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Talon - A painful experience
by Katie
Katie never expected to feel so much pain after the doctor turned the epidural down at the end of her labor. Katie writes, "The pain was like nothing I could have ever imagined, I mean I knew all along that labor was painful, but if I could have died right there and then, I would have." Read more of this birth story...
Mom's story
I can remember every second of when I gave birth to Talon, from the very first contraction, until the sheer relief of when he was born! I woke up at 7 am, Sunday 16th, April, and had my first contraction. I thought I just needed to go to the bathroom, but as the morning went on I realized that they were contractions. I spent the rest of the day just laying on the couch, gradually getting in more and more pain, but bearable.
By 7 pm that night I was in quite a bit of pain, but we went to bed and tried to sleep. This was not possible. We were walking the halls of our apartment complex all night. Finally at 3 am we went to the hospital. I was only 2 cm dilated, so we walked around the hospital for two and a half hours, to then be told I was still 2 cm, given a sleeping pill as I was exhausted, and sent back home. I managed to get two hours sleep at home, on and off sleeping in between contractions, the pill must have been very strong!
At 3 pm we went back to the hospital, I could hardly walk! I was 3-4 cm dilated and finally admitted. They gave me a shot of Nubain, that made me feel very drunk and sick. I went through the rest of the labor in utmost pain, seriously wanting to die. They broke my waters at 6 pm, when I was 5 cm dilated. They finally gave me a epidural at 9 pm, after loosing my blood work. I was shaking like a leaf and throwing up everywhere (not a pretty sight!).
By 11 pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push (two hours with epidural, that's it after 42 hours of labor!). My doctor said to turn the epidural down, so I could feel the contractions better to push, I was so ready to have my baby that I really didn't care at the time, little did I know that, that meant having a lot of pain. The pain was like nothing I could have ever imagined, I mean I knew all along that labor was painful, but if I could have died right there and then, I would have.
I was crying out to be taken away from it all. I have nightmares still thinking about what I went through. I know that every women is different, and that labor is painful, but I just cannot explain enough how horrible it really was. Talon was finally born with the help of the suction cup at 12:39 am Tuesday 18th April, weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces. He was put straight on my tummy, and to this day I can remember the best feeling in the world was when he finally came out of me, the pain just disappeared.
I will never go through that again, I couldn't bond properly with him because I felt so tired and exhausted. I have been scared for life with that birth, and I feel cheated a great deal, because I know that the pain I went through could have been prevented. My husband still talks about it to this day, he felt that what I went through was terrible and he also has bad nightmares because of it.
Hope I haven't made anyone feel bad, I have been very honest telling my story, but if it upsets you just remember that everyone is different and have a epidural early and don't let them turn it down! My son is the best thing to ever happen to me, and I wouldn't change that for the world.