About You – Hi, I’m Lindsey Deringer and I stay home with my two girls, Ruthie and Laurel. I’m writing about my first birth with Ruthie. We were told at our 18 week check up that something was wrong with her brain and heart but two weeks later, we saw a specialist and everything was normal!
How did you find out you were pregnant? My husband said, “I think you might be pregnant,” because he thought my body looked different. Haha low and behold I took a test and he was right!
What was your birth philosophy before you gave birth? How were you expecting it to be? I wanted to doing things all natural with no drugs at the hospital with my midwife. I knew it would be painful but thought with different exercises and breathing techniques that I could manage it and get through.
How did you approach planning your birth? I took a natural birthing class with my husband, read a few books, and talked with other moms who had chosen to birth without drugs.
How did you plan to deliver? In a hospital with a midwife.
What were the most important goals or areas of focus for you in respect to your birth? I wanted my husband by my side and to labor at home as long as possible. I also thought a calm environment was important and was hoping to labor in a tub.
Now for the good stuff…here’s Lindsey’s birth story! I started having contractions Friday the 15th late in the afternoon. They continued to become more frequent and a little more painful. I took a shower that evening, drank a bunch of water, then about midnight called and they said to come in. I went in and was only at a 2 but my blood pressure was really high so they had me stay. They gave me pitocin around 7am on the 16th and contractions continued to get more intense. I only was at a 3 by noon so I got into the soaking tub, using the yoga ball, and walked around the hospital for a while. I was still at a 3 at around 3pm but my contractions where very painful so I finally asked for an epidural at around 4pm. They couldn’t find my spine for the epidural because apparently I have scoliosis. It took about 45 minutes for them to get it in then things progressed very quickly. I did get a fever right before she was born so they had to give me antibiotics and her as well after she was born. She made her debut at about 9pm! She was crying and had a head full of black hair!
I will never forget she was crying so hard on my chest then I started talking to her and she just stopped crying and looked right at me. Oh my heart! After about 30 minutes, I started feeling very ill and my blood pressure bottomed out and they rushed me back to the operating room because they thought I still had placenta inside. Thankfully everything was fine and I just had lost quite a bit of blood. Weird and scary though!
What was the advice that you found to be most helpful in preparing to give birth? Make a birth plan but be open to change. Don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go excactly as planned. My body didn’t do what I had wanted but I still got my perfect baby and that is what really matters!
What was the most surprising thing about birth for you? How much my modesty went out the window!
What was the most challenging part of birth for you? That it didn’t go as I had planned. The pressure from the people around me.
What was your favorite part of your birth? Sharing it with my husband and seeing our beautiful girls for the first time!
What do you wish someone had told you before you gave birth? Every birth is different and yours will be so special because it is you and your baby.
How did your perception of birth change after you experienced this birth? That sometimes even when you want something really bad, your body may have other ideas.
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