Ok, so this story is actually going to go to 5 parts but this part actually focuses on Princess Peach entering the world. If you missed the first three click to read part 1, part 2 and part 3.
So I started pushing and pushing. Sometime after pushing for what felt like an eternity, Man Doctor came in to check me. He saw that the baby was still face up and decided that because they wanted me to keep pushing that he would try to manually flip the baby. We tried a few times. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Then Woman Doctor comes in. She had been in earlier after Man Doctor had to go deliver his C-section babies. Funny thing was that I happened to see her instead of my OB a few weeks earlier and she totally remembered us! Guess that means we are pretty memorable 🙂
So she comes in and together they are watching me and then decide to work together to manually rotate the baby. Honestly, I know what happened but I like to think that I blocked a lot of this time out. They wore down on my epidural because they really wanted me to push her out. So one doctor was inside of me (sorry for the visual), the other doctor had their hands on my stomach literally trying to flip the baby. The Hubster was at my head probably sweating or freaking out. I don’t remember really being aware of him during that time. I just remember the pain. Oh the pain. When they lower the epidural and are literally trying to rotate your child out of you there is a certain amount of pain you can handle. Mine came close to the three-hour mark. It was horrible. I finally started to scream and cry. The pain was horrible, the experience was horrible and it was quite violating. Thankfully Woman Doctor saw me losing it and stopped what they were doing. She announced that because I was in so much pain (thanks) that they should call in anesthesia to up my epidural.
Now, remember that they told us to call our families to come and that the baby would be here by 2! Well at this time it was around 5ish and no one had left the room because everyone was so focused on me pushing her out! Sooooo I can only imagine what drama was going on in the waiting room.
Man Doctor then explains that they are going to take me into the Operating Room to try to vacuum the baby out. He said that they wouldn’t go the forceps route (which I was happy about) and that if all else fails a c-section would happen. I was freaked out. I didn’t plan on having surgery. So they wheeled me into the OR and I don’t really remember the vacuum experience at all. Man Doctor tells me it doesn’t work and that a c-section is going to happen.
Literally all hell broke loose. So many people rushed into the room stat. It was insane. Seeing that I totally love medical dramas especially ER and Chicago Hope (so maybe I’m stuck in the 90’s), I felt like I was having an outer body experience in one of their episodes! I look up by my side expecting to see The Hubster and he isn’t there. Nobody told me that he left. I lost it. Really nice Lady Anesthesiologist comes by my head and started to explain where The Hubster went to get prepped and dressed for the OR and that he would be back soon. I remember being so thirsty. After all that pushing no one had let me drink anything. So as they were prepping me for surgery the nice Lady Anesthesiologist was feeding me ice chips while telling me I couldn’t tell anyone. Then the freezing began. They pretty much tied me down to the table and froze me up to my collar-bone. Now because baby had descended into the birth canal my c-section was different and one doctor had to push her back up while the other doctor was pretty much ripping her out through the incision. This meant that my legs which were frozen and I couldn’t feel were in stirrups and my legs were strapped from my feet to my thighs. Pretty unbelievable and of course, these things tend to only happen to me.
The Hubster was ushered back into the room and was positioned by my head. I know we joked that he wished this upon me because my entire pregnancy he kept saying that you give birth behind a blue sheet to which I always said that natural birth didn’t involve a blue sheet up, only c-sections. Nine months plus later and I’m sitting behind a blue sheet. He got his wish…well sort of. So it’s easier just to blame this whole experience on him!
At 7:10 pm on August 17, 2011 Princess Peach was born. Immediately we heard her cries and the two of us started bawling. It was really incredible. Right away they showed her to us and she was screaming. The Hubster took some incredible first pics and Lady Anesthesiologist took our first family picture in the OR! I also got to hold her. I got to leave the OR holding her. It was amazing. Those first few minutes when you finally meet the person who enjoyed kicking your ribs are so breathtaking and still make me a little weepy just thinking about it. During my entire pregnancy I imagined what she would look like and I finally got to meet her. It was beyond amazing.
So off to recovery we go. After my horrible birthing experience it has to get better than this right? WRONG! Very, very wrong!
Stay tuned 🙂
Omg, you REALLY had a horrible birthing experience. Wow. I hope your next one goes easy on you. 🙂
Yup. It was horrible but I got the greatest gift at the end of it 🙂
That’s shocking! One word for next time Renee: hypnobirthing! It was amazing. Everyone deserves a positive birth experience. It’s great you have a sense of humour about it though. Thanks for sharing.
Agree! My first birth story was pretty rough and not what I had imagined it could be. My second birth I decided the story must change and I took hypnobirthing which was amazing. It helped me relax, breath and trust that I could do it! I still use some of the breathing techniques to calm myself!
Sara, This was not at all what I imagined it would be! How did you decide on hypnobirthing? My husband thinks I should change hospitals and OB’s for future children. I’m on the fence and would need to loads of research before making decisions about birthing.
I actually had a panic about 5 months into my second pregnancy and thought I was dead on track for the same labour. I couldn’t let it happen and did everything in my control to change it!
Short story it was 2+ days of back labour ending with an epidural,vacuum assisted birth, stitches and a horror of every having another epidural. Also my hubs wasn’t allowed to stay at this hospital after the baby was born for the night so I was alone after birth.
I interviewed and hired a doula, whose partner was trained in hypnobirthing. I wanted a doula to provide me with support, and research shows many positive ways in which having a doula decreases your risk of interventions. The hypnobirthing was something I wasn’t sure I would “buy” into, but the overarching message was one of learning to breathe, relax, and trust your body. I also got a midwife and switched hospitals to Sunnybrook where water birth is allowed.
My hypnobirthing allowed me to labour at home until less than 2 hours when baby decided it was time. I listened to music, breathed and slept much of the day. The midwives and doula were an amazing support along with hubs and the birthing room was totally calm (except for me near the end). I appreciated that the midwives give so much information, it is seriously so different than having an OB. I got to go home 3 hours after my birth and my older son woke up to a baby brother!
You just need to do whatever makes you feel safe and comfortable and trust your gut!
Shaina, totally agree about a positive birthing experience. Maybe I went into this whole thing a little naive but I learned tons for my future deliveries. I’ve heard great things about hypnobirthing! So happy it worked so well for you
Wow, I thought my first gave me a run for my money during the birthing process. Your story was so amazing and loved seeing your pictures too, but can’t even imagine what else could have gone wrong and look forward to reading the last installment here.
Thanks for reading 🙂 It’s funny that it took me just over a year to document in writing this crazy event!!!
Our labour stories are so horribly similar. They also tried to turn Hannah with no luck AND they made me push without an epidural. I’m so happy you have a picture as a family though – I never thought to do that, and we hardly have any hospital photos at all.
Oh no! I don’t like hearing that another human being had a similar experience to mine. Yuck! I often think about how I can make my future childrens entrances into the world better….It worries me. I prepped The Hubster to take pictures of everything in the hospital. Thanks, I’m happy we have a first family picture too. It’s a really special memory for us.