I never really wanted epidurals, but my first 4 births I had them, then my last one I had a homebirth so of course no epidural there!
Son - 8 - He was due Dec. 21st so I was hoping to have him before Christmas. On my due date the stripped my membranes which put me in early labor. On the 22nd I went into real labor about 1:30 and went to the hospital. Water broke not too long after and had contractions I didn't know how to manage and started throwing up. Decided to get an epidural which may have actually sped things up as they spaced out my contractions and made them more effective (they had been piggy-backing). Started to push around 6:00 and he was born a bit later at 6:17! He was 8lb 11oz! My biggest baby so far has been my first!
Daughter - almost 6 - She was born a day before her due date. It was all very similar to the previous birth. Went into the hospital with strong labor at 1:30 a.m. Ended up with horrible contractions and vomiting after a while. Got an epidural. She was born at 6:44 a.m. and was 7lb 1oz.
Twin boys - 4 - I was fortunate to have a "perfect" twin pg! Made it almost to 38 weeks with them. I had had my membranes stripped to try to get things going earlier in the day. Left around 6:30 for the hospital after I was pretty sure I was in labor. Decided to get an epidural BEFORE throwing up since with twins, there are lots of uncertainties with the delivery and all and I had handled epidurals well before. After the epidural, they broke my water and not too long later they were ready to be delivered. They wheeled me into the "operating room" to deliver "just in case". Had about 12 medical personnel there plus my husband and my 2 friends who were lucky enough to sneak in with cameras/videocameras! Twin A was born at 10:19 and Twin B was born 10 min. later. All went very smoothly! They were 6lb 10oz and 7lb 6oz! A lot of baby! They were healthy and went home with me right away!
Son - 2 - He was my most frustrtating/longest birth. I had group B strep and they wanted to do the antibiotics - 2 doses at least 4 hours apart before giving birth. So I had to get to the hospital on the early side since I usually deliver around 4 hours after going in. Went in early Thanksgiving morning just after midnight. Stalled out my labor by getting into the tub after my first dose of antibiotics. Got my 2nd dose and was out of labor. The nurses let me sleep a bit before checking with the doc. During that time ds had a concerning heart deceleration so they wanted to break my water and possibly do pitocin to get things going. I was bummed as I had wanted to go without an epidural but was already exhausted and knowing I would have pitocin just gave in and got an epidural. He ended up being born at 11:56 Thanksgiving day with the cord wrapped tight around his neck - they cut it off while his head was delivered but he cried a little with just his head delivered! He was just fine! He was 7lb 10oz.
Daughter - almost 7 mo. - She was my first homebirth! I didn't want a repeat of the Group B strep thing which they would have automatically treated me for which I didn't agree with. I also had been wanting to do a homebirth! Here's the full story of the birth of you're interested! She was born on her due date after several days of false labor that thankfully only came during the daytime so I slept well at night. I went into labor in the late afternoon. Friends were coming over for pizza and to camp in our yard (long story - see the full version!). They showed up around 6:00 and I was getting a little stressed with 9 kids ages 7 and under running around so I disappeared upstairs while they did supper then went outside with my friends. My mil and doula came soon. Moved to labor in our small bedroom. My 2 midwives showed up at around 8:30 and 9:00 I leaned on a birthing ball and moaned and had my dh massage my low back which felt good even though I didn't have back labor. He was in and out a bit coordinating helpers getting the kids down to bed. I was ready to push by 9:15 or so and my dd was born at 9:30 with my husband catching her! He announced she was a girl (after 3 boys in a row and making it 4 boys 2 girls instead of 5 boys 1 girl)! She was 7lb 8oz.
So that's been it so far! It was so nice just being home after the homebirth and not leaving my kids. They all were still awake/up after my dd was born and all came in to see us pretty quickly after the birth which was neat!
gee, the tub always speeds up my labor. gets me all dialated from 2 to 10 in 20 minutes. lol!
I am seriously considering a home birth next time... except I LOVE my midwife who delivers in a birth center, only now we live 2 hours away.... still considering, and I have time - baby is only 7 mos old, and I have a rule (so far, it has worked! lol!) - no new baby till I have lost the baby weight from the previous.
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk