[kloiesmom]

Ok so my first daughter was born in orange county and i had a wonderful experience. she was fast the nurses and my doctor were kind and patient, let alone there during the labor and delivery, my epidural worked and they encouraged me to keep my daughter with me all night to begin the bonding experience which i adored even though i would have loved one more night of sleep haha. anyways my second daughter was born in riverside county.... i guess thats where it all starts to go wrong.... i was told to be there at 6 to be enduced i was a week late, so i get there at 5:45 haha and they dont start the process till 8:45!! can you believe that? ok ok so then labor starts picking up i ask for the epidural.... well the tech administered it wrong so i got a poke and a tube in my back for nothing at all. i felt EVERYTHING!!! then the nurse comes to check on me and im 8 before shes out the door my body started pushing, i had no control so i went with it and told dennis to go get the nurse and doctor, the nurse comes strolling in and tells me to stop pushing, i told her to go to hell and dont come back, so she checks me and the babys head was almost out already so she strolls back out leisurley to call the doctor, i had asked for the tech to come fix the epidural two hours ago mind you and no sign of him. anyways dennis and my best friend are in the room, i told dennis the doctor is not going to be here in time so he sits in front of me and prepares to do the doctors job, as the babys shoulders are coming out the doctor walks in washes his hands puts his scrubs on and gloves and says oh yeah theres the baby, the baby is out in 3 pushes and he doesnt even let my husband cut the umbilical cord. he stiches me up and leaves doesnt even ask how im doing. they take me to my room and the whole time they are just so rude to all the family we have waiting outside. i couldnt believe it. anyways 2 am a nurse comes in and starts to wheel my baby away. i said 'HEY WHAT THE H&*% DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! she said theres not enough room so you need to be moved down to the second floor and your daughter is going to the nursery, now after watching them put a "low jack system" on your childs ankle(im serious thats what they called it) would you let them separate you? i think not so without repeating what i said i made it clear that i was not going to be separated from my child. so i gave them the option to send us home or leave us there and any other actions would result in an attorney getting involved. needless to say we stayed there. that morning i went home i was not about to stay another minute. needless to say i had done it once before so i knew we'd be ok and my labor was short and easy as cake. it took only 3 hours from the time i recieved pitosin to the time she showed her beautiful face. and i do take pride in the fact we did this just me and my husband. my second labor was the most horribly beautiful experience ive ever had.

[QueenAngie]

Congratulations on two healthy babies! That is the most important outcome of all.

What a shame that your birthing plan was not followed, as you'd hoped.
That would be your OB/GYNE not following it. He is a physician.

As far as the problem with the epidural catheter in the back, I feel your pain. Ouch!
That would be your anethesiologist, another doctor.

All newborns wear an alarm. 100% of babies do this. This is a safety measure.
Hospital procedure to keep babies safe.

Changing rooms at 2:00 AM, yes I would be really annoyed over that one.
That means that other women are in labor and trying to deliver, so they ran
out of hospital rooms for those women. They only labor and deliver in
the mother-baby dept. ..... not in say, orthopedics.

There are legal laws that women in active labor can not be sent away from
a hospital to some where else. It's the law.

So, those who have allready delivered, need to be transferred to another area.
That would be admitting and the hospital management moving you
so that other women in labor can do so safely.

Apparently you are feeling much anger towards the R.N.s
who made your 2nd delivery not what you'd hoped.
Many women in active labor are not their pleasant, jovial selves.

What I am saying is that you have placed much anger on the R.N.s
at the hospital, and I believe, it is misplaced. While your R.N.s
may not have appreciated your verbal abuse towards them
while you were in transition. They were not the ones who
you should be angry with.

Try your physician, your anesthiologist, the admitting staff,
the legal laws regarding laboring women in the USA,
and the hospital in general.

If you are still annoyed with your hospital stay, why not write
a letter to the Public Relations Dept or Patient Representatives
at the hospital to share your anger?

Again, congratulations on your two healthy babies.

[cocotbo]

Angie is right, your whole hospital staff sucked!
I had a similar, unhappy situation, with my son't birth. I had back labor and no epidural so I was in quite a bit of pain. (understatement) I remember at one point during the HOURS of pushing, looking into my husband's eyes and truly thinking I would die if I had to endure any more of the pain.
It wasn't until my son's head came out that the staff realized that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck TWICE. When they got him out, there were marks around both his wrists and ankles too. He'd been completely hog tied by the umbilical cord and anchored in there - thus my excruciating pain in delivering him. I was lucky that I didn't lose more than just an inordinate amount of blood that day.
My staff sucked too. (My OB wasn't even there. Some other doctor that I'd never met was there.) Next time, I'll know exactly what to look for and I'm looking for a midwife first!

[riveneuphoria]

I feel your pain! My RNs made me miserable. BOTH times. Baby 1 my delivery nurse was telling me "YOU have to have THIS baby now because WE have other patients!" Like it was my fault that my son was sunny side up and not coming down smoothly. She almost got some words from me. Luckily I had my epidural or I might have hit her. Oh but THEN another RN comes in and TURNS OFF MY EPI!!!! She said I would never be able to push with my epidural going so she TURNED IT OFF!! So by the time I actually had my son I was feeling it. The only thing still numb was my legs. And after baby was born the RN refused to let me hold my new son. Then everyone, even babies father leaves me. First the RN said, "Go into the bathroom and put these on" and set a pad and the throw away panties on the bed. Then she left. So I had to climb off the bed, with no feeling in my legs, and nearly full feeling down there.. after having the baby and having a double episiotomy (spelling?) stubble my way to the bathroom, clean myself up, stubble back out and stand there and wait on someone to come. An NA finally came with a wheelchair to take me to my room. This was when the hospital had you deliver in one room and moved you to your permanent room. And the babies did not have the alarm anklets then either. After I got to my room the nurses were pretty good except my room had a bump at the door. The floor was uneven at the doorway and the RNs would roll my son in the cart over the bump, and let his head bounce. They didn't take it easy or be careful at all.
This last go round (1 week 2 days ago) the stupid women at the front desk made me sit in a wheelchair and answer 20 questions knowing I was far along in labor. I mean I told her my contractions were 2 minutes apart. Then the RN from maternity took probably 10 minutes to come down to get me. And 10 minutes is a long time with strong contractions 45 seconds apart (by the time she came down they were 45 seconds instead of 2 minutes) Then I get put in this exam room and they ask for a urine sample when I am sobbing from the pain begging for an epidural. The RN finally checks me and says "You don't have any cervix left!" And slowly leaves the room to alert whoever to get a delivery room ready. So I finally get there, contractions maybe 20 seconds apart, and the nurse is telling me she just has to do one more thing before I can have an epidural. So she says she has to run an IV, and sticks a needle an inch into my wrist right before a contraction. So I tell her, "You have to remove the needle, I am about to have a contraction and that is going to hurt me" she then tells me to wait, that she needs to put pressure before removing the needle. Okay I am having contractions, HARD contractions and she is telling ME to wait?? Needless to say I never got an epidural. I knew she was lying to me the whole time. I was screaming through contractions to get through them. She told me not to scream because it wasn't doing any good. Okay, I am the one having the contractions and she is telling me it wasnt helping? It was helping, if it wasnt then I wouldnt have been doing it. My first labor, contractions were not that strong. Not to where I screamed. I did start having convultions, but I wasn't screaming. Then she tells me to be quiet because there are other new mothers with babies in the rooms around me. I was ready to give her some words when the Doc finally arrived. And I had to ask to start pushing. I think Hubby and I would have been better off doing it ourselves. Except he was way overwhelmed. It was def not a fun experience. But I did get to hold my son this time. So that made me really happy. It kinda made the bad seem not so bad. For my hospi stay the RNs werent that bad the first day, but day 2 it was horrible. My RN came in at 6AM woke me up checked me down there, woke up baby Jacob, gave me pain meds after I asked then left and did not come back for over 12 hours. She had a really long shift. She didnt come back until right before she left. She asked how my pain was and I informed in that I was in terrible pain and asked for meds again. And she said "Oh you havent had meds in a really long time" and I was thinking DUH you never came back! Then the RN after her acted all care free and when I asked her about helping my son to latch she just squirted what she called sweeties into his mouth. She said it was sugar water. And that only got him latched for a minute, and then after that he never latched good again. It was like he wanted more of the sugar stuff. She squirted about 3 tubes in his mouth. Then the morning we left the RN said to call her when we were ready to leave so she could check the carseat. And we paged her twice and she didnt come for 3 hours. So both times the RNs kinda killed my experience but my sons made it all worth it. Def a terrible/beautiful experience.

[twinzplus3]

It is standard procedure to turn off an epidural so a mom can push--just so you know. The point of an epidural should be to get through strong contractions but you really do need to be able to feel a lot of what goes on in order to push if you're having trouble.

It sounds like you must have delivered at a really, really busy hospital!

[MissyChrissy]

Ugh-I'm sorry you had such an awful time. My last delivery wasn't all I'd hoped for either...and it WAS the nurse's fault! She kept telling me I wasn't in active labor-and told that to my midwife and the obgyn who was on call (and had to be on site 'cause I was a vbac). So-they didn't come, and I labored without meds for 6 hours-screaming in pain and getting an attitude from nursey-nurse I refused to leave-threatened to go to another hospital even, and finally my midwife insisted on talking to me on the phone. I could not get through the conversation with her without moaning/screaming in pain & the midwife could hear it in my voice that it was the real deal...she called the obgyn who lived closer and within 2 minutes of his arrival, Conner appeared Umbilical cord around his neck twice. I wasn't officially admitted to the hospital until AFTER he was born...even though I had been there over 6 hours.

I hate that nurse. I'm mad at the hospital too. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

[pattiewrites]

I had a few nasty L& D nurses too. The worst was with my third baby. I did not return to that hospital or the doctor for baby #4 and I was sure to let the hospital and the doc know why. Sadly, I wasn't the first patient he lost for that exact reason. What they need to do is lose the nurses that want everything done by their schedule and their convenience! These women should work in another area of the hospital where there is a more routine schedule, because that ain't what having a baby is all about. Telling a woman to be quiet or wait to push is ridiculous. I wrote a few blogs on traumatic birth and dealing with difficult hospital staff. I'll link to them here:

Pregnancy After a Traumatic Birth

Dealing with Difficult Hospital Staff

PS: I don't hate nurses. I actually had wonderful nurses after my c section. I had one nasty in labor, prior to the c section. I KNEW something was wrong, after all I'd had THREE babies before and I know my own body. However, she kept ignoring me, brushing me off and disregarding the things I was telling her. As they were wheeling me to the OR, I said, "I told you it wasn't right!" I know it's childish, but I couldn't resist. Then I had one nasty nurse for one shift after the birth. She acted like I was bothering her because I needed pain meds. The others were wonderful and very supportive. Some just want everything their way, labor, baby in the nursery, pacifiers in their mouths to shut them up, etc. They don't like anything out of their routine or comfort level. That's the issue. Labor and birth aren't about them or their convenience, it's about mom and baby! If ya can't take the heat.....................

[SaraI07]

When I got pregnant with my daughter Bailey, my husband Brandon and I told his mother. The first thing she said to me was "So is your family the type that comes to see you and the baby in the hospital or waits until you come home?" I couldn't really see why that mattered, but my family is INCREDIBLY close. I told her my family is the type of family to follow you to the hospital, stay until you have the baby and then visit again before you go home and come to the house when you get home. Some people might think that is crazy, but we love the chaos. I told her from the get go that my mom and sister would be in the room and that since it was her first grandchild if she would like to be there too she could. She told me time and time again that she thought that was a special time for me and Brandon and that she wasn't going to be in the room. When the day finally came, I was 2 days overdue. I had my last appointment that day. My DR. told me that he had to check with one of his partners about inducing me and get back to me. He came back and told me we could induce whenever we were ready so I said "How about tonite?" I went and had spaghetti with all of my aunt's and cousin's at my grandmother's house, (something we do often) and when we left almost everyone followed us to the hospital. Earlier that day I had called my mother-in-law to let her know that this was the day and she said "Well I know that originally I said I wasn't going to be in the room, but Brandon told me he really wants me in there." At the time I didn't think much of it, I just told her what time to meet us at the hospital. The hospital staff was very friendly, we got there at 8:30 pm. My mother-in-law got there right as they were putting me in my room. My aunt was waiting for her and my husbands two younger sisters by the elevator to show her where our room was. When she got off the elevator, my aunt said, "Oh you must me Brandon's mom," and she replied, "Yeah and who are you?"
Mind you, I was only 18 when I had my daughter, Brandon and I had only been dating for about 6 months when I got pregnant, so all members of the family had not been properly introduced yet.
I had asked Brandon on the way to the hospital why he didn't tell me that he really wanted his mother in the room, you know what he said, that he never said he did want her in the room and that if she told me that she was lying. He said she probably just changed her mind once she realized I was not backing down and that my mom and sister were going to be in there and she was going to be sitting in the waiting room. At the time I thought that was rather human. I told Brandon if she was going to be in the room that was fine, but I did not want her standing at the end of my bed with a full frontal view during delivery. But guess where she stood! Most of my water was behind Bailey and came out with some force after she did, so his mother got a little wet :P She yelled at my sister for videotaping, which I wanted her to do. I just wanted video of the family in the room and maybe a distant side shot of the birth and his mother told her to turn it off, meanwhile she stood at the end of my bed and took pictures of us while the Dr. was stitching me up. Not only did she get that in the pictures, she developed them, threw them in the trash and then told me that she did it. Maybe I would like to have seen them for myself? She had also made plenty of rude comments to my family that I was unaware of until the next day. Brandon and I had picked out the name Harleigh the moment we found out we were having a girl. When she came to the hospital the next day she said "Oh, you can't name her that, the ladies at my work said when she gets older guys will say things like Have you riden Harleigh yet?" Who says that? I was almost in tears and totally appauled! By that point in time I had heard about how rude she was to everyone there. She had called the hospital several times just to see who was there visiting and to ask if Brandon and I had some "alone time" yet. By the next day, I was so upset with her that I told Brandon to tell her she was not welcome to come back to the hospital. I said if you can't tell her that for me, then tell her we need our "alone time", of course he tried but his mother is overbearing and practically pushed her way through the door. I stayed in the bathroom pretending to get cleaned up but really I was balling my eyes out. I missed the visit with Brandon's grandparents (whom I adore) because I didn't want to see her face. There is so much more to this story but this post is long enough. Bailey was born the 18th of December, somehow that women managed to make my birthing experience less than perfect, she ruined my Christmas Eve, my Christmas day and my New Year's day as well, not to mentioned the wedge she drove between her, Brandon and I. It took me some time to get over. We actually get along really well now, but it's only because after 5 years I have learned to blow her off or be just as blunt and pushy as she is. My mother passed away 6 months ago and it kills me that she won't be there for the birth of this baby in August, but Brandon and I have decided that his mother will not be either. It will be him, me and my sister will be my coach. I've actually pondered maybe calling his mother AFTER the baby is born so that she can't be at the hospital, I am afraid if she is she will somehow weasel her way into the delivery room. But I think we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[pattiewrites]

Yikes, Sara that sounds awful! I wouldn't call her until after the baby is born either. If she pushes her way in, tell her to leave. I did that with my mother in law and sister in law. They were in the room, but I didn't want them there for the actual birth, so I told them to leave. My birth, my way. Congratulations with the new baby. I'm sorry to hear about your mom.

PS. My birthday is December 18 too!

[happymumma]

I just wanted to let you know that when they say not to push and you were only at 8cm it could have ripped your cervix. That would cause alot more trouble for you down the road. I do know how u felt thou they told me not to push with my first I thought ooh yeah I don't think so !!!!! when you gotta push you just gotta!