Before we get to Five Question Friday, let me share with you my most recent Facebook status: “You should stop what you’re doing right now and go see Skyfall.” And, seriously, that’s what you ought to do. Now, admittedly, I’m sort of pre-disposed to enjoy a Bond film, but this one was really and truly awesome. Oh, and no spoilers, but since I mentioned the new Q the other day, I’ll say that he was pretty cool. So, yeah, go see it.
Okay, let’s get down to business. Today’s questions are all about childbirth, which was a long time ago for me, but I think I can still give it a shot. If you want to play along with Mama M, just drop on by My Little Life.
1. If you had c-section do you wish you would have had vaginal? Or vice versa?
It was vaginal for me, and that was fine with me. At the time, or more accurately, shortly before the time, I remember having a fleeting thought that a c-section might be easier, but it’s not something you can just do because you’ve got a whim. And, besides, in calmer moments I realize that I was probably off-base about the whole easier thing, anyway. I’m fine with the way it worked out.
2. If vaginal did you go drug free?
Yes. I had hoped to make it that way, just from a why-risk-it point of view, though I wasn’t sure I’d actually get it done. I might not’ve mentioned it before, but I’m something of a wimp; pain tolerance is not really my strong suit. And, in truth, it got bad enough that I finally broke down and asked for some drugs, but by then I was too far along and was mostly through the worst of it anyway.
3. Did you have any complications?
Nope; things really went pretty smoothly. The entire pregnancy was pretty simple—except for some swollen feet that caused me to exchange my shoes for slippers the final few months—and the labor/delivery went along okay, too. There were a couple of moments that apparently briefly scared the others in attendance when I had a tiny bit of trouble breathing and my heart rate got kind of low, but they stuck an oxygen mask on me and everything was good. Me, I barely remember that part.
4. Who was in the delivery room with you?
My husband and my mom. Others, including my sisters and my granny (who was still “grandma” until this ordeal was over, then immediately became “granny”) came in a time or two, but only Mama and Brian for the whole thing.
5. Did you document your labor and delivery? (Photos, videos, etc.)
No. Brian’s about as much of a shutterbug as I am, but has no sense of decorum at all, so I laid down the law about video and inappropriate pictures. There were photos immediately following Billy’s arrival, and even as much as I love pictures, I still think that was plenty soon enough.
6. Pick the birth story of one of your children and tell us ALLLLLLLL about it!
Well, first of all, clearly this has turned into a six question Friday, but that’s okay. And, second of all, I’ve only got one kid, and the story isn’t all that exciting (smooth sailing, remember?), but I’ll tell you a bit about it anyway.
Things started on a Thursday night, with contractions that kept me awake most of the night. By Friday morning, I’d had about half an hour of sleep and knew there was no way I could go into work, so I called in. They were all excited, but by then things had pretty much stopped, so I finally got some rest. Brian, too. He was working nights at the time, but my tossing and turning hadn’t done much for his sleep patterns, either. Anyway, I had an already scheduled doctor appointment later that afternoon, so Brian also decided to stay home for the evening. As it turned out, it was a good thing.
Still no more action by the time the appointment rolled around, and not much dilation to speak of, so doc said to go about my business, and if there was no baby by Monday, we’d induce. (I was 11 days past due at this point.) So, we went home. It was mid-September, so we did what we always do around that time of year—closed down the pool. Apparently a couple of hours out in the yard was just what I needed, as the contractions started again by evening time. My mom had come by when she got off work and was hanging around for the night, just to see how things were going. Around nine, she thought we probably should be heading to the hospital, but I was determined I would not be one of those people with the false alarms getting sent back home again, so I stuck it out another 30-45 minutes just to make sure, then we headed out. I will never forget how absolutely terrified I was at that moment; I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking when I decided to be a mother. As we were driving down the road, I said to Brian, “I can’t; I’m not ready.” He very clearly pointed out that the time to decide that had been about nine months earlier.
As I said, in the hospital, things went pretty smoothly. I was a few years into a bad spell of insomnia, so I’d learned how to do some self-relaxation/guided imagery type stuff. I had my Walkman (remember those?) loaded with the relaxation music, and just zoned out into my own little world. It was like a trance where I could still carry on conversations with people and do what needed doing, but when you combine that with the whole can’t-remember-pain bit, most of the actual delivery is just a blur to me. All I know is at the end of the night (or, more accurately, very early Saturday morning), I had a bouncing bundle of joy, and not a day has gone by that I haven’t been delighted with my choice.
So that’s it—all about how Billy came into this world. It remains the best day of my life.
You parents out there have any exciting birth stories to share?
