Birth Stories

It has been many years since my son was brought into this world. He is thirteen but much closer to fourteen at this point. He was born in a military hospital in Germany so even though he was born in a foreign country he is an American and the hospital stay was that of a typical American hospital. 

Tre was born on February 17, 2005 at 3:18 pm. A cesarean birth was scheduled as he presented in a transverse breech position. We were due at the hospital very early and waited all morning and most of the afternoon for an available surgical team to come up to the maternity floor. The process was very easy and straightforward in terms of anesthesia getting placed and the doctor explaining every step to me. After a short time my son was born. I was then taken to the recovery floor for the spinal block anesthesia to wear off and my husband and son were in our room. Here comes the part of the story that I feel is a missed opportunity and since I was young and did not know any better about the crucial bonding that happens within the beginning hours of a childs life. Since I was on another floor recovering, my son was never brought down to me. I spent about six hours alone, my husband was going back and forth as much as he could but our son really needed him. After my doctor had done his rounds and saw I was not with my son he made a call to have me moved immediately up to my room. We stayed for three whole days in the hospital, which is typical for a cesarean birth. All the days that followed were a blur and when I look back now I clearly had no clue with what I was doing, being only nineteen, but I always chuckle as he is a wonderful young man today. 

Finally holding my son after a long time in recovery.

Our Tre. Always so content. 

I choose to share this simply because I feel many young mothers do not fully know how to handle a situation like mine. I did not know how beneficial those early bonding moments are and I did suffer from some depression afterward. My son was overall healthy and I had only been around for the birth of my niece and nephew so I did not know fully what to expect so knowing how great the of an impact the traumas of birth can have on a child helps me understand some of the difficulties babies and young children face. Even now with some of my own students, I will ask the parents to tell me their child's story so I can better understand any struggles the child may have had so I can offer the best environment. 

When I become pregnant again, we were still living in Germany but this time in a different area and my prenatal care started with a native Germany doctor. He spoke english very well and the office was very accommodating to my needs as I was labeled high risk because of the cause for my first borns breech position. Unfortunately, I did have a miscarriage with this birth at seventeen weeks. I was admitted to the local German hospital for a dilation and curettage (D&C) to ensure I did not get an infection. My experience with this hospital and staff was a bit difficult as I admitted late in the evening and at this point the majority of the English speaking staff had gone home for the day. I was placed in a room which I would have had a roommate had there been a need for another patient to be admitted to the maternity ward as it is their custom to have at least two people to a room unless you want to pay extra for a private room. Speaking with a couple of friends of mine and reviewing the post "Giving Birth in Germany on Military Moms Blog, I know of the many differences between a birth in the United States as compared to one in Germany. The prenatal care is much more through in terms of ensuring birth mom and baby are healthy as well as more natural and holistic in Germany. Also, another thing some Germany woman who have married a service member always laugh about when being attended to by an American doctor is how you are measured with a tape measure for the development of you baby as this is not something done locally there. Almost always a midwife will be assigned to the mother for the duration of the pregnancy as well as for the birth. A doctor is present but the midwife really takes the lead. For the hospital stay, you must bring all of your own toiletries as nothing is provided and occasionally a bathroom/shower will not be in the room. The stay in the hospital after giving birth is no longer than that of one in the United States as long as mom and baby are healthy. 

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