Birthing

My only experience with birthing is when I gave birth to my twin boys. It was my first pregnancy. When the doctor told me that he saw two distinct eggs, yet right on top of each other, he informed me not to get my hopes up because sometimes one of the twins may pass away in utero. Needless to say, I quickly changed doctors! In the end, I had a tough pregnancy. Riddled with preeclampsia and high blood pressure. I sort of opted for a Cesarean section. Being told that I could have natural child birth to the first baby but then need a c-section anyway for the second baby made me just go with the c-section all together. I did in fact go into labor, but the pains were not that bad. The spinal block was just awful. I screamed. It hurt. But then, as if having a 5 lb baby shoved into my rib cage wasn't enough, they tipped me back on the table and I panicked. I felt like I couldn't breathe. They seemed to be quick about what ever it was they were doing behind the little paper partition that was up because soon I heard them say that Baby A weighed 4lbs 5oz. I panicked again. I knew not more than a month before I had an ultrasound that showed that Baby A weighed exactly that, 4lbs 5oz. I realized how small he was when all they brought me was a bundle of blankets with a tiny face peaking out. Then I heard them say that Baby B weighed 5lbs 3oz and I knew something was wrong. Baby A, Andrew, as we would name him, hadn't gained any weight in the last month, but Baby B, David, had gained weight. Turns out my placenta was huge! Still not sure why. Also, turns out Andrew's umbilical cord was half the size of David's and apparently David was hogging most of the nutrients at the end of my pregnancy. But then, my worst nightmare came true. Andrew was having trouble breathing. So I'm laying on the table while the nurses are whisking away my babies. One to the NICU and one to the regular nursery. I was told later that this was the first time they had ever separated twins. The boys are identical. They have been with each other from moment ONE! I was worried about the effects, if any, this might have one them. Andrew recovered quickly. He is my fighter. One week. Only one week in the NICU and he was fine. Amazing. They stitched me up and sent me to recovery. However, I couldn't see straight. Literally. I couldn't read the clock on the wall that was no more than 5 feet away. My blood sugar had dropped and I needed medicine to correct it. After a bit, I felt better and quickly asked about my babies. They brought David to me right away. I called to the NICU about Andrew as soon as I could and went to see him the next morning when I could finally get out of bed. I'm proud to say that I was up and around the next day with only Motrin to help with the pain. We took David home a few days later and then Andrew a few more after that. However, I could just tell that David was looking for Andrew. David was not whole until we laid Andrew in the crib next to him. I think that if Andrew would have passed away, God forbid, David would have had a whole in his heart. I'm not sure his development would have been changed in any way, but he may have grown up missing something.

I've always wanted to go to Ireland, so I decided to look up how they give birth there. It seems to be the same methods: regular birth, c-section and water birth. However, I did notice one difference. The country of Ireland seems to place importance on doing labor in water, but not necessarily giving birth in the water. I was surprised by this fact. It seems that in the U.S. we are on our backs pushing the baby out or, as in my case, tipped up to get the baby out during a c-section. I was also delighted to find that Ireland has the highest birth rate in the EU. I would be inclined to make the connection that more than likely it has to do with the ability to have labor in water. Less stress on the mother can bring greater results to the unborn child in the terms of blood flow and adrenaline. Some research has shown that the baby can have injury or a traumatic experience all together if they are born from a stressed out mother. I wonder if water labor is the way to go?