Previous Birth Stories?

[beebe918]

Does anyone want to share their birth stories from their older kids?  I love reading birth stories.

[beebe918]

Copy and pasted from May15

I went in for an induction Friday morning 5/22. They started Prepadil around 9AM and right away it was just like one constant contraction in my back, no breaks at all. I got Tylenol with Codeine around 10:30 and it took the edge off for an hour or so, later I got an IV of Nubain which was amazing but only lasted about 2 hours. My water broke on it's own at some point in there and around 3PM my doctor checked me and I was 3cm and 50% effaced and I got a second dose of Prepadil and an epidural. Looking back I think it might have been too early for the epidural because it wore off after about 4 hours. They tried another epidural and then another IV of Nubaine but neither did anything, so for the last 2 hours of labor + 1.5 hours of pushing I didn't have any pain relief. So a total of 13.5 hours of labor, 10 were no problem but the last 3.5 were rough! My midwife was amazing, she gave me some real tough love and told me I could do it when I said I couldn't and H and all the nurses were great too.

Jack was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and they put him on my chest but then took him away for a little stimulation. Meanwhile I couldn't deliver my placenta (did not realize that was a thing). Thankfully there was an OB on the floor who was able to come in and manually remove the placenta (not fun). I delivered around 10:30 but didn't get to hold the baby for awhile b/c of the placenta drama so H held him and fed him his first bottle.

He got circumsized and his tongue clipped (he was tongue tied) in the hospital and we went home 2.5 days after we arrived!

[melody330]

I always stalk birth stories from other boards because I love them too!

DS was a Jan 2014 baby. I was being monitored for pre-e with 24 hr urine catches, modified bed rest and weekly BPPs, NSTs and OB appointments from 32 weeks on. I was induced on a Sunday night at 39+2.

Checked in at 8:30 Sunday and started cervidil which caused some horrible contractions but did nothing for my cervix. By the morning I was closed, high and not thinning at all. They did another round, and put in a balloon. The next day they started Pit and around 9am I was at barely 1cm. A kind nurse came in and stretched me a little and my OB broke my water around 11am. Things picked up very very slowly but the contractions were horrible. By 1 I was only at 2cm and got my epi. Hindsight, I wish I didn't. It worked too well and I couldn't move anything below my stomach. I was stuck on my back.

I developed a fever, puked, and by 5 the OB came in to give me a talk. She was concerned I had an infection and wanted the baby out now. we decided to try some practice pushes, but I was not ready.

They turned off the epi around 5;30 and by 6;30 I was ready to push. I pushed, puked, shivered and almost passed out from exhaustion for two hours. I could feel him keep slipping back after each push.

OB wheeled the stretcher in and said if hes not out by 8:45 I was getting a c section.

I was able to get him out at 8:35. I did have an infection, but he was perfect. 8lbs 12 oz 22 inches. They cleaned him up on my chest and I nursed him while I delivered the placenta and OB stitched me up. Somewhere in all that she gave me an episiotomy.

After that DS hung out with me unless he was getting weighed. He lost 11% of his birth weight before my milk came in on day 4, but gained quickly after that.

It wasn't the experience I wanted, but he's here safe and sound. The epi really fucked with me, and I'm planning on holding off/not getting one so quickly this time.

[housecarder]

I was terrified of the epidural due to my mom's horror story of it screwing up her back and not working and how she ended up doing 4 natural births instead. So when my OB wanted to do a scheduled c section for size and my diabetes I wasn't thrilled. During our last growth scan DD was measuring around 8 lbs so my OB let me go with an induction after much begging. I showed up Friday night and got my pitocin started. Holy crap pitocin contractions are a bitch. All night I labored and refused pain meds because I knew the longer you waited the more likely it was that I wouldn't stall.

The next morning my OB came in and talked to me about how DD kept going unresponsive and they were reluctant to up my pitocin. So my mom snuck me some Diet Coke and she pepped up, and my OB broke my water. I finally took some IV meds to take the edge off the pain and was able to nap around 10am.

My OB came back around 3 pm and I was still only dilated to like a 4, having strong contractions that weren't doing anything and DD was still not responding. She highly recommended an emergency c section and I agreed in my exhaustion. Epidural was placed and I was in heaven. Off to the OR I went, which was so cold I was shaking the entire time from exhaustion. She was born around 4:30 (the exact time is a blur) and was perfect other than her cord around her neck. They washed her up and handed her to her dad while I got stitched up. Then I held her in my bed on the way back to my room. The only the I remember afterwards was my nose itching so bad from the pain meds that kept rubbing it raw.

DS was a repeat c section that was so much simpler. Showed up at the hospital at 6 am, went to the OR at 8, born at 8:36. I wasn't falling asleep or shaking violently this time, although it was still cold. Once I was out of recovery my mom brought DD in to meet her brother.

Both times I gave the nurse my camera and they took pics of everything, although with DS I have creepy alien head popping out of my abdomen pics that I wasn't expecting lol.

I'm really looking forward to my RCS this time around.

[those3words]

Water broke around 7:45am. I stopped DH as he was literally walking out the door for work. Mecomium in the water

Went to hospital. They put me on a lot of pitocin because my contractions were irregular. Didn't do pain meds until I decided to do an epi to see if that would help progress labor along at 2am the next morning.

Dozed for a few hours. OB came in to check on me around 6:30 - my cervix was still completely closed. DS' and my heartrates were dropping - emergency C/S. DS was born just before 8am.

I was left unable to move or feel from the neck down due to the epi for hours.

[littlesthobo]

I've been stalking birth stories too! Here's mine from DS:

My last day of working (I worked to 39 weeks) was a Friday, and I had an OB appt the Thursday evening. She wanted to do a cervical check and sweep my membranes.

While she was in there, she discovered I was already dilated 3-4cm. I asked if it was okay to go to work the next day and she said yes, so I went for my last day! I ended up losing part of my mucous plug at work on Friday.

Saturday morning I wasn't feeling any signs of labour, so I got ready to go to my friend's birthday BBQ and DH even painted my toenails. Getting out of the bathtub I felt one big contraction, then nothing, so we carried on with the day.

We had to make a stop at my parents' and in the car (about 3pm) I started to feel period cramps coming and going regularly. I started timing them on an app.

After a quick stop at my parents' we decided to come home and wait to see what was happening instead of going to the party. On the way home the cramps/contractions increased such that I couldn't talk through them. We stopped for pizza, popped home to eat it and by 4:30 we were on our way to the hospital since contractions were five min apart.

Got to triage by 5pm where they verified that I was dilated 5cm and this was happening, baby should be here by midnight. By 5:30 we were in a delivery room and I asked for the epidural. The anestheologist was on another floor and it took him an hour to arrive in my room.

By 7pm I had the epidural and was relaxing, reading magazines (thank you epidural!). By 9:30pm it felt like I was having butt cramps. They got more painful and by 10:30pm I called the nurse to tell her about them.

She told me she was waiting for me to call her about this, checked me and saw that I was 10cm and could start pushing.

I pushed for an hour and a half and DS was born at 12:03am Sunday morning!

Overall it was nine hours of labour start to finish. I'm a little worried that my J16 baby might arrive faster than this!

[sarcaztic10]

I was 40+5 and feeling every minute of it with L. I was trying to do everything possible to get labor going. I walked around a ton and ate really spicy tacos the night before. The next morning I felt the same as usual and was so discouraged that nothing was working.

At about 3 pm that day I had terrible diarrhea and afterwards I took a bath. As soon as I got out of the tub my contractions started. They were intense from the very start and were coming 4-5 minutes apart. Luckily H was home that day but he decided to go get gas or something so I had to call him and tell him that I was actually in labor. Finally! After that all I could think of was the pain. We called the MW and she told us to hang tight and call when the ctx were 2-3 minutes apart.

I laid down and was just absorbed in the pain. A few hours later the ctx were coming every 2-3 minutes very consistently and were lasting about a minute or so each. We called the MW and she said that it was most likely still to early in labor but we could come to the birth center if we wanted.

We started to head to the birth center and the MW was going to meet us there. When I got there they checked me and I was about 4 cm dilated. I was really frustrated at that point because it was like 9 at night and I had been having consistent ctx's every 2-3 minutes for a few hours! My MW told me to lay down and try to get some rest. That was totally impossible. I did lay down but the CTX were basically one on top of the other and I got no rest. Eventually my water broke and I really hoped that meant things were moving along.

At around 12 am I asked them to check again and I had only progressed to 5 cm! I was so upset that I said I wanted to go to the hospital and get drugs to make the pain go away. I was tired and had been up for over 24 hours at that point. H and my MW talked me out of that and I decided that I just had to get up and walk/move to get things moving quicker.

I got up and walked around the room and ended up sitting on the edge of the bed and hanging on to DH as the ctx's came on. About 2 hours after that they checked me again and said I was at 7 cm and they could start filling up the birthing tub. As they were filling up the tub I asked if I could just get in right then and sit or kneel as the tub filled. They said yes so H and I got in. I remember that the water was about waist deep and felt great (it was maybe 30-45 minutes into me being in the tub and it wasn't even full) when I had a serious urge to push. I told the assistant MW that I was pushing, that I just had to push. She told me to wait and she would check me because she was sure I was not ready. Well, I was definitely ready and she ran to get the MW who was trying to sleep in the other room. MW ran in as I was squatting holding on to the edge of the pool for support. I was pushing at that point, it was like I wasn't even in control of my body during that time. I pushed for 15 minutes and out L came. I pulled him out of the water and laid him on my chest as DH supported my back. He was perfect and the MW rubbed him a bit and he started crying immediately. I held him until the cord stopped pulsing and they cut it.

The MW took L from me to clean him up a bit while I got out of the tub. I went to the bed to lie down while I delivered the placenta. After that I got up and took a shower. I remember it being one of the best showers of my life, I just stood there under the water. After my shower I went back to sit in the bed and DS nursed for the first time while i ate a huge subway sandwich. We all went home about 6 hours after he was born after a very short nap.

ETA: My labor was 12 hours from start to finish and DS was 8 lbs 6 oz. 

[ginabini]

Pleeeeeeease keep these coming!! I'm loving reading these!

[tootsie]

I've never written it out before! Here it goes... Warning: Verbose.

I was done with work at 37 weeks because my work shut down for renovation for 1 year+. So I was bored out of my mind for a MONTH. I went on lots of walks, did lots of internet surfing, and of course, a lot of napping. At around 41 weeks, Monday, my cervix was still really high and maybe a fingertip dilated, but she managed to sweep my membranes. The next day, Tuesday, I worked my ass off scrubbing the bathroom floors on my hands and knees, ate spicy Asian food for dinner and went on a long walk. I had the fire in me!

That night at 10pm, H and I were watching this really weird old movie called Confessions of a Golden Eye and I started to feel some period-like cramps lasting for 30 seconds to a minute. I started to keep track and they got more intense, coming every 5 minutes to every 15 minutes. They wouldn't get to a consistent length of time, but they got more and more intense to where I really couldn't sleep all night, maybe just a light doze. H slept, thank goodness. The next morning, Wednesday, my contractions were still pretty intense but still inconsistent. Breathing through them was tough, and I was having back labor through every single contraction. It felt like knives stabbing me in the lower back. Super fun. We called my midwife who said to take a hot shower, but don't come in until CXs were consistently 5 minutes apart. I labored miserably at home all morning, then laid down with H to try to take a nap.

I actually managed to get an hour or so of rest, then at 2pm, *POP*! My water broke while I was laying down! I hopped off of the bed and stepped right into the bathroom where several gushes game. There was blood mixed in with the fluid, which freaked me out quite a bit but is apparently normal. At this point I thought I was dying from contractions, my water breaking made them even more painful, so we basically threw our shit in the car and drove the most miserable 20 minutes of my life to the birthcenter. My midwife checked me and I was ~7 or 8cm, and I was able to get into the tub for awhile. I started having the urge to push but my cervix wouldn't completely dilate so I basically had to resist the urge to push, which is really fucking hard. H was amazing through the whole thing, I needed him to put a ton of pressure on my back to help with the pain and he was there every second. 

I started throwing up and could barely keep any fluid down. My midwife realized that DD's head was turned funny, kind of cocked to the left, which is what was causing the back labor and not allowing me to completely dilate. My midwife started to make me do really miserable things, like walk up stairs, then lay an on the bed while she rolled my hips, trying to get DD to turn into the correct position. After at least a couple hours of this, I felt a shift and DD turned. All of sudden, contractions were totally manageable. The back labor was pretty much gone, and I was like, this is easy! FINALLY, I was complete, so I got to push. We tried several different positions, but she was stubborn. The midwife assistant was constantly checking DD's heart-rate through all of this, and I could tell that it was starting to decelerate a bit as they got pretty adamant that I push, like, NOW, and my midwife threatened me with an episiotomy. I remember yelling, "NO!" at the suggestion, and within the next 2 pushes, DD was born! 

She came out with her hand by her face, called a nuchal hand I believe, and was 8lb 6oz, 18.5" long, born at 7:45pm. I tore pretty badly, but my midwife didn't tell me a degree, and when I asked how many stiches I had she just said "a lot." An episiotomy my have been a better option for my undercarriage. I bled quite a bit, so they used quite a bit of pitocin to get my uterus to contract and stop bleeding. My back muscles were crazy tight for a really long time, probably several months. DD was a great nurser and barely dipped below birthweight. 

It was quite the experience. I'm glad I got the natural birth I wanted, but I'm not sure if I want to do it again. We'll see. 

[cabbagecabbage]

Warning: this was written and shared with a group after we had our babies. Nothing super scary happens but it isn't fun either. I hate doom and gloom labor stories close to delivery, so read at your own risk.


Saturday, August 11, 2:00 am - It is two days before my due date and two days before I have a scheduled induction. I wake up suddenly with a sharp pain in my right side. I immediately know I cannot lay down. I must get up and move.

2:30-3:30 - I take a hot bath and rock my hips during early contractions. I splash hot water on my stomach and it helps distract me. They feel like period cramps but cover my whole abdomen. They are painful but not impossible to deal with.

4:00 - I am out of the bath and just stumbling around the house leaning on things when I hear DH get up. I am in the computer room and he yells down to ask if I'm OK. I tell him, "I don't know. I think I'm in labor."

4:00-5:30 - I time my contractions. DH does it for me on his phone and then takes a shower. I lumber around the house in pain.

5:30 - I call the OB answering service and Dr. H calls right back. I expect her to ask a lot of questions but she only asks how far apart are the contractions. I tell her 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes and she says, "Why don't you come in." It's that simple.

6:00- We arrive at the hospital. There was no traffic and my contractions aren't very bad in the car. Even going over train tracks was okay. I convince myself it's false labor and feel guilty on the drive. They're going to send me home and I'll be back on Monday for my induction.

We get wheeled to a room. I stop to vomit on the ride from the ER to L&D but I am still thinking I'll be sent home. I have monitors put on my stomach and find out I have Nancy, the nurse who also did my hospital tour. I like her and take it as a good sign. I get checked and they tell me I am 2-3 centimeters and contracting every two minutes. I am staying.

8:00 - Dr. H comes in and breaks my water. I am 4 centimeters. I ask for an epidural. I can handle the pain just fine but I don't really want to feel any worse and I am tired from so little sleep. I had toyed with trying for a med free delivery but I feel no guilt in asking for the epidural.

Starting around this time, I lose track of the hours and time just flows. The epidural scares me just a little but it is smooth sailing and the relief is instant and wonderful. I lie back and relax for a while. A few hours pass with just Nancy checking on me every once in a while and DH quietly sitting. I say at 5-6 centimeters for over two hours and Nancy asks if can give me just a little pitocin. I agree.

As soon as she gives me the pitocin, something happens with my epidural. The anesthesiologist later tells me he thinks the line moved. I go from good pain management to nothing within a few minutes. I can feel my legs and every contraction throughout my body. I writhe in pain and begin very long yoga breaths. I soon start vocalizing on the exhale and I sound like a loud whale or cow with each noise. Nancy calls them "humming" but they sound like animal braying to me.

She realizes that something is wrong with my pain management and calls the anesthesiologist back. It is a new doctor who is also very nice. He instantly gives me a shot of lidocane in my line and that helps but doesn't take away all the pain. Within five minutes, I am back to feeling everything and braying just trying to stay in control. He realizes that I need to have the epidural replaced.

It is very difficult to stay still and arch my back like a cat as I go through transition at 7-8 centimeters on pitocin. I dig deep and keep moaning and braying but I am still and the doctor does it. Nancy holds my shoulders and DH talks me through it. I see the door open and Dr. P, a different OB from my practice, looks in but closes the door and does not enter. The room must look like a circus with me moaning and everyone around me. I realize it's a shift change and Dr. P will deliver me. I like him very much. He is my "regular" doctor and the one who helped me through my miscarriage.

This epidural is stronger and my legs get hot and tingly. I am dead weight from my ribs down but the pain is gone and I am so happy. I truly cannot move myself at all and my legs feel like bread dough to touch. I can finally relax and within minutes I am 9 centimeters.

They set up the table for delivery and Nancy tells me I will have the baby by 4:00. The baby's head is already so far down she tells me. I look up at the clock and it's 3:00 in the afternoon. I am happy. It's almost over in my mind. I watched my sister give birth and the pushing took about 20 minutes. I am about to meet my baby!

They turn down my epidural. I do a few practice pushes with Nancy and Dr. P comes in. He looks bothered while I push and I ask if I am doing it right. He assures me I am a good pusher but the baby isn't cooperating. He reaches in and tries to change the baby's position. It is really uncomfortable. It isn't for a few more pushes that I understand she is sunny side up and he cannot turn her.

My "easy" pushing is suddenly very difficult. Within 15 minutes of pushing she is crowning on each push. My epidural is off and I quickly feel everything. They bring in the big mirror so I can focus on pushing down and out. Watching myself push is fascinating and hideous but it helps me focus. I keep watching. I see the hair and with each push it gets sucked back up. I am so discouraged. It feels wrong. It hurts so badly. I don't feel any relief in pushing or any urge to keep going. Everything I've read about knowing how to do it is wrong. I feel like I am trying to blow up a balloon while pooping through my perineum. I am trying my very best and nothing is happening. My logical brain no longer works and I believe that I will be stuck here forever, just pushing in writhing pain. My legs are shaky and my hips hurt from the frog position. The doctor begins to leave the room and I want to cry. I am not even close enough for him to stay and watch.

Dr. P comes and goes. The time passed so slowly. Before the hours were minutes. Now the minutes are hours. The pain is so strong but it isn't frightening. It's just so overwhelming.

He is finally back and explaining that he is going to let me keep pushing and try to deliver vaginally but that the OR is being prepped in case we need it. I ask him to help me. It's been an hour and a half without progress and I am giving my absolute everything on each push. "Can you suction her out?" He says they will try. Meanwhile, I keep pushing with all my might and watch her come down and get sucked back. I want to give in to a c-section so badly but I know that it will take time to prep. I will have to get another epidural or, more likely, they'll knock me out. Then I will have to recover from surgery. I can feel everything now. It will be faster if I just push her out.

I see Dr. P grab the suction cup in one hand and I silently pray/beg that it will help. He grabs some pinchers with his hand and pinches my labia. He asks if I can feel it and I can. I instantly know what is coming.

He picks up the world's biggest needle. It is about a foot long and old fashioned with two metal circles for a plunger. Someone needs to invent some obstetrical instruments that look like they are from this century. I see and feel the other nurse swab me with iodine. I feel the pricks numbing me. The pain doesn't even register. Then I see the scissors in his hand. I look away from the mirror and hear the crunching snips. Snip, snip, snip. There's more than one. I don't even care anymore. I need some change. What we've been doing isn't working. A contraction comes as Dr. P reaches for the suction cup. I yell, "Ok," which I has been my command to the nurse and DH to pull back my legs and begin counting every time I push. I bear down with all the might I have and close my eyes. On that push, I finally feel it. She is really crowning. Dr. P yells, "That's it. You can stop." and I look up to see my baby being lifted between my legs. One push was all it look and she was completely out. It is 17:53. I pushed for two hours.

I was so shaken and shocked. Ten seconds earlier I believed she would never come. I thought I was heading to surgery after a suction cup attempt. Instead, I see the suction cup covered in blood from his glove but not used. I see the tray of bloody needles and instruments. I don't even care. She is out now.

DH is crying happy tears and my mind is reeling. I say something dumb like, "She's out," or "That's the baby." I don't cry at all because I am just so shocked.

The next hour is a blur of stitches, both inside and out. Dr. P tells me my cervix is black and blue. He also tells me he really didn't think I had it in me to push out a sunny side up baby after 16 hours of a first labor. I can tell he's impressed. The nurses are too.

The baby is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Her heart rate never wavered. She was born screaming. She pooped under the warming lights and nursed as soon as I held her. She is the best baby on earth, truly.

[feisty]

Jun 7, 2016 11:13:37 GMT -5 those3words said:

Water broke around 7:45am. I stopped DH as he was literally walking out the door for work. Mecomium in the water

Went to hospital. They put me on a lot of pitocin because my contractions were irregular. Didn't do pain meds until I decided to do an epi to see if that would help progress labor along at 2am the next morning.

Dozed for a few hours. OB came in to check on me around 6:30 - my cervix was still completely closed. DS' and my heartrates were dropping - emergency C/S. DS was born just before 8am.

I was left unable to move or feel from the neck down due to the epi for hours.

We have similar birth stories...Are you trying VBAC or RCS this time around?

[feisty]

I'm going to start mine a little before actual labor...

Around 34.5 weeks I woke up on a Friday and really thought my water broke. I lost my mucous plug and just had a lot of fluid when I got up out of bed etc. DH and I went to hospital where they did not think it was my water and sent us home. I still had some fluid occassionally, but didn't go back to ER and had my regular dr appointment (NST) on Tuesday.

That next Wednesday morning, I started getting contractions around 5:30am. I just timed them and waited about an hour to see if they stopped. They didn't, so we went into L & D, where in triage they told me my water broke. (I didn't really see any difference between the last Friday and this day). Anyway, baby was coming that day. We were surprised and really not ready. Since it was early, and I had not had the group B strep test yet, I was given IV antibiotics and fluids and put on constant montitoring. I had not dilated at all, so they gave me something in IV to help that. My contractions kept up and increased in timing/intensity. Since I was on IV and monitors I really just stayed in bed. Around 8:30pm I decided to take epidural, I was exhausted and super uncomfortable and I originally wanted to wait until I was dilated about 5cm, and I was not even at like a 1 . But epidural went easily and I felt better and tried to rest some. Around 10:30 at night, baby's heart rate went high (over 200) and I started shaking from a fever (103). So I got a new round of antibiotics in my IV and oxygen. After the epidural, my contractions slowed down and they wanted to give me pitocin, but couldn't with baby's heartrate and my fever etc. I think they were able to do pitocin around 2am. At 5:30 the next morning the dr came by to discuss options. I was only about 1.5 cm dilated at this point.

We decided to do a C Section and DS was born at 6:02, weighing 6lbs 3 oz. He needed a little suctioning and was sent to the NICU (with DH) while I got stitched up and went into recovery. He was brought to me in the recovery room to see and try to breastfeed (no latch yet). My recovery went pretty well, but DS was having eating problems and had to stay in the NICU for 9 days total. I had to leave the hospital after 4. DS needed a feeding tube but did well after he gained enough weight to be discharged.

[those3words]

feisty , I'm going RCS. The OB couldn't believe how high DS was when they went in. And this time, she can't believe how high this kid is sitting (the heart is a few inches above my belly button...almost to my ribs. So, it seems my anatomy is weird and she supports my decision to not try a VBAC. My mom also had similar birth stories with my brother and I. So, I guess I got her messed up pelvis.

Are you going to try for the VBAC?

[feisty]

those3words, I seem to always carry high too. I was set on VBAC, but I think tomorrow I'm going to talk with my dr a bit more. DS was sunny side up too, and I was a premie/difficult birth as well.

[those3words]

Jun 7, 2016 14:22:10 GMT -5 feisty said:

those3words , I seem to always carry high too. I was set on VBAC, but I think tomorrow I'm going to talk with my dr a bit more. DS was sunny side up too, and I was a premie/difficult birth as well.

Well good luck with whichever way you go. It sucks when your body isn't able to do what it should be able to do :/ It took me a while to recover from the c/s and I asked the OB if a planned c/s is easier to recover from. She said MUCH easier...so that is what swayed my decision.

[glaze]

With DS I went into labor at 40w6d. I woke up at 3am to pee and when I went back to bed I started having contractions and couldn't fall back alseep. Side note for first timers if you don't know diarrhea and vomiting can happen when you go into labor. So after having some of that I went to the couch to try to time the contractions and after about an hour I woke up my H to go to the hospital because they were getting so intense. When we arrived they checked me and I was 4 cm dialated. I labored for awhile and had originally wanted to go med free but decided I wanted an epidural because my contractions were one on top of the other with no break. At about 10am I got the epidural and it took them forever to place it, my water broke during this process. After I got it I felt so much better and we hung out for about an hour until things stated to go downhill for DS and I. I won't go into detail but end result was DS having to be vacuumed out of me due to his heart rate dropping which it had been doing on and off. I only was able to push for about 10 minutes total before they decided he had to come out asap and thankfully they were able to get him out fast with the vacuum. He pooped right when he came out and still weighed in at 9lbs13oz.

With DD I went into labor at 40w2d. I got up from bed at 11pm to pee and when I wiped there was bright red blood. I was told this can happen when you first go into labor (bloody show?) so I told my H who was still up that I thought tonight was the night. I tried to lay back down for awhile but the contractions started hitting hard. At my last appt I had been almost 4cm dialated and the doctor told me to come in right away when I went into labor because of that. We waited for my parents to arrive so my Dad could stay with DS who was sleeping. While waiting I just sat on DS's bed kissing him and staring at him because it was the last time he'd be my youngest little baby! When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was 8cm dialted. I spent the rest of the time in the bed on my side gripping the bedrail getting fed ice chips and having cold washcloths put on my head. The doctor came in to check on me and right when he walked in the room my water broke and I felt the sudden urge to push. I started screaming that she was coming out and the dr told me to hold on so he could get gloves and everything on and in position. You never tell a labouring woman to hold on! My H later told me he wanted to push the dr out of the way and catch the baby himself. From my water breaking to her coming out was less than 5 minutes. I feel bad for those that have to push so long, I lucked out on that! They held her up while H cut the cord and I saw she was a girl! She weighed 7lbs5oz. DS cried when he first met her because she was a girl not the brother he wanted but now he loves her, ha!

[comicSans]

My due date of record was 5/2, based on lmp but I knew when my o date was, making 5/5 more accurate, so when my due date came and went I was not concerned, and figured I'd probably go to 41 weeks anyway. The morning of 5/5 my water broke as I was waking up from a nap on the couch.

I called my midwife, then DH. I was gbs negative, so no need to rush to the hospital. DH came home, then went to target to buy snacks and a tv. The rest of the day was spent nervously waiting for something to happen. My midwife checked in a couple times, but I really wasn't having contractions. Contractions finally started that evening, but weren't close together. They would start to get closer, but if I moved around they'd spread out again. DH snoozed on the couch, but I couldn't sleep. Finally at 4am I woke him up and told him I wanted to go to the hospital - I was nervous about DD and wanted to be monitored.

I had a couple of strong contractions on the way to the hospital, but then they slowed down and pretty much stopped at the hospital. They hooked me all up and checked my cervix - only about 1cm and I think 80% effaced. They decided to admit me because my water had been broken for so long, and start induction in the morning.

Around 7am I was allowed to eat breakfast and then they started pitocin. From there things were kind of weird and I had a feeling something wasn't quite right. I was kept on continuous monitoring and a nurse would come in and adjust the fetal monitor from time to time. They'd also have me roll to one side or the other trying to adjust something. I had wanted to try the tub but it was never offered. I tried nitrous for pain management and it helped to a point, but got difficult for me to time right and administer to myself. They checked me again and I was only a 3. I decided to get the epi so I could rest after being awake for 24 hours. It took 3 tries to get the epi in - my spine is apparently tight. DH was glad they'd made him sit in the corner because he was feeling a little queasy after the second try. Once it was in it worked great and I slept for a bit.

At some point the midwife told me dd's heart rate had been dropping with every contraction and they weren't sure why. More rolling me around trying to get her positioned better. I was freaked at this point and DH and I started talking about a csection if necessary. I just wanted my baby safe and in my arms. I felt like I was hurting her. Once we knew it was happening, it was so scary being able to see her hr dip on the monitor.

They let me go a little longer and checked me again. I was at a 6, but it had been about 30 hours since my water broke, I hadn't slept much, dd's heart rate still wasn't stable, and they weren't sure how active labor and pushing would go for her so a csection was recommended. We agreed and the OB on call came to talk to me. They had just finished another section and had to clean up the or, but were ready for me really quickly.

Since I already had the epi, they upped that. The OR was really cold and I shivered from the anesthesia really badly. My arms had to be strapped down. I could sort of see things reflected in the light above so I tried not to look. DH stayed by my head but accidentally saw things reflected in the window of the OR. DD was born about 45 mins after we said yes to the csection. She was a tiny 5lbs 15oz and her cord was thin and wrapped around her neck once. Totally healthy and perfect though.

DH went with her to the nursery while I got stitched up. I was nauseous at one point but told the anesthesiologist and she put something else in my iv. I got to do skin to skin with DD in recovery and she tried to latch, but kept getting her tongue in the way.

Before we had gone into the Csection DH looked at the time and realized the kitchen would be closed when we were out and asked if he could order dinner! So I had a wrap waiting for me and the nurse said I could try small bites. I ate the whole thing. Best wrap ever.

DD was born on a Tuesday and we went home Friday afternoon. We almost stayed another day because they were concerned about her weight loss (when you're that small 10% isn't much), jaundice, and it didn't seem like she had peed (she may have and we may have missed it). Her jaundice levels were ok, the lactaion consultant felt she was nursing well, but my milk hadn't come it, and they catheterized her and did an ultrasound on her kidneys and didn't find anything too concerning. We were finally discharged with orders to see the pediatrician Monday morning, and I was soooo ready to go. The older nurses were not very kind and I didn't appreciate the way they treated H, and I was tired of the near constant parade of people through my room - nurses, obs, midwives, the hospital chaplain, someone from the lab, birth certificate person, pediatrician...and on and on. I was also having the dreaded hormonal dip. I went home and cried for a day.

My milk came in after we got home and by Monday DD was jaundice free, had gained significantly, and had definitely had a few wet diapers.

[rungirlrun]

I've never actually written mine out, but since I'm still upset about it and afraid I'll have a similar experience again, it might be therapeutic to write it out. However, this story is almost 3 years old so not sure if I will remember details, but I'll try. Trigger: this was a traumatic experience for me.

With DS, I had the easiest pregnancy ever. I was very fortunate to have zero negative symptoms or complications so I thought for sure I'd have a complication-free delivery. Friday night at 40 + 4, I did not sleep at all as I definitely felt contractions coming on. Saturday morning, H and I were so excited that labor finally started. By mid morning, labor completely stopped - super disappointing. I decided to chill and take a nap Saturday afternoon because I was exhausted. Around 5pm, contractions started again, and this time, they were much more painful and close together. I definitely felt that this was it. I labored at home until about 10pm. We got to the hospital and went to the room where they check you to see if you are actually in active labor. The monitor kept falling off of me so they had to redo it a few times. All I knew was DS's heart rate was not stable at all so they needed to do a bit more monitoring. H and I were super annoyed because we thought the monitor falling off was causing all of the issues. I was probably in that room for about 2 hours. There was another mom there too who kept moaning - seeing as labor is an intimate thing, it felt a bit awkward having her 5 feet away from me with just a curtain separating us. Anyway, 2+ hours later, the midwife said I was only 3cm dilated but due to the erratic heartbeat, I was going to be admitted. But I needed extra monitoring so I wouldn't be allowed a birthing suite like I was hoping. H kept trying to argue that it was the monitor's fault, but he lost that battle.

I got to an L&D room around 1am Sunday (40 + 6). Unfortunately, the heart rate continued to get worse in terms of stability. They had me try a ton of positions but the only one that seemed to work was me laying on my left side not moving. There went my hopes for a natural labor. My initial plan was to walk, go in the shower, use the birthing ball, etc to get through the contractions. When I realized that I wasn't allowed to even roll over and any movement during a contraction made things worse, I decided to get the epidural (I felt like a failure). They also put a few more monitors on me as well as an internal one on DS. There were lots and lots of wires and machines. Things did not seem good. My midwife and the nurse were amazing at keeping me calm, but the last thing you want is them staring at the monitors for way too long seeing how your baby is doing. All I kept saying was no C-Section, and they said they would do everything they could before we had to resort to that.

Me laying there continued until about 4am. H and my mom were there too, and I could see how terrified they were. During these past 2-3 hours, there was a ton of talk about a C-Section (paper work was signed, and I was basically prepped for one just in case), how concerning DS's heart rate was, and just not any happiness that I envisioned labor would include. An OB was involved because things did not look good. She too was amazing and was fortunately not CS happy. I tried to stay as calm as I could because I knew me freaking out would not help anything. Around 4:15am, I had a huge urge to poop. I told a nurse, and the midwife checked me, and said you're 10cm, time to push. I was not mentally prepared at all to push. When I first got to L&D, I asked how long FTMs usually push, and she said about 2 hours. So I'm freaking out. My mom left the room, but about 10 medical people entered (I may be wrong, but when that many people are there to assist with your birth, you know things aren't so good). Anyway, I started pushing around 4:25am - I probably pushed 4 times when the OB said, I have to get this baby out now. I had 2 choices: a CS or she would use a vacuum to ensure the baby came out. I asked about the risks of the vacuum, and she said, it could pierce the baby's head, go into the brain, and cause brain bleeding/swelling. Yikes! But I did not want a CS so I chose the vacuum. I pushed with all of my might one last time, and I heard from H at 4:34am, "We have a son!." He was 6 lb 12 oz and 21 in long (super long skinny baby bird basically).

He was placed on my for about 0.2 seconds before he was taken off to the side. H went with him. All of this is a bit blurry, but I don't think DS was breathing when he came out and very much failed his first APGAR score. But he was only away from me for a few minutes before I got to have him in my arms. At this point, I was super emotional - I couldn't believe I had a baby. I didn't even know what to do.

I learned that I had an placenta abruption - basically the placenta detached so DS wasn't getting the oxygen/nutrients he needed, and I had a ton of bleeding during the delivery. And the placenta was not healthy at all when I delivered it. Apparently, this is pretty rare - about 0.5% of births experience it to some degree. I'm told I probably shouldn't experience it again, but I'm terrified I will. My midwife is amazing, and I have a doula so
I'm hoping for a much better L&D experience. Hopefully baby #2 will be a bit more cooperative!

[mcktymck]

You ladies are all amazing! Reading your stories is very empowering and eye-opening.

[rungirlrun]

It's really nice to read about birth stories that went pretty well! Eases my mind a bit and gives me hope that I too can have a positive birth experience. Thanks for sharing!

[sarcaztic10]

I really like reading others birth stories. It helps to know that going to a hospital doesn't always end with a rush delivery or C-section.

I am still getting pretty scared for my labor though because I know it will be nothing like my first. I have to go to a hospital and I have no idea how my placental abruption will affect everything.

[lostinfaith225]

I just typed out my story a few months ago. We reshared on my bmb fb group. Trigger-it was traumatic for me.

I was 38 weeks, and puking a ton one weekend. The dr had been monitoring my bp. It was really high that Saturday night. So I was sent to l&d for monitoring. They ended up sending me home to do a 24 hr urine catch.

Monday morning, dh and I went to the ob to drop off my pee. They checked my bp and it was high. Dr came in and said, I think you are going to have a baby today.

So I went to the hospital to get induced at 2 or 3pm. I had 3 rounds of the miso pill when my water broke around 4 or 5am.

My contractions were immediate and I was a 6. They gave me my epi which stopped working on the right, so I got a second dose.
I labored down for awhile. Then I pushed for 3 hours. I'm pretty sure they were about to use the vacuum when I gave one last push.

Out he came! That's when it got crazy. I felt so much relief, remember seeing him before they took him to the warmer. Then it is foggy. I remember telling dh "pass out."

Apparently I started hemorrhaging because my uterus wouldn't retract. Then my Iv stopped working. The nurses were taking too long fiddling with it when the dr yelled to put it in the other arm. Then I got the drugs in.

Finally I stopped bleeding, she stitched me up. I was so weak, dizzy, lightheaded and had horrible shakes for at least an hour.

I was the last person to hold ds. Not letting that happen this time.

I ended up with a blood transfusion the next day. Normal blood levels are around a 12. Mine were at at 6 after delivery. They say I lost half my blood of supply and the same as a csection.

[ellebelle]

Thanks for sharing. Love reading all the stories and ((hugs)) for those with traumatic stories. I hope this time around is better for you all!

With DD I worked up until 39 weeks pregnant. I had an OB appt. at 39w3d and was told I was still 3cm dilated (had been for several weeks). My OB thought that I would probably be having DD sometime by the middle of the following week and sent me on my way. That afternoon I had a few irregular contractions but they stopped and I didn't think anything of it.

That night I woke up around 2am with contractions. I woke DH up but we decided to follow our birthing class leader's advice that if you can sleep through the contractions to do that and then come in to the hospital in the morning. By 6:30am I couldn't sleep through them anymore so I told DH that we needed to go to the hospital. It took DH a little bit to get the car cleared of snow and the engine started (bitter cold January morning and it did not want to start!) and we finally got to the hospital at 7:30am. I could hardly sit still in the car and when we walked in to the hospital the registrar had me skip the line and go right to the PETU to be checked.

They took me to a triage room and had me go to the bathroom to try to give a urine sample. Instead my water broke and gushed everywhere. They immediately checked me and said I was fully dilated and that DD had moved down and I was ready to push. I remember saying, "So I guess there's no pain meds then?" I was wheeled to L&D and told I could push as soon as I felt ready. I had a great nurse and MW who helped talk me through it. DD started having a few decelerations so the MW offered an episiotomy since she could see DD basically right there. I said yes, please just get her here safely. The MW gave me a quick shot of lidocaine and did the episiotomy. DD came out immediately afterward. She was born at 8:26 am. I had some cervical and vaginal tears which I'm told were because everything happened so quickly. Dermoplast, witch hazel pads, and ice packs were my friends that first week!

TL;DR: DD was born at 39w4d after a short labor that I mostly slept through. My only intervention was an episiotomy. I had some tears and definitely recommend Dermoplast, witch hazel pads, and ice packs!

[vk]

I haven't read my birth story since I posted it on TD, and I am a mess! DS is August 14 so I am C&P from there.

Colton Murdock was born August 29th at 1:46pm at 41w1d. He weighted 8lbs 5oz and was 21 inches long. Thursday the 28th we arrived at the hospital at 4pm for a scheduled induction. I was maybe dilated to 1, so they gave me cervadil to see if it would work overnight. I barely slept that night, I was so uncomfortable! The monitors kept sliding off me so the nurse had to come in to get everything readjusted.

By 6:30am I hadn’t progressed any so they were going to start me on Pitocin at 8am. My OB had told me at my 39 week appointment that not only was the baby measuring over 9lbs but that my pelvic bone was so low there was barely an opening for the baby to come out so my chances for a c section were very high. When she came in to see me that morning she said I could try pushing but it didn’t seem likely. 8:30am came and they started me on Pitocin.

The contractions came quickly and super intense. They gave me some medicine to help with the pain, but it made me feel like I was drunk and the room was spinning. It was awful. A little bit later the contractions were coming every 2-2.5 minutes and lasted about 1.5 minutes each so I barely had a chance to catch my breath. Even though I was only dilated to a 2 the nurse saw how much pain I was in and had them start setting up to get me an epidural. I was worried about having to sit still but the pain from the contractions made me freeze up. I couldn’t move or talk so it worked out. The epidural was amazing. I got the epidural at 10:30am and within the hour I went from being 2cm dilated to 8cm! My OB couldn’t believe I had progressed that fast. By 12:30 I was fully dilated and my nurse wanted me to try some practice pushes.

Well the practice turned into the real thing because after the first few pushes baby’s head was right there. I couldn’t feel anything and felt that if I looked like I was pushing maybe I really was lol. I had almost the whole nursing staff in my room cheering for me. Because we were team green everyone wrote their guess for sex and weight on the board. It was very motivating for me to have them all in there. I was surprised how comfortable I was.

I only had a small opening towards the bottom because of my pelvic bone so we had to try a few different ways of pushing to see if I could do it. My OB had to break my water multiple times because baby kept getting stuck. She probably broke different sacs at least 4 times.  They pulled out the bar around 1:30pm and that did the trick. My OB had stepped out of the room and go figure on the next few pushes baby was ready to come out. The nurse had to hold the head in while they were yelling for my doc to come back! I pushed one more time and they plopped a baby on my chest! At that point I still didn’t know if it was a boy or girl. The cord was wrapped around baby’s body and H wasn’t able to cut it because my doc had to cut it immediately.

After that they held the baby up so we could finally know if we had a baby boy or girl. When I looked my first thought was “that is not a vagina”. I was so convinced I was having a girl that I was in denial! I wasn’t ready to hold the baby, I was too shaky and I was feeling nauseous. So H held him up to me for a little bit while I was getting stitched up. My OB was still surprised that I was able to deliver vaginally. I have a 2nd degree tear that is right up to my bum. My H, mom and sister were in the room during the delivery and they were great.

H kept saying he wasn’t going to look at what was going on, but he did and he was amazed at what my body went through. I can’t believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since he was born. Breastfeeding has been a struggle and I have had my share of meltdowns over it. It seems to be getting better so I hope I can stick with it. I am just now starting to be able to walk without being too uncomfortable. That was rough in the beginning! Time is flying by and I can barely remember what day it is! It is still surreal to me to know that I am a mom and I have a son.

[katelou]

I was 39 weeks 3 days. I knew I was 2-3 cm dilated already.

It was late evening. I had two contractions in an hour. I had three the next hour. And five the next hour. They went from "Was that a contraction?" to "OHMIGOD IT FEELS LIKE MY BACK IS IN A VISE GRIP" so fast. The pain was seriously as bad as it ever got by the 4th one. I felt like I'd been hit by a ton of bricks. It was so completely the opposite of the hours of early labor that I expected as a FTM. It was all back labor (I later learned she was posterior, and was born that way) and we tried counter pressure etc and nothing even came close to helping.

So after 10 contractions that were at best 10 minutes apart, I told DH we were going soon. I lasted through a few more while he took a quick shower and grabbed some stuff and we headed to the hospital. Longest 3 mile drive of my life. I walked into L&D triage and told the receptionist I needed an epidural the second I got inside the door.

The nurse rolled her eyes at me when I told her my ctx were 10 min apart but I was checked and was 5.5 cm with a bulging amniotic sac and felt totally vindicated. They started my pre-epidural fluids but I needed a CBC because my platelets had crashed the week before due to my preexisting ITP. It took a freaking eternity. Or 2 hours, but it felt like an eternity when I was having awful back labor.

My platelets ended up being great (thanks, giant dose of prednisone) and the anesthesiologist was already waiting for me when I got to my room. My epidural was amazing. I told my anesthesiologist I loved her multiple times. I was checked and was 7 cm.

It was the middle of the night and they told me to sleep, but I was too excited. I really did love my epidural. I felt so calm and happy the whole time after I got it. I shook a lot (before and after birth) but other than that I felt good. I could even move my legs pretty well.

A few hours later, it was time to push. My contractions never got closer than 9-10 minutes apart, yet I made it to 10 cm with no labor augmentation. The gave me pitocin at the very end to make the contractions closer together so I could actually get her out. I pushed for an hour an a half. She was still posterior (sunny-side up) and I had a really hard time making any progress for a long time. My doctor had me pull on a sheet held by DH because for some reason, me curling myself up like that helped. I had a mirror- I would NOT have asked for this, but they just put it there and I was glad to have it- and it was so amazing to see the top of her head there.

She was born, it was awesome and amazing. I had a second degree tear and a ton of swelling. I made a point to not look at my vag for 2 weeks until I could feel it was all gone. It took 3-4 weeks to walk without pain or discomfort.

She was healthy and a great nurser. She had to get her first blood draw because of my ITP and a bunch of blood sugar checks because I was on prednisone, but all was well.