I went to the hospital on December 31st in labor but after two hours it stopped and the doctor sent me home with an appointment to see him on the 5th of January. January 5th came and I went to the doctor. In the examining room, he examined me and said, "Get her to the hospital as fast a possible, she is about to crown."
The hosptial was across the street so it was not panic time. When we arrived at the hospital, the nurses moved like gazelles, they were not going to have the baby hit the floor before the doctor arrived. I was in the labor room less than 8 minutes when William decided he was ready to see the world. After a quick delivery, the nurse cleaned him off and laid him in the bassinet. My husband went over to see him, only to catch him coming out of the bassinet. He had his feet and an arm over the edge and was on the way out. William has been on the run ever since.
My experiences in Guinea, West Africa with the birthing process was limited. I never saw the actual birth but was there the next day after twins were born. The grandmother delivered them. The baby girl was LBW and the boy was a little above. The girl died almost immediately so they decided that the boy should die also. They just did not feed him so he died the next day. There is a great fear of twins when they are born. It seems that one of them might be from the devil and no one knows for sure which therefore it is not uncommon for both to be destroyed. Thirty point two of a thousand babies die during birth.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107600.html
Link to Guinea, West Africa
8 minutes! Lucky you!!! My shortest labor out of three was 9 hours. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow Barbara- That is quite a story, and hopefully, when I am ready to have kids, it can be as quick and clean as that. And how about little William wanting to stay in the action minutes after he came into the world.
ReplyDeleteI have no knowlege about New Guinea, but that sounds like a traumatic experiance for the mother for sure! How did she handle that? Did she hold the same belief about her children being from the devil? Looking forward to learning more about you and your perspectives throughout the course!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBarbara,
ReplyDeleteWilliam was moving really quickly to be a newborn. I never knew a child could move so quickly before, but you just never.
My mom used to always say when a child is moving around that fast; usually the mother is getting ready to have another baby. Being the reason the baby is moving so fast. The baby is making room for the new baby to come.
The girl was a teenager and what the mother said was the way it had to be. The young girl was pretty upset but accepted it because she was told that is how it is to be.
ReplyDeleteGuinea is located in West Africa.
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteWow, what an extraordinary experience! Were you at all upset with the Dr. for not realizing sooner that the baby was possibly ready?? What a whirlwind experience; much different than mine with a planned caesarian. It sounds similar to my mother's story of my own birth. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing about your experience. I also had a quick labor for my first child. I was shock about what take place in Guinea West Africa.
ReplyDeleteBarbara- What a heartbreaking story from Guinea. I can't imagine not feeding any child and letting it die. Ut is very sad to think that things like that really happen all over the world.
ReplyDeleteLike you, my delivery was fast too. Thanks for sharing. And I was very touched by the death of the twin that survived but was starved to death Belief systems are very powerful. This is a good example of multi-contextual.
ReplyDeleteVanessa,
ReplyDeleteNot children, just twins. One is thought to be from the devil but not the other. There is no way to tell which so often they both have to die. Yes, a very sad situation.