I am 14+2 on dc 2.
Last birth was Kielland's forceps delivery and I had MONTHS of trouble after it, lots of pelvic pain and back and hip pain which has flared up nastily in this pregnancy.
After scan today (which is bloody late!) I was sent to clinic and I had NO idea why. The doctor asked vague open questions about how I was feeling about birth etc and I had no idea what she was looking for, so I just told her about my pregnancy and birth...
Anyway, eventually I said that my family have a history of needing post-dates induction on all babies and I would rather avoid an induction again. I would be happy to do spontaneous natural labour if it happens but I don't want to go through the whole strapped-to-a-bed, foetal monitoring, syntocin drip etc type of birth.
This is where it all changed. I said something like I would be happier for lower levels of induction e.g. ARM, and she said "yes but that's what you had, you had the lowest type of induction we can give you, you were dilated when you came in". I said I thought I had a syntocin drip and she said yes, you did.. but it only took four hours to get going so it was "just like natural labour"(though I know from the day that my uterus hyperstimulated!). It suddenly became as though I was saying "this is how I felt it went" just for her to say "no, you are wrong".
She kept highlighting how "straightforward" my birth was, she must have used that word ten times in five minutes. It was a "straightforward" case of a back to back baby, it was a "straightforward" Kielland's forceps delivery with "very senior doctors in the room" etc. Dh said he had felt there was a lot of panic and she said "well yes, they did lose the heartbeat at one point which probably accounts for that, but there was nothing sinister, the baby just turned and they couldn't hear it any more". She also said "induction can't have been that bad as you managed to deliver vaginally".
I burst into tears of course. I felt like I was being told that I was a monumental wuss and blowing everything out of proportion when I didn't go in there even aware that that was what we would discuss and I just answered her questions openly and honestly. I just felt like she was telling me I was lying and/or thick or that I was looking for an elcs she wanted to talk me out of - which I wasn't! What was the point in ripping my experience to shreds and telling me how "straightforward" it all was? For her, yes, perhaps... but no, it wasn't to me and it didn't feel at all like that on the day. AT ALL. Nor for the frigging NINE MONTHS I was virtually immobile because of pain after it.. or through all the feeding difficulties my baby had because he was a screamy forceps bruised sleepy baby.
Is this normal? I am really feeling shaky and upset after it. And I am not having it that a Kielland's forceps delivery is as straightforward as you can get!