bad labor/delivery domino effect...?

Billie - posted on 09/26/2012

my first one was induced and i had the worst nurse ever. she claimed she was from cali. and delivered over 300 babies a night. her pupils were dilated and she was very skinnyj--looked like a crackhead.



there were only 2 nurses on duty that night and the older nicer one was with a woman who had already had four babies.



so i'm sitting in this rough bed trying to concentrate on child birth and this cracked up nurse is looking back and forth in all the drawers for something.



i wanted to do the birth natural and i kept telling them again and again i didn't want any drugs. they gave me demerol and i started vomiting. then they kept trying to urge me to get an epidural. when the contractions got really bad and i started yelling the nurse came in and told me to be quiet. the nurse tried to put in a catheter and got mad at me for peeing on her.



when i got to a 7 i finally agreed to the spinal which they had trouble putting in since i have scoliosis. right after the spinal my contractions escalated and i felt the urge to push. the nurse stuck her hand deep inside me and i was worried she was touching the baby's head. i tried to push and she kept sticking her hand in me each time i had to push. she said i couldn't do it and she removed the spinal.



i pushed for 2 hours. i kept asking where my doctor was and why hadn't she called him. she didn't respond and instead tried to deliver my baby herself.



i tore in four places down there. the pain was terrible. it took a good while for the doctor to stitch me up all the while i never saw my daughter until they left the room with her. she had been in distress inside me because i had to push for so long that she swallowed some meconium.

i didn't get to see my daughter until 3 o clock the next day (she was born at 4 in the morning).



when we tried to leave the hospital they wouldn't let us take any recieving blankets, diapers, baby tee shirts. the nurse checked my baby to see if she had anything on her that belonged to the hospital.



i hated it and i am so afraid that my next one is going to be a negative experience. i'm 6 months pregnant now and planning on going medication free. i don't care if i scream that's what women do when they are pushing a baby out of them!

Amy - posted on 12/30/2009

I know it's kinda old, but I wanted to share my story! I had issues when they broke my watter. I dilated 3 cm in an hour! They then gave pain meds via an IV and who ever was doing it gave me too much I guess. I was snoring then when I had a contraction I was screaming for pain meds. I was also in labor for over 24 hours and hadn't eaten in 24 hours so by the time it was done they ended up using a vacuum to help get him out!

I talked to a midwife about it and she said that some people just do that, and if that's how I am, it's possible the same thing could happen! EAK! Although this time I will not let them break my watter!

Kassandra - posted on 10/29/2009

I had 3 babies and 3 bad experiences. With my first it was natural, I went into hospial 3 times over 3 days for contractions and they kept saying I wasn't having contractions because they did not register on the monitor. When I started the hard labor I didn't want to go to hospital, but hubby made me. I had been in labor 1 hour, got to hospital and sure enough the nurse said it wasn't labor probably cramps! I was only patient so dr. checked me and I was at 10, I was so mad I looked right at him and said "You guys just told me I wasn't in labor!" She was there 15 min later.



I was induced with #2 and the idiot that put in the epidural put it in to the side and I felt stabbing pain from my hip to my toes I yelled and she tried again, this time I went numb on one side from hip to toes. The third try I told her she better get it right or take it out, she got it right but they turned med up too high and I couldn't push when it was time. 20 mins later it finally wore of and I could push.



With my third I was induced but wanted no epi. After 7 hours I caved because I know that an epi can speed up labor. They checked me first and I was at 6, I sat up and they tried to start the epi and I told them to stop when he put the needle in because I had to push. The nurse looked at me and told me that was not the urge to push, I know what it feels like I was on my 3rd! They told me once the epi was started they couldn't stop it but I could go ahead and push since I probably just had to have bm. So I pushed, the nurse finally listened when my water splashed all over her. Needless to say they took the needle out of my back and my baby was there within 5 minutes.



I don't really think the meds are what makes it horrible it is the docs and nurses who think they know your body and what you are feeling better than you do. Sorry that was so long, but I get mad when I think about it.

Tessa - posted on 10/28/2009

OMG Arwen.... I would have sued for abuse!!! They can't touch you or tell you what to do like that. Your story sounds scarier than mine. I won't go into details, but lets just say that things will be totally different this time. I am taking control and not letting the midwives in unless I feel I need them. No internal examinations for me! No interference and certainly no people walking in and out.
I have a little knowledge and experience behind me this time and I will be using it to my full advantage.
I was lucky to be able to stick mostly to my plan even with all the interference. I birthed a 9lb 12oz baby girl with gas at transition. But I am still traumatised by the birth of Hannah that I am extremely scared of this next birth going down the same road.
My advice is write a very strong and definate birth plan that include "in case of" scenarios and give it to the midwives, have it placed in your file and post it on the door and walls in large print :D

Shawnie - posted on 05/18/2009

Ohhh yes I feel that way. I believe my labor would have been just fine if I had stuck to my original plan of being at a birthing center with a midwife. I chickened out halfway through the pregnancy and decided I wanted an epidural, so I switched to a doctor. Well, my water broke as my first sign of labor, and by the time I got to the hospital my contractions were bad. They gave me the epidural right away, and my nurse, who I am pretty sure was new, sprayed my blood everywhere trying to do the IV. Then someone decided I needed to have an amnioinfusion to put back some water because the baby might be sitting on her cord "just in case." Well of course I was all for safety at that point. Anyway then I spiked a fever, and once I got to 10 cm my contractions were frequent but not strong enough and of course I couldn't feel a thing to help. After about 2 minutes of pushing the doc (who I had just seen for the first time 5 minutes before and wasn't my regular doctor) decided that the baby wasn't coming down and I needed a c-section. Well then, the epidural wasn't working well on one side so they had to put me out completely for the surgery so I couldn't even see straight when they brought my little girl to me to see before they whisked her away (arggghhh still makes me mad). Then I was on IV antibiotics for 3 days because of the fever, THEN my incision got infected. It was hell.



Needless to say, next time I am going VBAC all the way. The pain doesn't scare me anymore after what I went through with the c-section (and problems that I subsequently had breastfeeding). I will make sure it doesn't happen again!!!

Arwen - posted on 05/17/2009

I hated my labor and delivery. I could rant about it for hours, but here's the short version:



I had to be induced, but wanted to go natural. When I got there, I got no support from the nurses. One told me in a very nasty way that the pain will be indescribable. I wasn't allowed to have a gown for my back, they said I had to stay put, but I could still go to the bathroom. It was very pleasant trying to do that every ten minutes(hooked up to a bag of water) with my father-in-law in the room.



The IV hurt so much. It was in my wrist on the inside. It had such an ache I couldn't move my arm. I told them, but they wouldn't try to redo it.



When my doctor broke my water, he didn't even warn me. He just came at me. First pregnancy and he doesn't bother telling me what's happening. Just flips up the gown and jabs. When the bad contractions start, it is centered around my cervix. I know it felt that way because he had to poke around in there to break the bag. It felt so bruised, like running a body part into a sharp corner. No pain any where else. Not where I got mentrual cramps, not my back... Just right down there.



They made me lay down to monitor me. The doctor said I could have IV pain meds, all I wanted. First thing a nurse did was complain when I wanted them again, tried to scare me about them. So I went without. Even my family ticked me off. I didn't want anyone in there while I was contracting, and they just kept wandering in and out.



When I finally broke down for the epidural, and I was sat up to have it, the pain vanished. Position really does make a difference! But that doctor was quick. That epidural was in before I could tell them it didn't hurt anymore. It took him under 45 seconds to complete it.



I didn't get to keep a nurse. Different woman putting her fingers in my lady bits every time I was checked. I'd rather be a one woman girl. And why do they hurt so much, and I didn't feel a thing with the doc? Did they have absurdly long nails? I don't know.



I was crowning for 20 minutes before they knew. It was my first, so I didn't understand the poop feeling.



The beds were awful. It was a Suite. Labor, deliver, and recover all right there. Right there was a hard mattress that is usually found in the ER. Not so bad laboring or delivery...recovering with an episiotomy is another story. Cue the witchy nurses complaining about pain meds I wouldn't have needed if I was on a normal bed.... and more about how I'm not having a bm for them. Hello, I had to do the Enima, was starved for over a day, and then you served a dry steak and chocolate cake with tea. I'm not going to need to go for DAYS!



Oh, can't forget the vomiting while I was in labor! I told them "no Demerol!" My dad is allergic, and I'm allergic to everything he is normally. "Don't worry, this is related to Demerol, but it's not strait up Demerol!" It's so nice to see your grandmother for the first time in months and start yelling for the trashcan.



The perfect end to this was watching the rough nursery nurses almost drop my daughter while they bathed her. Less than a foot from the floor when they stopped the fall.



Why am I trying to have another one again?