Childbirth In My LIfe and Around the World

Child birth I must say was and still is one of the most awesome and exciting experiences that I have experienced.  The birthing experience that I chose to write about is the birth of my fourth and fifth child.  Early in my pregnancy, I learned that I would be having twins.  It was a big shock for both my husband and myself.  The twins came into the world at 35 weeks, unfortunately, via cesarean section.  Up to minutes before they were delivered I insisted on not having a cesarean delivery.  The doctor that delivered the twins agreed that he would deliver them without cesarean section. However, due to the fact that one of them was breech, he could not guarantee that he wouldn’t have to deliver the first one and then the second one via cesarean section.  This brought great amount of fear into my mind.  There was no way that I wanted to endure two different types of deliveries. I insisted on an ultrasound, in order to see if the breech baby had possibly changed his position.  They rushed to quickly honor my wishes to do the ultrasound, unfortunately, he was still in the breech position.  Therefore, I made the decision to go forward with delivering via cesarean section.  The twins were born within minutes of each other both weighing 5 pounds 2 oz and they were the exact same length.  There were no complications during the birth.  The twins were both taken to the nursery immediately as they were only 35 weeks.  After much time had passed and I hadn’t seen the twins, I sent my husband to find out if I could see them.  They were only able to bring one of the twins to me as one was having minor issues with temperature stabilization and bradycardia. This landed him in the hospital for a week longer.  The minor issues that he endured did not affect his development. Fortunately, the hospital had a complementary room that I could stay in that was across the hall from the nursery.  I did not want to go home with just one twin.  Both twins ended up developing jaundice and had to be placed under the bilirubin lights, luckily they were still in the hospital and we didn’t have to go through the process of readmitting.  Staying at the hospital until the twins were released made it possible for me to breastfeed without having to supplement with formula.  I was very thankful that they had the complimentary room and that it was available, as I was released a week before they were. 

One of my best friends lives in Canada, though I wasn’t able to be with her when she delivered, I was able to hear about her birthing experience.  Her experience was similar to mine.  When she was ready to deliver she went to the hospital to deliver.  She did not have any complications. What I found from talking with her to be different, was the process of seeing a specialist during her pregnancy.  It takes a long time to get in with the obstetrician, therefore, she had to see her general doctor several times before seeing her obstetrician.  I also found it unique that they are allowed to take a year of maternity after having a baby.