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I think that my pregnancy with Andrew was special because he was my first. I had a book with pictures of the baby from conception to delivery that I obsessively memorized. I held onto every ultrasound photo and shopped at every sale I could find. Our ultrasound didn't reveal the baby's sex, but I still ended up buying mostly blue...despite the fact that I had convinced myself that I was having a girl, I had this nagging suspicion that the little "worm" was indeed a little guy!
We were living overseas and my mom came over a week before my due date and had arranged to stay for a week past the date. It was the beginning of December and the towns were full of Christmas markets and the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
My due date came and went and I did everything that I could think of to move things along. I walked for miles, tried out the breast pump (because I had heard that the stimulation would induce labor) and nothing happened.
When I was 8 days overdue I went in for a routine check on a Sunday at the hospital to make sure the baby was ok. There were no contractions and the baby was doing well. I stood up to get dressed and my water's broke! I was so embarassed because at first, I didn't realize what was happening A sense of excitement and fear came over me. I had planned everything so perfectly. My bags had been packed for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy...and here I was in the hospital without my suitcase or birthing plan....
My labor was unproductive and after 8 hours, my mom and dh went home to get some rest. I wandered the halls of the hospital that night imagining that soon I would be a mom. I just couldn't believe it...and apparently, Andrew couldn't either, because he just wasn't a willing participant.
After 36 hours of unproductive labor and pitocin, I had only dialated 1cm and had to be sectioned. They did this while I had an epidural so I was able to experience Andrew's "birth". I found it to be pretty scarey because I didn't know what to expect...but it wasn't painful...just a lot of tugging and pulling. Imagine my surprise when the baby was born and my husband said "it's a boy!" I was so exhausted and I guess in a way disappointed. I wasn't sure that I could relate to a little boy's needs. When I finally held him though, that all disappeared.
I went through a lot of disappointing feelings in the first few weeks because of having the c-section. I felt like I had "failed" in some way because I had not delivered vaginally. I have heard that a lot of women go through that after an unexpected section.....
Edited by: Kris at: 5/14/01 7:00:32 pm
We were living overseas and my mom came over a week before my due date and had arranged to stay for a week past the date. It was the beginning of December and the towns were full of Christmas markets and the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
My due date came and went and I did everything that I could think of to move things along. I walked for miles, tried out the breast pump (because I had heard that the stimulation would induce labor) and nothing happened.
When I was 8 days overdue I went in for a routine check on a Sunday at the hospital to make sure the baby was ok. There were no contractions and the baby was doing well. I stood up to get dressed and my water's broke! I was so embarassed because at first, I didn't realize what was happening A sense of excitement and fear came over me. I had planned everything so perfectly. My bags had been packed for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy...and here I was in the hospital without my suitcase or birthing plan....
My labor was unproductive and after 8 hours, my mom and dh went home to get some rest. I wandered the halls of the hospital that night imagining that soon I would be a mom. I just couldn't believe it...and apparently, Andrew couldn't either, because he just wasn't a willing participant.
After 36 hours of unproductive labor and pitocin, I had only dialated 1cm and had to be sectioned. They did this while I had an epidural so I was able to experience Andrew's "birth". I found it to be pretty scarey because I didn't know what to expect...but it wasn't painful...just a lot of tugging and pulling. Imagine my surprise when the baby was born and my husband said "it's a boy!" I was so exhausted and I guess in a way disappointed. I wasn't sure that I could relate to a little boy's needs. When I finally held him though, that all disappeared.
I went through a lot of disappointing feelings in the first few weeks because of having the c-section. I felt like I had "failed" in some way because I had not delivered vaginally. I have heard that a lot of women go through that after an unexpected section.....
Edited by: Kris at: 5/14/01 7:00:32 pm