Stanek weekend question: What’s your favorite labor and delivery story?
UPDATE 5p: Baby boy has arrived! 3:55p. 9#1oz, 20-1/2″.
9:51a: I’m at the hospital with daughter Daena and son-in-law Andy, who are going to have a baby boy today!
I’ve been staying with them in Dallas the past 10 days and have heard many labor and delivery stories during that time. They seem to automatically eminate when people spot a pregnant mom.
Myself, I went into labor with Daena on Labor Day 1985, funny. That afternoon we were picnicking in a park with friends and by 7:30p I had a daughter. My labors were always quick: Michael eight hours, Tim four hours, Daena two hours.
How about sharing one/some of your favorite labor and delivery stories?
Apr.21, 2012 9:51 am |
Weekend question |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
At the risk of bragging, my favorite is my own story.
Gave birth to a ten pound baby girl, no meds, no nothing.
And I’m only five feet tall.
Good luck, Daena. We want pictures!
Same here. MY DS was born at home in a planned VBAC with beautiful midwives, my husband and DD. 30 Hours of labor, no meds, birthing tub. After only a few pushes, we nursed, snuggled, and I got up took a shower and ate a YUMMY greasy hamburger that hubby made for me.
OH! Almost forgot! He was 9lb 1 oz, 23 inches long and with a 14 inch head circumference. 9 and 10 Apgars.
It was, a birth should be, peaceful, natural, allowing mom to move and breathe, with loving support surrounding her.
I was pretty late by the time I finally decided to be born. Had it happened in this day and age my mom would have been induced, but at the time she even nearly qualified for induction by 1982 standards. I have always been a late bloomer and a procrastinator. ;)
But, true to personality type, while I have always taken my time getting “ready” to do something – I couldn’t tie my shoes until 3rd grade, nor ride a two-wheel bike until 4th grade, etc – once I go for something, I do it with all my effort and I don’t look back. My mom woke up with labor pains about about 2am and she and my dad rushed to the hospital just barely in time; I was delivered not too long after they got there. Because it was the middle of the night, my dad had just jammed his feet into his slippers on his way out the door; and his slippers were one of the earliest indulgent purchases in my parents’ marriage, so they had very…slippery Italian leather soles, apparently. When my mom’s water broke he slipped and slid all over the hospital room and eventually fell, hitting his head on the floor and getting a concussion!
My mom labored away as all the nurses rushed to deal with my dad, and I was born before they had finished checking him over and making sure he was ok. My mom said that in the moment, she was so irritated that he took all the medical attention and all the nurses away, and meanwhile my dad was so stressed and disoriented from the fall – but to hear them tell the story, once they saw me, everything else just melted away and they were the happiest people on earth.
I like that so many of my identifying personality traits were present right there from the moment of my birth! From my late-blooming tendencies to my somewhat stereotypical middle-child role as the mediator/defuser of conflict, I was me right from the beginning.
I love birth!!! My last three babies were all born at home into their father’s hands. I am so very thankful for such blessed births! Congratulations on the new grandson Jill!!! :)
Blessings to your daughter, Jill!
I still have a hard time believing those stories about the women who didn’t know they were pregnant until they had to go to the bathroom and discover a baby in the toilet!
Blessing for Daena and Jill:
May the pains of pregnancy be few and may the pains of labor be diminished.
May your children cause you to grow in joy.
May your desire for husband increase and may he recognize and make room for your gifts.
May your children cause the serpent to be as anxious as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Ps 127:3-5 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. [Deut 28:4.]
4 As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city’s] gate. AMP
my mom had two long labors with my older brother and my older sister…my sister (the eldest of us) was ~ONE MONTH overdue (and to this day continues the trend of being late for many things….hmmmm). So, when she felt labor pains with me….she thought for sure I’d be a long labor…so she dropped my brother and his friend off at preschool and went grocery shopping…..no, she did not give birth in aisle 6! The checkout clerk knew she was overdue (I was 10 days overdue) and saw she was definitely in labor….well, my mom went home and unloaded groceries and then called the doctor….he said to immediately get to the hospital….my dad locked his keys in the car at work….but luckily he was able to get his equipment somehow and to film me as a newborn (with old projection camera….this was before video cameras!). So, I was born within an hour or so of my mom arriving at the hospital…..I one ounce short of 9 pounds!
The doctor who delivered me died of canccer some years back, but one time when my mom had a regular checkup appointment, I got to meet him. That was a great day.
All four of mine (all vaginal, unmedicated hospital births) are here: http://a-star-of-hope.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-birth-stories.html
This is probably my favorite birth story, about a baby born in a car: http://marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com/2010/03/birth-story-of-week-is-that-my-uterus.html
I’ll just say all of the stories above are in a tie to be my favorite. :)
My youngest sister was born on the day I made my first holy communion in 1964. Mom’s water broke in the middle of Mass and I saw my folks duck out the side door of the church, and it never occurred to me what was going on.
When we got outside the church my other siblings and I were approached by one of the nuns who told us that we had a new baby sister who was born in the dining room of the convent after a 10 munute labor.
She has upstaged me ever since.
I love labor stories!! I’ll share my most recent. It was awesome. I gave birth to my second son a little over a month ago on March 15th. I was supposed to take my oldest son to pre-school but realized I was bleeding. I was terrified. We called the doc but she was in surgery and so my husband and I raced to the hospital. On the way my contractions started, every two minutes from the get go. They checked me and pronounced the bleeding was normal labor bleeding. My mom lives an hour away. I thought I’d have all day so I told her not to come yet. She was with me when my first son was born. But I went quickly! 4 hours later my son was born (all natural) and my mom pulled into the hospital parking lot as he took his first breath and achieved personhood (har, har). It was the most amazing experience of my life.
I went 99% natural with my first son but chickened out right as I dilated to 10. They placed the epidural as his head was crowning. I was always mad at myself for that. I went through the worst parts of labor (the contractions) anyhow. So this time I was determined to do it 100% drug free. Feeling my son emerging from my body was amazing! I can’t even describe the sensation. Holding him all wet and warm on my chest was amazing! Seeing his scrunched up little face for the first time and realizing this was who was in my womb for 9 months growing and kicking and hiccuping…was amazing. Sweetest days of my life was my wedding and the days my two little boys were born.
I should say my own – i was induced at a routine doctor’s appointment for pre-ecamplsia. I labored for 17 hours and some change all together. Fully dilated and effaced and pushed for 2 1/2 hours before I ended up with a casearean. It was scary, I even needed to be put under for my c section because time was of the essence and they could not get my pain meds to work.
I should say it was that, because I’m proud of it. But my mother had three difficult deliveries. All of them requiring forceps, my oldest sister’s being the worst. 36 hours of labor, incorrectly administered epidural, she had a fever, was sick and in pain. Made me respect the office of mother all the more. That is part of the BEGINNING of everything that mom’s have to do. Top that off with 18 more years of rushing children around the home, then a lifetime of worrying if they’re OK.
I do know a girl that was sent home from the hospital – only to deliver in the toilet in her bathroom unexpectedly. They were about to try to return to the hospital because she knew she was going to have to push. Unfortunately, he came minutes later in their home. Thankfully he was OK, and still is today.
We women, we’re tough!!!!! Grrrr!!
Oh, and I think I told this story here before, but a woman I work with gave birth in her own apartment – unplanned. She was at home one evening with her 2-year old daughter, and she sent out some work e-mails to all of us, then ordered a pizza. Just then she felt the contractions come on, FAST. She sat down on the bathroom floor to rest for a moment and before she knew it, she was fully in labor. She talked her daughter through calling 911, but the baby came within minutes. The pizza guy arrived shortly thereafter, and the ambulance arrived last of all. How’s that for “fast delivery”? :)
Meanwhile we were all obliviously replying to her work e-mails until she finally caught her breath enough to respond, “I just had a baby, I’ll need to get back to you later.” Shut us right up!
Congratulations and good luck, Jill.
I kinda love ALL labor and delivery stories, because I love babies, and pregnancy and birth have always been fascinating to me. I’ve told my own story several times on here.
LizFromNebraska: I and my sister were BOTH about a month late in coming. ;) My sister was SUPPOSED to be born December 17,1962. She ended up being born January 31, 1963. I was supposed to be born May 17, 1965. I was born June 18, 1965.
I always thought my mother’s story about my youngest brother Michael’s birth was sort of funny. She THOUGHT she felt contractions, so they drove 30 miles to the hospital. By the time they got there, whatever she was feeling had stopped. She was walking around outside in front of the hospital to see if she could “get things going” again. A nurse asked her if this was her first baby. She said “No. This is my FOURTH”. The nurse went into a panic, and tried to hurry her upstairs to labor and delivery. She said “But I’m not hurting.” The nurse finally managed to get her up there in a bed. My brother was born 17 minutes later!
Carder..I think you deserve some sort of medal for that! ;)
Congratulations to your entire family Jill! Hope all is going smoothly for Daena right now! How exciting!
My mom scheduled a C-section when she was pregnant with me because I was breech and had been throughout the entire pregnancy. She was prepped for surgery, and the doctors did one last ultrasound–it showed that I had finally turned to head first at 40 weeks. So the OB decided to send my mom home, figuring she could deliver vaginally.
Four days later, my mom returned to the OB for a checkup. He did another ultrasound and found that I had turned BACK to being breech. At that point, he must have been sick of dealing with my prenatal gymnastics, because he sent her straight to the OR. But I wasn’t done making my mother uncomfortable, apparently, because after I had turned back, I had gotten myself pretty stuck. My mom was nauseated during surgery to begin with, and became sick due to the doctors struggling to get me out. I wound up requiring forceps. During a C-section. To top it off, her spinal wore off before they were done, and she felt all of the staples.
Needless to say, my parents have loved to remind me of this story (namely, my stubbornness) over my 21 years of life.
Congrats Jill!
My favorite L&D stories are my wife’s, obviously. :) She’s amazing and made us two beautiful kids by doing something that honestly looks like pure torture to me. Props to all you ladies.
My name is Blessing. I was a miracle baby.
This is my mom’s birth story. My parents were told they’d never get preggers. My mom had endometriosis with regular cleanings, half a fallopian tube, half an ovary, fertility treatments and my father had one undecended testicle. It took themm 6 years. My mom had given up hope and cancelled a D & C appt. for the endometrial cleaning. She learned she was pregannt with me.
Here I am 37 years later telling her story on a PROLIFE blog! God Bless!!
Congratulations to the entire family! LL
I guess my fave would have to be my last birth, gave birth at home with my sister as midwife, pretty much my entire family was there (mostly outside) and my mother in law was playing the harmonica like an old blues man and all of us were eating fried chicken. You would have thought it was just another family cookout. Cajuns. LOL.
Lovin’ ALL of these stories! ;)
Happy Birthday ….. !
Enjoy the day.
BTW, any name yet?
My mother was a “blue baby”, born with the umbilical chord wrapped around her neck. She’s had poor vision in one eye because of it. I was over a month premature, and the first photo of me at five days shows the scrawniest little newborn. I more than made up for that! :)
We all have amazing, skin-of-our-teeth stories in our families. How awful it is that so many have manufactured tragic stories when we are all so lucky to have the family we do, or to be here ourselves.
Every day is Mother’s Day. Thanks, Moms!
All this talk of giving birth is making me a bit light-headed.
Kudos to women in general – I couldn’t do it. I’ve been really constipated a few times in my life and that was more than bad enough.
Congratulations! Wow…big boy!
Any news yet? I’m having sympathy pains here.
Yay, baby!!
Question, Jill: did you actually SEE the conference of personhood????
Congratulations. What a beautiful baby. His position reminds me of my first child, my strong-willed girl. She had those fists just like that, came out fighting!!! :0
Congratulations!!!!!!! Here’s to a long and healthy life!!
He’s beautiful!! Give him some smoochies from all his blog aunties!
Welcome to the world, little one!
My “favorite” birth story is my oldest. I was inabor with him for 7 weeks!
My water broke at 23 weeks and I was 3cm dilated. At the hospital, they gave me a plethora of drugs to stop labor.
They told me I might be able to hang on for a few more days. A week, tops. Well, my oldest was stubborn, and so was I. He was transverse, and his little butt was on my cervix, acting like a stopper.
I held out for 7 weeks, but finally developed an amniotic infection. They did a csection, and he was born weighing 2lbs, 4 oz.
He’s now almost 7. He’s my miracle man!
Congratulations Jill and fam!!! :)
With my third I labored for the day at home. I got to the hospital and the nurse said, “Do not move. You are at a 9.”
I heard her calling my doctor, “NO I AM NOT KIDDING!! YOU NEED TO GET HERE!!”
He arrived covered with sheet rock dust(he was working on his basement)sat down and caught my boy.
Since I currently have 8 born children, I have lots of favorite birth stories, including being pulled over by the police on the way to have #7 and then arriving at the hospital fully dilated. My 8th delivery makes quite a story too. At a certain point, my husband told the nurse she needed to call the doctor in because the baby was going to be coming very soon. Since at my last check I still had a ways to go, she didn’t think it was time to. My husband insisted, saying he had seen me give birth 7 other times and could tell it was close. Reluctantly, she called the doctor. The baby was born about 10 minutes later. I think the nurse was amazed that my husband could tell better than she could.
Mike, your story worries me a bit. My son is making his First Communion in a few weeks and my due date with baby #9 is 2 days later. I sure hope I don’t have the same experience as your mother!
Congratulations Grandma Jill :)
Aw, he’s so squashed and cute! Congratulations to y’all…especially Daena. :D
Woo hoo! He’s a fat little spud!! Sooooo Cute.
My second baby boy was nicknamed Spud for his first couple of years. So sweet, fat and easy going. Just a happy lil’ potato.
My first birth was the awesome one. Fairly mild contractions 20 minutes apart starting about 2 in the morning. Left for the hospital at 9:30. Baby was born 15 minutes after we arrived. Honestly, I can say it wasn’t even painful. Just a lot of effort to push him out. I felt tired but happy.
Congratulations, Jill! And daena, congratulations to you…you are a beautiful mother and your baby is a blessing!
I liked the first of my daughter better than when I went through it the second time around to have my son.
I had had a check-up appointment that morning, and it wasn’t my regular OB. It was a nice resident who took pity on me when I told her I wanted a baby and was tired of being pregnant. She said, “I can help you, if you really want.” because I was dilated about 2 or 3 centimeters and she said it wouldn’t take much to get me going. So I said yes, please, she gave me a poke and told me that she was lifting the amniotic sac from my uterus. Nothing about it was too remarkable. I was like, “Is that it?” and went on my way. After the appointment, my ex and I drove the 40 miles down to see my family and hang out for a bit. We watched “Kung Pow: Enter The Fist”, and I laughed my head off. It was hilarious. About half way through I started feeling weird cramps, but I didn’t think much of it, because I’d been having false labor in the evenings anyway. It was pretty late on our way back, and just for fun I decided to start timing my cramps. By the time we got back into the city they were about 5 minutes apart. I think I was in a little bit of denial. My ex had wanted to go directly to the hospital, but I told him I’d be fine, so we went home. He took a nap. -_-
I started getting really, really uncomfortable and feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, but when I tried, it felt like my butt was going to fall off. I consulted a buddy on my friend list about it, and he was like, “Umm…you need to go to the hospital. Like, right now.” So, I tried to wake up my ex, and he was like, “You should’ve gone earlier then.” (Yes, he’s an @$$, I know this now), but I was finally able to get him up and we went to the hospital. As soon as I came in they hooked me up to the monitor, and after about 15 minutes of that they sent me to my room. I had my epidural (Man, do I ever love those) and was comfortable enough to take a nap after that. I woke up a few hours later, tossed my cookies at transition (mom teased me about that-she had 6 living kids naturally and never puked), had to have my water broken (still have yet to have it break on its own), and it was all downhill from there. It was easy-peasy. She loves her mommy and had the compassion to be only 7 lbs 6 oz. I was able to tease my mom because I didn’t need an episiotomy (my mom had to have one with every one of us kids, I told her they should’ve installed a zipper or something).
So, if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have a guy mansplain what it’s like to give birth, there ya go. Looking back, it’s painfully obvious just how new I was to the whole “childbirth” thing. I’m embarrassed for what a rookie I was!
Love,
xalisae-the grown woman with the sensibilities of a 15 year old boy
Congrats, Jill and family! He reminds me a little of my son. He was over 9 lbs at birth, too. We used to call him Curly because he looked like a fat little stooge-bald as a cue ball. A year after that, we were able to call him Curly for another reason. He had developed a mighty afro. :)
Congratulations Daena, Andy, and grandma Jill!
Welcome Baby! We’re all so proud of you!
I remember for our second daughter driving through Houston traffic when my wife announced “I need to push”!!!
Honey you cannot push now I said speeding (or crawling) through cars.
Our hospital was right across from NASA mission control.
Our daughter was crowning in the elevator a few minutes later.
I never had a “mission” harder than that!
Forgot to send my congrats to Jill and family !!! Sorry !
What an awesome thing to have a Grandma that is the best pro-life warrior and blogger EVER !
Grandma Jill R O C K S !!!
hippie, “Happy little potato”…LOL…cracked me up!
Congrats Daena, Andy…and grandma Jill! He’s beautiful!
He looks like another a prolifer!!
One more for our side. Call him Dutch or “the Gipper”
Congratulations.
sidenote: It turned into an afro, but started as a mohawk. MY SON IS FREAKIN’ HARDCORE! <3
Here’s to hoping your cute new grandson is just as full of win and awesome.
He looks like he has what they call “attytood” in Philly.
xalisae,
What, no tats/birthmarks?
Thanks for well wishes everyone! He is SO CUTE! Mommy, Daddy, and (still unnamed) baby are all doing well. Can’t wait to see them today.
Blessings on your new grandson Jill. How exciting for you and your family. He is so cute.
I have to say this…He looks like a fighter, a fighter for Life.
Hans, I had the same thought! Between the facial expression and the fist, that picture is begging for a “You talkin’ to ME?” caption.
Hans,
Nothing cool. Just a blotch on the back of his leg. But it does show he’s a chip off of mom’s old block, since I have the same exact one on MY leg. His birthday’s only 2 days after mine, which is scary, because I know how hard-headed and combative I am. :X
X-we wouldn’t have it any other way ;)
Congratulations Jill and Family. What a handsome little man!
When I went into labor with my third baby, I was in the middle of a pool tournament (yeah, I was quite a shark back in my glory days). I didn’t want to leave because I was shooting well and wanted that first place. So I spent the next two hours in labor but still kept shooting pool. I took first place trophy and the $100 cash and got to the hospital with about 15 minutes to spare.
My third is by far the most competitive of the bunch. He broke three middle school track records last year and played Varsity Football as a freshmen this year.
Oh, our one was fun. Contractions started at 12am, got to the hospital at 8am, baby was born at 11.30 :) Vaginal, unmedicated birth with a midwife. However, there was a surprise when the little one started crowning and the midwife realized it wasn’t the head that’s coming out first… but the bum! But after changing a position into a more upright one, it only took a few minutes and Sofija was born :) I’m absolutely thrilled with how well everything went. We did get another shock when we found out we had a girl, because all the pregnancy we were absolutely sure we’re having a boy :D
Prax,
You’re such a liar! We all know that being a pregnant woman makes you a brain-addled invalid! :P
That’s a cool story, brah.
*Really Means It*
Thanks, X. I had a pink Viking and all. My belly circumference was smaller that day then it is now!
I might have had a tad advantage in that tourney though because by the middle of it, I was the only sober player. (:
Congratulations to Jill and her family. I you and your family every happiness.
Congrats Jill and family on the beautiful new grandbaby!! Enjoy!!!
Yay for little people! :-D
Congratulations, blessings, well-wishes, and virtual high-fives to Daena and Andy!
One thing I’m wondering, though; am I the only who hears “Eye Of The Tiger” when looking at his picture? Seriously, to me, he looks like he’s thinking, “You want some o’this? I will smack you SO FAST…!”
Little people are awesome. :-)
Congratulations!
wonderful! congrats!