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fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Yes I know it was a long time ago. But thinking about my upcoming grandchild made me think about this topic. I remember when I was pregnant with that son. Lamaze was in full swing and I wanted to try it. My Mum gave a grim smile and said " We'll see...". Then hearing my daughter in law a few weeks ago took me back there. Her friends have told her she can be strong and not take any drugs...and I just smiled and agreed with her.

I had five...no I don't know what the &%$@ I was thinking...maybe too many episodes of The Walton's, goodnight John-Boy.
The two identical moments that stand out for every birth. When they bring in the bassinette and you realize "Hooly crap, there's going to be someone in there at the end of all this". The other is that feeling during the second stage of " Okay that is it, I can't do this, I am not doing this, somebody else can do this I give up".

But they all came into the world squalling. Child one was Lamaze for a good half hour then every drug they had to offer. Baby two and the anesthesia windowed. So basically everything above and below the pain zone was numb. The pain zone made my eyes cross. Baby three and they didn't believe it was time for delivery so fast. A shot of Nubain and me and baby both slept through the birth. Baby four and the doctor called it in from the golf course. No one available to okay drugs, it was natural, but you know the recovery was easier. Baby five was a blessed epidural and almost pain-free.

I wish I could do Lamaze with my daughter in law but I know now...take the drugs. So how about you? Gentlemen, if you were in the room feel free to chime in.
 

I was alone in a hotel in Ankara, Turkey when I went into labor early in the a.m. I wandered down to the reception desk and asked them to call the military hospital to come get me. Unfortunately, there was a major riot going on, so they couldn't send an ambulance. Instead, they sent a hearse and the elderly gentleman driving it made me get into the back and lie down. I could hear sirens, yelling and breaking glass all the way to the hospital. When we got there, electricity was out, which meant elevators were out and I had to walk up to the 4th floor maternity ward. I was in a race with the lady in the next bed for who got the only delivery room and who had to deliver out in the hall. I won.

The OB, who, of course, I had never met before, was the son-in-law of the Turkish president and was American-trained. He sang Turkish love songs to me while I cursed him, my husband who was 250 miles away and blissfully unaware that any of this was going on, the male corpsman who was my attendant, God, and, in general, all men in existence. I wanted my husband, my mother, and strong anesthesia, but not necessarily in that order. I wanted THIS.TO.BE.OVER!!!

They say that women forget just how bad it hurt. I really do believe that, because an hour later I was saying "Now, that wasn't THAT bad!"

The really rough part was flying home later that week in a Red Cross Medevac plane, hitting a bad storm over the mountains and almost going down. All I could think was "I JUST WENT THROUGH HELL AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO DIE??? THANKS HEAPS, GOD!"

It was worth it. I just had to keep telling myself that during the teen years.....
 
Although I was there at the time I can't really remember it, but I weighed in at 13.5 lbs!

Twenty minutes after birth (I am told) I was being pushed down the road in my pram by my sister, and all my baby clothes had to be given away as they were too small! Many friends and neighbours were quite indignant when they first saw me, as they thought my mother had give birth weeks before and they had not been told.

When my mother asked the doctor what it was he said "I think it's a baby elephant!", and from that day to this I have been known by the family name of Jumbo!
 

I was one of a twin, born 8 weeks premature..weighing just 2lbs ( me ) and my brother less than that. They were able to revive me, but not my twin. Both of us were given names which started with the same initial..I was kept in intensive care for 2 months before being allowed home. 14 months later when the next sibling was born at a healthy weight, he was given my twins' name as a middle name!!

Anyway I digress...I know your asking about our experiences about giving birth ...but I had such a traumatic time ( ( there was more than what I'm saying here but I'll not depress anyone with the details)...I was tiny didn't weigh more than 85 pounds , too small to give birth to a 7pounder without a struggle ..3 day labour.. agonising natural labour ( they've even run out of Gas and air I kid you not)...and then finally she went into distress and they sliced me open urgently..and 57 stitches later ..I had no inkling to even look at the baby at that precise moment , I just wanted some desperately needed sleep ..I'd had no food for 3 days...and they tried to feed me a bowl of cornflakes right after I gave birth!!!


OMG jujube, the Turkish presidents' s-i-l sang love songs to you while you were in labour?..wow!! What a claim to fame!! ..what a story!! ..and what a guy!! Are you still in touch with him?

..and you're right they do say women forget how Bad the pain was...believe me this is one woman who has Never forgotten!! :rolleyes:
 
No horror stories to relate. All went exceptionally well, I was healthy, never any morning sickness and the birth went as smoothly as one could want. Only problem is we had just moved across the country and had no place to live yet, staying with friends, so in those days, a hospital stay of 5 days was a blessing, during which an apartment was found and baby had a home.
 
I'm not sure this is true because I don't remember anything about it. But, the story goes that I was born a twin, and was #2 by fifteen minutes behind my sis. I was so small they had to leave me in the incubator for several days 'til I reached five pounds. (I wish I still had that underweight problem.)

The noteworthy part of the story was the cost for my sis and I and I still have the hospital bills to show what a bargain we were. I was the more expensive one due to the days of solitary in the incubator. Still, we were just unbelievable bargains by modern standards:

c1943-12-26 birth bills.jpg
 
I was so ugly a babe that dear mother says her first thought apon seeing me was "thank goodness she has been born in an age off plastic surgery" .

Years later my older sister told me that I must have been adopted as there were no baby photos of me. When I asked my mother if this was true she said "No dear, you were just ugly"
 
Oh jujube, you win the award for most harrowing birth story wooooof. A few other silly details. I smoked for many years. Baby one and I remember the smoking area was right off the patient area. The day after birth I sat there with him in one arm, a smoke. The OB sitting there chatting and smoking as well. Ash trays next to a hospital wing, how quaint.

Then there was the restriction of beverages. Some hospitals for liability reasons, if you needed an emergency C Sec. they wanted you to only suck ice chips. So labor is the equivalency of a marathon on your body. I snuck Gatorade bottles in every bag I had. I told my son to do the same for his beloved, they come in handy! Then with baby three I was delivered by the attending doctor. A happy Jamaican gentleman. Like I said they gave me Nubain moments before the final stage, I was almost asleep by then. But I remember him running in with the nurse and shouting "Time to cocch the baby now!" just before lights out. Hey it was painless.
 
I was in the delivery room when my son was born, but the story starts much earlier in the day. The day before the official "due date", my wife knew the delivery was pretty much on time. We had some signs the night before, but the doctor assured us it was too soon. So, I took the day off from work and we waited all day. Finally, when it seemed nothing was imminent, I told my wife I was heading out to visit some friends just up the road and when I got home a short time later, still nothing. So, my wife asks me to order some Chinese food. I headed into the kitchen to make the call and heard a shriek from the dining room and the sound of my wife hurrying to the bathroom. Her water had broken, so we knew it was time to head to the hospital.

Now, we had taken the lamaze classes, but do you think we practiced? I know I didn't. There we were in the car trying to remember what we had learned weeks earlier. We got to the hospital and after TWICE giving the nurses all of her info because they had lost the pre-admission paperwork, we settled in to a labor room. The nurse told us that my wife might not deliver that night, so I did what any young and foolish man would do...I turned on the football game (pre-season no less, Patriots vs. Cardinals)! Needless to say, it did not go over well with my by now uncomfortable wife and the game was promptly shut off.

Labor came on quickly after that and I have a distinct memory of my dear wife nearly choking me to death as I "coached" her and got a bit too close, her arm wrapping tightly around my now quite exposed neck. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the earlier football incident....but had more to do with her pain.....at least that's what she claims.

Later on, I was ordered by my wife in no uncertain terms to get her ice chips. I got two steps away and she screamed "Where are you going!!!" Ah yes, she was in the last stages of labor when someone came in and asked her if she wanted an epidural. She made it very clear that she was quite eager for anything that would relieve her pain, so yes please, an epidural would do nicely thank you very much. When I was allowed back into the room, my wife was now quite calm, and apparently quite numb from the waist down. Now all we had to do was wait for the Dr. The same Dr. who was at a party, somewhere a few towns away. They got ahold of him (this was well before cell phones) and he arrived just after midnight. My wife was whisked into the delivery room and moments later my son was produced (we had no idea if it was a boy or girl, having chosen not to know in advance). I stood at my wife's head, in awe of what had just happened and just giddy with emotion. All was fine, he was completely normal and for about two hours we got to bond in the hospital room before they sent me home for the night. I was a new dad. It was exhilirating. My in-laws who were waiting for hours down in the lobby were so excited, but not allowed upstairs to the ward. I'll never forget the look on my father-in-law's face. It was his first (and as it turned out, only) grandchild.

I drove home through empty streets, made myself a drink, downed a ham sandwich that I'd stuffed into my pocket before leaving for the hospital hours before, and made a few calls to any family members I could reach. My mom was not one of them as there was no answer. And, no answer the next day. In fact, no one could get ahold of her, so my sister called the police to ask the to check on her. She was fine, but her phone was not. The suggested that the new grandmother might like to call her son, and that's how she found out.

Not the most exciting story in the world, but one I cherish.
 
The birth of my two daughters was normal but if there was a nicer, less hurty, less messy way of having children I would opt for it - not had any inclination to have any more and although I love them to bits - mostly .. if I was young today and had the choices I probably would have opted for none. Does that make me a cold and hard hearted bitch?
 
Zante said:
The birth of my two daughters was normal but if there was a nicer, less hurty, less messy way of having children I would opt for it - not had any inclination to have any more and although I love them to bits - mostly .. if I was young today and had the choices I probably would have opted for none. Does that make me a cold and hard hearted bitch?
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No not at all Zante , IMO ..I'm the eldest of 9 ..( 6 still living ) . I didn't want Any children but ended up having 5..
 
My poor tiny little 95-pound mother was in labor with me for 54 hours. Yes, 54. My dad was in college and she went to a maternity clinic for her visits because that's all they could afford. When she was brought into the hospital in labor, every eight hours the doctor who had been looking after her left and a new one came on. Eight hours later, he'd leave and so on. Nobody had any incentive to hurry things along. I was a whopper and the ordeal about did both of us in. She had worn a bald patch off the back of her head and her heels were bleeding. Wouldn't happen today because the doctor would have had to stick around for the whole thing and we all know how long he would have put up with that.

Poor woman lost five babies between me and my next sister.
 
I did get to "catch" when my granddaughter was born. My son-in-law was up at the head of the bed with my husband and the doctor asked if anyone wanted to "catch". Both males turned pale and I about broke an ankle getting down to the end. I gowned, washed hands and put on gloves and got to hold her as she came out. I truly think that's why we bonded so well.
 
The birth of my two daughters was normal but if there was a nicer, less hurty, less messy way of having children I would opt for it - not had any inclination to have any more and although I love them to bits - mostly .. if I was young today and had the choices I probably would have opted for none. Does that make me a cold and hard hearted bitch?

No, not at all. If I knew then what I know now it would have been one and done. Maybe not even that. I would have had him at least ten years later...21, 22 I had no idea what I was doing with an infant. At thirty I might have known better. But really, truthfully, my Callie worships the ground I walk on. I can give him great big adult sized hugs, he's strong and fearless, adorable even when he snores like thunder. Could any human come close? Well don't tell hubby, but you know...
 
My oldest brother (who is 11 years older then me) told me our parents marriage seemed to fall apart about the time I was born. Does that count for anything.

My other brother can't figure out why I don't talk to him anymore. This is just one example of his stellar support of his only sister. Hmmm.....

But since he became a JW he has lots of brothers and sisters and is in no need of me.
 
Something my daughter in law said in passing one night. That my son wasn't so into children because he had to take care of his brothers and sisters too much. My goodness me, it wasn't because I had a crack habit. Those years I was working full time and going to college nights and weekends, his Dad was working two jobs as well...but they feel we weren't there for them jeez, we did what we could.
 
Zante said:
The birth of my two daughters was normal but if there was a nicer, less hurty, less messy way of having children I would opt for it - not had any inclination to have any more and although I love them to bits - mostly .. if I was young today and had the choices I probably would have opted for none. Does that make me a cold and hard hearted bitch?
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No Zante, it does not make you a cold hard hearted bitch. I enjoy my children more after they are grown up.
 
fureverywhere said:
Something my daughter in law said in passing one night. That my son wasn't so into children because he had to take care of his brothers and sisters too much. My goodness me, it wasn't because I had a crack habit. Those years I was working full time and going to college nights and weekends, his Dad was working two jobs as well...but they feel we weren't there for them jeez, we did what we could.
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Yes kids can be hurtful sometimes.
 

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