Natural childbirth - “How the first and second births differ in pain.” Stories about childbirth - how I gave birth

Preparations began long before the birth. We then lived in the city of Simferopol, and decided to give birth in the first maternity hospital. After asking everyone I know about the best gynecologists city, chose the head of the commercial department, Irina Gennadievna Dubovenko. A very pleasant, fragile, pretty woman received me exactly two weeks before giving birth. She examined the neck and said that there was still time. Two weeks passed in agonizing anticipation and excitement.

As I remember now, it was Tuesday, a warm sunny morning on October 5, 2004; it was still Indian summer in Crimea.

Irina Gennadievna greeted me cordially and sent me to get ready for the chair. I'm all in makeup and definitely have a pedicure (in my opinion, all girls are most concerned about their pedicure before giving birth). On the chair, she examined me and asked if we were going to give birth today? The questions were strange, but I answered that we would. And then the exciting process began.

She stuck her hand somewhere deep inside and pulled something up. Acute pain began, as during menstruation. A midwife named Susanna (I don’t remember her last name) came up and ordered me to be ready for an intravenous injection. She categorically stated that she favorite place for an injection - these are the veins on the hand, and carried out a nasty painful procedure.

Then my grandmother came with a large Soviet enamel mug and ordered an enema.

They took me into some empty room, left me there to lie alone and listen to how a person unknown to me roared nearby in the next room. I couldn’t lie down, I started wandering around, leaning on the walls and thinking, “...is this really happening to me? Is this roaring voice behind the wall really my future?

The contractions began to intensify. Susanna came running and encouraged with the words: “Don’t worry, there’s only one more opening finger. In ten hours, LABOR WILL START!” I will remember this “support” for the rest of my life. Well, yes, why worry, just some 10 hours of torture. Especially the phrase “labor will begin” killed the most. It turns out that this wildest pain did not mean that they had begun!

Throughout my pregnancy, I asked more experienced friends about what you experience during labor. No one could answer definitively. Now I understand that it is difficult to describe this in words. There is a feeling as if you are being squeezed in a vice and being squeezed so that all your bones are about to burst. Although there seem to be no bones there... This is such a wild, inexplicable pain...

An hour after the start of intense contractions, my strength was already running out, and the midwife’s words about ten o’clock were still pulsating in my head... The doctor periodically came running from the neighboring delivery room and examined me on the chair. She was incredibly sweet and affectionate. This inspired confidence. It seemed as if my mother was nearby.

And then she somehow came in, stood opposite me, lowered her head thoughtfully, and stood there for about half an hour. I felt uncomfortable moaning in front of her, and I spent the last difficult contractions next to her in painful silence, biting my lips.

When the clock showed that my contractions lasted 2.5 hours, the doctor suddenly pleased me with the news that I was ready for childbirth. Hooray! The midwife was wrong!

On the chair everything became even scarier. In essence, the sensations have not changed, but the jitters have increased. They asked me if I wanted to go to the toilet in a big way? The question seemed ridiculous to me, but I had heard a lot that this was a sign of pushing.

I admit honestly, I didn’t want anything like that, but I lied, because I had suffered so much to give birth to him already that I was ready to admit that I was a mammoth, if only they would let me into this notorious chair. Having lied like crazy that I was dying to go to the toilet, I perched myself on a chair.

I was given a lecture about how I should exhale three times and then start “pooping” on command (forgive me for my French).

I’ll say right away, expectant mothers, listen to your doctors and take their commands literally. If you are told to do this, then do not look for hidden subtext, otherwise you will simply waste your time pointlessly deciphering the command. Yes, that's exactly what you need to do. Don't be afraid, your intestines will be cleaned first and there will be no unexpected surprises. But precisely these actions with the muscles of the lower part abdominal cavity force the baby to move forward freely.

When I began to feel that the head was coming out, then I experienced the full severity of the impressions. I no longer believe anyone who says giving birth doesn’t hurt. I was torn into a million pieces. Sorry, there is no need to talk about the size of the head of newborn babies; in my opinion, it differs significantly from the size of the birth canal.

When the head was already stuck somewhere in the middle, I was suddenly ordered to stop and not push. But I couldn’t stand it and pushed the poor baby forward. Irina Gennadievna suddenly shouted: “Fool! What have you done?!” I was scared to death, thinking that I had killed my child. It turned out that they wanted to correct the mucous membrane in order to prevent it from tearing, but in my haste I did not let them do this and in a second I violated the entire harmony of my own physiological structure. The doctor lamented that such beauty was spoiled. And with a sinking heart I thanked the Almighty that everything was fine with the child.

Then there were a couple more lion roars, and finally someone started crying. When they raised this someone to the level of my gaze, a small black child, smeared butter. This is exactly how he remains in my memory. Now my son is light blond, but he was born like a black man, with small wet curls, wide nostrils and swollen Mongoloid eyes. His skin color was bluish, and his voice was shrill and offended.

The doctor put it on my chest and suddenly said to the midwife: “Look how beautiful she is, it’s rare for anyone to look like this after giving birth.” And then I remembered my makeup and laughed. It was all over, and I was hugging my baby. The pain went away as quickly as it came. Peace and colossal fatigue set in. I have never worked so hard in my life.

Well, the time has come while my daughter is sleeping.

My PDR date is June 21st. I sat on the evening of June 13 and didn’t even think about anything. There were no signs of the plug coming out, nor any loosening of the stool. It was very hot, I was drinking thermal water, and my daughter was shaking in her stomach. I talked to her, sympathized with the fact that she, too, was probably stuffy, told her how much I loved her and how we would live well with her. She apparently heard enough and decided to go check it out :)
At night, in my sleep, at around 2:30, I felt the first contractions, I noticed them, they were short-lived, with an interval of 20 minutes. I say, daughter, don’t rush until the morning, until 8 o’clock, so that there is a fresh change of doctors in the maternity hospital :) And then I calmly went to bed. In my sleep, of course, I felt that the contractions were intensifying and becoming more frequent, but with my pain threshold I didn't give a damn.

Exactly at 8 I wake up to the fact that my water breaks, along with the plug and loosening of the stool :)
That’s it, I say, now take me to the maternity hospital :) And quickly take a shower.
We arrived at the maternity hospital around 8:30. While I was getting ready, I already began to feel the contractions stronger, but as a scientist during the course, I was breathing with all my might and it wasn’t very painful either. The dilation was about 5 cm.
While I was having the enema, the contractions intensified, but fortunately there was a shower there, I saved myself with a shower on my lower back and breathing.
Then she cheerfully came to the prenatal room at 10 o’clock. They really put me down. a device was attached to measure the heartbeat. They told me to time how many contractions there would be in half an hour.

And it turns out that I already have almost full disclosure. I still endured the pain for about 15 minutes. breathed and let's say moaned. There was practically no break between contractions, only the peak of one and the next immediately followed. here I no longer had the strength to restrain my voice, I began to shout like that :))) with the sound “a” at the top of my lungs :)) I tell the midwife (after the courses she’s competent), you know, I’m already in a transitional phase, it already seems to me it’s painful, how should I hold back or not? It can't be that she just arrived. first birth, you open up and open up. After about 10 minutes, I say, there is no break between contractions and it seems to me that my head is already hurting :)) Well, then she still went to the doctor. The doctor looked, full dilation, time to go to the table.

During pregnancy, I was in danger of miscarriage due to a short cervix, ICN, and I wore a pessary. That’s why my cervix dilated very quickly. She moved to the table, and as expected, after 3 attempts, she gave birth at 11-15.
Moreover, it seemed to me that I still couldn’t get my head out, but then my daughter crawled out. There was a one-time entanglement. They gave me an Apgar score of 8/9. My daughter was treated on the table. I lay there and looked at it with tears of joy. When I gave birth to the placenta, I didn’t even feel it. There are no internal tears; one small cut was made externally. Then they swaddled my daughter and put her to my chest for about 20 minutes.

What can I say about the maternity hospital? Yes, the building is old, amenities are on the floor. The shower does not work. She was on the 2nd floor. There are boards for 2 people, for 3, for 4, for 5 and for 6. Almost all have a sink and a refrigerator. I had room 6, without a sink. I used to think how I would be able to lie in such conditions after giving birth. And somehow 5 days flew by without me having time to suffer much because of it. I didn’t observe huge queues for the toilets, as they wrote on some sites. Very friendly and polite staff. Panties and pads are provided. The pediatrician spoke in detail about the children every day, and the nurses helped the roommates in the ward to clear their blood. The food is also decent, of course they still brought packages, but if there is no one, you won’t die of hunger there, they also offer supplements.

Babies are brought in for feeding 6 times a day and left for 45 minutes. discharged without diaper rash.

My second birth.
I knew that the second birth goes much faster than the first, and I even read the day before about rapid labor, but I didn’t think that this time everything would pass so quickly for me. Thank God, at least I didn’t give birth in the car)

All photos are clickable.

In the delivery room

The due date for my second child was set for December 31st. To be honest, giving birth in New Year- a dubious pleasure. So my husband and I decided that if I don’t give birth by December 25th, then I’ll wait until January 2nd. And as soon as we “decided”... It began! On the 26th at 5 am I thought I was having contractions. However, I didn’t understand for sure, because the day before we celebrated the New Year with the older generation and I was so stuffed with all sorts of goodies (after all, breastfeeding women can’t do a lot of things, and I tried to “eat for future use”) that I thought my stomach hurt from overeating.

Corridor of the maternity ward. At the end on the left, I’m lying on a gurney, after giving birth, waiting to be transferred to the ward. On the left are maternity clinics, on the right are doctors resting.

However, at 12 my contractions became every 7 minutes. My husband wanted to call an ambulance, but I decided to wait until my water broke or contractions came every 4-5 minutes. The fact is that for my first birth I went to the maternity hospital when contractions were every 4 minutes, and at the same time I arrived there at about 9 in the morning, and gave birth at 1:50 at night! What I didn’t like most of all was that the doctors then tried as best they could to speed up my birth - they gave an IV, an injection, pierced the bladder... Of course, they can also be understood, the shift is on, the maternity hospital is full, I want to finish with everyone as quickly as possible... But this option didn’t suit me anymore. This time I was very determined - no medical intervention! I was even prepared to quarrel with the doctors and “download my rights,” especially since my husband “gave birth” with me again. Like, let the doctors come at the most last moment, catch and tie the umbilical cord. In general, throughout my pregnancy I was determined to give birth on my own, quickly, easily, without pain and without medical “help.” So, in general, that’s what happened, because I gave birth so quickly that no one had time to do anything. So remember - a thought is material, especially if you express it out loud. Set yourself up for good things, and it will work out!

I had big plans for the moment I went into labor. For example, wash yourself, prepare food for future use, and the like. However, the contractions immediately began so frequent and strong that I had difficulty getting into the shower, and after that I could only lie on the bed. The contractions somehow quickly began to occur every 6 minutes, then five... At 16-20, my husband finally persuaded me to call an ambulance. In general, the ambulance is in our neighboring yard, so that’s why I wasn’t worried. Who knew that there was a special “clean” car for women in labor, and it would travel from afar... After 40 minutes, I already thought that I would actually give birth at home!

Son, Richard!

When the ambulance finally arrived, I was having contractions every minute and a half. However, the ambulance doctor was in no hurry. She checked all the documents and categorically refused to take me to the 13th maternity hospital (where I gave birth for the first time), since it was cardiological, and I did not have a diagnosis. I asked the doctor in advance antenatal clinic make me a referral to this particular maternity hospital, and I had it in my hands with all the seals. However, since I insisted, she offered to call there so that they would confirm that they would accept me. Luckily, I had the main midwife's phone number. Since I was almost giving birth, I called her at the moment of contraction, shouting into the phone, saying, I already gave birth to you two years ago, accept me again! She called the reception without hanging up, found out that they had no people at the moment, and agreed to bring me. Luckily for me! Because I definitely wouldn’t have had time to call a taxi and get there on my own “after the fact.”

This is my birthplace. Separate, as I gave birth with my husband.

How I didn’t give birth in the car, I don’t know. I know that feeling when it’s “just about there.” I tried to relax, breathe, it helped. Fortunately, the drivers let us through, pulled into neighboring lanes, and we simply flew from the outskirts to the city center, probably in half an hour or a little more.

The baby's umbilical cord is tied. Right at my feet.

In the reception room they checked my documents, I wrote my first and last name on some piece of paper, changed into their shirt and 5 minutes after arriving I was walking up to the second floor. IN maternity ward I was handed over to a team of doctors, since I decided to give birth with my husband, they gave me a separate maternity ward. They promised to bring me documents later, since they didn’t have time to fill out anything, and I liked the doctor’s phrase: “How can she go and give birth without documents?” I just wanted to answer something like: “Nothing, I’ll hold my hand and wait for you to fill it out”)))

I just gave birth, I’m seeing my son for the first time! The umbilical cord has not yet been cut)

The young doctor laid him on the couch and said that she would install a CTG machine to listen to the baby’s heart. For an hour! I immediately started saying, what an hour, I’m already giving birth! Since I remember this feeling when I can no longer hold back and not push, I remember it from my first birth. By the way, my water never broke! The doctor decided to take a look, and at that moment, apparently, the bubble opened, because it began to pour. Then a very experienced midwife came and told me to urgently send me to the chair. I myself felt that the moment of a miracle had arrived. Hurrying to the chair, I found only one slipper - I jumped in one.) At that moment, my husband ran into the birth room (he needed to carry things and change into everything clean. All this took less than 10 minutes. As soon as I climbed onto the chair, almost immediately in a few minutes and gave birth. In total, I spent less than 15 minutes in the maternity hospital! I gave birth at 18-05.

The midwife helps you immediately put the baby to the breast.

They immediately put my son on his stomach, then they let my husband cut the umbilical cord, washed him, the doctors checked him, the midwife wrapped him up and put him to his chest. He ate for probably more than half an hour. Then, when the doctors waited for the placenta to appear, we were left to enjoy communication with the baby. My husband took photographs, we both called friends and relatives, and our son ate and sniffled busily. An hour later the baby was taken to children's department(in the 13th maternity hospital this is how it is supposed to be), but they promised to transport me to the ward by eight. My husband was sent home. But I asked him to buy and bring food. They took me out into the corridor, then took me for an examination; fortunately, there were no cuts or tears, but I had to stay teaching aid for a girl - an intern. Then she lay in the corridor for a while, even receiving dinner - a vinaigrette with a cold sausage, and at nine in the evening she was already in the ward and soon with her son.

Still in the maternity ward, immediately after birth

But at 6 am I already demanded to be discharged! I felt great, after giving birth, instead of fatigue, I felt a huge surge of strength! I wanted to do something, and my two-year-old daughter was waiting at home. And I couldn’t stand another sleepless night in a four-bed ward with snoring neighbors and screaming other people’s children. As luck would have it, my baby slept soundly, but my neighbor’s girl screamed almost all night, and if she fell silent, her mother immediately began to snore terribly. And the rest of the neighbors were not far behind. Moreover, the first night the children were brought only to us two, and in the afternoon to two other girls, so it’s scary to imagine what happened there the next night.

Proud dad - delivered the baby again) 15-30 minutes for my son)

So I asked the doctors—the obstetrician-gynecologist and the pediatrician—to discharge me under my own responsibility. I raised the entire staff to their feet and signed a bunch of papers. They demanded that I take tests - they usually take 5 days, but thanks to the staff - they did everything for me in 20 minutes, they took blood right in the room, let me in for an ultrasound without a queue, etc. At least pediatrician and was very dissatisfied, but the rest of the employees supported, helped, and did all the paperwork. So thank you to the 13th maternity hospital again!

That's how we went home) The photo was taken in the car on a phone, Richard was only 18 hours old.

However, that’s not all) In the morning, my husband went to me at about 8 am, took things for me and the baby, because it was impossible to take anything with me right away and I had nothing at all. I said that I needed to take the children’s things for discharge, since I wanted to leave right away. When my husband brought a bag of baby clothes for the maternity hospital, I asked where the rest was. He replied that it was in the wardrobe. I say, have you taken everything? He answered that everything except carrying. And he sat downstairs waiting for me for three hours while I filled out the documents. But when I went downstairs with my son, and my husband handed over the things for me to dress the baby, I saw... Only a bag with my pregnant clothes that I arrived in! With a T-shirt, without a hat and scarf...) And not a single child!!! He forgot everything, although he says that he simply did not understand what things I was talking about! However, the girl who was dressing with me, her husband forgot her boots... Probably all dads are worried and have trouble thinking at such a moment. I thought that if I went back to the department to wait for things, the staff would wince! Well, in the maternity hospital there is a stall with all the children's things and blankets for sale, everything was found. Having dressed and wrapped my son in everything new, the nurse asked if we had a ribbon for the blanket, otherwise it would come undone. Anyway, I didn’t have a ribbon, so I took off my postpartum corset and they put it on over the blanket with a laugh. Probably no one has ever had such a ribbon and statement before! So we went home!!!
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My pregnancy was planned and very desired, as it probably was for many. Before important decision My husband and I had already been married for 2 years, and we had known each other for 8 years, well, in general, I pulled out the IUD and began to wait, a month later I was craving salty foods, but my period came. I was upset, but already next time They weren’t there, just to be sure, I waited about two weeks and took a test - HURRAY! It turned out to be positive, a couple of weeks later I went to the doctor, and it started. (I’m writing all this for a reason; looking ahead, I’ll say that I’ll remember all this at the end of my story).
I won’t bore you with the story about my pregnancy, everything went well without any complications, the only “complication” was that I was diagnosed with PDD on August 28, which meant that I had to walk around with a little belly throughout our hot Almaty summer, and, of course, you understand that you can’t drink more water, let alone eat watermelon.

But about 30-32 weeks ago I was stunned by the news of what they would do to me C-section, for me it was a bolt from the blue, no, of course, I knew from childhood that I had a high degree of myopia in one eye, but throughout my pregnancy no one even hinted at a caesarean section and I, having read a bunch of magazines, learned to breathe during childbirth, I was in shock + But still, I was lucky enough to be born into a family where there is a doctor, especially since this doctor is my mother, she is a pediatrician, (which, as it turned out, is now very good, as a pediatrician, I only trust her), but one of her classmates turned out to be the deputy chief physician of one of the maternity hospitals in Almaty (by the way, this maternity hospital, one might say, is suburban, because it is located very far from the center and serves the female population of suburban villages, but I myself was born in this maternity hospital, because previously it was only suitable for premature babies, and my mom managed to give birth to me at 30 weeks.). In general, this sweet, wonderful woman looked at me and said that there was absolutely no point in having a caesarean section at the age of 19 (I was actually 24, but it was nice + especially, even though we corrected her, she was confident that I was 19 years until my discharge from the maternity hospital). My doctor referred me to another good woman, an ophthalmologist, very famous in our city, I had a comprehensive examination of my eyes and especially the retina and + lo and behold!!! They said that I can give birth on my own without any problems, the only thing is that I need to push correctly, as they explained to me, I need to push down, not up. Having gone through all these tests, I calmed down and tuned in again. physiological birth, but then it turned out that due to the fact that I was once cauterized for cervical erosion, I cannot be taken in childbirth, i.e. I need to go to the maternity hospital in advance, we agreed (we had an oral agreement) that I would go to bed at 38 weeks.

But at 37 weeks I realized that my strength was running out, a couple of days later at the next appointment at the housing complex it turned out that the uterus had dropped and the doctor said that if I didn’t go to the maternity hospital right away, she would call me an ambulance. My mother and I went to the maternity hospital. No, I have a husband, but I divide men in relation to childbirth into two categories: those who can survive the birth of their wife calmly and after that will respect and love even more, and those who, after being present at the birth, treat their wife as a woman they won’t be able to watch, I love my husband very much, he is kind and sensitive and adores me, but he belongs to the second category. And I have such a stubborn character that if my mother had not been a doctor, without telling anyone anything, she would have gone away to give birth on the sly (in general, that’s almost what happened).

So on August 10, by lunchtime, I found myself in the maternity hospital, naturally I was extremely scared, but I calmed myself down strangely: I told myself that childbirth is not a visit to the dentist and that no matter what you do, it cannot be postponed.
The maternity hospital turned out to be very small and cozy, clean, with a simple renovation, the only thing that struck me was that in the prenatal department there were different wards: ordinary and self-supporting, I was in one of the self-supporting ones, there were good wooden beds, two or three people in the room , TV and refrigerator, but in ordinary wards, women were lying in groups of 7-8 people and, horror!!! - on mesh beds (like in the pioneer camps of my childhood), with their huge bellies, these meshes sagged all the way to the floor + But otherwise everything was fine, the attitude of the medical staff towards pregnant women was wonderful, almost everyone was kind and polite, and it didn’t matter, Are you in paid or free? Why practically? Because, after all, there were incidents, for example, I received the first shock in the emergency room, when it turned out that I (I apologize for such intimate details, but those who gave birth already know this, and it is useful for those who have not given birth to know so as not to fall into situation similar to mine) they will shave the perineal area. To my shame, I notice that then 4 years ago, at 24 years old, I didn’t know that I had to come to the maternity hospital already shaved, it so happened that in my environment there was no one who gave birth before me, the housing complex didn’t tell me anything , and my mother was sure that I knew. In general, they shaved me with a terrible razor, no, it was new, but somehow antediluvian, add to this the shame that I experienced from the procedure itself and from the nurse, who oohed and aahed about the fact that I didn’t know about it, I think she didn’t enjoy this procedure either.

Then, they immediately put me on a drip with some vitamins, this was also the first time for me, before that I had never been given a drip in my life, but here it was immediately for 4 hours. But I passed this test too!
Since it was Friday, my doctor went away for the weekend and said that I still shouldn’t give birth until Monday, and if I suddenly had an urge, they would call her right away. She calmed me down, and all weekend I talked with people like me, and at night, dying of fear, I listened to the women screaming on the floor above, because... directly above our room there was a labor room. But in the morning, we collectively discussed how unfair it is that women give birth and suffer all night, and in the morning they come drunk and happy husbands in the company of equally drunk and happy relatives and friends and joyfully greet the newly made exhausted mother. No, of course, children were born in the morning, during the day, and in the evening, but we, who were waiting for this event and fearing it, felt it especially acutely at night.

On Monday, my beloved doctor looked at me and said that I would give birth tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but I could do it today. By the way, it was the 13th, Monday, and I was determined to endure at least until the 14th, no matter what. I'm very superstitious when it comes to these things.
On the night of the 13th to the 14th, I started to really panic, my baby was kicking and kicking, not letting me sleep, I walked around the ward myself and didn’t let anyone sleep, the midwife on duty kept asking about my condition and pumped me full of Corvalol. And I had a real panic, I don’t even know what to compare it with, there is a similar state before an exam or something important event+ Then my back started to tighten, it didn’t hurt, but it was unpleasant and scary + And the girls in the ward didn’t sleep and were crazy about me, and it was funny to them because it turns out that there was a woman in the same bed before me, and so her back started to tighten , lasted all night, and in the morning she gave birth almost in the ward without any contractions, she gave birth 20 minutes after they took her away. And, I must say, their stories had an effect - I became even more scared! At dawn, either tired from a sleepless night, or pumped up on Corvalol, I dozed off, and at 8.30 in the morning I heard the doctors doing their morning rounds.

The following dialogue caught my attention:
My doctor: Well, how are we doing?

Midwife on duty: So-and-so gave birth at night, so-and-so was taken away an hour ago, but Natalya from ward 6 was nervous all night, her back was tight, the baby was kicking hard.

My doctor: Natalya will have an enema and go upstairs.

After that, I broke into a cold sweat, and all the sleep disappeared instantly.

I won’t bore you with stories about such an unpleasant procedure as an enema, especially since all women in labor go through this, and I’ve already written quite a lot.
After the enema, they put me on an examination chair, where they looked and punctured the bladder, after all the water had poured into the basin, I was taken to prenatal ward, changed into some strange nightie (it must be said that it looked creepy, but it was sterilely clean). I was only in this robe and with a watch on my hand, because... I waited and looked at my watch the whole time.

The contractions began, the whole time they lasted, I expected it to be more painful, it was more painful, but still it was not as painful as I expected, the pain was stronger than during menstruation, but tolerable, very tolerable, especially since With each contraction I tried to breathe as I had learned. Another sufferer was suffering nearby, but she had been suffering since the evening and she was screaming, which made me feel worse and I endlessly asked the doctors and midwives who were scurrying back and forth, how much longer would I have to go, they laughed and said: you’ll have time, from this there's no escape; then my doctor took mercy on me and after another examination of my cervix (which was dilating rapidly) she said that in about two hours I would definitely give birth. They put me on a drip and once they gave me an injection, apparently some type of drug, because... when I asked what it was, they told me: oh, you’ll feel so good now, and you’ll reveal all your secrets to us. It was true before similar condition I've never had.

Then my cervix began to dilate just wildly, and they took me to the delivery room. They put shoe covers on me and hoisted me onto the birthing chair, creepy in appearance, but comfortable in essence. The pushing began, I was strictly forbidden to scream so as not to waste my strength, as the pushing became unbearable I became more and more scared, but then I was allowed to push, about 10 people gathered around: doctors, the head doctor, midwives, but I didn’t care anymore , I growled, clenching my teeth, like a wounded lion, I actually growled, they praised and encouraged me, but after three such growls, I realized that I suddenly felt very light and free, and someone shouted, they showed me this someone, it was my son, they promised me a son at the ultrasound, and we all wanted a boy, and it was him, the one we were waiting for, who was kicking and pushing in my stomach+ I cried with joy, for the first time in my life I cried with joy , they put him on my chest, and he, like a blind kitten, with his eyes closed, began to poke his nose and look for a tit, found it, sucked it and began to smack it with pleasure. He was bluish in color, I asked why, they told me that his umbilical cord was wrapped around him once, but right before my eyes, he began to turn pink, I hugged him very carefully, they covered us terry towel While I was getting everything I needed out, something warm and wet ran over me, I got scared, but it turned out that my baby peed on me. But then the worst thing in my birth began - they cut me off when the head was passing through, and they began to stitch me up, how I was screaming, my bunny didn’t care, he was peacefully sucking on his chest, because he didn’t hear anything, and I was screaming like a pack of wounded bison, the sufferer who had been suffering since the evening was giving birth nearby, I got carried away and forgot about the pain for a while. But the pain was so terrible, especially when they pull this thread + I told the doctors: “You know, I would give birth 20 more times, but it would be stitched up.” And then I said that childbirth is bullshit, I would have given birth exactly 20 more times if the pregnant woman was 9 months old not to go+ And also that I won’t give birth anymore in the summer. Although when I gave birth, it was raining. This event happened on August 14, 2001 at 12.20, in Almaty, in maternity hospital 4, my son was born at 38 weeks, 3.500 - weight, 54 cm. - height.

In general, this is my entire story, although I have already written a lot, apparently.
I’ll just say that the woman who gave birth next to me abandoned her healthy and pretty baby, but that’s another story that shocked me.
As I already wrote above, I didn’t say anything to any of my relatives when I went to give birth, and I calmly gave birth in three and a half hours. And then my roommates called my husband on his mobile when I was already in the postpartum room. The happiness of the husband and relatives is also a different story. And to this story I just have to add that now I’m pregnant again, I’m 28 weeks old, they say it’s a boy again, at first I was upset, but then I calmed down and decided that it means there will be a girl later. So that bluish lump, born on 08/14/2001, is waiting for a brother. I’m giving birth again in the summer (no matter how much I swore), this baby was completely unplanned for us, but very desired, and God gave him to us despite the fact that I had an IUD again. So I’ll inform you and go again to the same maternity hospital, to the same sweet woman. It’s just that they’re scaring me again with a cesarean, I’m slowly getting ready, after all, I’ve already given birth and 4 years have passed, we’ll wait and see. I just want to say that according to a strange pattern, we are giving birth to children in critical years family life: at 3 years old, now at 7 years old, apparently we will give birth to a third in 8 years, at 15 years of family life, but time will tell.

All that remains is to add that everyone is as lucky as I was with the maternity hospital and with the birth, and with the doctors and medical staff + I hope I haven’t tired you with my long stories.

Our reader shared with us candid stories about your birth. How it happened to her in the maternity hospital and at home, with and without medical intervention.

Asya

It was July. Hot July. I was admitted to the hospital “through connections” a week before the expected date of birth. The neighbors turned out to be extremely talkative, so all week I was forced to listen heartbreaking stories about complications during childbirth, about doctors’ mistakes. In general, when the doctor came in and said: “The room is free, let’s go give birth,” I was glad to leave these chatty ladies with their horror films. However, the strange thing was that I did not show any signs of labor. A room just became available and they took me away.

They pierced my bladder, gave me injections, and put me on an IV. They didn’t explain anything, they just did something to me. At this time, my husband arrived and thoughtfully invited me to look out the window. Yeah. With IVs in the veins. Naturally, I cut my vein, the needle went into the muscle, and the medicine dripped there.

Further - worse. They tied me by both hands so that I could not move, listened to my heartbeat, and asked how I was feeling. The birth took place in the evening. I finally met my eldest daughter. They just applied it to me and took it for “sanitation.” We met her 2 hours later in the postpartum ward.
How did I feel after giving birth? Crazy happiness. And for some reason the thought flashed that the husband had to be present at this important point. Let him “give birth” with me next time.

I was discharged on the fifth day, given instructions on caring for the baby and instructions to come and give birth to a boy.

Matvey

With my son, Matyusha, everything was different. Eldest daughter I was sick, it was hard for me to bear a child, and my husband had left... In general, I was more than looking forward to the day of planned hospitalization. Slowly, I took my daughter to my mother, and then went to the maternity hospital. But, to my great surprise, instead of hospitalization, I was expected to give birth. On the same day. This birth was easy: I fell asleep without any pain relief and woke up when the baby was almost born.

I didn’t give Matyusha to the nannies; he slept with me. So four days passed, and on the fifth we were discharged.

Aglaya

Time passed, I got married again. Got pregnant. But they didn’t invite us to the maternity hospital for our third child, so I decided to give birth at home. This is how Glasha was born. Of course, everything was not like in a fairy tale, and the skills of delivering a child did not descend from heaven on my husband. We went to specialized courses.

At that time, we had not finally decided that we wanted to give birth at home. I wanted to improve physical fitness, and the husband wanted information. But it was there that we were convinced of the benefits of home birth. And besides, our maternity hospital was closed for the summer...

Pseudo-contractions began at 36 weeks, and it seemed to me that I would soon give birth. But in fact, Aglaya deigned to be born at 40 weeks. Before giving birth, I constantly consulted with a doctor and an instructor from specialized center, Tatyana.

The contractions started at night. I woke up my husband and called Tanya. And by the time the contractions became regular, every three minutes, they suddenly stopped. Everyone left, and in the middle of the day the contractions started again. We had to quickly gather our company again, consisting of me, my husband and Tanya. But, as soon as the contractions became every minute and it seemed that they were about to start, they stopped again.

It was necessary to urgently “evacuate” the older children. For these purposes, my mother was urgently called. When all the extra people finally left the area, I was able to lie down in the bath. It hurt, but there was no panic. It became somewhat easier in the bathroom. Tanya led the process and explained everything clearly and calmly.

But that was not all the adventure. Aglasha turned out to be a lady with character. She was disturbed not only by the older children, but also by the light. She did not want to please us with her appearance until... The lights in the apartment turned off. The husband ran to get candles, and Tanya delivered the baby. So the baby was born under the flickering lights of candles.

After a home birth, my relationship with my husband became closer and more tender.

In total, the birth lasted 16 hours, from night contractions to the appearance of Aglaya. The doctor examined the daughter the next day and said that the child was absolutely healthy. Surprisingly, in subsequent years Glasha was the healthiest of all the children: she rarely gets sick, she is well developed physically and intellectually.

My conclusions

Where was the best place for me to give birth? At home. Better yet, in the pool family center so that my husband and midwife are nearby. There's nothing to hold on to in the bathroom and it's a bit cramped. In principle, it’s not bad in the maternity hospital, but only if you don’t use unnecessary medications and coordinate everything with the woman in labor. Of course, it’s calmer this way, but when you have complete confidence in the doctor. At home, all the risk and responsibility is on you.

To give birth at home, you need to be well prepared with information, make sure that the pregnancy is progressing correctly, trust your husband one hundred percent, and find a good midwife. Don’t be afraid, your relationship with your husband doesn’t change at all after a home birth.

Our relationship has only become closer, more tender.