And now, because I promised there would be a point to this long story, here it is:
What I wish I'd known then!
1) I wish I'd known to be more assertive! It wouldn't have hurt to at least ask questions of what was going on when I started to doubt the people around me. I wish I'd asked questions (and asked to see my doctor) when the contractions stopped at 8... and when the pushing went on passed 3 hours. And when I noticed that there was still something dripping into my IV!
2) If you really start to doubt your nurse, as I had after about an hour, ask for a change! I felt like it would have been mean to do so, but I think it would have shaved HOURS off of my labor if I'd had someone with just a tiny bit of experience.
I think #1 is definitely the most important part of my lesson. I was so worried about not offending people that Sadie and I both went through a lot more pain than was necessary.
And while I have more thoughts I've been blogging for much too long this morning already! I have work to do!
Thanks for sharing your story!
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful that Steve and I will be living in a large city with numerous hospitals. They even have birth centers with midwives, which I really want to look into should I get pregnant.
I think there's a lot of opinions that go into birth so I don't want to get too one side or the other. I just really hope that I can get in with a midwife and birth center, as I tend not to trust hospitals for some reasons you mentioned. Especially since many push c-sections and inductions when they aren't necessary.
I know for Steve's SIL she was pregnant with her first baby and they felt the need to induce her, well then she didn't progress so they went to a c-section. It seems from a lot of things that I read inductions tend to slow down the birth process quite a bit.
Steve was around 10 lbs when he was born and all of his nieces and nephew have been large, so I'm sure I'll be in for some large babies, which is why I really want to be certain of any OB or midwife I go to. I don't want to be pressured into anything. And from what I've read many midwives and birth centers are more willing to work with you on positions during labor as it makes more sense to have gravity help you out when you're pushing instead of laying on your back..
But anyways, I really hope Maggie's birth goes a lot less stressful for you! And perhaps someday you can try for a VBAC and see if it works well for you. You just need to do what's best for you and the baby!