Submitted by Crystal
This is a subject near and dear to my heart (I have four children), so I can briefly share some of my birthing experiences. My first one was 16 years ago - I was young and didn’t do much research, just kind of went along for the ride - but it was a fantastic pregnancy - I had no morning sickness and no other problems. I got pretty lucky with the labor and birth as well. My daughter was one week late by the time I went into labor. She was sunny-side up which hurt like the dickens, but I was only given a tranquilizer for the pain. I was also automatically given an episiotomy which was completely unnecessary and my biggest regret. From start to finish, my labor lasted about 18 hours long. She was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and a beautiful girl!
My second pregnancy came 10 years later. So many things were different with this one - I had morning sickness and many more aches and pains now that I was 10 years older! My son was 11 days late, and my labor was only 9 hours this time. I labored completely naturally with the end result giving birth to a 10 pound baby boy in water. It was fantastic!
My third was only a couple of years later and very similar in nature to my second. I was 15 days late this time (getting later and later with each pregnancy). Though I gave birth completely naturally again, I chose to not deliver in the water as planned (didn’t feel like getting back in the water!) but definitely felt the difference in pain - it was much worse without the soothing aid of the warm water. I gave birth to another boy, this time 9 lbs. 9 oz.
My fourth was a planned home birth baby, however things didn’t go as expected. By 37 weeks, my midwife noticed something wrong as the growth pattern of my uterus was off - it jumped enormously in just a couple of weeks. We suspected too much amniotic fluid (called polyhydramnios), and ultrasound showed it to be on the higher end of normal so we would just keep watch. One week later, I noticed my urine was orange (thought THAT was a bit strange and definitely a red flag!). I casually mentioned it to my midwife, and to make a long story short, the following blood tests confirmed HELLP syndrome, a very serious disease and potentially fatal to mother and baby. I was rushed to the hospital where the only cure is to deliver the baby. My son was born two weeks early via C-section. He was my smallest baby yet at 7 lbs. 1 oz (such a peanut compared to my other two boys!) but was perfectly healthy and beautiful! My case of HELLP was far from normal as most women who present to the hospital with this disease are extremely sick and have many complaints. The doctors were puzzled as I looked and acted and felt perfectly normal - my only problem was strange color urine! But thank goodness I listened to my body, did tons of online research to know it was problematic and mentioned it to my midwife. My birth experience was not what I had hoped for or planned for, but how can I complain when I have three adorable sons and a beautiful daughter? My message to other women now is to be smart and always listen to your body paying very careful attention to it, even if it seems minor and insignificant - it could save your life and your baby’s!
