell you her story. You’ll know if she is someone you can trust.

2) If it is a trademarked program (Bradley, Lamaze, Hypnobirthing, Birthing from Within), is the instructor currently credentialed? You can usually check the parent website for instructor listings.

3) What is the cost? If an instructor is teaching a 10 or more hour course and is charging less than 150.00, I would question it. Most trademarked classes are 250.00 or more. And if a class is less than 10 hours long, it is probably not a comprehensive class.

Bottom Line: Do your homework. Find the class that matches your birth expectations the best. I don’t think hypnosis is for everyone and I regularly refer couples to my stellar Bradley friends.

Julie Byers is a doula and Hypnobabies Childbirth Instructor. She is also a Chapter Leader for Upstate BirthNetwork. When she’s not a busy birth bee, she can be found trying to keep up with Norah (6) and Cedar (2).

This post was previously published at Inexplicable Ways.

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Welcome to the second week in our 10 week series on Preparing for Birth! This week’s focus is on childbirth education. I took several classes in my first pregnancy and recently finished up a Hypnobabies class we took this time around. I actually had a spreadsheet of all the classes in my area during my first pregnancy and narrowed it down to the ones that best fit my schedule. It’s been quite a while now (over 3 years!), but I believe we took an Infant CPR class, Breastfeeding class, Newborn Care class, Bradley Childbirth Classes, Hypnobirthing Classes and an Infant Massage class (that one was after Marcella was born.) I took all but the Bradley and Hypnobabies classes at different hospitals in my area.

I’ll be sharing my experiences and thoughts this week on the classes I took as well as my thoughts on childbirth education in general. Also, check out these lovely posts on childbirth education:

• Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares how the wonderful births of their children was based on research – not luck.
• If you’re hoping for a natural birth (or want to help your child or partner become more comfortable with the natural birthing process), check out some of the 30 natural birth videos and slideshows Dionna at Code Name: Mama found. And if you’re planning on having a child present at your birth, here are a few tips on how to prepare young children for being present at a natural childbirth.
• Julie at Inexplicable Ways shares information about how Hypnobabies is different than other childbirth classes.
• Lactating Girl says some people say that childbirth classes aren’t necessary, but she considers them a very important part of preparing for birth. She believes there are just things you can’t get out of a book and her post, Childbirth Classes Required,explains why.

Want to participate? Learn more in my Call for Submissions post.

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This post is part of the Preparing for Birth Series. Guest Erica of ChildOrganics shares the birth of her son. For more information about Erica, be sure to check out the bottom of this post and for more birth stories, check out our week of birth stories here on the blog.

I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks before going into labor. I was expecting to go into labor early since Big Sister was born at 36 weeks, and Bella at 38 weeks. However, our little guy had a different plan. I was as big as ever. I had always wished with my previous pregnancies for a large pregnant tummy. Well, be careful what you wish for..it came true. We had some family portraits taken a few weeks ago and I also had some maternity photos taken to celebrate this pregnancy.
Over the last few weeks I was feeling very excited and anxious for his arrival. I had contractions about 10 minutes apart the day previously. They continued all day long but they did not get closer together or any more intense. The next day I didn’t have the contractions start until late in the afternoon. My mom picked up Big Sister and planned on keeping her for the night. My husband and I spent the evening eating dinner my mom brought over and talking about the upcoming birth. I had a few contractions that started while we were making dinner; I took a bath and the contractions continued. We decided to time them and they were about 6 minutes apart, though not very intense. I went to the couch and we were watching TV when my water broke at 8:30. It caught me by surprise. I let out a scream. My husband was startled, and we started laughing about the amount of water that was now all over the couch.

We called our midwife, Lisa Coomer and she said she’d be heading over. We continued to watch TV and realized my contractions stopped and I was feeling fine. We called Lisa back and told her not to hurry, that I might not be in labor yet. She said she’d head over anyway just in case and get set up. Well, I vomited up my dinner and started to have a few contractions, but they were still very mild. Lisa arrived and so did my contractions. (This was around 9:30!) I’m very glad she had the intuition to head right over. I guess the very presence of Lisa made my body feel like it could finish its work now. I tried to relax on the couch and breath through the contractions. They were now very intense and caught me off guard. They didn’t build in intensity, they just became instantly intense. My husband was my strength through the contractions; he sat close, held my hand and I focused on his eyes through the contractions. He was awesome. Lisa checked my cervix and I was 4cms at that point. I found that quite discouraging and thought how will I continue with this intensity of contractions if I have to be in labor for another 5-10 hours!

I went through 2-3 more contractions and Lisa checked again. I had progressed to 8 cms! My mother had arrived with Big Sister somewhere around this point. They also started drawing the bath water. I went through a few other contractions and made my way to the bathtub. With one foot in the tub and one foot straddled over the edge onto the floor I had a contraction that was now feeling like I needed to push. Lisa is telling me to not push until I’m in the water and told my husband to get his swimsuit on right away! Once I entered the water it really felt a lot better. I started pushing right away. My brain gets foggy at this point and I seem unable to remember how to push. Lisa gives me instructions and keeps reminding me to keep my chin down. My husband kept whispering supportive words in my ears also reminding me to keep my chin down. He’d also given a gentle push to push my head forward which was very helpful. He tells me at some point Lisa had me touch the babies’ head as he was coming out and I said, “ Oh, my little guy!” I didn’t have many breaks. It was pretty constant pushing for the next 20 minutes. My umbilical cord was rather short and wrapped around his arm so I pushed extra hard at the end to get him out.

He was lifted from the water, placed on my chest and he was very calm. We rubbed his feet and he started crying. He had so much hair, and he was so beautiful!! Grandma and sister were crying and mom and dad were staring in amazement at our beautiful little baby boy. We moved carefully from the bathtub to the couch where big sister cut the cord and our little man had his first nursing session. Our friend Mandy arrived just in time to take a lot of pictures and share a glass of champagne. He was born at 10:49 on January 13th. He weighed 8 lbs and was 22 inches long. He was such a big boy and I didn’t even have a tear. I was so excited.

A week later and I still couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He has such a beautiful color (thank you daddy!) and is a very peaceful content little guy. We all spent the first night together snuggled in the living room. I didn’t sleep the first night. I really spent the first night staring at my family and feeling so blessed and thankful. Our first week went by so quickly; we were all together as a family snuggling and loving. It was wonderful!!

Erica at ChildOrganics spends most of her days homeschooling her oldest and chasing after her spunky three year old. She is an advocate of children with special needs and very passionate about her family. She enjoys blogging about natural parenting topics and their family adventures. She is owner of the online store ChildOrganics.

 This post was previously published at ChildOrganics.

Continue reading »]]> This weekend is Cinco de Mayo so I have a special Mexican themed menu to kick off the week. I love Mexican food and have fond memories of eating it growing up in Southern California so I’m looking forward to a day full of Mexican!

This weekend also marks the return of the Saturday Market to Downtown Greenville. Maybe I’ll see you down there!

To see my menu this week, go check it out at Milk and Honey Organics Blog, The Beehive Buzz. I’m filling in this week for Melissa of My Journey to Lean. You can see my beautiful basket of veggies and fruit below.

This Week’s Basket included: Purple Garlic, Limes, Yellow Onions, Local Purple Sweet Potato, Hass Avocados, Gala Apples, Red Cabbage, Green Bell Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Tommy Atkins Mangos, Pineapples (not pictured), Bio-Way Farm Lettuce

Continue reading »]]> My daughter, Marcella, was born March 22, 2009 at 8:09 am. She weighed 6lbs, 13oz, and was 20in long. This is her birth story.

Taken right before leaving for the birth center

Saturday morning, March 21st at 4:10 am I woke up to a trickle of water. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was my water breaking or not so I just put on a liner and went back to bed. A minute or so later I felt a small gush so I told my husband, Josh, and went to the bathroom to check and the liner was full of clear liquid so I was pretty sure. I kept feeling trickling and then occassionally small gushes. Josh wanted to call the midwife but I reminded him I was having no contractions and there was no reason to wake her up at 4am when it could be a long time until contractions started. Josh did go wake up my parents (where we were currently staying) to let them know. We all talked for a couple minutes and then I told everyone I was going back to sleep because I needed rest if labor was going to be starting possibly that day!

We went back to sleep and woke up around 8am and called the midwife. She said for us to come in in a couple of hours to be checked to see if my water had broken so we started getting stuff together. I took a shower. We (my mom, Josh and I) went by the grocery store to pick up some food and stuff and then headed over to the birth center.

The midwife gave me a strip to check the fluid to see if my water had broken since it was still trickling out. The strip indicated it was amniotic fluid She checked the baby, and said she sounded good and then suggested we go walk around to try to get contractions started. All I had at this point was some mild cramping and occasional tightening. My dad met us at the birth center and then we headed out to the mall to walk around. Soon it was lunch time so we went out to lunch.

Josh’s parents (who he called at 4 am to let them know today might be the day) had driven down from Ohio and were almost to the birth center so we headed back to wait on them. I was still only having sporadic contractions that I could walk and talk through. We hung out at the center for a little bit and once Josh’s parents were there we walked around outside for awhile trying to get my contractions more regular. Around 2 pm the midwife talked to us about what we wanted to do. Her recommendation, since contractions hadn’t really gotten going yet, was to go home and get some rest and call her in the morning if contractions didn’t get going in the meantime. We took her advice. We stopped at Babies ‘R Us and looked around and then went to the mall and I got some raspberry tea at Tea Junction. Then we headed back to the home.

Marcella

We hung out at home for a little while and just talked. I opened some gifts that Josh’s mom had brought from people in Ohio and from her. I can’t really remember the time exactly, but I started getting contractions that were more regular and were stronger than before so I laid down on my bed. My mom said this was around 7 or so. This is when things started getting fuzzy for me. I know Josh came in because I asked him to call the midwife and ask if I could take a bath. He let her know about my contractions and asked about the bath and she said she was going to actually suggest that. She said to disinfect the tub before I got in since my water was broken.

I had remembered from my Bradley Childbirth classes that if the contractions fade out after a bath, it isn’t real labor yet. So my mom got the tub ready for me and I sat in the tub for a little while. The water took the edge off the pain which was nice even though the pain wasn’t that bad yet. My mom heated up her chicken and rice soup for me that she had made special for my “labor day” while everyone else had dinner. The soup was perfect because I really wouldn’t have wanted something heavy at that point. The contractions were still coming so we called and let the midwife know we were heading back to the birth center. This was around 8:30 pm and we got to the birth center around 9 or so.

When we got to the birth center, I changed into the long t-shirt and fuzzy aloe socks I was going to labor in. The midwife said she wanted me to labor for a little while before I got in the tub. The contractions were stronger now and were 2-3 minutes apart. I was telling my mom and Josh I wanted to get in the tub. Being on the bed was really hard for me during contractions. I did try the birth ball for awhile and that was better.

Marcella & Daddy

I think the midwife came in again (or Josh and my mom asked her to, I can’t remember exactly), and then she said she wanted to check me before I got in the tub. She checked and I was 85% effaced and the baby had moved down and I was 2 cm. She said the baby’s head was a little cocked and that she wanted me to do 2 rotations of the rotisserie on the bed before I got in the tub. Basically I had 2 contractions on my right side then turned on hands and knees and did 2 that way, then 2 on my left side and then 2 on my back. I might have the order wrong there, but it was all of that in some order anyway.

I finally got to get in the tub and it was instant relief! It really took the edge off and made it easier to relax. Now it gets REALLY fuzzy. I had no concept of passing of time or anything else. I really mostly had my eyes closed and was focused within during my labor. I tried with every contraction to relax my whole body and just let it float in the water. Josh and my mom were helping me by rubbing my arms, legs, putting a cool cloth on my face, reminding me to relax, etc. and that really helped.

At some point my mom put in my Hypnobirthing Relaxation CD’s which really helped me relax, too since I had been listening to them to help me sleep at night during pregnancy so I associated them with relaxing. I would remind myself at the peak that it would be over soon and I could do it. Sometimes I would count to distract myself or try to think of something random and take my mind somewhere else. I know a couple times I actually slept through some of the contractions because I was so relaxed.

There were times were I would start to panic and tense up, but my mom or Josh would remind me to let go and relax and go into my contraction. It always felt worse to tense and it would be better once I relaxed again. I would also start low moans when the contractions started to peak. When I started to tense the moans would get higher and the midwife told me to keep them low because that is what opens you up. At some point when I was in the tub, Josh asked if I wanted him to pray and he prayed for the labor, but I don’t remember when that was exactly. I was praying off and on during contractions for God to help me through them and my mom said she noticed one of the midwifes off to the side praying while I was pushing.

Marcella with my mom

I don’t really remember the order of things but I remember the midwife telling me to look for feeling the urge to push at the peak of the contraction and to let her know and then when I felt that urge to push through the whole contraction, she would check me to see if I was fully dilated. That was when I was first in the tub. I know I got in and out a couple times for them to warm up the water and did some contractions leaning on Josh and some more on the ball or leaning on the footboard of the bed, but the water was always what I wanted to get back to.

I remember at some point asking to be checked again and I think I was at a 3 then and fully effaced and the baby’s head had really come down a lot more. The midwife said I was doing well and for a first time mom a centimeter an hour for the first 5 centimeters was normal and good so I wasn’t disappointed and just kept going. She said the first 5 would take the longest and then it would go more quickly after that. The whole time every 30 minutes they would check the baby’s heartbeat and my temperature (since my water had broken to make sure I didn’t have an infection). Every time they said she was doing great and her heart rate was nice and strong.

She had me do another set of the rotisserie in the water that I had done on the bed at some point because the baby’s head was still not quite in the perfect spot. I think this is also when I told Josh to tell the midwife I was feeling pressure in my bottom and she said that was good and that meant that the baby’s head was really low. Finally I started to feel the urge to push at the peak of my contraction and she had told me to blow when that happened. That part was hard because the urge was so strong. I don’t know how much time passed, but I don’t think it was that long till I felt the urge to push through the whole contraction so the midwife checked me. She was happy to report that all that was left was a little bit of the cervical lip and I had made great progress. I was glad because that meant I could push soon as it was getting almost impossible to hold back the pushing at this point. She said I could wait another hour for the last bit of that lip to be gone or I could start pushing and she would move the lip with each push. I decided to let her move the cervical lip.

Up till this point, I had been having contractions every 2 minutes and they were about 45 seconds long for the whole labor for the most part according to Josh and my mom. I never actually went through transition and thankfully when it was time to push I got more time before each contraction came. The midwife told me to push, take a breath and push again and keep doing that until the contraction was over. Josh said I did this for 45 minutes.

Finally her head came out and I could feel that if I gave one more push, she would be out! Of course, I think I was supposed to wait to let the perineum stretch but unfortunately I didn’t. That was probably where one of my tears came from. Then there she was swimming in the water!! I was absolutely amazed! I could not believe that she was real and she was here! My mom said the look on my face was priceless and she wished she had a picture of it. I looked at Josh and said, “She’s perfect.” They put her on my chest right away and I held her and it was amazing! They had me get out of the tub and got me in the bed. Both my mom and Josh were crying.

Taken about an hour after birth

We got the first hour alone with her on my chest (although the midwives were there) and it went by like it was 5 minutes. I passed the placenta right away with one push and I barely felt it. We also tried breastfeeding. She would only latch onto the nipple which was pretty painful.

During this time the midwives were also trying to stop my bleeding. They had to give me a shot of Pitocin in the leg which I knew meant something was wrong since they weren’t going to do that unless it was necessary to stop bleeding. The midwife went and got me a berry protein shake and when I finished that an Emergen-C and then some juice all trying to get fluids in me. They finally got the bleeding stopped and my uterus was firm. They called the grandparents in and they all got to see the baby for the first time. (My mom had left the room immediately after she was born so she barely saw her). They weighed her and measured her. They dressed her and were going to wash her hair (not a bath since we wanted to leave the vernix on and give her a bath later), but didn’t get to that because of what happened to me next.

Marcella at the birth center

Up until this point, my birth had been everything I had hoped for. I had a natural, drug free labor and my little girl was strong and healthy with no complications.

They had called the Dr. to stitch me up and they had to move me to the exam table for him to do that in the other room. I remember them giving me a pill, methergine, and they had asked the Dr. if they should give me another shot of methergine because of my blood loss and he said the pill was sufficient. They had the shot drawn up to give it to me and I remember being glad I didn’t need another shot.

This is when things starting getting bad. The midwife had me just sit up and lean on her for a couple minutes and I remember thinking that I was too weak and there was no way I could get up and go to the other room but I didn’t say anything. I just figured I could lean on them and I would make it. She had Josh come over to help her take me to the other room. They started to move me and then I remember nothing. I passed out apparently and had a huge amount of blood loss and Josh said I started having a seizure in his arms. He started moving me over to the bed and I woke up and saw his face and was really confused. I asked him where I was. I had no memory for a second of just having a baby or where I was or anything. They put me back on the bed and I saw that everyone was really concerned and the midwife said they were going to have me transported to the hospital. I remember being confused and telling Josh I was scared. The Dr. came over and gave me an IV of fluids and they put an oxygen mask on me.

The ambulance got there and were glad they didn’t have to do anything but put me in the ambulance since everything else had been done. Josh rode up front in the ambulance and the EMT checked my blood pressure. My in-laws followed with Marcella and the midwife also came separately.

Once at the the hospital, they had to keep transferring me to different rooms which was annoying because it was hard to move from bed to bed. I was in some sort of triage room and the OB on duty checked me to determine how bad my 2 tears were. The one wasn’t too bad but the other he said was pretty bad (although it was only 2nd degree.) Josh was on one side of me and the midwife was on the other holding my hands. I screamed and cried the whole time they were giving me shots to numb me. They had to give me a lot and it was awful. Then they started stitching me up. The Dr. was stitching me up and a couple times he stitched a place that wasn’t numb yet so I started screaming again so they would have to stick me yet again. It took 30 minutes or so to stitch me up. I could feel the tugging and pressure the whole time.

Daddy with Marcella at the Birth Center

They also kept checking my hemoglobin by drawing my blood so I ended up having them do that 5 times in the same arm during my stay. And I hate needles. They also had IV fluids running the whole time so I kept having to go the bathroom which was humiliating because I was too weak to get up and had to use a bed pan. I asked my mother-in-law for some water and unfortunately she asked the nurse if it was okay instead of just getting me some. For some reason I still don’t understand they wouldn’t let me even have water to drink, only ice chips and my throat was so dry. I had not had anything to eat since the night before.

Once I was stitched up, I was finally allowed to see Marcella. I did not hold her though most of my stay there as my in-laws where there and were holding her. The nurses kept checking me and both arms were hooked up to things and I had three bands on my wrist. I did manage to try breastfeeding her and had a couple of the nurses help me but she was still only grasping the nipple so she didn’t get much and it was really painful. It was also hard with everyone standing over me to nurse her. I really wish I had had some privacy. I kept saying that I didn’t think it should be hurting so much but no one would acknowledge that, but I knew I was right. It was a Sunday so the lactation consultant wasn’t there.

My in-laws basically held her the whole day and I was afraid she wouldn’t know me since she barely saw me. Josh got to hold her some, but he was really tired and exhausted from being up with me all night whereas my in-laws had gotten sleep while at the birth center. My parents were also there a small part of the time but knew that there wasn’t room for that many people to be in the room with nurses coming in and out so they said they would leave. The room we were in was pretty small.

They had told me I could be released once my hemoglobin level was up around 8 (it was 7 something when they first checked it when I got there) and I could get up and go to the bathroom and move around a little bit. So later that afternoon when they checked it again it was 6 something so they said they were recommending a blood transfusion of 2 pints to get my level back up to 8 and that I could stay the night and get a bigger room as it was going to take a long time. I asked if Marcella could stay with me and they said yes as long as another adult was always in the room since I couldn’t get up yet. (She was never admitted thankfully so that was why I wasn’t sure.) I also asked if I get something to eat and drink since I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. They said yes and gave me a menu to order some food and we finally got a bigger room. Finally around 9pm or so, my in-laws left since visiting hours were over and we finally had some time alone as a family of 3 for the first time since Marcella was born. I was also able to breastfeed her through the night without a bunch of people staring at me which was a relief.

We stayed the night and they gave me 2 pints of blood. Sometime twice in the middle of the night they came and drew my blood again to check my hemoglobin. I remember at one point begging them not to stick me again.

In the morning, they gave me a menu again and had me order breakfast and then after that I had to go to the bathroom and they had told me my hemoglobin was up to 7 something which was disappointing since they were trying to get it to 8 but it was good enough for me to be dismissed. I had the nurse help me to the bathroom which was scary but I was able to do it and was okay.

My in-laws and parents came back to see us and the midwife came to check the baby and administer the PKU test. She said the baby looked great, just a little jaundiced but we just needed to put her in indirect sun and nurse frequently and she would be fine. The lactation consultant also came during this time and gave me some nursing tips and finally someone told me it was wrong for her to be just sucking the nipple and I did have some nipple trauma.

On our way out for the first time post birth for a Dr's visit at 5 days old

We finally got to be released! I had to be taken out on this cart thing since it really hurt to walk, but I got to hold Marcella on the way out to the car finally. I remember finally thinking I could hold her and no one was going to take her from me because the nurse herself had handed her to me.

She eventually starting breastfeeding well (although I was losing my mind on Day 3 and can definitely see how people want to give up!). My milk surprised me and came in on Day 2 which made things more difficult to get her to latch correctly because I was pretty engorged, but she finally got the hang of it and was eating every 2 hours. She had her first Dr’s visit at 5 days old and they said she was doing great! She had only lost 2 oz’s from her birth weight, the jaundice wasn’t bad at all and her cord looked nice and dry and they said it would fall off in about a week (which it did). The nurse practitioner also said she was really strong since she was already rolling over on her side and she was able to stand on her legs when she was held up and her feet were over the table if that makes sense. I did end up with a uterine infection and had to be an antibiotics but I was finally able to get around some at 2 weeks postpartum, although I mostly had to sit or lay from the pain from the stitches.

Continue reading »]]> Sarah from Parenting God’s Children is sharing her 2 year old daughter, Abigail’s, birth story today as part of the Preparing for Birth: Birth Stories focus this week.

via www.parentinggodschildren.blogspot.com

Sarah shares everything from the moment she found out she was expecting through describing her daughter now at age 2.

My favorite quote is from her midwife when Sarah said she wanted a c-section:

“Well, honey, I don’t know how to do c-sections, so you’d better get this baby out the old fashioned way or it’s going to be a long day.”

You’ll have to go read it yourself to see what happened.

Continue reading »]]>

Welcome to the first week in our 10 week series on Preparing for Birth! This week’s focus is on birth stories. I love reading birth stories and believe it really helped me in my first pregnancy and birth to read and listen to many to get an idea of what birth was like. I especially loved the ones in Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth as they all showed how natural birth really is.

I’ll be sharing Marcella’s full birth story for the first time on the blog but I have written here and there about her birth. When I shared the benefits of water birth, I discussed some aspects of her birth and in my journey to motherhood post, I did as well.

Along with my birth story, I also have several others to share with you!

• Melissa of Vibrant Wanderings shares the story of her natural hospital birth.
• Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares the unassisted birth stories of her four children: The First Birth, The Second Birth, TheThird Birth, The Fourth Birth.
• Musing Mommy shares her birth story.
• Gretchen of That Mama Gretchen shares a long but wonderful story all about her daughter’s grand entrance.
• The story of a home birth turned hospital birth turned c-section delivery from Click Clack Gorilla. It’s a tumultuous story, but it has a very happy ending.
• Though Adrienne of Mommying My Way’s firstborn son came into the world earlier than expected, his birth was still a wonderful experience that has fueled her desire to teach others about childbirth.
• Dionna at Code Name: Mama prepared for her second birth by focusing on trusting her body. Her preparation paid off – Ailia’s birth was a much more peaceful experience than Kieran’s marathon birth four years prior.

Want to participate? Learn more in my Call for Submissions post.