My daughter gave birth to my first grandson Saturday night! But the poor woman went through more than she had to!

She came over Friday morning and spent a lovely day with me. She had had an ultrasound on Wednesday that showed some concerns so I really had not slept since Wednesday. I was cooking one of her favorite dinners for her Friday afternoon and she started showing signs that her water was breaking. I told her that I loved her very much, but she had to go home. She lives an hour away it was snowing and I did not want her delivering in this hospital. Since I had not slept in days, her father took her home and I went for a nap.

In the meantime she went to the hospital to verify that her water had broken. It had, (a small leak) and she was dilated 1cm. In my day that meant go home until you started having contractions or started showing signs of infection. They kept her.

Saturday morning the nurse had her start pushing at 10:30. I have no idea why. He wasn't in the birth canal nor did she have the urge. She pushed for three hours making very little progress. They increased her pit which only created a need for pain management. It was horrible! By the time the baby was in the birth canal she was exhausted. My grandson was finally born at 7:25 pm.

I've had four children. My labors combined did were not as bad as this single birth; and I labored for 36 hours with this child. The women I speak to that are my age are all shocked. We all heard "don't push yet". The women that I speak to that are my daughter's age say that her experience is the norm now? Why are they making child birth more difficult than it has to be?