I have been wanting to post about the labor and delivery of sweet Elise Pearl and the difference between that of my Marshall Man's story. This is a little deeper than my usual posts...
Pregnancy:
Marshall- ate a ton of junk food, loved fruit, rarely exercised, hormones out of control (anxiety and depression), always felt sick and tired, felt him move around 18ish weeks, gained 40-45 pounds, had a doctor I clashed with (I had concerns and he would either laugh about them or say, "don't worry" leaving me clueless and irritated
Elise- hated junk food for the first two trimesters, loved fruit, exercised (had to chase that toddler around :)), mostly emotionally-well, felt healthy most of the time minus the three times I got the flu, felt her move at 17ish weeks (and Derek did too!), gained 25-30 pounds, had an awesome doctor that explained everything in detail whether I asked him to or not leaving me feeling prepared and somewhat ready to have the baby
Conclusion- every pregnancy is different for known and unknown reasons, I had had a lot of changes when I was pregnant with Marshall (finishing college, graduating from college, moving to a totally new place, trying to find a doctor and deal with california insurance, etc), having a good doctor makes a world of difference, I am a lot stronger of a person now- I have learned a lot and grown spiritually and mentally from the time I had Marshall, and after I had Marshall life just got happier in general. I love being a Mom and I feel like I was more prepared on knowing what to expect.
Labor and Delivery:
Marshall- No Braxton Hicks til the end, contractions (false) two weeks before delivery, lost my mucous plug right before real labor started, got the epidural almost immediately after checking into the hospital when I was dilated to a two, lost all feeling in the lower half of my body, slept for most of my 20 hours of labor while my body dilated to a 10, pushed for 30 minutes without feeling a thing, didn't get to hold my baby for over a half hour because he swallowed muconium, was shaking like crazy from the drugs when I finally got to hold him, had a rough hospital stay. He was 4 days early.
Elise- Braxton Hicks started at 20 weeks, false labor started at 32ish weeks, water broke, waited out an epidural til I was to a 7 (most painful and yet empowering thing I have ever done), could still feel my legs through delivery, pushed only 4 or 5 times, got to hold her almost immediately though she also swallowed muconium, wasn't shaky from meds, had a pleasant hospital stay. She was 2 weeks and 1 day early.
Conclusion-I was so scared of pain that my doctor loaded me up with pain meds and relaxers and a full dose of an epidural for Marshall which made me really loopy and shaky. This made recovery really hard. I couldn't even walk for a day after delivery making it hard to care for Marshall. With Elise I was more mentally strong from experience and preparation and I had doctors and nurses that didn't load me up on meds.
I don't mean to sound negative about my first pregnancy (How could I be? It gave me my Marshall which made it 100% worth it,) but the pregnancy just happened to be loads better the second time around. Its crazy how they could be so different as night and day. The two experiences have taught me a lot and have yielded two of the most beautiful and perfect children.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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4 comments:
I am glad the second time around was better. I am hoping for the same thing. Not that the first time was completely horrible. I just want a better experience. I am glad you are doing so well. Miss you!
Beyond that they are still different! All of my labors and deliveries have been different. But as you say, they're all worth it! :)
I had to ask Mom what Braxton Hicks was. Ouch!
Glad that the second pregnancy, labor and delivery went so much better! Each experience is different for as many different reasons, but as you say, they are each worth the struggles.
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