The only firsthand personal experience I have to draw upon is the birth of my own son. It took five days all together and was definitely an unforgettable experience. I went into labor at exactly 36 weeks and when I arrived at the hospital they put me on medicine to try and stop the contractions. Since I went to a doctor's office with multiple doctors whenever you went to the hospital you saw whoever was on call at that time. The doctor on call did not want me to deliver for a least another week and he said he was going to do everything he could to make me wait. This included a liquid diet. I was hungry and did not like this at all. This continued for three in a half days until he decided I could check out and go home and wait. He wanted me to check back in the office the next day and then we would go from there. As soon as I arrived home my water broke and right back to the hospital I went. Now, since my water broke they would not allow me to eat anything still. I was starving and had to wait another 24 hours or so until my son finally decided to make an appearance. Still having all the medicine to stop my contractions I was not dilating and the time was running out. They then decided I would have to be induced. I wish I had known more about what was going on but I trusted that the doctors knew best. I think my body was so confused it didn't know what to do. Start labor, stop labor, start labor... It was a mess. I was so grateful to finally have him but I was beyond weak. The whole process took a lot out of me and I think that being on the liquid diet make it so much worse. I didn't have much strength during the birth and I felt like it was never going to be over with. I was so happy to see my son but I feel like the whole thing could have gone a lot differently. Since then I have had time to study other birthing options and if I ever had another child I will be looking at these options with more seriousness. I do not ever want to go though what happened to me before, again. I don't think they should have tried to stop my labor but instead let my body do what it wanted to do naturally.
I have a good friend from Korea and she said that childbirth there is very different. Most people have their children in the hospital in open rooms with little privacy. The often are given no medicine and have to endure the pain. The mothers are expected to remain silent to focus the energy on the child. The fathers are usually not in the room. I can not believe they are silent during such a time like that. I can't imagine what that must be like.
Aloha Lisa-Marie,
ReplyDeleteMy first child was 2 days before her due date so my wife and I weren't prepared when it was time to go to the hospital. Luckily we knew where everything was and when we got to the hospital, the nurse said oh she's not that far along, but enough that we didn't have to leave. The waiting was the worst part. All my wife told me was don't forget about the epidural. My second daughter was so much easier and we didn't have the first time jitters, but like you said it's definitely an unforgettable experience.