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all worth it

I was 18 when I became pregnant and in my last year of high school. Well I was surprised because I was only with my boyfriend for only 6 months and I was on the pill. Telling my parents was hard, so I told them a week after I found out.

My pregnancy was easy for the first couple of months, and then I got a bad kidney infection that I was hospitalized for. Other than that, everything went well. My due date was October 1, 2003 but my little boy had other plans. I had a baby shower on September 21, 2003 then on September 23 I was having labor pains so I went to the hospital I was 2 cm so the doctors made me walk and when I got back into the room I was 4 cm. My doctor broke my water {gross} and I was progressing well until I got to 9 cm then things got bad.

I was in labor for 25 hours without any more progress so I had to get an emergency c-section. My baby weighed 9lbs 15oz 18 inches, so there was no way I was able to push him out since I’m only 4'11 – very small. The recovery was a little painful but well worth it. Now he's almost 4 yrs old and has a little brother who's almost 2 and another brother or sister on the way in august. August 15, 2007.

That’s my story. I hope you new mothers enjoyed it!!!!


Diane

Teenage Birth

I had my first baby when I was 15 years old.

I was taken to the hospital at 3 in the morning because I was having small contractions. Soon I was dilated to 10 and the doctors were telling me to push. I tried but I couldn’t. They said the baby wasn't going to come out easy and they gave me an epidural. As soon as I said it was working they took me to the OR.

I could feel them tugging at me and it hurt really bad. The anesthesiologist put me out and I woke up a few hours later. I hurt really badly.

Now I'm pregnant with twins.


Diana

c-section

Well I was 19 and had no idea I was pregnant. There was a lot going on at the time as my dad died in march, but on April 1st I went to the doctors because I thought I had something wrong with me, so he did some blood tests and it turned out I was pregnant.

I was scared but also excited; I was 12 weeks by then. Everything was fine through my pregnancy until I was 36 weeks and my baby went to a breech, we tried to get him turned but it didn't work, so we had a c-section.

I didn’t think I’d have one but things happen you can’t change, so on October 5th my son Rylan was born at 8:46am. It was such a miracle baby I couldn't believe it. Rylan Paul is his name.

A c-section isn't that scary. I was perfectly fine.


jess

I did it & so can you! Natural Childbirth

I did a lot of research; I knew giving birth naturally was the best choice for me and my baby. But would I have the courage to go through with it? How painful was it, really? How could I stack the odds in my favor? I was 28 years old; I have always been healthy and strong, but I was definitely not an athlete and was a few pounds overweight. My genes were against me: my mother was always overdue and had long complicated labors that resulted in cesareans.

I chose to birth in a hospital with a low intervention and cesarean rate. My husband and I took Bradley Childbirth classes. We hired a doula. I followed the Brewer's Diet (high protein). I walked every day of my pregnancy. I kept working up until the day I went into labor (I have a desk job so I don't think this helped me physically; but it definitely kept me distracted!). With my mom's history, I was worried about being overdue and having the "induction" conversations with my practitioners, so starting a week before my due date we started the natural induction methods: walking, nipple stimulation, acupressure, sex.

I was due 8/22. On Friday 8/18 I had some bloody show in the morning and back pain that was really quite mild, like menstrual cramps. I am not being stoic; it was not bad at all! I finished out the day at work and went home.

My husband and I were eating dinner (Thai food) when I stood up and my water broke. It really wasn’t much so I wasn’t sure if it was the real thing or not. I called our doula and told her it was about 1/4cup of fluid. She said "That's enough!" And right then I had a very intense contraction, similar to what I had been having all day but multiplied by 5 or so. My husband started timing and the contractions were every 2-3 minutes but only 45 seconds in length. Our doula agreed to come to the house but after several more of the contractions, my limbs started tensing up during them and they began to get less bearable. I had several more that were a minute long but they were not consistent. I figured I had another 12 hours or so to go and didn’t want to go to the hospital too early. My husband was afraid he would have to carry me to the car if he waited any longer!

We went in about 10pm and met the doula there. We were quite a sight walking into the hospital because I insisted on walking the entire way to Labor & Delivery; I just had to stand and brace myself against a wall every few minutes. Several people offered us a wheelchair and I refused. After the car ride, standing felt good!

We checked in and I was at 4 centimeters. I was kind of disappointed by this but again figured I had a whole day to go. Baby's head was at station 2. One of the L&D nurses went to our church and was so excited that we were there on her shift. I told her I wasn't sure if we would have the baby by the time she went home (7am) and she said "oh yes you are!" I mostly had back labor and needed the doula or my husband to have their fists in my back constantly, even in-between contractions. I labored in the birthing tub for about an hour in the all-fours position with them pouring warm water over me. That felt good. I learned that I am very vocal; quite the moaner! Surprising what you learn about yourself during birth. At 1:30am I started shaking and felt restless; I had to get up and walk around. I was losing my composure and asked for an epidural twice. I felt panicked; like I just couldn’t do it any longer.

From my excellent Bradley training, I knew somewhere deep down that I was just in transition. The doula asked the midwife to check me; I was at 8 centimeters! Almost immediately after that I had an overwhelming urge to push but I was urged not to because I wasn't fully dialated. That was awful. The midwife asked that I go through 5 more contractions and then she would check me again…that seemed like an eternity. My husband says it was only 15 minutes. Thankfully by 2am I was at 10. I thought that would be the “relief” stage of birth but I have to be honest I thought it was almost more painful than the contractions, especially because the harder you push, the more it hurts!

I screamed during each contraction/push, it seemed the only way to really bear down at that point. Did I mention I was vocal? I was very concerned about disturbing the concentration of the laboring women in the other rooms, but not enough to stop. :) Anyway, I pushed for 25 minutes and the baby was born at 2:29am. My husband was in awe to see the head emerge. The midwife asked me to reach down and touch the head as it was crowning. The coolest thing was that after the midwife delivered the head and the shoulders, she asked me to reach over and pull out "my" baby! It was awesome. I put baby on my stomach and stared amazed at the life that had just come from me. We were so awestruck that we still didn’t know what the sex was and the nurses had to remind us to turn baby over. It was a girl! Rachel Sidney. All in all, it was a great, short, complication-free birth.

I wish the best to all of you women out there who will undertake this journey. It is overwhelming and beautiful. Best wishes for a safe and wonderful birth!


Debbi

Quick and easy

I was 17 when I got pregnant with my daughter Jayde. I was due on April 7th, 2005. It was the easiest pregnancy ever! I never got morning sickness, no complications, no stretch marks=], NOTHING! I started going to my weekly appointments at 35 weeks. At 35 weeks I was 2 cm. Then I stayed at 2cm for 3 weeks. Then on Wednesday March 23 I was 38 weeks and 3 cm and 90% effaced. The Dr. said I would probably go into labor in the next few days!

Well! My fiancée was out of state on business. He wasn't due back for another week! I told him what the Dr. said and he said he would try his hardest to get back but didn't think he would. Well he called me the next day and said he will be coming back on Friday at 9pm but had to leave again Sunday if nothing happened. So all day Friday I walked and walked and walked until he got here. I was determined to have the baby before he had to leave again. Well Sat. morning I woke up at 6:30am because I was having a dream that I was on my period and leaking. Well, it was actually my water leaking. So I rolled from my side to my back and GUSH! It all just flooded my bed. I stood up out of bed and it was still coming. So I woke my fiancée up and told him and he jumped up and grabbed my things and we headed out. I didn't feel anything all the way to the hospital. Then we get to the parking garage and I see that the one doctor (I have 4) I did not want to deliver me was the one on call! I was angry.

We got there, and they put me into triage and checked to make sure it was really amniotic fluid. Well I was then 4cm and they used a strip to test if it was my water and the nurse said, "No it wasn't. You probably just wet yourself!" I said, "No this was not pee, check again!" So then she used this spoon thing and that confirmed it WAS amniotic fluid! So then they have me walk to my room, still no pain.

Then as soon as I lay down on the bed the contractions came on full force. It was 7am by now. And I never had a break in between contractions. And the nurses didn't realize how fast I was progressing because the monitors were not placed correctly. So I was asking for an epidural. So at 8am, when the Dr. came they made my fiancée get out for the epidural. They told me to sit up so they could give it to me, but I could barely sit up, I was practically crippled from the contractions. But once I sat up I felt like I was sitting on a ball. So I told the nurse "I think she's coming". Then right after I said that my body just started pushing all on its own. I wasn't even trying. And I was making these horrid grunting noises, which made my fiancée, come running in. The epidural Dr. said its too late, and no epidural for me! So they had me lay back so they can check me. And the nurse is all "Oh my god the head is right here!". All the nurses scrambled to find the Dr. to deliver. Then he comes running in with a plate of pancakes (he was just starting to eat breakfast). He sits down and gives me an episiotomy and 2 big pushes and she was out. 1 minute later placenta was out.

I delivered Jayde Marie at 8:12am on March 26, 2005. 6lbs. 13oz and 20 in long. She was pretty much perfect except she had a little case of Jaundice. Oh and I had prayed and prayed for a baby with tons of hair and a cute little round head, guess what, that's exactly what I got!

So I had the perfect pregnancy and delivery. 1hr and 45 min labor from start to finish and NO EPIDURAL!

Well I am currently trying for my 2nd child, and my Dr. said that my fiancée needs to take a class on emergency deliveries because more than likely I will not make it to the hospital with as fast as I went the first time!


Jessica