Leo just turned six weeks old on Saturday, so yes, it’s taken me a while to get around to writing up our birth story, but it’s been a busy time.

The Induction

Leo was very big.  His ultrasound estimates were putting him at 5 kg (11 lbs), so the doctors wanted to induce before I was full term.  At 37 weeks, I went into hospital for an induction and three days later, I checked out, still pregnant. It was three days of contractions,  afterward I was exhausted and disappointed.

A week later, I went in for a second induction. The first time I had been given the medication orally, which they planned to start out with the second time, but I asked for the medication in gel form to be put on my cervix.  Within a few hours, I was getting nice strong contractions and my cervix had started dilating. I was in labor.

A Bad Reaction to Pain Medication

The midwife on duty wanted to give me some pain medication to help me sleep, so I could get some rest before the big show.  One of the side effects was possible nausea, and I raised objections, since I was already pretty nauseous from HG, which I’d suffered from the whole pregnancy.  She said not to worry about it, gave me the injection and sent me back to my room.  By the time I’d gotten to my room, one floor up from the delivery area, I was dizzy.  I made a quick trip to the bathroom to prepare for bed, and by the time I got in bed, the room was spinning.  I vomited several times and got no rest that night.  I felt miserable and don’t recommend this type of pain medication for anyone suffering from HG.  Feeling the contractions would have been much more restful.

Getting the Epidural

By late morning, things had progressed enough for me to stay down in the delivery area.  I was given an enema (I recommend these, they aren’t that uncomfortable and you don’t have to worry about pooping during the birth), then the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural.  It was the same doctor that had done my epidural for Oliver’s birth, and the insertion of the catheter into my spinal column had gone really well that time, so I had no worries.  I scrunched up, which is very uncomfortable when you’ve got a big belly and are having contractions, but I figured it’d be done in no time.  It took 6 tries to get the catheter in.  Every doctor and midwife who saw me afterward said it looked like someone had used my back as a pin cushion.  I don’t think it was the anesthesiologist’s fault, my back is a mess, but in hindsight, this was the worst part of the birthing process, much more painful than the birth itself.

The Birth

Because of his size, the doctor was worried about injury to Leo’s shoulders during the birth.  In fact, I had been offered the choice between being induced and getting a c-section.  There weren’t any openings for a non-emergency c-section for several days though, so I chose to be induced immediately.  At this point in the birth however, I asked the doctor if it was too late to change my mind. He said it’s never too late.

Around 7pm, my cervix was fully dilated.  At the same time, there was an emergency c-section and both gynecologists were in the operating room, so the anesthesiologist came in to my delivery room to help out.  The midwife manipulated my legs to help Leo make his way through the birth canal while I pushed.  Within a few minutes, the birth was over.

Saturday evening, thirty  hours after I started getting contractions, Leo was born, weighing in at 4510 grams (almost 9 lbs, 15 oz).

A Scary Beginning

I looked down and saw that Leo was limp and purple.  He wasn’t breathing at first and was immediately whisked off to the pediatrician.  His 5 minute Apgar score was good, so there was really nothing to worry about, but all I could think about was that I wanted my baby.

He was doing well, but was put into the newborn station for observation for his first 3 days.  It drove me a little crazy to be apart from him, but I was having trouble with my right leg, so I was kept busy with my own issues.

It seems while Leo was being born, his head knocked my lower vertebrae out of alignment and irritated some of the nerves in my pelvis, so for the first few days, my right leg was numb and tingly (like when your leg falls asleep), and weak.  I was seen by a neurologist and got an MRI done of my leg and pelvis, which ruled out anything permanent.  At six weeks postpartum, I’m getting sharp, stabbing pains in my back.  My leg tires out quickly and the sole of my foot still gets numb occasionally.  It doesn’t sound like it, but I am making progress.

The End of HG

I had read accounts that as soon as women suffering HG to the end had given birth, their nausea was gone.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me.  The nausea improved day by day.  Two days after the birth, I was able to go without anti-nausea medication.  I got a bit motion sick in the car on the way to the neurologist, but managed without the medication.  By four days postpartum, the nausea was completely gone.  My husband asked me how I was feeling that morning and when I answered, “Okay,” he said that it was the first time in 8 months that I hadn’t said, “Terrible.”

A Difficult Homecoming

On Tuesday after the birth, we were released, and as soon as we got home, we heard that my father-in-law was not doing well.  Rainer and Oliver jumped in the car within an hour of Leo and my homecoming and made the five hour trip to my in-laws.  My father-in-law passed away that evening.

It wasn’t an ideal start as a big brother for Oliver, with us bringing the baby home and then “sending him away,” but it couldn’t be helped.  Once he was back, he ignored the baby.  It took two weeks before he wanted to touch or kiss the baby.  Now he’s a great big brother though.  If Leo is crying, Oliver is very concerned and tells me to hurry up because the baby is sad.  He gives the baby a kiss when he leaves for day care and when I pick him up, and at bed time.  He’s very gentle and thoughtful towards Leo.  I try to have one-on-one time with him as much as I can, which isn’t a lot, but as Leo gets older, he’ll be able to have mom’s attention more and more.

Interestingly, with Oliver’s birth, I had a lot of trouble remembering much of the details, but with Leo’s birth, I can remember every little thing.  Perhaps it was because Oliver’s birth was more painful and traumatic (Leo’s went pretty smoothly and I didn’t even have to cry out once), or maybe because it’s my second time around.

Have you found you can remember one birth better than another?

You may also be interested in reading:

• Waiting for the Birth (5)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 33 Update (2)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 23 Update (14)
• When it's not just morning sickness: Living with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (17)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 29 Update (3)

On Friday, I hit 39 weeks pregnant and will be checking back in to the hospital for a second attempt at inducing labor.  The first attempt, last week, was unsuccessful.

I’m still dealing with nausea from HG, although it has eased up a bit.  If I don’t go anywhere and take it easy, I can manage with two 50mg tablets of dimenhydrinate, but I still get incredibly motion sick in the car and have to take an addition two if I want to go anywhere.

Because the baby is so big, the doctors wanted to induce at 37 weeks.  We ended up waiting until last Wednesday to check in to the hospital for the induction.  I knew there was a possibility that it wouldn’t work, but was hopeful.  The first day of medication gave me fairly light, regular contractions, which built over the second day to being pretty strong contractions every 2 minutes by the second evening.  When the doctors examined me, however, my cervix hadn’t lowered or effaced at all and as soon as the medication ran out, the contractions would begin to subside.

I came home Friday, still having strong contractions about every half hour, but they gradually stopped and there have been nothing more than Braxton-Hicks contractions since.

I felt decent Friday morning, but by Friday evening I felt the two days of contractions in every muscle in my body (and most painfully in my cervix, which I’m sure was battered and swollen after two days of being pressed upon by the baby’s head).  Even my arms and legs were sore, which I found surprising.  I had problems sitting and standing and even rolling over in bed, on Saturday, but by Sunday I was feeling well enough to venture out for a large ice cream sundae (although I demanded an ice cream shop that we could park directly in front of — no walking for me!).

I’m back to “normal” now, I suppose, and feel ready to give it another go.  The doctors all tell me this time should work, that the second induction is almost always successful when the first fails.  I’m not sure what will happen if it doesn’t work.  The OBGYNs at the hospital say they won’t let the pregnancy go beyond my due date.  The baby’s head size is off the charts, so I’m a little nervous and hoping the birth won’t be too difficult and I’ll have a quick recovery.

I hope you’ll keep me in your thoughts on Friday and this weekend and that I’ll have some great news to share next week.

You may also be interested in reading:

• Leo's Birth Story (9)
• When it's not just morning sickness: Living with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (17)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 33 Update (2)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 29 Update (3)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 23 Update (14)

Congratulations to Tiffany and Stefan, and welcome to the world Mackenzie!  Tiffany, a Texas-born expat living in Germany, recently gave birth to her first child without drugs using the HypnoBabies method of self-hypnosis.  She writes a nice summary and review of the Hypnobabies program, which worked very well for her, on her site No Ordinary Homestead.

I think hypno-birthing can work for some people, so if you are interested, you should really go read her post.  I don’t know anything about the HypnoBabies program, but while pregnant with Oliver, I read a copy of HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method that a friend had passed on to me.  While I found the method intriguing, I was really turned off by how the author seemed to promise that if her method was used properly, you would have a pain-free, relaxing, joy-filled, perfect birth.  I found this sugar-coating so hard to swallow, I only skimmed the last third of the book and quickly passed it on to another friend.

I think self-hypnosis can probably help in most births, but I think saying it will always work is setting moms up to blame themselves as failures if they have a difficult birth like I did. My water broke without me going into labor, so I had to be induced, requiring an epidural.  The cord was wrapped twice around Oliver’s neck, so he’d move down with a contraction, then the cord would pull him back up.  20 hours after induction, 30 hours after my water broke, he was born.  I’m a pretty relaxed person (several people commented that I was the most relaxed pregnant woman they’d ever met), and I’d read The Good Earth (the main character gives birth then goes back to the fields to work), so I don’t think self-hypnosis would have made a huge difference in my pain levels, but that’s not to say it wouldn’t be the perfect method for you.

Do you have a hypno-birthing experience?  How did you like it? What program did you use (or not use)?

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• Waiting for the Birth (5)
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Now that I am finally an “International Mama,” and not just a soon-to-be-mama, I finally feel qualified to add my 2 cents to the blog! Our girl arrived almost five weeks ago and is already wondering where her sausage and beer are (or at least, that’s how I interpret her crying).

Having never been pregnant before, I was pretty much clueless about how healthcare works for pregnancy. I could have guessed quite a few things about the care in the U.S. based on the experiences of friends, but I had absolutely no idea how things worked in Germany. I thought it might be informative for some of you to know how things are done over here just for a comparison to your own systems. I am not the first international mama on this blog to give birth in Germany. You can read about Christina’s experiences in this series of posts and Maria’s here and here.

Health Care providers — One important thing to realize here is that your O.B. will not be delivering your baby in most cases. You chose a doctor for prenatal care, but a midwife will most likely be handling the delivery whether you deliver at home or in the hospital. Should you require medical intervention, there is a doctor on call at the hospital who will care for you.

I chose my doctor by doing a search for English speaking midwives in my town. I contacted her via email, and she explained that she works in a doctor’s office and gave me the names of a few doctors in the area. Looking back, I also should have inquired with local friends and acquaintances who recently had babies here. In my case, I wasn’t happy with my first doc, and so I switched by the end of the 1st trimester to one I felt more comfortable with.

Since my OB would not be delivering the baby, we also had to decide where we would deliver, and since my husband was terrified of the home birth option, we talked with friends and coworkers about the quality of care at the hospitals they used. The consensus that we got from friends and based on some internet searches and info from my doctor, was that St. Hedwig was the best choice for us. They have a “Gerburt und Rundherum Team”, which is a group of four midwives who work very closely with the moms to help prepare them for the birth (giving advice on preparing the body, offering acupuncture, and other alternative preparation treatments). One of the four will attend the birth to give a sense of constancy, and they have a very holistic approach to birth. Our team at St. Hedwig is awesome! Other friends have gone with the other midwives at St. Hedwig and also had positive experiences.

Mutterpass — A ‘Mutterpass’ (mother pass) is a booklet given to women upon their first visit to the doctor. This booklet contains all of the medical information relevant to the pregnancy. The idea is that you always have it on hand in case it needs to be referenced by another medical professional. It makes switching doctors much easier as well as you carry your own medical records with you. Plus, it feels a bit like a ‘welcome to the club’ kind of gift, which is exciting for a first-time mom.

Home Birth and birthing centers — This works differently throughout Germany, but in Bavaria, home births are not that common. There is only one midwife in my town who does them, and if you should decide to try for a home birth, she will also take over your prenatal care. She will also recommend if you should call off the homebirth option due to complications and help arrange for a hospital birth. My town does not have a birthing center, but they do exist here. They are supposed to be more Holistic and more comfortable than a hospital.
Attitudes toward Birth — I can only make a comparison with what I have heard about attitudes toward birthing in the U.S., but it seems quite different here. I suspect it has something to do with the use of midwives. In our hospital, c-section rates are a little over 20%, and they do not assume that a woman must have a c-section on a second birth is she had one the first time around. Women are strongly encouraged to be active in their labor. Midwives encourage them to walk if they can, and there is an array of props available to help women find the optimal birthing position. Unless there are complications or you have an epidural, there is no assumption that you will be laboring in bed. This was something important to me, and I have found this attitude very comforting. They expressed that the women have most of the power in the birthing process, and they are only there to help facilitate the process. In the end of the day, the doctors are the ‘big boss’ in the delivery ward, but I get the sense that the midwives do their best to help women have as natural a birthing experience as possible. Water birthing is available in some hospitals as well. I my case, the baby was breech, but we were still able to have a natural delivery because the midwives at this hospital have experience delivering breech babies. They told me that in most other hospitals, they may have pushed for a c-section though, so I felt very lucky. Though admittedly, the expression on my face while in labor indicates that I wasn’t fully aware of how lucky I was at the time…

You may also be interested in reading:

• Waiting for the Birth (5)
• Leo's Birth Story (9)
• When it's not just morning sickness: Living with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (17)
• What strollers are best for cobblestone streets? (7)
• Struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): Week 33 Update (2)