Family Birth stories

Family History

Mom

1. Chad. Was 18-21 days late. 8 lbs 2 oz.  Needed to induce. Used pitocin and epidural. It was a long slow labor and they used forceps.  
2. Rachel.  had an epidural and episiotomy for every baby except Renee.  
3. Candace.  Nothing outstanding. No problems, nothing unusual.
4. Amy. 10pm, she had to drive herself to see Dad at the hospital.  She left the kids in bed.  Scraped the snow off the car.  It happened very quick- in 1-2 hours.
5. Jenny. Nothing outstanding.  Elaine there watching the kids. No problems, nothing unusual.
6. Renee.  Renee was face down (more painful). In Guam.  Rush hour traffic.  there was no time for an epidural.  Mom not happy.

Candace- really enjoyed each labor

1. Michael.  A few days early.
1. Her water broke(leak) in the middle of the night 2am.  Contractions started.  She waited awhile and wore a pad and then went to the hospital around 10:30 the next morning.  At the hospital she waited all day, 24 hour labor.  Was dilating slowly all day.  They gave her pitocin to speed up the contractions. Then the contractions were so intense they gave her an epidural.  She had to have 4 doses to keep it active.  She was very cold and shaky.  But once she got it she could rest and sleep.  At midnight she wasn’t ready yet, so they talked about a c-section.  Then she was fully dilated and they kept upping the pitocin.  She did push and could feel a little. 10-12 minutes and the baby was out. 3 am birth.
2. Jordan. 3 days late.
1. The contractions started at 5pm, no water breaking.  She stayed home till 11:30pm.  Went to the hospital when contractions were 6 minutes apart.  She had an epidural- one dose.  This one was quicker, more peaceful. Jared and she were focused with quiet music on the laptop and lights dimmed.  Jordan born at 6am.
3. Tessa:  few days late.
1. She knew that she could do labor without pitocin, so she wanted to try no epidural.  In Michigan now she could have a doula, midwife, and hypnosis.  They read a lot about the Bradley method.  She was taking herbs- Dr. Christopher’s pills to prepare the body for labor.  She had contractions for weeks to prepare prior to Tessa, but none with Michael or Jordan.  
2. She was 2-3 cm dilated at the appointment a few days early.  Labor started at 2am.  The contractions were 10-12 minutes apart, then 6-7 minutes apart from 5 am till noon. Never got to 3 minutes until the baby came.  She got nauseated when the contractions were intense.  Feeling very sick in the car and took a bowl just in case on the way to the midwife.  Baby came within 45 minutes at 2:30pm.  
3. She says there was more pain, but it was really short.  She liked her midwife.

Amy

1. Tyler: water broke (had to deliver within 24 hours). 4 weeks early, he was on oxygen for 2 days. Had pitocin, and pressured by anesthesiologist to have epidural.  She had 3 contractions only and then epidural worked so she felt none.  No c-section. 1.5 hour pushing.  
1. Because of the epidural and having her feet in stirrups, there was so much pressure from having her legs crunched up that she crushed her femoral nerve.  She had to walk with a cane and couldn’t hold Tyler for weeks. She would just fall over.  After 2 weeks she could drive and after 6-8 weeks she would walk and run again.  
2. Ella: water broke. 2 weeks early.  Had pitocin, and pressured by anesthesiologist to have epidural.  No c-section. 45 minutes pushing.

Jenny

1. Isaac: Jenny had preeclampsia (increased blood pressure and protein in urine, a serious condition that could lead to coma/seizures in mom). They tried to dilate her with seaweed on cervix, then used pitocin. Water broke because of vaginal exams. Then epidural.  She felt some contractions that were pretty bad, but only was dilated 3-4 at the end of 24 hours, so they went to c-section.  Bad recovery because she had labor and c-section.
2. Grace: they measured her amniotic fluid and it was low. 3 days late. She was trying for VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section).  They did stress test, no contractions, water very low. They said she can have the baby now or in the morning.  No dilating, no contracting, so had another c-section.

Renee

1. Beth: water broke. 5 weeks early, breech so had c-section