Submitted by Barbara in Albany, CA (To read more, visit Barbara here.)
I think one of the most fascinating things about childbirth is the variation of experience from woman to woman, and from pregnancy to pregnancy. During my pregnancy, I heard stories of morning sickness, practice contractions, and long painful labors. I prepared myself for these things to occur, but they never did! No morning sickness, no Braxton Hicks and no long painful labor. However, what did occur was a 4 day hospitalization for a kidney stone and kidney infection at 29 weeks pregnant, the removal of a tennis ball sized cyst from one of my ovaries after delivery and absolutely NO labor. Not one contraction. If you think that was fun, hold on to your seat because we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet…
Because my daughter was breech, a c-section was scheduled. I had no problem with this because the thought of going in for a procedure that would “turn the baby” was horrifying to me, and hearing that it was a bit painful didn’t make me jump at the chance to reclaim my right to a vaginal birthing experience. As I waited for my daughter’s birthdate, I wished that I would go into labor already. By the 32nd week I was done. I had already been hospitalized for the whole kidney mess and scared half to death that I might lose her or something. But she was there, in my womb, like a neat little package, content in her space and unwilling to roll over and do tricks. I was more than ready to meet her, but even up until the scheduled c-section, she was in no hurry to meet me. She’d lift her head and punch me, but that was as far as the excitement went. And my body was no different, I guess it just liked having her around.
Then came “b-day”. Upon meeting with the doctor, he reviewed my file and asked me if I was aware that I had a mass on one of my ovaries. What? No. He gave it to me straight. “You may have to have one of your ovaries removed, but you’ll still be able to have more children.” How did we go from having a baby to losing an ovary? After the smoke cleared, my ovary was saved and the mass, which turned out to be a cyst, was removed before I was stitched up following my daughter’s delivery. They held her up for me to see and then whisked her away to be cleaned up, weighed, measure and all of that good stuff. I laid there listening. Then finally I heard her cry out.
Once I went to recovery I learned that my baby had been taken to the NICU because she needed a little help with her breathing. She had fluid in her lungs because she bypassed the squeezing that comes with contractions and sliding through the birth canal. She stayed there for half the day. I was so eager to see her, to hold her, to feed her, that I asked and begged until the nurse wheeled me to the NICU in my hospital bed! Although they kept trying to reassure me that I could be with her as soon as I could feel my legs, I would have it no other way. Unfortunately, she was given a bottle and pacifier while in the NICU, which ruined my entire breastfeeding experience. Can we say “nipple confusion”?
That was 5 1/2 years ago. Aside from cold induced asthma, she has no respiratory problems as a result of being born with fluid in her lungs.
