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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
I want to know about others birth experiences...
I will give you an overview of mine. First, I read birth story after birth story to prepare myself and had planned on going natural. I don't remember reading about anyone who had an experience like mine.
At 2am, out of nowhere my contractions started coming every 8 minute and were lasting about a minute.
By 3am, they were less than 5 minutes apart and about a minute long. I have a high pain threshold and by this time I was already unable to really communicate through them.
We got to the hospital by 6am and the contractions were still coming at the same pace. I was 2-3cm at that point.
Around 9am or 10am, I was already 6-7cm. I think it was about this time I decided to get the epidural.
By 11:34am I was already 9cm, but my doctor was not there and my water had not broken. Afterwards, my nurse told me I could have delivered then if the doctor had been there.
It was closer to 2pm before my doctor (which was not the same person I saw during the previous 9 months) finally arrived and I only pushed for about 20 minutes.
I will tell you being a first time mom I was expecting the contractions to come on slowly and to be in labor forever. The nurse told me I was pacing a third time mom that she had in another room.
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Re: I want to know about others birth experiences...
4:30 my water broke
7:00 got to hospital - 6cm dialated
7:30 - got epidural 8cm dialated
9:00- 10cm dialated started to push
9:12 dd was born
Let's see....
I went in on a Thursday evening for an induction since I was past my due date and getting bigger by the second. My first five minutes in the hospital began with a CODE WHITE because LO's heartbeat plummeted while they put the IV in...thank god he was fine, just a bit of a scare. The contractions came on without them inducing me, so they let me be for the evening.,
Friday morning after no sleep and serious pain from contractions I opted for an epidural, which only numbed the right side not the left. They kept doing pitocin all day long and it only caused a crazy number of contractions nothing else. I was only dilated to about 5 cm or so by friday evening. They talked about breaking my water but there was a chance of the cord coming down, so saturday morning around 2 in the morning I made my decision..
I was so tired and scared sh**less that I decided to have a C-Section since I was dilated to 9 cm and not moving along. So at 3am I had my C-Section and my 10lb 3 oz boy was out....all I can say is thank god I had a C-Section because I was so tired and in pain from the past two days. All I wanted was a happy and healthy baby. Unfortunately my experience did not go as planned, but that's life.
2:30 am - Water Broke
6:44 am - Baby Arrived
My Birth Story: https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/54679076.aspx
3:30 am painful contractions
4am they stop
9:15 Drs appointment he says I'm in labor dilated between 4 and 5 feeling nothing
9:30 admitted L&D pitocin started to make them more regular
12:30 Dr breaks my water
4:30 checked I'm 6-7 cm finally started to feel contractions they were painful an d back to back no break
6pm got my epidural I asked for at 4:30 8 cm
8pm 10 cm but a little thick on one side so they roll me on that side
9pm ready to push
pushed from about 9:30 to 10:39. My epidrual was amzing I didn't even feel pressure they had to tell me when to push
Reading others borth stories give you a general idea of what to expect but everybody and pregnancy is different
That was fast!
yea it was crazy- next baby i won't waste any time and will just get right to the hospital.
Amen to the breaks. I thought I was going to be at it for hours and hours with no break between contractions.
Did you have any contractions the day before or was there nothing till you water broke?
I was 2 weeks past my due date and haven't had any contractions, so I had to be induced. I thought induction would mean a really long labor, but heres how it went.
10:15 am- Cervidil, 1 cm dilated, mild contractions begin
2:45 pm- water breaks, 1.5 cm dilated, now real contractions begin
3-6pm approx- really strong labor, my nurse says its early labor so its too early for an epidural
6pm- finally they agree to check and I'm 7cm
6:15ish- epidural, numbs the right side, still feel the left
6:30- My OB arrives- guess what? I'm 10cm
6:45- 8:15 approx- pushing
After pushing for and hour and a half, I was so exhausted, but the baby was nearly out, so I had a vaccuum assisted delivery and...
8:25- baby's born
I think it was a pretty short induction- 10 hours start to finish and no pitocin needed!
My first labour was very similar. to Shelleybell. Woke up to a strong contraction at 2:40am, water broke right afterwards while going pee, got to the hospital at 4am and was 5cm, was 7 cm at 5am and fully dilated by 5:30am. Pushed an hour and a half til I had baby at 6:47.
Second labour seemed very different, and yet was possibly very similar. My doctor thinks I must have slept through early labour the first time. This time around my experience was.
Went to the hospital at 3pm because of what i assumed was an unrelated pain. A super sharp cramp in my hip join. They found that my contractions were 5 minutes apart and I was 2 cm (I was 37 weeks). They let me go home to arrange childcare for my DD. I went back at 5 and was 5cm. I had no contraction pain at all and my hip pain had gone away at this point. At 8pm my doula showed up I was 6cm and still no pain. We hung out until 4:30am when my water broke (I was 8cm) and then contractions became very strong and painful. I got through the last 2 cm in about 1/2 an hour and pushed until 5:11 when I had my DS.
So if Shelley's time was 4am then she possibly was sleeping through them! Her next labour could easily seem longer if she's awake for all the boring stuff
5:00 am: Contractions started at 10 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each.
2:00 pm: Finally get to hospital. Contractions at 2-3 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute. Only 2-3 cm dialated.
6:00 pm: get epidural. Still only 3 cm dialated.
9:30 pm: 10cm dialated! Pushing begins (FINALLY!)
11:19: Baby is born.
It felt like I was in labor forever. :P
Had very manageable contractions all day on Monday. Monday night at 10:30pm water breaks. At hospital at 11pm.
Epidural at 3 am Tuesday when I am at 5.5 cm.
Had baby at 8:14 am. Started pushing at 9.5 cm. Was at 9.5 cm at 6:30am and could have started pushing then, but they were seeing if I would dilate that last half cm...but never did.
No pitocin. I had such a great L&D except for a 2nd degree tear, ouch!
thur night 10pm-cervadil placed b/c i was past my due date.=0cm dilated.
2am contractions were irregular, 0cm dilated.
830am water broke, contractions intensified pretty bad every 2-5 minutes.
1030am-L&D
1120am MD checked 2cm dilated
1130-epidural placed
530pm-10cm dilated
545pm started pushing
748pm-DD born with vacuum assist b/c she was slightly stuck behind my pubic bone & after 2 hours of pushing I was spent & just wanted it to be over by that point!
4:15pm called my mom to bring her yoga ball and bath tub stopper because i thought i was going into labor. I have a really bad lower back that spasms regularly even when not pregnant or in labor, so i wanted to lie in a hot bath.
5:30 my husband got home from work, i was still fine, just felt like strong braxton hicks that were coming every 3-5 minutes.
6:10 i'm starting to have back pain and the contractions are getting strong. my husband is done showering and eating and just sitting down to watch TV when I look at him and say, "Honey, please get dressed, we need to go to the hospital"
6:12 we are out the door
6:30 my water breaks as we walk into the hospital. this is when real labor started for me. I used Hypnobirthing techniques, and honestly was feeling no pain with the contractions, just my back spasming like usual : (
9:00 nurse asks if i'm feeling the need to push and i say (as my body is pushing for me) "Yes!". They never even checked to see how dilated i was. haha
9:15 midwife sits down and looks at me and with a disgusted look, says "oh, you ride horses" and walks away. um.... WTF does that mean?!! (apparently to her it meant i was going to have a long labor?)
9:25 they are telling the midwife to RUN.
9:33 pm my baby girl was born and I got to pull her out : )
I told them my family had a history of fast labors and no one listened. She also came 3 weeks early, and I had told them she would be. The nurses also treated me like an idiot at first because i told them i was going natural, they were like "sure, sure sweetie, we'll see" ( i think they were acting like that because i'm young?). by the end the nurses we're impressed with me and said that they are now believers in Hypnobirthing because I was so calm and relaxed the whole time. I had a wonderful experience for it being in a hospital but next time, I think I will do a homebirth if I can. I am lucky to have had a very uncomplicated pregnancy and birth.
The night before DH convinced me to have sex. Later on that night I lost my mp and the next morning I woke up feeling off. Not bad or in pain, just off. I was having some random, mild cramping all day, but nothing strong or regular. The rest of the timeline is as follows
3:10 pm-First contraction.
3:17 pm-2nd contraction. Start to time them. They get about a minute closer together each time until they are roughly 2-3 minutes apart.
3:45: Call hospital. Told to come in. Contractions are strong and painful. Call my aunt to come get my other girls
5:13 Get checked into L&D at hospital. The nurse checked me and I was already 8 cm (was 2 cm at my appointment 2 days prior). Pain is off the charts. I went through transition sans epidural with my second and the pain with this most recent labor doesn't even compare. I have a high pain tolerance, but I now understand why women writh and scream with labor pains.
5:30: OB arrives and refuses to check me until I get my epi. She said if she checks me, my water would likely break and then it would be "go time". She gives me the option of doing it without meds, but I refuse. I pushed for an hour with my second and an hour and a half with my third, so I didn't want to go that long without meds
5:58 pm:Get the spinal part of the epidural. OB says the anesthesia will come back to administer the epi meds when my water breaks.
5: 59: Water breaks. Anesthesilogist isn't even out of the room yet. Get my epi meds
6:03: Start to push
6:18 pm, she was born.
Keep in mind, this was my third baby. My first was 11 hours, second was 5 hours. If I had known I'd only push for 15 minutes, I would have had her break my water when she first got there and just gotten it over with.
Annelise 3.22.2007 Norah 10.24.2009 Amelia 8.7.2011
930 AM- water Broke (no contractions from 930-5)
2:30PM- met MW at hospital
3:30PM- Antibiotics started (GBS+)
5PM- Pitocin Started
Contractions start coming every 2-3 minutes, lasing 45-60 seconds
11PM- 3cm dilarted
12AM- in active labor
12-3:30AM Contractions every 2-3 minutes 60-90 second duration
3:30AM- In Transition (7cm) Contractions every 1 minute, 60 second duration
4:30AM- Dilation Complete, body involuntarily pushing
4:45AM- start bearing down with contraction
4:59AM- Baby Born
I was only in active labor for 5 hours....the MW said it was crazy fast, but I managed to go natural in spite of the fast intense labor and pit contractions.
1a water broke
1:30a contractions started about 7 mins apart lasting about 1.5 mins
4a got to the hospital, they started an IV to give me penicillin for being strep B positive; I was 6 cm dilated and had been 80% effaced for several weeks
8a started pushing
8:37a baby was born vaginally - without pain meds or epidural
1pm - they called us to come in (I had been 4cm 100% for 2 weeks)
2pm - pitocin started
9pm - they broke my water (pit at 22)
3am - epi (still at 4am)
5am - ready to push
8am - started pushing
9:30am - she was born
I wanted a natural, meds-free birth but I was 42w1d so they wanted to induce me with pitocin. It was awful. I am glad I got a beautiful baby out of the deal, b/c I am pretty bitter about the whole thing.
June 8th: 1030pm contractions about every 15-20 min
June 9th:
woke up at 4am with contractions about every 5-7 ,min
7am: contractions every 4-5 min. called Dr, told to come in since I lived an hr away from hospital.
on way to hospital contractions went to 2-3 min apart.
9am checked, only 3cm but told I was staying
Noon: 4cm contractions still every 2-3 min. still strong but still without pain meds
1:30pm 4cm very strong contractions that made me want that epi.
2pm got the epi, feeling great
3:30pm contractions are still 2-3 min apart 6cm
4pm: Dr. switch (boo!)
5pm: still at 6cm contractions 2-3 min apart
6pm: Dr suggested Pitocin, I refused at first but she told me it would speed the process up. My husband was like yes, lets do it. I gave in
Between the Pitocin and 11pm my fever increased and the babys hb dropped very low three different times and I was still stuck at 6cm and my contractions did not speed up, they slowed back down to every 15-20 min. Talk about discouraging!
11pm: Dr, nurses, come into room and start to prep me for emergency c-section
11;20pm wheeled into OR
11:51pm: DS was born
The pain was very tolerable for me as well UNTIL transition. Of course, by that time it's too late to get an epidural so you just have to work through it.
My first labor was long, about 25 hours but my second was so quick that I almost didn't make it to the hospital. I woke up with non-painful contractions, timed them for about half an hour and then got ready to go. Within a few minutes I got sick and the next contraction that hit me hurt a lot and I felt like the baby was coming right then. Thankfully, our hospital was only about 5 minutes away and then I had my daughter 7 minutes after we arrived. It was crazy.
So, definitely don't wait with your next one because it will probably happen quicker than your first.
Kelly, Mom to Christopher Shannon 9.27.06, Catherine Quinn 2.24.09, Trey Barton lost on 12.28.09, Therese Barton lost on 6.10.10, Joseph Sullivan 7.23.11, and our latest, Victoria Maren 11.15.12
Secondary infertility success with IVF, then two losses, one at 14 weeks and one at 10 weeks, then success with IUI and then just pure, crazy luck. Expecting our fifth in May as the result of a FET.
This Cluttered Life
Day before
5:00 MW appt. 4 cm & 90% effaced
Day of
8:00 a.m. contracting every 5 mins for 1 min
12:45 p.m. checked into hospital at 5 cm and 100% effaced
1:45 p.m. water broke
6:43 p.m. Lucy was born
It was quick! My midwife said I need to camp out at the hospital close to my due date for the next baby!