Well, I am glad to hear that I am not alone in my bewilderment over clueless women birthing babes for fun and entertainment, I was beginning to wonder.... hmmmm. Maybe I should cut down on my cable tv consumption.
And to address a couple comments- I know the birth of my daughter was an anomaly- there was nothing normal about it and most women never even see a 24th of of labor, let alone twice that, thank goodness. A brief (as possible) explanation: I had pre-eclampsia and had to be induced at 37 and a half weeks. Inductions are not the fastest things ever and mine was no exception. I had two rounds of cervadil (12 hrs each) followed by pitocin. While the cervadil caused contractions I really made no progress dilation-wise until I got the pitocin so I got to experience all the fun of contractions with none of the results for a full day- yippee. My water broke naturally around 32 or so hours (not really sure, it is all a little hazy) and I finally dilated fully and got to push around 40 hours- and then I just kept pushing... I pushed for at least 7 hours which is unheard of but I had really good stamina and there was a complex emergency c-section down the hall that robbed me of my doctor for a while so the nurse and I just kept going (I'm a bit stubborn). It finally became apparent the Pooh Bear was stuck and I was delirious so it was c-section time. I keep saying I could write a book about the labor experience because I literally experienced almost every aspect possible.
This time will be better because I cannot be induced again due to the c-sec (the contractions induction causes are really hard on the uterus and can be too much for one that has been cut open previously). So it is either a naturally occurring labor or another c-section for me. I'm hoping to skip the c-section this time but I'll be happy with whatever method is the safest for #2.
One last comment before I move on to knitting (which is why most of you read this blog, not to hear my ridiculous life moments), so if you're bored hang tight... yarn is coming.
Despite the hours of labor and the exhaustion I experienced, the actual physical pain was not at all what I expected. Yes, I had an epidural but not until I was almost 9 cm so I felt my fair share of contractions... Honestly, and women everywhere are going to want to kill me for saying this, but it was a lot more painful when I blew out my ankle several years ago dancing. It was not as excruciating as I feared, for me anyway. Maybe I am just used to "playing through the pain" from dancing for so long (you know, if it ain't gushing blood or falling off, you're fine, keep pirouette-ing). Or maybe I had so freaked myself out to think it was going to be horribly painful that the actual experience was a "let down." Or maybe I'm just weird...
AND NOW WE COME TO THE KNITTING PORTION OF OUR PROGRAM
I am actually making progress on those WIPs I posted about last week- hooray! I'll be ready for another round of cast-on-itis in no time :)
I finished these three days ago but didn't get around to taking a photo until tonight.
These are the downsized booties from the Royal Baby set I made earlier. I'm just pleased my math worked out and they still look like the intended product. Here's a picture for size comparison's sake.
I also have been working on my baby bottoms.
I'm really pleased that I figured out how to do the foot on the first leg with a minimum of brow crinkling and swearing... not having made socks before this was my first experience with a seamless, sock-like structure. I'd like to complete these over the weekend so I can get to work on the other 200 baby knits I have in mind. Nine months is simply not a long enough gestational period to get all the requisite baby knitting in... I'm ready to be done being pregnant and mentally/physically wouldn't mind if he comes early but at the same time, every day he's in there = more rows completed!
4 comments:
You might want to watch what you say about labor pain. My two labors were night and day. With my first it was insanely intense. I was delirious from the pain. With my second, I was on the phone, watching tv, chatting with friends. Each one is different. Maybe you'll be lucky again but don't tempt fate. :)
the booties are perfect and those pants are KILLING me.
Cuteness!
I agree with you about the pain Katie. My first labor was 3 days almost to the minute (not induced) and it was challenging but managable. WIth the second I was high from the natural brain chemicals and laughing most of the time. I once had serious burns that were much worse than either labor.
There are studies that suggest that the level of pain perception during labor is related to the amount of fear you have about the pain. Certainly there are other factors that affect pain, and it's not about blaming anyone for a hard labor. But our culture does not do enough in general to help people understand what a normal labor is like. Thank goodness for the three births I was there to see before I had my first child, it really was an essential education.
I really hope that you have the best possible birth experience.
I gotta say, I think that mental preparation is the key. (ITA Sasha)
Fear=stress hormones=more pain. I swear by my Bradley classes.
My friend who walked in expecting the epi to work a miracle talked about all the pain. And I gotta say it was INTENSE, but it was bearable. I will definitely go au'natural next time as well. (Though all bets are off if I get induced. That is not natural and I've heard that it's worse. But hey, nothing says you can't change your mind if it gets to be too much and every labor IS different.)
Seriously cute baby knits!
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