Is anyone else already dreading L&D?

Question

I feel like a crazy person starting to worry about this so early, but my L&D with my daughter was kind of traumatic. 
I went from “was that a contraction?” to 8cm in 3 hours. There was no time for an epidural (which i really really wanted), and the maternity ward was full. 
I ended up delivering naturally while flat on my back in a freezing operating room. I tore pretty badly because my body didn’t have time to prepare, and it was incredibly painful (hyper-efficient contractions = extremely painful contractions).  It was less than 4 hours from when i started timing my contractions to when i delivered her. 
It didn’t feel magical or natural. It felt abrupt and traumatic. It felt unnatural to not be able to be in any position except flat on my back, i had to push when i didn’t feel the urge to, and they wouldn’t let me pee beforehand, so i ended up peeing all over the operating table and giving birth in a puddle of my own urine. 
And since I’ve had one precipitous labor, I’ll probably have another. 
Realizing now that i need to talk to my therapist about this 🤦🏼‍♀️.

Answer

No! I’m boujie & I’m trying to figure out what hospital I’m going to use. I oddly love this/that part it’s like a strange mini vacation. Lol. So I’m literally going over their daily menus, amenities, the look of the room et cetera. 😩

Answer

That is definitely traumatic. If it helps, second births are often easier. My first was unmedicated with four hours of pushing and forcepts and tearing ... so I feel ya deeply. I was so scared for #2. Well, he basically just popped out. Two pushes and no tearing.  Every birth is different and for better or worse, the path has now been bulldozed. 😂

Answer

I also had precipitous labor...I went from .5cm dilated with no contractions to a baby in my arms in just over an hour and a half.  No time for an epidural, no time for natural endorphins to kick in, but I had an amazingly supportive nurse and doctor.  I am being induced this pregnancy so that we have a little bit more control. I’m still nervous about an induction, but relieved to know that I will be somewhere safe and I trust my delivery team :)

Answer

So much of this. 
I had a horribly traumatic birth with my first baby. Planned homebirth with hospital transfer and all the things, mostly done without my consent. I was treated so badly.
I’m an L&D/postpartum nurse, and I have zero desire to go back to that hospital where all of this happened, but I’m not allowed a homebirth due to what happened last time. It sucks. Mostly I’m hoping for a precipitous birth where I just don’t make it to the hospital, honestly. It’s the best of several crappy options.
I’ve been working with a trauma therapist for two years and I still have so much anxiety about it. I cry about it most days. Last time, I was so excited for the birth, but now I’m just filled with dread. 
I feel like I’ll probably be treated better this time since I work there, but it’s not what I want. I just want to have some control and a bit of respect. Being told I can’t choose where I birth before I was even pregnant because something might go wrong this time doesn’t feel like either of those things.

Answer

Quick births can be traumatic. I think you should try to debrief it with a birth counsellor and maybe try some fear release exercises x

Answer

My labor and deliveries progressed, and in a bad way. My first his heart rate started dipping dangerously low and I had to get him out or be cut open right then and there, no moving me. 
With my second they lost his heart rate while he was halfway out and vacuumed him out. He wasn’t breathing and had to be resuscitated. I started losing blood. The epidural they thought they gave me turned out to be a spinal and it cause my heart rate to climb to the 150s. So for roughly 6 hours after having my second I couldn’t even hold him or bond in fear of falling because I was numb all the way up. Now pregnant with number 4 (had a miscarriage between 1 and 2) im actually considering a csection just so it’s all controlled. Plus I want to get my tubes tied after.

Answer

I had precipitous labor with my third and it’s actually terrifying so I understand.  Everyone thinks it’s great and better than a long labor but it really isn’t.  My first was 33 hours, second 18 hours.  With my third, I was calling my midwife to see if maybe I should go in and get checked and he was born 1.5 hours later.  I intended to go natural but the way things moved along was scary.  My son was also 7 weeks premature and my placenta had abrupted, so that definitely didn’t help things.  
I think I’m a bit more prepared for that this time though.  I will have my bags packed by 28 weeks this time.  I will be prepared for it to move fast.  I think mentally knowing it could move very quickly again helps.  
I did also work with a counselor who specializes in traumatic deliveries for a while though.  I would see things in movies or on tv that would just give me anxiety attacks so I knew I needed some extra help after.  Keep talking to someone and try to stay prepared.  I plan to birth at a birth center, but if baby comes early again, I fully intend on calling the hospital on the way there to make sure they have a room ready, if they don’t, I’ll call a different one even if it means not using my doctor.  I sat in triage until about 5 minutes before delivery because they didn’t have a room ready for me and didn’t expect me to move along that quickly.

Is anyone else already dreading L&D?

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