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Main Page Site Index Getting Pregnant Pregnancy Parenting Pregnancy and Parenting Journals Fertility Nutrition Pregnant Moms Morning Sickness Women's Health Child Health	Daniel's Birth By Kristine Sorry this is so long but i could talk about it all day if you let me! I found out I was pregnant with my first child when I was 16 years old. I had a very easy and uneventful pregnancy, hardly no morning sickness, no heart burn, nothing. At my 36 week appt. I was 1 cm dilated and about 30% effaced. At 37 weeks I was 2 cm and 50% and the same at my 38 week appointment. At 38 weeks, the 12th of October, my doctor striped my membranes, and told me I probably wouldn't be back for my next appt, and boy was he right. I was due on October 26th, and on October 14th, a Monday, my mom and I went to my 5th of a 6 week child birth class. I had no contractions yet and even my braxton hicks, which I had been having for weeks, had stopped, I had felt none all day. As we were leaving the childbirth class I told my mom, " I do not know why we are going home we will just be coming back later". She said nothing. I think she was unsure what I meant, but I just had this funny feeling. That night we walked home from the childbirth class, about a mile maybe a mile and a half, and talked about the baby and his name. I knew it was a boy from the ultra sound I had a 24 weeks. When we got home I ate a bowl of soup and sat down to watch some TV. Then at about 11:30 I got up to go to the bathroom, as I walked threw the kitchen, my water broke! I was not sure that was what it was cause I thought maybe I had just peed and was a little embarrassed, but then I realized, I still had to pee. =) So I went to the bathroom and changed my clothes and put on a pad for the leaking fluid. But it was soaked through before I got back out to tell my mom that my water had broke. She called the hospitals maternity floor and they said to come on in even though I was having no contractions. I told my brother i was gonna take a shower, but then decided not to as I was just gonna spend the rest of the night sweating anyway. My mom called our friend Doris, and she said she would meet us at the hospital. She was only supposed to be there for someone for my mom to talk to and someone to be with me when my mom would go out for a cigarette, but as it ended up she was there for the entire thing even the birth, and was a great help. So at about midnight my brother, mother and I left for the hospital. I was all checked in and changed to a gown by 12:10, I went to walk with my brother through the halls for a bit and went to the nursery and saw all the babies. During which time my mother and Doris were out for a cigarette. after I walk for about 15 minutes I went back to my room to use the bathroom and the nurse hooked me up to the fetal monitor to get a twenty minute strip. It was showing that I was having some rather hard contractions, but I was not yet feeling them. Around this time my mom and Doris came back and my brother went to go smoke, which he should not have because after this the nurse would not let him back in. I was upset by this but did not argue. So my brother spent the night in the waiting room. It was now around 1am and the nurse decided to check me and see how we are doing, I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. About twenty minutes later I first saw the doctor, well the resident that was there that night. I never got his name and I never cared to either. By this time I was in a bit of pain, which i thought was terrible, but it was not now that I know how bad it gets. But anyway the doctor came in and wanted to check me, I told him I had been checked just before that by the nurse but he insisted that he check himself. And so he did and nothing had changed. Then he asked if I wanted pain medication, I told him no. And he left. I as still hooked up to the monitor so i asked to get up and go walk around, the nurse was great, I cannot remember her name. She unhooked me and let me walk around abit. I went down tot he waiting room and saw my brother and again I looked at the babies for a while in the nursery. My brother went and got me a can of orange juice from a machine down stairs (at our hospital they do not tell you cannot drink they just do not allow women to eat during labor). I never drank the orange juice, instead i went back to the room and went to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet was difficult as it made the pain much stronger. At this time, around 2:30 am, I had a bad case of diarrhea. At about 3 I was hooked back up to the monitor and checked again, I was at 6cm and was very disappointed cause I had not made much progress, only one centimeter in an hour and a half. Again the resident, tried to push the pain medication on me and again I refused, although it was very tempting cause I was in alot of pain. So I spent the next few hours in the bed with my mom holding one hand, Doris watching the monitor, and a doctor coming in every few minutes to try and get me to take something for the pain. Doris would tell me when the contractions were coming, Which I already knew, and then she would tell me when it was almost over. After every contraction, I would say I can't do this I want to go home, and Doris would tell, the pain was good. It was really frustrating at the time. Now it is funny. At around 7 am one of the doctors from my group at primary care came in ] and checked me and said i was at 7 and a half 8, which, although it was not much progress, I was happy to hear it cause it meant i was getting closer. I was not handling the pain very well at this point and started to tell the nurse that i wanted an epidural, she asked me if I was sure I said YES!, but Doris told me that i did not really want it, I just thought i did cause of the pain, and that I would regret it latter. She told me that it would slow down labor and make it longer before I could hold my beautiful baby boy. I realized she was right and decided not to get the epidural, the nurse gave me a shot of something and told me it would just take the edge off the contractions. But it did not do anything for me, the contractions were stronger than ever and one right one top of the other. I had no break in between them at all. Around 10 am my Dr, Dr. Knowles, came in and checked me,asked about my water and gave that resident hell because he had allowed to have I think a total of 4 exams done after my water broke, which put me at risk for an infection. My doctor then checked me himself to see where I was at cause he thought I was getting pretty close, and I was 9 cm. He told me he was going to go check a few other patients and he would be back shortly. I could hear a lady in the room next to mine giving birth and she was screaming from the pain, but I thought, I wish it were me i want to be all done with this so I do not have the pain any more, just then i had a whopper of a contraction and bit my moms finger really hard. Which i still feel really bad about. At 11 the doctor came back in and it was time to push. So on the next contraction i pushed and the doctor gave me a shot in case I needed an episiotomy (i knew to little about child birth to know that I did not want one, and therefore never discussed it with my doctor). On the next push the baby crowned and the next push the head was out. The doctor had me stop pushing for a moment, which was hard cause I had been having the urge to push for the past hour. He suctioned the baby and then told me to push on the next contraction..i waited for it to come, but then I thought it was not gonna so I pushed and out came my beautiful little baby boy. Born at 11:23 am on October 15th 1996 weighing in at 6 pounds 11 and a half ounces. he was 19 inches long and had a full head on blonde hair. I had no episiotomy and only tore a little, no stitches!! I named him Daniel Eugene !! Search the Birth Stories Match All Terms Any Term and show results in Standard Form in Compact Form Hint! Enclose phrases in quotes. For example "home birth"