amyinNC
07-15-2003, 05:46 PM
Hi everyone,
Just a quick note to say my baby arrived last week. He's 7 lbs 15 ounces. He was born at 11:50 am, after 2 hours of active labor and 25 minutes of pushing. Now, don't hate me yet, I think I had a full week of early labor... I kept trying to increase the intensity of the contractions (which were 5-15 minutes apart for many days) - by walking, sex, evening primrose oil, you name it - to no avail. They didn't hurt, but I was really getting tired (they were strong enough to wake me up).
We finally went to the hospital Wednesday morning - and the midwife broke my water. I didn't think I could do it... but I was able to pull off natural childbirth. I don't remember the pain, only the intensity of the pushing stage. The whirlpool tub at the hospital was amazing. I did end up with a sizable tear, since Andrew had his hands up around his mouth as he was pushed out (very quickly due to his heartbeat slowing down near the end).
All in all, it was marvelous. In my opinion, pain is completely unrelated to your satisfaction with the birth. My husband says he remembers me being in pain very clearly - but 30 minutes after I was already planning our second baby. I highly recommend a doula - and I also did a home study course of hypnosis for childbirth (hypnobabies). It really helped me prepare and think positive about the birth (despite the bombardment of horror stories from well meaning girlfriends).
I'll try to get a picture posted one of the these days. Maybe this link to shutterfly photos will work? http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b326db59a4ef
Thanks to everyone on the board for so many great ideas and suggestions. My husband finally realizes that all my preparation and research has paid off (which is priceless)! I was getting tired of hearing "we don't need that!".
Amy
Andrew, born July 9, 2003
Just a quick note to say my baby arrived last week. He's 7 lbs 15 ounces. He was born at 11:50 am, after 2 hours of active labor and 25 minutes of pushing. Now, don't hate me yet, I think I had a full week of early labor... I kept trying to increase the intensity of the contractions (which were 5-15 minutes apart for many days) - by walking, sex, evening primrose oil, you name it - to no avail. They didn't hurt, but I was really getting tired (they were strong enough to wake me up).
We finally went to the hospital Wednesday morning - and the midwife broke my water. I didn't think I could do it... but I was able to pull off natural childbirth. I don't remember the pain, only the intensity of the pushing stage. The whirlpool tub at the hospital was amazing. I did end up with a sizable tear, since Andrew had his hands up around his mouth as he was pushed out (very quickly due to his heartbeat slowing down near the end).
All in all, it was marvelous. In my opinion, pain is completely unrelated to your satisfaction with the birth. My husband says he remembers me being in pain very clearly - but 30 minutes after I was already planning our second baby. I highly recommend a doula - and I also did a home study course of hypnosis for childbirth (hypnobabies). It really helped me prepare and think positive about the birth (despite the bombardment of horror stories from well meaning girlfriends).
I'll try to get a picture posted one of the these days. Maybe this link to shutterfly photos will work? http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b326db59a4ef
Thanks to everyone on the board for so many great ideas and suggestions. My husband finally realizes that all my preparation and research has paid off (which is priceless)! I was getting tired of hearing "we don't need that!".
Amy
Andrew, born July 9, 2003