Phil and Alex: clickbait, vlog’s late, & kids they don’t appreciate | Part 8

[Cstars124]

With all my kiddos, the hospital wouldn’t admit you until you were 4cm and contractions were consistent. I can’t remember the specifics, but they had to be so many minutes apart, lasting so long each time over a certain period of time. I know that’s real helpful. Lol

And I’ve heard morphine being offered to take the edge off contractions. But like you all have said, if she needs pain relief at this point, she’s in for a real treat when shit gets real.

[Scandiqueen]

omg I can’t with these two . With two of my kids, I had contractions for two WEEKS before they were born. I was walking around at 5cm dilated for a week before I even went into active labour. To be running to the hospital and breathing through contractions at 1cm dilated is EMBARRASSING. I’m seriously embarrassed for her. She ha nooooooo idea what is coming lol. I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that she gets an epidural. If she can’t handle 1cm, she’s in for it. And there’s nothing wrong with getting an epidural but we all know this woman thought she was above it. Just wait until she tells us all about her 4 day labour when this is over. If I went by her standards, I had a two week labour.

If she already needs morphine and she's not even in labor, can you imagine what she's going to be like in labor?? No way she makes it without an epidural lol. She doesn't seem understand you can have contractions and not actually be in labor.

I'm ready to take back my prediction that she'll muster the will power to forgo the epidural out of sheer stubbornness. I can't believe she's taking a morphine cocktail at 3 cm, or that they've been to the hospital to get checked out THREE times at this point. Good grief. I will never understand why being strung out on morphine is fine, but an epidural is somehow "cheating" or less than in the birthing Olympics.

I do feel for all of you saying you were contracting and dilating over a span of days or weeks. From the time I first few a twinge of a contractions to delivery was about 24 hours.

And I totally get why they keep inviting her to get checked out at the hospital, they just never know and everyone's pain tolerance and labor is different based on what I assume is baby's position and your body. I imagine it's hard to gauge over the phone.

I was fine talking on the phone to my doctor during a contractions, so she said I was probably in early labor and should wait it out. I ended up driving the 45 minutes to the hospital right then anyway because I suddenly started bleeding and it freaked me out. The pain was still totally manageable, but I feared something bad was happening. My doctor was very nice about it and said I could definitely come, but the bleeding wasn't alarming. To her surprise, I was in active labor about 6 cm. She said I must have a high pain tolerance, but I think I just got lucky with a smooth and fast labor. It ended up being good timing and I'm glad I went when I did. But if her midwife knows she has a low pain tolerance after all this commotion getting from 1 cm to 3 cm...yeah they're probably pretty tired of her at this point. Especially when you factor in everything else she's probably thrown a royal fit over....I'm sure she's everybody's favorite patient.

Wait, did you drive yourself to the hospital?

[Tiredofspoiledbrats]

My hospital kept me at 2cms.. but my water had broke so I guess that’s different. I’m not sure if I was them I would’ve gone home I probably would have gotten a hotel closer like you all suggested.. and really she needs morphine already but is going to push a baby out with no epidural? Ok sure. Also how annoying was Phil when they were talking about vlogs “ya tell them I’m not editing tonight..” you already haven’t had a vlog out in over a week with no explanation so why would anyone think you were going to be editing tonight?

[IVFwarrior]

The differences in hospital policy regarding when to admit and when to send home between different countries and areas is really, really interesting.

In Aus, with #2 I walked around at a 4-5cm from 39-41.5wks and still ended in induction - but had no contractions. My dr & I had talked about if regular contractions were to start I’d be admitted asap (was also step b positive, so they needed to make sure antibiotics were given).

Maybe it’s worth more money to the US hospitals to have women constantly come in & out for checks as opposed to a country with *free* healthcare?

During my last pregnancy, I walked around for weeks at 3-4 cm dilated and having contractions, though nothing regular for long enough to be considered active labor. I’m on baby #5 and a military spouse so I’ve been to several different hospitals. None of them would have kept me for 3 cm. 5, yes, but not 3. I know this is a matter of discretion, so I realize rules may be different where you are.

The private hospitals here in Australia do the same. First time mums planning a natural delivery are expected to wait it out as much as possible at home.

There's a part of me that feels sorry for Alex. Well, not Alex per se, because she'd be the first to judge another woman in her position.

But I feel bad that women (in general) are going to hospital, probably anxious, and are being told that their experience, based on a clock and vaginal exam, does not match up to the reality they feel they are experiencing. This does not make women feel safe during what can be a very frightening experience. And some of these women will genuinely go on to give birth in the carpark because the only choice they were given involved a medical intervention being tied to the admission (same with Alex - she could choose to admit, but then had to have her labor augmented).

Again, I don't feel sorry for Alex because I think she's an awful, critical and judgemental person who just assumed she is much stronger than every other women and would have a pain-free miracle unicorn birth. She shows no compassion and empathy. But I do think her story is highlighting a very disempowering scenario that happens to thousands of women who have to choose between going home and feeling unsafe, or being at hospital and having an intervention that they don't think they need just yet.

[ashmax21]

Phil you are not in labor. You are not dilating. You are not having contractions.

Men who feel the need to insert themselves in the process as more than just a support person drive me crazy. His job is to tell her how great she is doing, bring her ice chips, etc.

There is no pain like what she is about to go through, cut the s*** Phil.

[RobinSparkles]

I’m just here to ask how freaking morphine factors into an anti-epidural, no intervention, all natural, gluten free labor and birth experience

Wow. I can’t believe she admitted that even if I’m not at all surprised that in-bed-for-weeks-with-a-cold Alex can’t handle early labor.

[skiingmama1]

My hospital kept me at 2cms.. but my water had broke so I guess that’s different. I’m not sure if I was them I would’ve gone home I probably would have gotten a hotel closer like you all suggested.. and really she needs morphine already but is going to push a baby out with no epidural? Ok sure. Also how annoying was Phil when they were talking about vlogs “ya tell them I’m not editing tonight..” you already haven’t had a vlog out in over a week with no explanation so why would anyone think you were going to be editing tonight?

My water broke and I was only 1 cm on arrival. They are required to keep you if your water breaks as you have a 24 hr window to deliver before there is an infection risk I believe. Luckily I progressed on my own with no pitocin and gave birth within 11 hours. Generally if you’re 4 cm dilated and having contractions every 5 mins they consider that “active” labor they will admit you. I agree that Phil has been obnoxious acting since the start of this and it’s only just beginning....

[FlowersTar 68]

I really think that they thought that at the first sign of any contractions they'd be in, staying in and baby born a few hours later. It proved it when they cancelled the ultrasound and in the car yesterday.

I wonder what today will bring?

[Kymommadrama6]

The fact that she thinks she's going to have a natural, no epidural labor but has already had morphine at 3cm is a joke to me. I've done 2 with epidural and 2 without. I'd much rather have the pain mess and I have a HIGH pain tolerance. That shit hurts, she's going to be begging for drugs. She'll end up with an epidural and instead of just being real about the fact that it HURTS, She'll come up with some excuse of why she HAD to have it. Honestly if it makes you more comfortable and helps you enjoy the moment with your child have the damn epidural!

[HashtagBlessed]

The fact that she thinks she's going to have a natural, no epidural labor but has already had morphine at 3cm is a joke to me. I've done 2 with epidural and 2 without. I'd much rather have the pain mess and I have a HIGH pain tolerance. That shit hurts, she's going to be begging for drugs. She'll end up with an epidural and instead of just being real about the fact that it HURTS, She'll come up with some excuse of why she HAD to have it. Honestly if it makes you more comfortable and helps you enjoy the moment with your child have the damn epidural!

Right? I loved my epidural. I never felt like I “needed” it per se, in the sense that the pain was manageable when I got it. It was more like, “Hm, this is getting more uncomfortable, it would be nice if the anesthesiologist showed up soon.” I didn’t want to get to the point where it wasn’t manageable, and I had no desire to push without it. I could still feel every contraction as pressure, and I still felt the delivery and the release of baby being born, there was just no serious pain. A little bit of discomfort as they were stitching me up from a tear. Maybe my anesthesiologist was more conservative with it, I could still move my legs. I was calm and present when she was born and felt like I could think relatively clearly.

My baby did need to briefly be in the NICU for an hour or so, and it did surprise me how the hormonal shift of having just given birth but not having a baby in your arms affected me. I did cry, even though I completely understood why she needed to be there. But they had that catheter out quickly and I probably could have been up sooner, but I was so exhausted I passed out and took a long nap. So I can sort of understand Alex’s fears on that front about being able to be at her bedside in the NICU, but frankly I don’t think the epidural is going to change the outcome. I know some women are up and walking very soon. I think it just depends on how much sleep you've gotten. If she's up all night for multiple nights with early labor, she's going to be exhausted.

It does crack me up that someone like Alex, who is so adamant against the epidural, will gladly take morphine at 3 cm.

[HashtagBlessed]

I can’t speak to my hospital’s admission standards for laboring women because I was pretty far along when I arrived. A quick google search tells me the general consensus is 4 cm for admission, but I did read that guidelines changed in 2014 to classify active labor as 6 cm dilation rather than 4 cm to help avoid unnecessary C-sections. I did check Phil’s Twitter updates and he said the midwife would “prefer 6-ish” to stay.

Sorry for the confusion, I did not drive myself! lol Thankfully it was a Friday night and my husband was with me to drive. My mom did drive herself to the hospital with her second because it was the middle of the day and she didn’t want to wait for my dad, which cracks me up.

The concensus seems to be that the best place to be in early labor is resting at home. Some research indicates that there are fewer medical interventions and better outcomes when delaying admission. Labor and delivery wards are intense for the staff, continuous monitoring and often 1-to-1 nursing. If you admitted everyone who didn’t meet your criteria, you’d have to deal with staffing and bed availability issues for those women who truly are in active labor and delivering soon. I can imagine it does frustrate the women who are statistically abnormal but none the less progress naturally and deliver unexpectedly. It's probably a balance between resources and better outcomes associates with delaying admission, and the unique and unpredictable nature of labor.

It’s hard to say for sure, because of course we’re not getting the full picture. Maybe they were counseled to do an induction and stay in the hospital due to their driving distance and the high-risk nature, but they chose to go home.

[Amsouthernbell]

I am surprised (not) that Alex chose the morphine...I would have thought that she would be to worried about bio baby’s heart and the affect of the morphine in baby.

I was on pit. For about 7hrs before I got my epidural and I can tell you pit-contractions are no joke...I was 41+2 and had contractions about 2-3min apart..Alex won’t last 4 contractions on pit.

[laurasleaf]

This!! My god she has NO clue if she thinks she's contracting "pretty hard".

Also, morphine for contractions? Is this a common thing or have they begged for some kind of pain relief? I'm not in the US and have had two babies but never heard of morphine for labour pains

It's super old-school here in Australia where pethidine injections used to be a thing. Because it does very little for pain relief, and really is just a sedative so women fall asleep in between contractions for 5 minutes. Eventually we worked out that giving sedation for pain relief is considered unethical. And sending a sedated heavily pregnant woman home to sleep I wouldn't think is wise either...

But I saw something similar done in the ICU of Walter Reed Bethesda when I was unfortunate enough to find myself connected to that place. Sedatives were being used on ventilated patients that hadn't been used in Australia for that purpose for about 40 years. No one was questioning the practice and everyone just wandered around assuming it was gold standard because their professor told them it was.

Thank you! I would guess it isn't used here in Norway either.

Are you saying pethidine or morphine is an old-school intervention. Morphine is very much a regular and appropriate analgesic offered to women in early labour that are not expected to birth within 3 hours, it is solely ndicated for Pain management and not is used with the intention of sedation. Pethidine is no longer recommended first line due to its more prominent side effects and duration of action.
I'm not sure if I have just misunderstood your post or not. Health care worker here.

[kelsey_leighann]

I can't get over the 3 trips to the hospital already, taking pain meds, and already complaining of no sleep. Boy, this is gonna be a fun journey...

I will say everyone is different, but most women try to labor at home as long as they can. I had my very first contraction my whole pregnancy at 8am and I waited till about 12 to go in when they were 3 min apart. I got to the hospital and was only 4cm, they of course kept me, but I didn' have my baby till 8 pm. It doesn't happen for most first time moms in 2 hours lol

[LCCS225]

Prediction: The whole labor/multiple hospital visits/labor/birth will be put out in no fewer than ten vlogs.

[Carol]

A lot of first time pregnant women will make multiple trips to the hospital when they start getting contractions. I would also think that having a medically fragile baby would also be scary and add living in so far away are adding to the stress, BUT, Alex is a nurse, a former NICU nurse. She was around with the birth moms when they gave birth to Kinsley and Callie. She knows what active labor is as she has been around it. I guess that's why I find their behavior as being drama queens. I also would think the hospital would have said, don't come back until your contractions are xxx minutes apart and lasting over 1 minute long or your water breaks and they aren't listening.

[Scandiqueen]

It's super old-school here in Australia where pethidine injections used to be a thing. Because it does very little for pain relief, and really is just a sedative so women fall asleep in between contractions for 5 minutes. Eventually we worked out that giving sedation for pain relief is considered unethical. And sending a sedated heavily pregnant woman home to sleep I wouldn't think is wise either...

But I saw something similar done in the ICU of Walter Reed Bethesda when I was unfortunate enough to find myself connected to that place. Sedatives were being used on ventilated patients that hadn't been used in Australia for that purpose for about 40 years. No one was questioning the practice and everyone just wandered around assuming it was gold standard because their professor told them it was.

Thank you! I would guess it isn't used here in Norway either.

Are you saying pethidine or morphine is an old-school intervention. Morphine is very much a regular and appropriate analgesic offered to women in early labour that are not expected to birth within 3 hours, it is solely ndicated for Pain management and not is used with the intention of sedation. Pethidine is no longer recommended first line due to its more prominent side effects and duration of action.
I'm not sure if I have just misunderstood your post or not. Health care worker here.

I think this depends entirely on where you come from. The OP is in Australia and I am in Norway, Pethadine is used, never heard of morphine being offered.

[FlowersTar 68]

They're very quiet today.

[Jupiter]

What on earth is going on with this forum or tapatalk. I've been unable to access the site for over a week either by app or web. I finally got on Chrome, searched YTMD Phil and Alex and found the boards. I've logged in now. Is there a problem with the system? My error message is always "network error". Anyone else having issues???

[Astrasia]

Thank you! I would guess it isn't used here in Norway either.


I think this depends entirely on where you come from. The OP is in Australia and I am in Norway, Pethadine is used, never heard of morphine being offered.

In Denmark, morphine is offered only in the early stages of labor, assuming there's more than 4 hours until they give birth. Otherwise, baby might still be affected by it, when it comes out.