STMS Birth stories

[madameovary]

At my cervix check I was 4cm so my OB gave me a membrane sweep. About 24 hours later I started early labor. I never hit that magical contraction pattern, but I was bleeding a lot. The OB triage nurse didn't seem concerned, but it was like... a lot of blood. We strolled into l&d triage and they also did not care about the blood. We hung out there for a while and they weren't quite ready to admit me yet. We got a light dinner in the cafeteria and did some walking. Gushes of blood. Why did nobody care about this? I was admitted and pretty quickly decided I was ready for that epidural. By the time it came (I was transitioning, I think) I was shaking. The epidural hurt but provided instant relief. About 30 minutes later my water broke, I took a short nap, and all of a sudden. It was time to push. I still never hit the magical contraction formula, but I'd usually get about 3 pushes per contraction (when they came). I pushed for a little over an hour, I pooped a tiny bit. I never would have known except my husband told me he saw the nurse casually get a wipe.

After a lot of comments about "all that hair" <awkward > DS was born. They out him on my chest, he raised his little head, and looked me right in the eye. Took my breath away. I had a first degree tear, got some cytotec shoved up my butt, and got the shakes again at some point .

I'd heard that going to the bathroom after was a big deal so I was so proud I pooped almost as soon as we got settled in the recovery room. I asked if anybody needed to see it/make note and they were like "uhhh, no." They did measure my pee or something. That part is fuzzy .

I also sobbed because I was so tired and didn't want to fall asleep holding him because he obviously would have rolled off the bed and perished. It never occurred to me to wake DH or hit call button. Hormones, man.

Then somebody was in the room every couple of hours doing something. It was annoying. Coordinate, people!

[landonsmom15]

You couldn't have posted this at a better time, corinne! My DS1 will be 2 on Sunday and I had my last OB appointment with him exactly 2 years ago today!

At that OB appointment, my Dr. checked me and I was 2 cm and maybe 70% effaced. Even though I was still 2 days away from my due date and there were no complications, she wanted to schedule an induction (looking back now, I know that I shouldn't have agreed to this). So we scheduled the induction for the following day. Went in at 6 pm on Wed. to be induced, but it turned out that I was already in labor! We spent the night walking, talking, and playing games. Around 8:30 on Thursday morning, my Dr. came in and broke my water to get things moving. Things progressed pretty steadily all morning and afternoon. I got in the shower twice, which really helped with the pain. Around 4pm I was ready to push and after 1 hour and 20 minutes, Landon was born! No tearing, med free birth, and I was only 20!

Hoping and praying for a similar experience this time, except laboring at home a bit longer!

[caer]

Copied from F14:

Short version: DS was born on January 29 at 8:33 PM, 6 lbs 14 oz, 20.25 inches.

Long Version: my due date was February 6. On January 29, I had a doctor's appointment with an ENT at noon. While I was waiting, I started to have light contractions. I mentioned it to the doctor during the examination and he said "ah, you're a first time mom. Go home, get in the bath, have a glass of wine. This will take awhile." Famous last words.

I got home at 1PM, started timing contractions and they were 3 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. I timed about 30 minutes when it became clear that the time between contractions was getting shorter. So I called my doctor and my husband and told them it was go time.

By the time DH got home around 2:30 PM, I was in full blown back labor. We rushed off to the hospital (about 20 minutes away) and that car ride was horrendous. I just remember feeling like I wanted to climb out of the window. I was literally thrashing around, clawing at the windows during the contractions.

We arrived at the hospital around 3PM (parked in a doctor's spot!) and I was put in triage and checked shortly thereafter. I was at 4cm so they admitted me. The back labor was pretty awful - the only thing that brought any relief was my DH pushing as hard as he could against my lower back during contractions.

I let them know I wanted an epidural and got one at 3:45 PM. It was glorious and worked perfectly. I was checked again right after - around 4PM - and I was at 10cm! So I went from 4cm to 10cm in less than an hour. But baby was still high so they decided to let me labor down until I felt like I was ready to push.

For the next four hours, I ate ice cubes and watched TV. It would have been relaxing except that my water broke and there was meconium in it and LO's heartbeat was a little uneven. So I was very anxious. I also had the shakes from the epidural.

My parents arrived and we all hung out in my room. Shortly before 8PM, I started to feel like I wanted to push. As an aside - we were watching Jeopardy while this was happening. Shortly after the final jeopardy question was read, I told my nurse I wanted to start pushing. My mom started to hurry my Dad put of the room and, in all seriousness, my dad asked "don't you want to hear the answer to final jeopardy?" The look on my mom's face will stay with me forever. She made him leave.

We started practice pushes and LO's heartrate started to drop. The doctor stopped in and warned me that they were a little concerned about the heartrate and would keep an eye on it. He left and we pushed a couple of more times. He came right back in and said "it's baby time." Apparently the heartrate was concerning. I only pushed through two more contractions, then the doctor gave me an episiotomy and used the vacuum to get LO out. DS came out shrieking, so that was a relief. He did have the cord wrapped around his neck which explained the heartrate issues.

The first thing the nurse said was "he's a redhead!" We were in love instantly. He was a great nurser and took to it right away.

My recovery was fairly tough. The nurse in the maternity area looked under my sheet and said "oh you poor thing." Not exactly what you want to hear. I also had a lot of bleeding and needed pitocin to make it stop. But it was all worth it! It's been an awesome journey.

[kristhegirl]

I was due July 18; induced July 28 after a membrane sweep the day before (2cm, I think 70% effaced.) I think they started pitocin around 7:30? Mostly just hung out with my husband all day, watching HGTV and watching the contractions on the monitor. I'd have really big ones that I didn't really feel at all. Just felt like BH.

We walked around as much as I could (had to take my IV pole with me) and I ate "clear liquids," which at least included things like beef broth and sorbet.

Around 3:00, the midwife checked me. Stil at 2cm, which was disheartening. She suggested breaking my water but I wasn't ready. We upped the walking again, I had another "meal," and around 6:15 she broke my water. I was still at 2cm.

Holy crap it was a lot of fluid. Perfectly clear, they were worried since I was ten days over. Then things progressed quickly. I'd been on increasing pitocin all day, and the contractions just rolled and rolled. I got some IV meds, which I absolutely hated. Plus then I had to lay in bed. I asked for an epi, which took one million trillion years to arrive.

The epidural was about 80% affective. I had what the anesthesiologist called a "hot spot" that felt like it was radiating all the pain directly from my left hip. The good part about that was I could feel the contractions and I knew when to push.

Pushed for I think 4 contractions, maybe 20 minutes, and when the midwife commented on the baby's hair, my husband looked. She said, "are you going to catch your baby?" He said "me?? Yes!" No gloves, no scrubs, just line up.

Elena was born at 9:23pm with a perfect movie birth scream into his arms. 7lbs, 15oz, 20" long. I'll never forget my husband laying her on my chest and saying, "it's a girl!" That solidified that we'd be team green if we got to do it all again.

Elena and I snuggled while I got stitched up (2nd degree tear) and then after briefly taking her to do measurements and such, a nurse helped her latch and she fed for the first time.

I'd gotten an epi boost right before pushing and one of my legs was slow to return to feeling, so I was really slow to get to recovery and they kept checking me often until I regained feeling.

All in all it was a positive experience even though I didn't want to be induced. This time around I'll skip the IV med crap and just get the epidural if I feel like I can't take it - but given how quickly I progressed after she broke my water I may try to just go med-free. Looking back I was most likely in transition by the time I got the epidural.

[erinshelley21]

I wasn't due until NYE but around thanksgiving I started having BP issues. At my 35 week check up my Ob said I was "brewing" and things would start progressing in a couple of weeks. At my 36 week appt my BP was high but not high enough for an induction. She sent me for an NST and said she thought I'd go another week since I was only 1 cm dilated. When we got in the car dh looked at me and said "you know we'll be back tonight, right?" Sure enough, 12 hours later my water broke at 3:30am.

We rushed to the hospital even though I wasn't feeling any contractions to make dh feel comfortable. I was just about 2cm dilated so I still had a ways to go. SIL was my nurse and she said she would give me until 10 am to really get going or she was starting drugs. After countless laps, nothing was happening. They started pitocin just before 11 and by 1:30 I was at 10 cm. I didn't get checked before my epidural, but based on the timing of everything, I had to of been at 8cm when I got it. Once I reached 10, SIL gave me the option of a cat nap or start pushing and I wanted to sleep. She came back 5 minutes later and said my Ob wanted me to start pushing. Room cleared of our moms and it was just dh, SIL and me for about an hour. Dr came in at the end, caught him and put him on my chest. The last few minutes were such a blur! I was too excited to really pay attention. He was born at 2:31pm, so from start to finish it was 11 hrs and 1 minute.

For being 4 weeks early, DS's lungs were fine and he weighed 6lbs 6oz.

I just told my mom the other day if I could have the same experience again I'd be okay with that. SIL is going to actually deliver this one, barring any emergencies or a c-section, so that's exciting too!

[britab]

Due Date: Went to doctor and nothing was happening. Cervix too high to be reached.

Next day woke up with contractions. I was leaking water all day but was in denial. Went to hospital at midnight. Long night walking around and laboring. Water had broken, so I needed to stay.

Got epidural at about 1:30 pm and some pitocin, my contractions were slowing. Nurse said to get some sleep.

10 minutes later, I started screaming and thought I was peeing and pooping everywhere. I went from 3cm-10cm in an hour.

Doctor arrived in sandals from a picnic just in time. No time to break down bed. Cord was around DD's neck, so I needed oxygen. Two pushes and she came out at 3pm.

Good experience overall! Small tear and stitches. DD was very alert and latched from beginning. Nurses were great and yelled at me when I needed it and started to panic.

[britab]

Jan 13, 2017 21:06:23 GMT -5 kristhegirl said:

I was due July 18; induced July 28 after a membrane sweep the day before (2cm, I think 70% effaced.) I think they started pitocin around 7:30? Mostly just hung out with my husband all day, watching HGTV and watching the contractions on the monitor. I'd have really big ones that I didn't really feel at all. Just felt like BH.

We walked around as much as I could (had to take my IV pole with me) and I ate "clear liquids," which at least included things like beef broth and sorbet.

Around 3:00, the midwife checked me. Stil at 2cm, which was disheartening. She suggested breaking my water but I wasn't ready. We upped the walking again, I had another "meal," and around 6:15 she broke my water. I was still at 2cm.

Holy crap it was a lot of fluid. Perfectly clear, they were worried since I was ten days over. Then things progressed quickly. I'd been on increasing pitocin all day, and the contractions just rolled and rolled. I got some IV meds, which I absolutely hated. Plus then I had to lay in bed. I asked for an epi, which took one million trillion years to arrive.

The epidural was about 80% affective. I had what the anesthesiologist called a "hot spot" that felt like it was radiating all the pain directly from my left hip. The good part about that was I could feel the contractions and I knew when to push.

Pushed for I think 4 contractions, maybe 20 minutes, and when the midwife commented on the baby's hair, my husband looked. She said, "are you going to catch your baby?" He said "me?? Yes!" No gloves, no scrubs, just line up.

Elena was born at 9:23pm with a perfect movie birth scream into his arms. 7lbs, 15oz, 20" long. I'll never forget my husband laying her on my chest and saying, "it's a girl!" That solidified that we'd be team green if we got to do it all again.

Elena and I snuggled while I got stitched up (2nd degree tear) and then after briefly taking her to do measurements and such, a nurse helped her latch and she fed for the first time.

I'd gotten an epi boost right before pushing and one of my legs was slow to return to feeling, so I was really slow to get to recovery and they kept checking me often until I regained feeling.

All in all it was a positive experience even though I didn't want to be induced. This time around I'll skip the IV med crap and just get the epidural if I feel like I can't take it - but given how quickly I progressed after she broke my water I may try to just go med-free. Looking back I was most likely in transition by the time I got the epidural.

Hated the iv pain meds too! Just made me loopy and did nothing for pain.

[callmeKD]

5/1 started getting a headache. It didn't go away. 5/5: lifted my 30 lb dog and my water broke. Was 35w/1d, no hospital bag packed, crib wasn't together etc. went to hospital and was admitted. Early pre-eclampsia and positive for GBS. Was hooked to BP and magnesium IV. Plus had GD. Cervidal and pitocin and an epidural. Became hypoglycemic at some point, puked 2 or 3 times. Epidural wore off, had to redo it. Pushed for 90 min. Was never fully in active labor / i.e. Contractions were 2-3 min apart while pushing. DD was born after 20 hours of labor. 5 lb 5 oz. I held her for a minute before she went to the NICU. My H went with her. I was moved to a recovery room and had to stay on mag IV for another 24 hours. She was in NICU for 5 days.

[cosmicav]

I love birth stories! I'll try and consolidate mine into a short-ish version.

I was due at the end of May, and had up to that point had a very uncomplicated, very boring and normal pregnancy. Not even a single errant contraction leading up to labor day. The night after my baby shower (it was 04/20), I woke up in the middle of the night to pee (4 AM on the dot), and while I was sitting on the toilet, my water broke. Convenient for the sake of clean up, but terrifying because I was 35 weeks and completely blindsided. Nothing was set up. No hospital bag, no nursery, no crib, no anything.

We went to the hospital and they checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. They were like, "you're having a baby today!" Holy shit. I cried a lot because I was so unprepared and so worried that something would be wrong, since this was 5 weeks early. They hooked me up to antibiotics as a precaution because my GBS swab wasn't scheduled until the next week. I started having contractions a few hours after my water broke, and they were immediately at like a level 11. I got the epidural around 10am, and I was fully dilated by 3pm-ish, at which point, they had me start trying to push. I pushed for 5 hours.

About 17 hours after my water broke, LO was born. He had a FULL HEAD OF HAIR!!! It took him a while to start crying. I was able to hold him for a little, but he was having issues breathing, so they took him. He was in the NICU for a week.

And at 35 weeks, he was 20 inches and 6lb,7oz. Pretty great size for that gestation!!

Overall it wasn't a bad experience, but my life post partum was very hard. I had 3rd degree tearing and I couldn't sit for like 6 weeks. Plus I think I had PPA, and breastfeeding didn't work out for me, though I so badly wanted it to. My H did a LOT of the baby work in the beginning. He is the real MVP. I don't think I changed a single diaper until LO was like 3-4 weeks. Too busy changing my own diaper-pad. LOL. But seriously...

[Deleted]

Went to the Dr for a overdue checkup and had felt off for several hours. Get there and my blood pressure is very elevated. They checked my cervix and it was close to 4 cm so they had me lie down on my left side till DH could get off duty to take me to the hospital.

Once there things are a slight blur. When we got there I had to have a blood pressure cuff the whole time, and a constant fetal monitor. I had a Foley build catheter inserted into my cervix and we stretched it close to 5 cm(I think). Once that feel out I was in full blown labor and both of us were doing well.

I labored all though the night taking cat naps between contractions until transition. I don't remember much until I felt like I needed to throw up, got checked and I was ready to push.

I pushed for a long time, close the 3.5 hours. I didn't have a bad tear, just a skid mark from where DS had his fist on his cheek. DH put him on my chest and DS just looked at me. It was the most intense moment I've ever experienced.

After that we just had to monitor my blood pressure and DS's jaundice. Recovery was a breeze until I got mastitis in both breast that two Dr didn't take seriously because I wasn't breastfeeding. Thank god I called the OB and got everything sorted out with that!

[moutonrouge]

You read my mind! I was going through other BMBs reading birth stories today.

[callmeKD]

Thanks corinne I hope this time is less stressful.

[amandamh2]

On my due date I started having mild contractions about every 7 minutes. At my MW appointment that day I had a cervical check where she couldn't reach my cervix for dilation but could feel that everything had thinned out. MW told me she was going to call MW #2 and tell her to rest since I would probably be calling that night.
Sure enough, I woke up at 3 am with closer together and more intense contractions. MW arrived around 5, I was 3 cm so she said to call when things felt more intense.
I continued to labor at home doing things to distract myself. Around 10 am we called the MW to come back because the contractions were feeling more intense. I was still only 3 cm so they left again.
Some time after that thing started to feel a lot more serious. I banished DH and spent the next couple hours in my own little world walking around, getting in and out of the shower, and finding different positions. I have very little clear memory of this time, I know I was in pain but it was easier to deal with than it had been earlier. Eventually I started feeling like I had to push so I had DH call the MW to come back even though I was convinced I couldn't be far enough along for that.
MW arrived around 2:45 pm and found I was 7 cm and progressing fast. Her exact words were "If you still think you don't want a home birth, you need to get in the car now." In the 2 minute drive from our apartment to the hospital I made it to 10 cm and was ready to push as soon as we got to our room. DS was born less than an hour after we arrived, 3:40 pm. We were team green so it wasn't until he was placed in my arms that I knew who my baby was going to be and called him by his name for the first time.
I had a second degree tear because he was born with one arm up by his head but I had a really good recovery. We were able to go home 4 hours after the birth and sleeping in my own bed was great, although it felt really surreal that only hours earlier we left as 2 and returned as 3! I honestly feel like things couldn't have gone better.

[meggypoo1]

I got my membranes swept at 39w. The pain so awful. Later that night it felt like was in labor and had nothing ready (really late I know!). We started cleaning bottles and packing the hospital bag. I decided we would try to sleep that night before we went to hospital. I ended up sleeping really well and when I woke up all was fine. No more contractions.
We went in for my final OB appointment at 40w2d. I did get another membrane sweep because I was desperate to get the baby out (only minor pain this time). We also scheduled an induction for Tuesday at night (we were there on a Friday). Monday was Memorial Day and my OB told me not to go back to work. I should just rest Tuesday during the day. So I emailed work while out to dinner and said I'll see them after my leave. MH and I just enjoyed our last few days together just us. We did do a lot of walking though. On Saturday I wanted so dessert from the awesome Italian bakery that was at the bottom of giant hill by our house. So we walked. We ate our dessert and got one to go. We walked back up the hill. It was tough! The next day I still joke that MH started nesting. He decided to go sweep the leaves out of the driveway / garage. Around 6 PM I went out to see if he was almost done and if he wanted dinner - a pizza my favorite that pregnancy. He said sure. So I went back in and around 6:30 put the pizza in the oven. I felt a bit of pain while doing this but thought I hurt
Clara (she made me know when at hurt her at this point). We then ate and I started eating dessert and I started feeling some pain around 7. I decided to go shower to see that would help the pain. It didn't. I got out and told MH. We timed the contractions for an hour and they were coming every 3 minutes lasting about a minute. We called my OB and she said to go ahead and go to the hospital. So we grabbed everything we needed and we headed to the hospital. I called our parents and those were the longest phone calls ever! It was so hard to talk at this point! We go to the hospital around 10 pm and was placed in triage. They monitored me for an hour and checked me and I was at a 3. They told us we would be staying around 11 PM and I walked to my labor room. I remember telling the nurse that I didn't want epi because I was afraid of it slowing down labor. She gave me something in my IV and it made me so lightheaded and tired. It did nothing for the pain! She left and then came back a little before midnight and said if I wanted an epi I should do it now because soon the residents will be coming in and I don't want them doing it! Lol! So I said ok. They kicked MH out (apparently people were passing out so they aren't allowed in the room). Got the epi and it was instant relief, like omg! So MH comes back in and I was back to my normal happy self! Earlier he was trying to distract me with everything so he turned on an old episode of Saturday night live and was like is that Britney spears!? So when he came back I told him it was! Lol! Anyway, I decided to try and nap and MH decided just to play some video games. I never did nap but I loved just laying there almost asleep hearing Clara's heartbeat! So around 3:30 MH came and gave me his shoe and said to throw it at him I needed him because he was going to nap. So he goes and gets comfortable and I feel a pop. I throw the shoe at him and say I think my water broke. He apparently decides it is a good idea to look! Huge mistake - meconium! So he gets the nurse. She checks me and and sure enough my water broke and I am at 9 1/2. She says my OB normally comes in around 4 to check in on her patients that came in over night but she will call her now. So around 4 she comes in and gets everything ready! So she tells me to push and I push and I am like am I doing it right and they say yes! Clara's heart beat is dropping as I am pushing though so they give me oxygen! I hated it. It was in the way. So I pushed again and more concerns about Clara's heartbeat so they tell me to breath. For a minute. She said she has to cut me to help so she does and then I push and out comes Clara. She has the cord wrapped around her neck twice and because of that and the meconium I wasn't able to see her right away. She stayed in the same room. MH went over to be with her while my OB finished up with me. She kept apologizing for cutting me! Clara checked out fine! She was born at 4:34 AM after 9 hours of labor and 10 minutes of pushing (3-4 pushes) at 40w5d. She weighted 6lb2oz and 20 1/2 inches long! It was a great experience and I hope I can have it go similar! The labor nurse did scare me a bit and told me if I have another baby I can't mess around and get here right away because it all happened so fast for a ftm and will most likely happen faster this time. 😳

[meggypoo1]

Apparently I can't write a short labor story! Sorry!

[daisylola11]

Jan 14, 2017 15:38:54 GMT -5 meggypoo1 said:

Apparently I can't write a short labor story! Sorry!

Tis why I haven't gotten to writing mine lol maybe if I do it in bullet form

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2017 17:08:08 GMT -5 daisylola11 said:

Jan 14, 2017 15:38:54 GMT -5 meggypoo1 said:

Apparently I can't write a short labor story! Sorry!

Tis why I haven't gotten to writing mine lol maybe if I do it in bullet form

Please share! I love reading them.

[daisylola11]

It's a long one... I warned ya'll

My due date was aug 8th.
Started feeling timeable contractions aug 10th after dinner, super mild cramps but I noticed they were every 10 min. DH and I went to bed that night, I didn't mention anything thinking they might fizzle out. He was snoring and I was up of course timeing them as they got closer, and decide to just get up and bounce on my exercise ball. I used the bathroom and found my mucus plug w light bleeding after a few hours and knew it was the real thing.

Come the next day (11th) my DHs alarm clock went off at 5am and I came to him and said nope you are staying home I'm in labor. Contractions were 5 min apart, bearable but definitely getting worse. I called the nurse to see if I should head in. She kept me on the phone for a good 10 min and said nope you were able to speak fine, keep laboring, try the shower and walking and head in once it gets more painful. This is when I started puking, I wasn't nauseas but every so often a contraction would just squeeze and I would have to vomit. Since I had been up all night I had tried sipping Gatorade and had a yogurt, so that all came right back up. My DH got a bit scared and asked if we could head over after puking a few more times, I said ok.

We arrived at 7am and was barely admitted at 3cm. I labored in my room on my exercise ball for a while, my mom and sister arrived and contractions kept getting stronger. I was in and out of the shower and they would wheel over the doppler and check on baby every so often. This went on till about 8pm. I kept progressing slowly and they asked to break my water, I said yes and that's when contractions got bad. So I had hope it wouldn't take long...

I stalled at 8cm... for 5 hours. A random nurse/dr came in and offered me a c-section, which scared me since none of my nurses or midwife ever mentioned it before this. I asked if baby or myself were in distress or in danger, she said no it had just been such a long time... I very nicely declined.

So they mentioned pitocin since I was so close but wasn't progressing any more. I agreed although mad I would have to be bed ridden to be monitored. I tried for a few hours but that was by far the worst pain and to not be able to move and bend and walk like I wanted lead to the epidural. Which was amazing and I felt myself again. Instead of sleeping I was so excited to get this baby out I just hung out for the rest of the morning until they checked I was fully dilated, they turned the epidural off and let baby come down even lower so I wouldn't have to push so long.

By now it was aug 12th 10am. I pushed for 49 min and he was out and cone headed, he had a big ol head and 8lb 9oz lol I was able to feel the pressure of pushing w out the pain which I loved, I felt more under control.

If I had this birth again the only thing I would do different is labor at home more now that I know puking is a sign of transition and your body reacting to the contractions. And if I had to have pitocin again I would ask for the tiniest of doses first and move on from there.

I had a very minor tear and barely noticed when I got stitched up and recovery was great. My back hurt from laying in bed so much and then from nursing but after a couple weeks I was better.

[obi]

I wasn't going to do this but I think it will help me. I am feeling nervous about a cesarean this time around so maybe writing out what happened last time will help.

May 20th 2015 was my last OB appt. She did a cervix check and I am certain there was a membrane sweep, although she didn't say so. I was sheduled to be induced the next morning (05/21) at 8am.
We went home and tried to just relax. We tried going to bed at 10pm but I couldnt really fall asleep. Before getting in bed I had my bloody show so I was feeling a bit anxious.
I woke from a light sleep at 1:00 with painful contractions. They were always close together so from this point on I didnt catch a break.
We waited until 4am before heading into the hospital. We stopped for Tim Hortons on the way in. I was only 1cm but because Im high risk and was scheduled for induction in a few hours, they admitted me.
I felt all of my contractions in my hip flexors and thighs so I couldnt walk. I just kept doubling over in pain. I wish someone encouraged me to get in the tub or shower because it probably would have helped a lot.
My OB broke my water at around 9am. There was a lot of meconium so she explained we would have a respirologist present when DS arrived.
A very nice nurse gave me a shot of demerol but unfortunately it did nothing.
I got my epidural around 12 and it was glorious.
The rest of the time was just spent waiting. I threw up once. We were both dead tired but i couldnt get comfortable enough to sleep.
I hit 10cm around 10pm and was told to let them know when I felt pressure. I never did. Just after 12 my nurse came in and set the room up and had me start pushing. I felt nothing and hated it. I couldnt tell if i was doing anything.
I nearly passed out between contractions a few times because I was so tired.
After an hour my OB came in and used the vacuum to get DS's head out. This is where it all went to hell. His shoulder was stuck. My OB very calmly said "get help" to the nurse. She shoved my H out of the way, yanked the call button cord from the wall and instantly I was surrounded by nurses and one was climbing on top of me.
I didnt really register anything was wrong until then.
She had to cram her fists down onto my abdomen to help push DS out. They kept saying very seriously that I had to give it everything I had. I felt so helpless because I had less than nothing. I pushed so hard but it was like my muscles left my body and my abdomen was empty. Plus with every hit from the nurse on top of me I felt like I couldnt breathe. I kept looking for my H but I couldn't see him. I was really scared and felt like I was having an out of body experience.
Pretty quickly though DS was out and on my chest. The first thing I said was "he looks just like you" to my H. He cut the cord and they had to wisk him over to the warmer to be suctioned. It was horrible to watch but I couldn't speak. I wanted to say "is he ok?!" so many times but I didnt want to distract them from what they were doing to help C breathe.
After what seemed like forever they brought him back to my chest before doing his measurements. He was born at 1:54am on May 22nd, 8lbs15.9oz so my nurses said "if anyone asks you, you say 9lbs. You earned it. To hell with that 0.1oz!" so, he was 9lbs and 21.5" long. He had a broken collarbone but it healed beautifully and never seemed to hurt him.
I got a lot of stitches but no idea how many. I had 2nd degree tearing and I remember hearing the tears happen while pushing.
I was too exhausted and beat up to try nursing so we opted for formula. Im happy we did.
The epi took a long time to wear off and I felt so embarassed when my H and nurse struggled to get me into a wheelchair. I have never experienced that feeling of being deadweight before. I felt like i weighed 400lbs.
So my labour, including pushing was 24hrs.
Oh and I dont know if I pooped. I told my H to never tell me. I dont think I did though.

[obi]

Thank you corinne

[jnow]

Found mine! Copied from March 15
_____________________________________________

My last ob appt was on Tuesday 3/10. I was 2 days late, 1cm and 80%. They were starting the process of getting me scheduled for an induction on 3/15 or 3/16.

Fast forward to Thursday night. H and I were now mentally prepared for a few more days so we took the dog for a long walk and dtd (partly to see if it would speed things up, partly because it was becoming real we only had a few more days).

Went to bed around 10 and woke up at 11:30 with mild cramps. At that point I felt like I had to pee every 5 minutes so I didn't go back to bed at all. At 1:30 I went to pee for the 1000th time, heard a pop and then had my mucus plug (no lie) shoot into the toilet. Then I heard a small amount of liquid but since I was on the toilet I didn't know if my water broke.

Immediately my cramping became unbearable. I didn't leave the bathroom for about 45 minutes. I started to time what I was feeling which was lasting about 30 seconds coming a minute and a half apart. I was convinced I wasn't in labor since everyone says ftm's have a long early labor. Finally around 2:30 I woke up h telling him something was happening. I kept saying this can't be labor and I must just be a baby when it comes to pain. Around 3 we called my ob's office. The midwife I talked to said she was fairly certain I was having contractions by the sound of my voice. I couldn't take it anymore so h tried to pack some last minute things while I went down the steps 2 at a time pausing with each contraction. (In reality h ran around the house throwing stuff in our bag while I yelled at him).

When I got to the hospital (and off the parking lot ground) I was checked and at 6cm and 100%. I was in so much pain but relieved at the same time that I was actually in labor.

I was so nervous to get the epidural since the nurse was stressing that I would have to sit still. The doc said he would work in between contractions but I was convinced I would shake and ruin everything. The nurse held me and talked me through it. Man when that shit kicked in I was in heaven.

At 10:10 am I was 10 cm and the ob was sure I'd be holding my baby by noon. Well she was dead wrong. I actively pushed for about 4 hours over 6 hour time frame. It was so weird because it was me, h and the nurse just chatting. When I had a contraction I would push and then we would go back to small talk. At this point I was given pit to speed things up but it didn't do much.

Eventually I was asked if I wanted one of the other docs to use forceps to get her out. She had switched positions and was face up which was part of the problem. It wasn't ideal but I was so exhausted and desperate. This is where all the activity started. A bunch of people came in including nicu as they were concerned about meconium. The doctor got ready and in about 3 minutes had that baby out of me with the forceps. H cut the cord, the doc showed me the baby and then everyone went to work on her. She was purple but started to cry and was doing well. I was trying to watch what they were doing from the bed. After what felt like forever, they handed me the baby and I sobbed uncontrollably. It was insane.

Finally after the golden hour of just me, h and the baby we went to the mother baby room. Everyone kept asking her name but I was so tired I couldn't commit until I could think straight.

The next morning we named her Audrey Lynn. She weighed in at 8lbs 9ozs and 21 inches long. She is a drama queen already and I'm loving every minute of it.

[kristhegirl]

jnow shooting your mucus plug out made me lol.

[jnow]

Jan 16, 2017 15:27:05 GMT -5 kristhegirl said:

jnow shooting your mucus plug out made me lol.

Ha. That's really the only way to accurately describe it.

So weird.

[suelou18]

I'm so impressed everyone has such detailed accounts of their LO's births. I definitely do not. Bullet point version would be: Water broke. Went to hospital. Got pitocin. Got the epi. Pushed out baby.