STM Birth Story Thread

[BabyStandish]

XP from other BMB because lazy

*Trigger Warning* Birth can be gross/scary/emotional

I was thinking it would be fun to share previous birth stories. I know many of us have shared bits and pieces of our experiences already, but I really like reading birth stories.

[sagen]

I have so many, 4 of them!! I will make mine super brief

Baby #1: was working at the hospital, on my due date, was having contractions. I finished my shift, clocked out on the 2nd floor went up to the 4th to check in. 16.5 hours 1 hour pushing, even needed a vacuum for help!

Baby# 2: lost my mucous plug, called to ask about it, they said go to l&d to get checked. Left DH and DD at home. Had to call them when they checked me and I was 5 cm, a quick sweep and I was in labor. Best labor of all 5 hours, and a couple pushes to get him out.

Baby#3: went on a hike with my DH. Later that night I was laying down watching TV, got up and felt a pop, and water leak out. His head corked the hole so it would just randomly leak a little. Went into l&d, and it was not showing up on the strip. Luckily I moved and his head uncorked and some amniotic fluid came out, and very clearly was a yes. That labor was longer since I wasn't really in labor at first 36 wks 5 days, they decided just to deliver, close enough to 37 weeks. Labor was 11 hours a few pushes for him too.

Baby #4: my only elective induction, partly for my husbands work schedule, and to have family to watch my other three. I don't even know how to count when they started. I went in at 6am, but they didn't break my water till 10 am. I was already 4cm when I arrived, I delivered at 5 pm, so I guess 7 hours of labor, just a few pushes with him too.

[BabyStandish]

I'm sorry this is so long. I XP from my blog post. I'll try to trim it up a bit.

My due date, January 5, came and went and I became pretty antsy. I ran 3.5 miles on Jan 6, and then 2 miles the day after that. I was trying everything, running, eating certain foods, bouncing on my yoga ball, etc. On January 8 I woke up with some cramping. I figured it was my normal morning gas pains and would subside as the day went on. I sent H off to work and went about my morning. The pains, okay let's just say contractions, starting coming anywhere from 8-15 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds. The pain was intense, but since the contractions were not getting closer together I didn't bother calling H. I took 2 baths that morning to try to ease the pain and relax. Around noon the pain was getting worse so I called H to come home.

H came home and worked from home while I continued timing the contractions. Things were at a standstill for awhile so I went on a 2 mile walk to try to speed things up which didn't work. The contractions were still anywhere from 8-15 minutes apart so I took a shower.

The afternoon/evening went by hellishly slow. We ate dinner and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. At midnight they became 5-6 minutes apart and the pain was getting pretty bad so I woke H up and told him we should go to the hospital.

We gathered our things and headed out. We got to the hospital around 12am and when they checked me I was barely at a 2. Ugh. My ob said to go ahead and admit me since I was scheduled to be induced in a couple days anyways.

By about 3 am I still wasn't progressing so they started me on pitocin. Around 4-5 I couldn't take it any longer and asked for an epideral. Once I had that thing in it was instant relief. But I hated feeling numb. At 7am my OB came in and checked me. I wasn't progressing very much so they upped the pitocin. She also asked me when my water broke and I gave her a blank look. I don't remember it breaking and I think I would remember that. I told her that I took a lot of showers/baths that day so it must've happened then. Around noon my OB came in to check me again and I was at a 10 and ready to push in a few minutes! I started shaking and getting nervous about pushing.

Pushing sucked. I had no idea what I was doing and if I was doing it right. I remember pushing and pushing and barely any progress was happening. I just remember thinking "somebody get this baby out of me!" Minutes ticked by...an hour....2 hours... I was becoming very discouraged. Little baby was right there, but not wanting to come out. Finally things....yeah things...started happening and the baby came out! I was so relieved that it was over. They plopped him, yes him!-we were team green, on my chest for some skin on skin before giving him a bath/analyzing him. He immediately stopped crying once they laid him on me. Finally it was time for him to go get clean. I didn't even think to ask my husband what sex our baby was until they took him away. I was just so relieved it was over and so overjoyed that our baby was here! I think my husband said "him" in a sentence and I remember saying "it's a boy?"

Edit to add: DS was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long.

[nikonine]

I woke up around 3am on a Monday with contractions. Let H sleep until his alarm went off and sent him to work. I called him home around 2pm I think, after contractions started to get stronger and more regular. We went into L&D at 7pm and got admitted. I spent time walking around and sitting in the tub. Later in the night got some pain meds. Early that morning got an epidural. Started pushing at 9am on Tuesday and DD was born a little over 3 hours later. They said I was pushing well, just that she was very slow coming down. I was so tired by the end that H had to lift me up to a position to push each time because I had no strength left. Luckily I was able to avoid any assistance (vacuum, forests, etc). It wasn't as emotional as I expected it to be when they put her on my chest, but after 3+ hours of pushing I was exhausted, so I was just very relieved to be done. And hungrier than I've ever been in my life, lol.

[lupincat]

BabyStandish I love reading birth stories too! Sorry, this will probably be long.

I had several growth ultrasounds because I was measuring weeks ahead and my final one (3 days before my due date) was estimating DS to be over 10lbs. They had me meet with one of the OBs who said that there's always room for error on those estimates, as much as +/- a pound but they were concerned about DS having shoulder dystocia if he was indeed that big. So she gave me the option of csection, induction, or just waiting it out. I opted for the induction because I was over it and I liked being able to schedule my pet's care ahead of time. The only problem with that is that I was due July 4 and it was a holiday weekend and no one wants to intentionally schedule that but we got approval from another OB who was ok with it due to the predicted size. This all was Wednesday and I was scheduled to come in Friday morning. Mind you, I was not dilated at all nor effaced so we were pretty much starting at ground zero.

Friday morning came and I happily sauntered my way up to L&D all "yay let's have a baby!" I got set up in my room and they gave me oral med to start things off since I was not progressed at all and was not having contractions that I could feel. So we walked the halls most of the day and had maybe 2 or 3 doses of the oral med.

By 7pm I was all of like 1cm dilated and not feeling any contractions still. I had a cervix check by the midwife and she wanted to insert a foley bulb (spelling is probably wrong) to manually dilate me. I ok'd it because I wanted to avoid a csection. It was pretty uncomfortable going in and then every time I went to the bathroom I had to pull on it (I forget the reasoning why) but every time I did that it gave me a contraction so I really didn't do it like I was supposed to. After the foley bulb was in things got INTENSE. Holy shit. The contractions went from zero to a hundred and I very vividly remember crying to my mom that I wanted to go home, I even vomited. I wasn't dilated enough for an epidural so I had two rounds of IV pain meds which just made the room spin around and I fell asleep mid-sentence according to my sister.

It was a long night that I only remember bits and pieces of but eventually they got the foley bulb out because it had gotten me to 4 or 5cm. By 3am I was able to get my epidural which was amazing. It felt like cool water running down my back and the nurse let me use her chest as a pillow while leaning over. The epidural was amazing but I had trouble with it wearing off my left side. I didn't realize that's what was happening until I told a nurse that it felt like my hip bone was going to shatter into a million pieces, she had the anesthesiologist come back in and do whatever they do to adjust the med.

I don't really remember much of Saturday in the morning/early afternoon other than feeling all the contractions on my left side. By 1:30pm or so the nurse came in and checked me and I was finally fully dilated and the nurse was going to let me labor down for an hour and then she'd come back to push. That's the only time I started to panic I remember thinking "fuck no. I'm not doing this. I refuse" but and hour later it felt like I had to poop so the nurse came back and we started practice pushing.

We practice pushed for a bit (which felt like an eternity) and then the doctor came in, suited up, and my bed turned into a freaking transformer because they broke it down since this was the real deal. I pushed and pushed and pushed, got some oxygen because I couldn't catch my breath because the contractions were right on top of each other. MH said DS's head kept going in and out and the nurses kept saying "he has a full head of hair" and I said, in not my finest moment, "WELL GRAB IT AND PULL". MH said at some point the doctor sat back and had a look on her face like I wouldn't be able to get him out.

Finally at 4:10pm after an hour and a half of pushing DS FINALLY came out and I cannot tell you what happened after that because I was so exhausted and like despondent or something. They immediately went to work stitching me up, I had a second degree tear which wasn't all that bad considering DS was 9lb11oz... so he was a big guy and my hips will never be the same.

All in all I truly had an easy birth compared to some stories I've read. I know inductions take longer and are harder on the body but I would not have done it any other way and I've got my fingers crossed for another one.


*Edited to add because I think it's fun, DS arrived on his due date of July 4th so he's my Yankee Doodle baby!

[nikonine]

Forgot to add that I had major uncontrollable shakes after labor started progressing, anytime I wasn't lying down. Had never heard of that, but they said it was completely normal. And they had to break my water with the hook thing. DD still has a tiny little mark on her head where it nicked her head when they did it.

[hpnegirl]

For those who know me off board or know my previous SN, this will be a repeat, though abridged version

I was due 1/15. I walked in on 1/15 for my weekly OB app and walked out with an induction set for 6am on 1/19. At my appointment, I was 2cm already and my OB said I had a good head start for a FTM not feeling contractions. I didn't realize it at the time, but he also did a membrane strip during the check

On 1/18, I was having some cramps. They were annoying and slightly uncomfortable but I didn't think any of them. I took some Benadryl, put the heating pad on the lowest setting, and went to bed with my alarm set for 4:30am.

I woke up at 11:30pm on 1/18 with a contraction. I had random contractions the rest of the night until 3:30am... right then, my contractions moved to being 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30-40 seconds each.

At 4:30/5a, my H called the OB on call line to see what they wanted us to do regarding the induction. We were told to come in and get checked out.

At 5:30am, I was 3cm and fully effaced. When I walked into the ER (how you were admitted), they were waiting for me to get the induction scheduled. They were confused as to what to do with me as they were not expecting me to walk in in active labor.

At 7:30/7:35am, my OB showed up and did a check. 5 cm. I tried to joke that I didn't need that induction after all. He offered pain meds and I requested the epidural. I felt something warm between my legs and told him I thought my water broke. Nope, just the bloody show, according to the nurse (I didn't look myself).

I had my epi by 8:30am, told the anesthesiologist she was my best friend (she said everyone says that lol), and took a nap.

At 11:45, my OB comes in to check on me before lunch. 8cm with waters bulging and stopping baby from descending. He manual broke my water and predicted that I'd be ready to push when he got back from lunch, that I'd probably have a baby around 1/1:30p.

Well, at 12:45p, I'm telling the nurse I'm having some pressure down there. They check, fully dilated. She told me to labor down. Ha! DS had other ideas. Laboring down lasted about 10 minutes before I started needing to push. The nurse told me to do a few practice pushes to see if it helps. Three pushes later and she's calling for extra nurses and the OB. My OB ran in for the last 2-3 pushes, still in his suit as they told him he didn't have time to change into scrubs 😂. He checked and told me to not push during a contraction as DS had his cord around his neck and he was going to pull it off. DS was out in less than 20 minutes of pushing.

DH cut the cord, I lost a shit ton of blood when they finally got the placenta to detach (they were threatening transfusions), and DS and I did immediate skin to skin.

8 lbs 6 oz, 20" long, head above the 90%tile at 40w4d. I walked away with a completely internal 2nd degree tear.

[jmcbick]

Sorry in advance so long! I worked a 12h shift on my due date, still felt nowhere near labor (no cramping, no BH, no dilation at my last appt, nada) and had scheduled an induction for 41w when I knew my favorite OB was on call. On 40+1 I just bummed around the house, took a couple naps (thank god) and half heartedly tried a few "labor inducing" yoga poses. That night, DS was being CRAZY in my belly with movement i could barely sit still on the couch never mind sleep. I ended up staying up until almost 4am watching Netflix until he finally chilled out in there. Just as I was laying down to go to bed, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. I just figured I rolled over wrong but sure enough 8 min later it happened again, wrapping around my lower back. Then it happened again at 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, and I had the "oh shit this is labor" realization. I woke up DH to tell him he wasn't going to work, to which he responded "oh did it snow??" NO dummy, your wife is 2 days overdue hahaha! I thought I would have more time since I was a FTM so I told him to go back to bed but thank god he got up to pack our stuff because my contractions quickly went to 2 min apart within the hour so we headed to the hospital. I was a 4 when we got there and contractions were still coming strong/fast and all back labor so I asked for the epidural right away. They got it in fast and by the time they checked me again I was already an 8. My water broke incidentally during that check and was meconium stained so we knew we would need NICU available at delivery. Hung out watching Friends on Netflix for a little bit with the sweet relief of the epidural, hit 10 cm an hour later but DS was still prettty high. I labored down for a little over an hour and waitied until I was feeling a fair amount of pressure with contractions to start pushing. That was by far the best decision I made because once I finally decided I was ready to try, I did a "practice push" with DH and the nurse and she had to make me stop to call the OB because his head was right there already. I think about 5 pushes later and he was here! We were Team Green so I just remember my H yelling "ITS A BOY!!" but otherwise the whole thing seemed so surreal. DS came out screaming with 9/9 Apgars despite the meconium fluid so NICU team didnt have to stay long, just checked him out then handed him over to me for skin-to-skin and nursing!

He was 8 lb 6oz 21" and I had a second degree internal tear. Strangely similar stats to hpnegirl !

[hpnegirl]

jmcbick they're apgar scores were the same, too! Too funny. I never got the "it's a boy" experience. I didn't even get it confirmed until about 15 minutes after birth when I lifted him up to make sure there was still a penis 🙈😂

[jmcbick]

Oh and the first thing i did after delivery was send DH out for a pepperoni pizza because my horrible 3rd trimester heartburn was instantly GONE! Best pizza I've ever had 😂

[hpnegirl]

Jan 26, 2017 19:47:21 GMT -5 nikonine said:

Forgot to add that I had major uncontrollable shakes after labor started progressing, anytime I wasn't lying down. Had never heard of that, but they said it was completely normal. And they had to break my water with the hook thing. DD still has a tiny little mark on her head where it nicked her head when they did it.

The hook thing is so weird. They showed it to me when it was still in the package. It's like a giant crochet hook!

I had the shakes post delivery when they pulled out the placenta, partially due to blood loss but partially due to the sudden removal of the mass that was controlling my hormones for the 9 months prior. They took DS to get his stats when I started shaking like crazy

[sleepymonkey]

My due date was 12/29 and my ob was going on vacation on 1/2. At my last appt, I was only 1cm so I asked them to schedule an induction. As a FTM, I wanted my ob there. They scheduled me for NYE, which is apparently a popular day to have a baby because there were 17 other mamas in L&D that day.

I got to the hospital at 6:30am for my 7:30 induction. Ob came in and inserted cervidril for the induction and broke my water. I think he probably stripped my membranes too because it hurt so bad. I started walking the halls around 9am to try to get labor going. Contractions started around 9:30 but they weren't bad. I used the hospital's yoga ball throughout the morning and early afternoon to help with labor pains. Once they took it from me for someone else, labor went downhill.

By 1pm, I was only 4cm. I started having back labor so the pain was constant and by 4pm, I was beginning for the epidural because I had no break from the pain. They gave me the epidural and started me on pitocin. By 10pm, I was maxed out on pitocin, my contractions weren't regular and I was still only 4cm so my ob gave me the option of a c-section. I was done at that point so I agreed. He offered to wait until after midnight so I could have the New Years Baby but I opted for the tax deduction baby instead and DD was born at 11:03pm, 8 lbs and 22" long. I was in recovery by myself when the clock struck midnight. I remember the uncontrollable shaking I had for about an hour after, which was disturbing but supposedly common.

[mcp6286]

You guys are so brave!

I was scheduled for an RCS at 39 weeks with DD...technically it was considered an elective C because it wasn't for obstetric reasons but I decided to go this route because I have a chronic GI disorder and my attacks are really debilitating (they actually intubated me once during an attack and I didn't even realize because I was so out of it). They tend to occur during periods of stress and when I can't stick to my strict eating/sleeping/medications schedule, all of which would have been components of a vaginal birth. My GI and I were afraid labor would trigger an attack and I wouldn't be coherent enough to push.

So, after a weekend of lying around complaining about being uncomfortable, I got up on Monday morning and got ready - did my hair, put on makeup, wore a dress (the nurses in L&D laughed and told me I looked like I was checking into a hotel for vacation, not the hospital to have a baby). We got to the hospital at 10:00 and they started my surgery prep. The worst part of the whole thing was the nurse couldn't get a vein for my IV and she stuck me like 4 times before DH demanded someone else. Once the next nurse got the IV in, I just hung out in my room with DH, my aunts and best friend. My C ended up getting pushed twice because of emergencies but my OB was totally calm and the second time she was like, "I just want to get warmed up so that when I get to you, you get my best work!"

They took me back to the OR at 2:00 and gave me the epidural. My nurse was great and it was not nearly as bad as I'd been imagining. At 2:15, DH came in and they started. Things seemed fine until all of a sudden, my OB said ever so calmly, "Ok, baby is stuck and we have 90 seconds to get her out guys. Widen the incision." I was so scared...it was the longest 90 seconds of my life! Then all of a sudden I felt this horrible pain like my shoulders were cracking in half and the OB said DD was out and perfect! She was mad about being brought into the world though, and cried until they brought her to me for skin to skin. She was the tiniest little thing (6lb 6oz) and I was so relieved she was ok. The nurse took her and DH to our room to get her first bath while I got stitched up. My OB told me that DD had wedged her head underneath my rib cage and gotten herself stuck. She told me that she was really happy I had advocated so strongly for myself and the RCS during my pregnancy, because I would have ended up having a C anyway due to DD's position and then my body would have gone through double the trauma. It was really nice of her to validate my decision like that!

DD, DH and I had a lovely hospital stay with no complications the rest of that week. After my IV came out, I didn't have to take any pain meds stronger than Motrin. My recovery was quick and easy, and I'm hoping for the same this time!!!

[lastkiss]

I was due with DS on Sept 21. I had stopped working on Sept 14 so by the time the 21st rolled around I was ready to go. DS however was not.

We had a relaxing weekend but by Tuesday I was so annoyed I was having no symptoms of labour. At my last OB appt on the 20th I was not dilated or effaced at all.

I slept like crap the night of the 24th and complained to DH the evening of the 25th the baby was never going to come. We were watching shows in bed when I got up to go pee and felt my water break. Off the hospital we went.

They hooked me up to the nst machine and it was about 2 hours before I started feeling contractions. We started piction a couple hours later because I wasn't progressing.

The contractions came on fast and strong but were quite short so they weren't doing much. Around 10am I vomited so I opted for an epidural. It didn't work completely and I could still feel pressure in my pelvis.

My OB finally came over about 6pm and checked me (nurses had been doing previous checks). At that time, she said she could feel baby's eyebrows and I needed a csection. DS was stuck face forward on my pelvic bone and wouldn't come out on his own.

DS wasn't stressed so we had to wait for an OR. I had to get a spinal because the epidural didn't work completely.

The csection sucked. My arms were tied down (like I was on a cross) and it felt like I couldn't get a full breath. The surgery itself was quick and easy and we cried when they said "it's a boy". DS was born 22 hours after my water broke. He was 8lbs 1oz and 21".

DH got to do skin to skin with DS while I was in recovery. I remember being really thirsty after surgery.

When I got up to the room, and finally got to hold DS it was like 1030pm.

My parents were there. DHs parents came shortly after. They brought us subway. I was starving!

[rosesquared]

I love reading all of these! Thanks so much ladies!

[cubbiebear325]

Sorry its long! But here ya go-

I went in at 40+3 for NST and to discuss options. My ob and I decided on an induction that night, going in at midnight because I was burning maternity leave, with patients already scheduled for less than 8 weeks later and I was uncomfortable and done. She did strip my membranes while I was there though. I started contracting at 1115 pm, 45 min before we were due to go in. When I got in, I was contracting and progressing well enough on my own to not need anything for induction. DD was OP (face up, which we didn't know until she was born) so I had terrible back labor. I ended up breaking down and getting an epidural before 3 cm, which I didn't want to do, because I coudln't take the extreme pain of the back labor. I tried bouncing on the ball and DH doing counterpressure but was way to tense. Once I got the epidural I progressed well. The pain was decreased enough I was able to relax and rest some, but I found that epidurals don't work great for back labor. When my OB came in that morning my water had broke on its own, which I wasn't even aware of. By 1:30 pm I was an 8/8.5 and then I just stalled. They put me on pitocin but it didn't help. Around 6 pm, my OB came in and asked if I wanted to continue to labor because baby looked fine. But, I had not progressed in 4 hours, which I knew from working OB, it wasn't normal to stall there. We knew there was a chance for a big baby as the weight was 7lb 4oz at 36 weeks. At that point at 20 hours of labor and no sleep I told her to do a c-section, baby obviously wasn't fitting. I was prepared prior and expected this may happen so I wasn't upset at all I just wanted to be done! DD was born at 734pm 9lb 5oz 22in long. When my OB opened me up, she said baby would have never fit through my pelvic bones, which I why I stalled. I remember hearing "its a girl" (team green) and crying some because everyone thought boy. I pushed really hard and got skin to skin once DD was declared okay for it while in recovery. She stayed on my chest while I was closed and got wheeled to my room and then nursed immediately after. We didn't tell the grandparents what baby was until they got there around 9-930. They both live about 45 min south and we waited until I was back in my room to call so we could have time as a new little family. Because DD was so big, her blood glucose dropped to critical repeatedly over night (first 12ish hours) so I didn't sleep that night either bc I was nursing every 1-2 hours but because of that my milk was in before 72h.

I'm looking forward to sleeping the night before a RCS this time and if baby drops blood sugars like DD did, it being during the day!

[lupincat]

cubbiebear325 DS was also over 9lbs and ended up in NICU triage for a few hours because of blood sugar issues too.

[jmcbick]

cubbiebear325 DS was OP as well so all back labor for me too. Not the best! I had originally said I wouldn't get the epi before 5-6 but with how fast and furious labor started and the back labor, I asked immediately at 4cm. Best decision ever since it gave me a chance to relax and labor down! Never could have done it that way without the epi.

Tl/dr I feel your (past) pain hahaa

[hpnegirl]

Add me to the back labor club. Holy hell that sucked ass.

As some unsolicited advice for those who get an epi- have them sit you up for pushing instead of being flat on your back. It lets gravity help with the process. Granted, this depends on how baby tolerates labor but it can make the world of a difference. I know of a few women who were told they were being sent for a c section, tried sitting up to push and managed a vaginal birth. Now, it obviously won't work for everyone or be an option for everyone but it's a good thing to keep in the back of your mind.

[emmalynn]

I had an Ob appointment at 39+2 and there found out my blood pressure was too high (pre-e) and had to be induced the next day. Before starting pitocin I did a full IV of antibiotics and watched a movie with H.

When they started the pitocin I went from feeling great to omg gonna die in about 10 seconds flat. Thankfully I was able to quickly get my epidural and life was good after that . I stalled out around 4cm so they had to up my pitocin and eventually break my water. DDs heart rate didn't do well with the contractions, so they had me lay on my side for awhile since that seemed to help.

After I had been on the pitocin for over 12 hours (not sure exactly how long) it was finally time to push! My epidural was great and I really was happy and enjoyed pushing (weird, I know) but unfortunately DDs heart rate couldn't handle it anymore and after an hour of pushing I had to have a Csection. She was face up, and apparently that wasn't helping our cause.

I was moved to the OR quickly, and they cranked up my epidural for the c. H was only a minute behind me getting all of his scrub gear on. It felt weird having my body move but not feeling anything. A couple minutes later H was able to tell me it's a girl and he got to cut the cord and stay with DD while they checked her out. They put her on me while I was getting stitched up but I had to have her taken away so I could puke, lol. She was 7#3z and 21" long. We then went to recovery where she took her lungs for a test drive by screaming for about an hour straight

[jennyelf]

I was due on 5/7 (a Monday) and I had big plans for the weekend before. Last planned day of work was Friday, Saturday I wanted to see the new Avenger's movie, Sunday my sister was going to be in town and I wanted to have dinner with her. Fortunately, all those things happened and my sister got engaged that weekend! Sunday night, after getting home from dinner, 11pm, I felt the first of what I figured were real contractions.

Slept on and off that night, the next morning at 7, rolled over and told my husband I didn't think he should go to work today. Went to the bathroom and saw the bloody show and evidence of lost mucus plug. I thought, "Nice, going into labor on due date, right on schedule!" Around 10am, called my OB to let them know I was in labor, but fine, contractions were far apart, but wanted to know if I should come in for my scheduled 40wk appointment at 4pm. They moved it to 2pm as they just wanted to check in on me. At 2pm, they checked me out, yup, definitely labor, but only 2cm dilated. Since my birth plan was no intervention if possible, they sent me home, which I was fine with.

We stopped for Mexican food on the way home, watched some TV while I sat on an exercise ball and recorded contractions. Finally around 10pm, they were close enough that I felt I should be at the hospital. Got there, and I'm still at 2cm. "You're a first time mom, you're doing fine, but progress can be slow sometimes. We're going to send you home and probably we'll see you sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon." The ride home on bumpy roads was NOT fun.

So we get home, I hang out under a hot shower to relieve some of my labor pains and then try to sleep for a while. Sleep is not happening, labor is definitely getting a bit more painful now, and I'm not happy about it. Husband does what he can, but also tries to sleep while he can.

At 2am, I start feeling like I need to push and I refuse to go down the stairs (our bedroom is on the 2nd floor, door outside is on the 1st floor). Husband does not want me to give birth at home and cannot carry me down the stairs, so he calls 911. Ambulance and fire trucks come and they are able to support me in getting down the stairs and it's off to the hospital with husband in car behind us. We get there and I'm at 5cm!!! So they can finally admit me. After the 45 minutes of monitoring to check everyone's heart rate (everyone is fine) I'm at 8 or 9cm and they offer to break my water to speed things up if I want. Meanwhile, they start to draw a bath so I can sit and relax. I agree to water breaking, figuring it's close enough to the end that there is low risk. I get up to go to the bath, and my water breaks on its own, so no bath...

Not sure how much longer, but they tell me I'm at 10cm and instruct me how to push, 4 pushes, 12 minutes later, kiddo is born at 4am Tuesday after 29 hours of labor.

It was a long labor, but it turns out it was so long due to some cervical scar tissue I had from a surgery 7 years prior. It took a long time for the tissue to break up so that I could dilate.

Overall, I feel very happy and positive about the birth experience. I had an intervention free birth (which was something I really wanted), and baby was healthy (APGAR 9 and 10).

My worries this time around. Doctor says I won't have a 29 hour dilation this time, the scar tissue has not reformed, so dilation will be much quicker. Also I went from 5cm to baby in less than 2 hours with only 12 minutes of pushing. I'm a little worried that this one will go even faster and that could make things tricky. I just hope I'll have enough warning and lead time to get kiddo1 in place when I do start labor.

Lesson learned: if I think I'm supposed to be at the hospital, stay in the waiting area or on hospital grounds somewhere next time and don't go home. When they sent me home the 2nd time, I was less than 5 hours from delivery which would have been a completely normal time period to be in a hospital before delivery. But I don't blame the hospital. All the charts / statistics indicated I was a long way from delivery and there was no way anyone could have predicted how far outside the bell curve I was going to be.

[icedtea]

Thank you all for sharing! Hearing about the variety of experiences is really helping.

lupincat, I laughed out loud at "grab it and pull!"

[lupincat]

Jan 27, 2017 10:46:45 GMT -5 icedtea said:

Thank you all for sharing! Hearing about the variety of experiences is really helping.

lupincat, I laughed out loud at "grab it and pull!"

Lol my best "mother of the year" moment!

[katie0919]

Love all the stories!! Here are mine:

With DS#1 I wanted as natural a labor as possible...meaning, I didn't want to be induced, I did crazy homeopathic stuff to get me to go into labor naturally, etc. However, I DID want an epidural. lol! At every appointment the last few weeks, I would think I wanted to avoid the internal check, but curiosity always got the best of me so I let her - I was never dilated at all. I think at 40 weeks I was dilated 1/2 cm. 41 weeks appt came and went, no labor signs whatsoever. So, reluctantly at 10 days past my due date, I checked in for an induction. Since I wasn't dilated at all, they inserted cytotec in the evening to get things going and then started pitocin in the morning. Just an hour on pitocin and POP, my water broke. Enter INSANE contractions. Almost immediately I went from a 1 to a 4, so I got the epidural. Labor progressed quickly and I was ready to push at noon! 5.5 hours later, and still no baby - and I was EXHAUSTED. He just would not enter the birth canal and I had nothing left in me. Doc recommended the c-section. I just cried for about 3 hours while they prepped me and we waited (emergency c's were ahead of me). Finally, they wheeled me back - I was falling asleep in the OR I was so tired....and then DS was born at 7:33 p.m., all 9lbs 7oz of him. Turns out he was stuck at my curved tailbone, so it was obviously the right decision to have the C. Just like lastkiss, my csection sucked and I was strapped down like on a cross as well. My recovery was terrible and pain management was terrible at the hospital. I had not prepared myself at ALL for a c-section.

DS#2 - I was ADAMENT I was going to get my VBAC. My doc agreed she would let me try, since I was a good candidate. However, she would not allow an induction (increases chances of uterine rupture) so I had to go into labor on my own by 41 weeks or we would do a RCS. I tried my best, but my body apparently just doesn't like to go into labor so at 41 weeks exactly, I went in for my RCS. This time it was a much better experience (except for my severe anxiety going into it). Surgery was fairly quick and easy, and being at the hospital for 4 nights with the grandparents watching DS#1 almost felt like a vacation. Pain management and my nurses were amazing - I really hope it's the same way next time. Recovery was still long and hard, but it was better than the first experience. DS#2 was 9lbs and 1oz of perfection!

Since I just had DS#2 15 months ago, my OB is not willing to let me go for a VBAC. So, RCS#3 will be May 12th, one day before my due date. Not looking forward to major surgery AGAIN, but hoping just for a happy and healthy delivery!

[tortor4]

Thanks for these, I adore hearing birth stories!

C was due February 9th. The night of February 5th we thought it would be fun to try the spicy food wives tale and having sex to get things going. So we had enchiladas for dinner and had super awkward sex afterwards lol.

The next morning (a Friday) I woke up at 6 with H to make his lunch and see him off to work (I wasn't working since the October before I think, and this was our regular morning routine). While he was getting ready I said "well I guess those old wives tales didn't work for us!" H left at 6:20 and I decided to go back to bed for a little.

At exactly 8 while I was still in bed, I felt a big gush. I was half asleep and remember thinking "ugh shit I just got my period" Then I was like "wait no that's silly, I'm pregnant. Oh shit. That's my water!" So I jumped out of bed and ran to the toilet. I sat there for a few minutes and it didn't stop gushing so I grabbed a towel, put it between my legs and ran to grab my phone. I called my doctor and asked her if I had to come in like right that minute or if I could shower and she told me I could shower and get ready, just don't come in later than lunch time. At this point I wasn't having any contractions at all but my water was still gushing. I called H and he picked up and said hello like he knew something was up. I said "hey babe, want to meet your daughter today?" He got so nervous and excited and I'm pretty sure drove way too fast to get home.

I was in the shower when he got home and he asked me what he could do so I asked him to dust and vacuum since it was really important to me to come home to a clean house. He had to help me make the bed too because my water gushed every time I moved.

We left for the hospital by 10 or 10:30 and my contractions just started while we were on our way. I had to sit on a couple towels and a garbage bag because my water was still gushing. When we got there, I put a towel between my legs and waddled in to the hospital. I didn't think it would be that weird of a sight for the nurses but they all seemed to get a big kick out of it lol.

They took me right back and found out that C's heart rate kind of low and they were concerned because I hadn't felt any movement at all that morning. I told the nurse that I wanted to try it without the epidural for a while and she told me that I had to be on oxygen and they wouldn't let me get up and walk around so I told them to give me the epidural because that sounded like pure hell. They gave me pitocin too to move things along.

Laboring was honestly pretty uneventful thanks to the epidural and I was ready to push shortly after 11pm. I only pushed maybe 6 times and C was out within 10 minutes. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces of absolute perfection. That day was my most favorite day ever and I still get excited thinking about it. Every detail is ingrained in my memory.

I hope this kid makes it just as easy. This time I'll be buying adult diapers though. DNW to have to clean up puddles of amniotic fluid all over my house before I deliver lol.

[tortor4]

So I forget from the first time, but is it a bad idea to get something to eat before going in to deliver? I hadn't eaten anything since dinner the night before and they wouldn't let me eat or drink anything. Omg I was so hungry.

[icedtea]

tortor4, I asked my OB and she said I could eat beforehand, and that they'd let me eat at the hospital.

[jennyelf]

tortor4, You need strength. My hospital is fine with eating.

[tortor4]

icedtea and jennyelf ok this is really good to hear. This means I will be stopping for some delicious food on the way.

[lupincat]

tortor4 My OB didn't say anything about not eating and the hospital fed me up until I had pitocin (I think). Either way, get the food, you need the strength!