OT: About 'Brangelina': Warning: NC-17 thread (I think)

[Sheyne]

POSSIBLE TMI Warning (for you fellas who may be a bit faint-hearted... David, just uhhh... put on some more tea, hunh?)

Thanks gals, I have been chuckling along... god some of these posts brought back memories.. lol..

Re C-section v Natural birth..  I wanted a natural birth with William - I really did. But the doc estimated his birth weight at 9lb or more and said - and I quote - "there's no way you're pushing out a baby that size on an untried-cervix" (which, at a week past my due date, hadn't even begun to soften and I looked like a walking duplex)..  Well, I am VERY glad I decided to take the cut because Will came out at 10lb 5oz.  *sheyne crosses legs at the mere thought*

And then of course, 2 weeks later, I'm laying on his bed having my post natal exam, I'm naked from the waist down, my legs up in the stirrups, trying desperately to think of England or something and he says - as he's peer "down there" - "Oh would you look at that!!!"  NOT the comment you want to hear when a doctor is peering at your nether regions. I politely enquired as to what was so interesting and he remarked "You could have delivered him naturally after all - you've got perfect child bearing hips".

Didn't know whether to laugh or punch his lights out.. 

[ednbarby]

I did not have a c-section.  Glad that I did not need one.  I thank whoever invented Epidural.  It’s my advice for every first time mom.

Mine, too, Jenny.  I say to them "I have one word:  Epidural."  Ed says, "Epidural - ask for it early, ask for it often."  I had to wait 90 eternal minutes for my bloodwork to come back OK and the anesthesiologist to magically appear.  90 minutes in the "transitional phase."  I thought I was gonna shoot right out of my skin.  It felt like being hari-karied (sp?) through the back with swords.  When he came in, I swear I saw a halo over his head.  Nothing better than looking at that monitor spike almost off the screen, have your husband say, "Geez - did you feel that one?" and be able to say, "Nope.  Not really."

[ednbarby]

The first few weeks of my daughter's life were so exhausting and overwhelming (AND transcendent, etc. of course), so exhausting, that I can't imagine what it would have been like to tackle it while recuperating from the most major body event most people ever go through.  My hat's off to you.

Yeah, nice little trick Mother Nature plays on us, ain't it?  Your nether regions, as Sheyne so eloquently calls them, feel like a train wreck, your hormones are tripping the light fantastic (and if you're real lucky, ha, ha, triggering a nice little case of clinical depression), and, oh, by the way, you're fully responsible for the care and feeding of this totally helpless, totally vulnerable miniature human.  And you have no practice whatsoever in doing any of it - babysitting 20 years ago doesn't count.

 

[delalluvia]

Yeah, nice little trick Mother Nature plays on us, ain't it?  Your nether regions, as Sheyne so eloquently calls them, feel like a train wreck, your hormones are tripping the light fantastic (and if you're real lucky, ha, ha, triggering a nice little case of clinical depression), and, oh, by the way, you're fully responsible for the care and feeding of this totally helpless, totally vulnerable miniature human.  And you have no practice whatsoever in doing any of it - babysitting 20 years ago doesn't count.

I have cats.  Thank all the gods.

Don't feel bad Sheyne, the doctor could have been completely wrong.

Your post made me recall another actress who had a C-section despite years of being told she has 'child-bearing hips'.

Kate Winslet.

[MaineWriter]

Mine, too, Jenny.  I say to them "I have one word:  Epidural."  Ed says, "Epidural - ask for it early, ask for it often."  I had to wait 90 eternal minutes for my bloodwork to come back OK and the anesthesiologist to magically appear.  90 minutes in the "transitional phase."  I thought I was gonna shoot right out of my skin.  It felt like being hari-karied (sp?) through the back with swords.  When he came in, I swear I saw a halo over his head.  Nothing better than looking at that monitor spike almost off the screen, have your husband say, "Geez - did you feel that one?" and be able to say, "Nope.  Not really."

Midwife to Leslie, "Shall we think about an epidural?"

Leslie, instantaneously, "I'm done thinking, yes."

Anesthesiologist magically appears in room. Epidural in place in less than 3 minutes.

There are some advantages to being a nurse and having friends who work in the hospital. 

[isabelle]

OK, I'll jump into the "old ladies" discussion, as I feel qualified!  I have 2 kids, 2 c-sections. Both under epidural. The first was hard to recuperate from, not the second, and in both cases I was so scared to actually give birth that I am glad my hips (and all the bones down there) are too small to give birth normally (my babies were VERY big too!). And I agree: breastfeeding was great fun!

[henrypie]

Dela-- I remember reading the interview with Kate W. about her shame at having had a c-section, after years of absorbing the idea that it was some proof of womanhood to have a vaginal birth.

Bah!

Herpes:  everytime I see people kayaking on TV, I know it's a Valtrex commercial.  I've read that about 25% of the adult population carries genital herpes.  Madonna, Kate whatserface, Jennifer whatserface -- they ain't special.  I've also read that taking an antiviral during pregnancy, particularly toward birthtime, minimizes the risks associated with a vaginal birth.

[JCinNYC2006]

What a fascinating topic.  So interesting to hear about the differences and the similarities.  Wow.  All I can really add is that besides HSV (herpes simplex virus) being extremely common, so it HPV (human papilloma virus), and that can have long term consequences (cervical and possibly rectal cancer).  Everyone should be more educated on that but alas...

Juan

[Ellemeno]

I think this thread is a perfect example of never judging the actual topic by the subject line.  It means I really need to look at EVERY thread (but can't, pesky other parts of life gettin in the way), you never know where the pearls are here.

[Penthesilea]

Wow, girls, first nobody posts in the Ladies Corner, and as soon as it's closed you discuss giving birth intensively. 

So I'll jump right in to the "Old Ladies" discussion, too. Like isabelle, I feel qualified. I have three children, all born the old-fashioned way. Thank god I didn't need a c-section.
Two of them were delivered without epidural. I screamed for an epidural at every childbirth, but two times I started screaming too late.
At the third childbirth I was already in the last act of labours (don't know the English expression; in German it's "pressing labours", that means that the child is actually coming) when the anesthesiologist showed up.

Midwife to Penthesilea: "Do you already have pressing labours?"

Me:"No!" (I knew I had them, I lied to her, I wanted the epidural so badly)

Midwife to anesthesiologist: "Wait a minute. I check this first"

A minute later

Midwife to anesthesiologist: " You can go; your coming was in vain. She'll have the baby within the next 10 minutes."

And right she was.

Ed says, "Epidural - ask for it early, ask for it often

Ed is right! At my second childbirth, I started screaming (yes: screaming, not asking) for epidural the moment I reached the hospital. I swear, I literally screamed to the doorman (!) for an epidural before I told my name. This was the only childbirth I had an epidural.

Juan:
How brave by you. Men usually don't make their way through childbirth-stories.