A Mom of 4's Perspective on Child Birth-Epidural to C-section

With My 4 Children I have had different child-birth experiences,starting off, with an Epidural procedure with my first baby Charlie. So I had a little labor pain..(and I say little now, to me at the time before going through it naturally it was big) They gave me options for a variety of ways to help with the pain, and I chose and Epidural. The Epidural went in, and all of a sudden I was smiling I felt wonderful. The only downside is that I couldn't feel when to push the way I would normally be able to.So it took a Long time...and even longer I was so exhausted at the very end of pushing right before he was to come out, they decided to do a suck him out with their suck-er-out device (which is a called a vacuum) and there he was.My husband had to check with the midwife make sure his head would go back to the normal shape lol. We had started Watching the Disney movie The Lion King and we watched that movie 3 1/2 times, before I finally was able to push him out. My family were all waiting out in the waiting area anxiously especially my mom, which I feel blessed that she was able to be there too.I was physically and mentally completely worn out, but when I held onto my baby boy I was full of energy and couldn't put him down. I held onto him all nite and couldn't sleep, I just kept playing with his little feet and hands and talking to him. My husband couldn't believe that after being so tired I would bounce back so quickly. lol I guess it is just a mommy thing that daddy's don't understand.

Now with our second baby Nicholas I was determined to have natural labor, just had it set in my mind this is what I wanted. So it all started out basically with the same beginning pain as before. And then all of a sudden it hit me, Ouch. My midwife had me try to go in a warm tub of water and I swear to this day that the water made it hurt more. Then they had me try using a birthing ball, where I felt like I lost all dignity that didn't touch the pain. All the pain was in my back i was having "Back Labor" The only method that really eased the pain was my husband holding pressure from his hand on my back. Delivery when the pushing came was quick so my "husband says" lol I didn't scream didn't say I hated him, I was having "blinding pain" where I couldn't see "literally couldn't see".They kept trying to get me to wait on pain medicine but  Finally the midwife gave me an epidural (that didn't even have time to set in before he was born didn't help with the pain at all but My legs were numb after).  I just kept waiting for my baby to come out.My husband actually got to help pull him out. which I found out later I wasn't aware of at the time. Now the same time It didn't take 3 1/2 lion kings of pushing to deliver my son Nicholas.(and I was told that with it taking so long pushing Charlie out that it could have been harmful to the baby) This is why I chose to do natural the second time around. there he was Slimy and Sweet I held onto him forever. And you know none of the pain mattered at all once I saw my baby. They are so worth it.

My third Son Zackery well my doctors said that it was time he was overdue,so they gave me an induction to make my labor start sooner.(Sticking to the Natural Labor) my labor pains with him started quickly and painfully I did get a minor pain reliever. I think that inducing labor made it increase the intensity of the contraction and increased the pain. I didn't try the Tub or the ball. I knew that these didn't work for me and even If it had been different with my third I didn't even want to try.I did a lot of standing and walking around the room although still hurt it helped a lot to relieve the pressure. My third son's birth was amazing to me, it happened so quickly and it was painful but it was so short, I had read that they got shorter with more children, but it didn't take a lot of pushing and he was there to greet the world my little boy I held onto him and his big brothers were there to hold him and love him with his mommy and daddy. It was really wonderful sharing this as a family. When my Nicholas was born, his big brother Charlie couldn't be there because he was sick and my parents were watching him. So for Zackery's Birth  to get to have his big brothers there was wonderful.

Now the most surprising, With my daughter, We were going to be induced again I wasn't really worried now that I knew more about it. In the middle of the nite the nurse stayed with me and my husband and watched the monitors and we watched tv and waited. We were sitting there and talking and I felt fine other then a few odd contractions and the next thing I know I had an Oxogen mask over my face and my nurse had a look of panic on her face and she explained to me that the babies heartbeat had dropped and she called in my doctor and then we waited there a minute my husband and I scared to death for our baby. The doctor came in and told us that sometimes a baby doesn't react well to contractions and he told us we were getting a C-section. Eek I had heard of them but didn't know anything about them other than it was an operation. So they sent my husband to wait in the waiting area while they were to prep me for the C-section I called my family and told them about having the c-section.They all came out to the hospital. The staff in there were great and very supportive and tried to make me more relaxed but I just wanted my husband to come in.When my husband was there with me  I had to get a spinal which I was a little nervous about..but it ended up just being a real strong Epidural. I would say that from a personal standpoint that not feeling the pain was great when having a c-section. The downside is the pressure and anxiety of having a C-section without being prepared and knowledgeable about one. I would suggest to Mom-to-Be to read about a C-section before birth just you have a better understanding. I know that it was really quick I think only 15 minutes before my husband and I were holding our little girl. and once again it didn't matter about the scares we had or the surgery I had all I wanted to hold my baby for a long time.I believe that a  c-section/natural/epidural doesn't matter what birth option that you have, at the end of delivery and holding your little angel, that's all that matters

Good luck to all Moms-to-Be out there and Moms-to-be again oh yes and Dads Too