"But Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies!"
Butterfly McQueen-
Gone With the Wind
WARNING: This blog may contain GGT (Gross Girly Talk)
Having just given birth to my third child (and that IS pride you hear in my voice) I think I can speak on this subject with at least SOME authority. Of course I'm talking about the beloved Epidural. Now I've had two kids without so much as an asprin and then my third son was born a week ago today with an Epidural. I knew there'd be a difference & most likely a significant one that I liked the effects of. However, what I totally underestimated was the after effects.
When you have a baby the labor process is mostly slow & gradual. It's like warming your body up for a race. Contractions start out like cramps then increase gradually to aid in the squeezing out of the proverbial watermelon. After giving birth naturally you are tired of course & shaky but you almost get a jolt of adreniline. But, you HAVE been carrying a baby for 9 months & it DOES feel good to suddenly have that appendage removed from the front of your body. Just like as your mommy bump grows gradually, you slowly have to adjust to walking around front heavy. After birth, suddenly you aren't front heavy anymore. It's sort of a funny adjustment to make. You can bend over & tie your own shoes, you can shave your legs, paint your toenails & if your lucky stop dripping food on the front of your clothes.
After my first two natural births boy did I have that spurt of energy. I think I about gave my husband's grandmother a heart attack because I was going on a trip with them to a museum two days after giving birth. We went out to eat & walked around all day. I can't count how many times she kept asking me if I was okay & was I sure I didn't need to go lay down & rest. I laughed at it at the time, but now it reminds me how much older I am & how each time it seems to take the body longer to bounce back. I guess I'm saying that my body was tired, but able to function back to a certian level pretty quickly from before.
Now, that being said, there are the drugs I took this time. I'll admit upfront that a Benadryll will knock me out for DAYS. So I'm not really into that strong of drugs anyway.
This time I'm 6 yrs older than last time, I'm overweight & thought, "Hey! I deserve a break this time!" So I opted for the epidural, IF I got there in time. (last time I was there 26 min before baby was born-but that's a whole other story) This time I arrived at the hospital at 9pm on Thursday night & after checking & seeing I was at 1cm they gave me something to thin my cervix. (it was 80%) I loved the nurses but they did blow through about an average of three veins in each of my arms with IV's etc. (I do have pictures for those of you who wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it) Darling husband & I slept pretty well until about 5am when the dr had called & the nurse checked again. I was only at 5cm but they started my epidural. Then when the doctor got there at 7:15am or so, I was at a 9cm. I was SHOCKED to say the least. (So was he, but I warned them all, when I go, I go FAST!) I hadn't hardly been uncomfortable at all! And as soon as he got in & talked to us a bit, he just said okay, PUSH.
PUSH!? Already!? i admit I was really worried because I couldn't feel anything to tell me to push. I had no feeling in my belly down! How was I supposed to know what I was doing?
After a couple minutes of pushing they brought in new people & switched some stuff around & BOOM. This was it! I was supposed to REALLY push him out. I couldn't believe it wasn't going to take longer & better yet, I still couldn't feel anything! BONUS! He was born at 7:43am & weighed 7lbs 14 oz. He has big feet & hands & his fingers & toes go for miles! My son also like the last one, has a full head of hair. It's black & lays down just beautifully! He is a sight to behold.
Now, it was wonderful not to feel the pain. But I couldn't hold up my own legs to push. I couldn't help myself to the other bed they switched me to. I had to literally pick up my butt & move it myself. That was fun let me tell ya. I couldn't feel my legs or belly (although my belly did itch) for hours after that. That wasn't great when you're trying to empty your bladder every hour. (for those who don't know-labor makes you VERY thirsty) After my feeling came back all over I was pretty wiped out. Tired doesn't begin to describe it. I felt like I had run a race without warming up. I didn't feel the race, just the after-effects. UGH. It really was something to feel so crummy just all of the sudden after feeling nothing. I was really not expecting to feel so tired after the drugs wore off but I had NEVER thought (duh moment) that of course you may not feel it, but your body still does all the same stuff. So why WOULDN'T you feel it later? It's basically just putting off the inevitable.
Of course I know nothing about C-sections but I know quite a few people who have had them. I know the recoup time is still longer than either of mine.
Hopefully you didn't think I'd tell you what you should choose. I can only speak from what I know. I think it's all an individual decesion & it's not something for someone else to judge. I don't know that I love one way of birthing over the other. Natural or Epidural that is. Of course, birthing is like babies, they are all different. But I know either way, I now know what to expect & hopefully you do too. (assuming you didn't before)
4 comments:
Wow--you are amazing. After three kids, your body certainly seems to know its job!
With Caleb (a planned C-section), I actually did experience that rush of energy you spoke of. If I hadn't run head-first into a brick wall of catching pneumonia, I'm sure I would have gotten a lot done! Still, they must have gotten the anesthesia just right, because it wore off pretty quickly after they got me to recovery, and I was nursing him within ten minutes.
With Katie, my epidural was really just a tool to help me rest after two days of labor--let's just say that my body really didn't seem to know what it was doing! I had what they call a "walking epidural"--the pain was dulled, but I could still feel my legs and even get up and walk around. I was briefly in love with my anesthesiologist.
I think every labor experience is just going to be different, drugs or no drugs, depending on your birth choices, your age, your physicality, and a host of other factors we probably don't even know about. For example, I had the baby blues for a few weeks after Caleb was born. Why? Why didn't I get that with Katie? I don't know. Why did I get so sick my first pregnancy, and not the second? I think some things are just a roll of the dice.
I'm so glad our nephew has arrived safely!
Congratulations on the latest arrival! Considering papercuts make me swoon, I'll definitely hit the drug route (should the opportunity to actually have a child arises ;) ). You're quite a woman!
-Lisa
oh, thank you so much for writing this. i think this is some of the best writing i've come across to explain to the first-time mom what the differences might be like in the medicated/unmedicated routes. i really appreciate your honesty and humor. thanks.
Just because it took a while to be sure..... It was actually 'Mammy' (Hattie McDaniels) and not 'Prissy' (Butterfly McQueen), who said the famous line: "But Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies!"
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