Anyone want to share their labor and delivery stories?

MegsTactical · September 2014

With my daughter, I was unprepared, because she came at 36 weeks. I didn't even have my hospital bag packed yet. My water broke at 11:45am and I called my daughter's dad at work to say it was time. I had my first contraction about 40 minutes later. When he came home from work, I was getting in the shower. Because so many women had told me I would have hours and hours until I needed to go to L&D, I thought I would have a ton of time. But... as soon as my hair was washed, I got hit with major contractions. I remember telling him, "we need to go in NOW!". I dried off quickly, threw some sweats on, and we went to the hospital (thankfully it was about 8 minutes away). They checked me when we got there, and I was 6cm dilated already. About an hour later, I had an epidural when I was just over 8cm. My labor slowed down a bit after that. I wish her dad had been a little more supportive during labor, but I relied on myself and focused on my breathing as much as I could (I am needless to say, no longer with that man). When I was fully dilated, I pushed about 4 times and out came my baby girl about 4 hours after my first contraction. My doctor jokingly said I will need to sleep in the hospital near the end for this little girl. I did tear pretty badly, and had a bunch of stiches, but it was totally worth it! My daughter was 6 lbs, 12 oz, 19 inches long, and beautiful. All in all, a good experience.

Needless to say, I will have my bag ready earlier, and be ready to just speed to the hospital (which is now about 35 mins away). I am also with an amazing, supportive, loving man this time, so I know he will help me through labor pains. I will also probably not have time for an epidural this time, so I am prepared for that too. Lesson here.. just be prepared for anything.

How did your labor go? Anything unexpected happen to you?

(Edited to include her weight and length)

nopegoat · September 2014

WARNING: I am going to copy and paste so they will be very long.

DS 1: Mathieu

I had my 38wk appt Wed. I was checked to see if I had made any more progress since my 37wk appt where I was 4cm and 80% effaced. Well to our surprise I was at 6cm. My Dr and I were astonished and couldn't believe that I was that far along already, especially with my first baby. I was suppose to be induced on the 21st, so when the nurse was explaining how I was suppose to call at 4:00 Monday etc she ended with if you even make it till then. I got home and was pretty confused and just in disbelief. I couldn't believe I was already 6cm and besides a few irregular contractions and the normal discomfort with RLP, etc... I had no other symptoms. I felt like I was never going to have my baby.

I called my Mom and told her how far I was progressed and she freaked me out so bad saying how as SOON as I start having any strong contractions get to the hospital because if I dont there is a good chance I won't be able to get an epideral AHHHH!!

Later on I ate and went about life as normal... then I had a talk with Mathieu telling him if he doesn't come out on his own soon they are going to force him out lol! Well apparently he listened because about two hours later (around 11pm) my first intense contractions came about 15mins apart. By 1am they were 5-6mins apart and I called L&D around 1:30. I told them how far progressed I was and everything and they told me to drink a big glass of water and lay down on my left side to see if they went away or decreased any. My DF was pretty mad and wanted to head straight to the hospital but I really didn't want to go up there and it really be nothing so I did as I was told.

About 45 mins later they were getting stronger and about 4mins apart so my sister, her DF, and my DF, and I got in the car and left. We live about 20 minutes from the hospital, but I swear it was the LONGEST ride ever! I was in so much pain and I could feel each and every little bump!

We finally got there and I was wheeled upstairs and the first thing the nurse said to me and DANG look at those ankles... Thanks lady! She brought me into the triage and checked my progress... I was 7cm and so she said we are definitely going to have this baby today! I was thrilled and scared to death at the same time. But these feelings didn't last long because my contractions were getting even closer together (3mins apart now)! My hospital has labor suites so I was wheeled over there and they immediately got my blood work going and started an IV. About 30 minutes later they gave me some pain meds through my IV and I was checked again. This time I was 8cm and 90-95% effaced. The pain meds helped me relax in between contractions (which were about 1 min apart now) but I was still hurting so bad! I was checked again right before I got the epidural and I was 9cm. I was shocked but they actually gave me the epi, (I was leaning into my DF so he got to watch the whole thing... it made him sick he said) I got the numbing shot before they actually put it in, it felt like a bee sting for just a second, not to bad at all, I didn't feel the epi going in at all! EPIDURALS ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!! My Dr came in around 8:25am and checked me again and I was almost fully dilated and he decided to break my water. WOW! I couldn't believe how much came out! I was literally sitting in a puddle! He said to wait about 10-15mins and then he would have me start pushing. About 10 minutes and my nurse came in and got me to start doing some practice pushes. Well those practice pushes started to give me the urge to really push and our LO's heartrate started dropping to about 80 during each push. They got my Dr in and they immediately had me pushing! About 6 pushes and 10minutes later James Mathieu was here at 8:48am weighing 7lbs 7oz, and 18in long. He got a 9 out of 10 on the apgar... (he had a dimple on his lower back on his spine which the pedi said it probably isnt anything but we still have to do more tests to make sure its nothing)!

His head came out, then his hand broke through immediately after. My Dr started laughing at this because he said it looked like a super man pose with his hand coming out like that! But because his hand did come out like that, I tore pretty bad. Second degree tears going up and down.

My DF actually watched him come out, which surprised me... he has always been pretty squeemish when it comes to this kind of stuff, but he found it to be amazing!! He also cried!!! It was adorable!

nopegoat · September 2014

WARNING: I am going to copy and paste so they are going to be very long.

DS 2: Everett

I woke up at the crack of dawn on August 1 and had some blood tinged discharge and got kind of excited thinking mucus plug. But after a bit of thinking I chalked it up to being an irritated cervix from all the sex lol. I did NOT want to get my hopes up again. I was stuck at 2cm and 70% for two weeks and just knew there was going to be no change again.

I got to my Dr appt at 11:20 and was completely like whatever just tell me nothing happened so I can go home. She checked me and was like whoa! 5cm and VERY stretchy!! We are heading to l&d and having a baby today. My DF and I were totally like whaat?!

11:45 I was in l&d and they started an IV. At about 12 was told it was going to be a little bit before the Dr came in so I told my DF to run to the house to get bags, take dogs out, and get Mathieu some more stuff to play with. At 12:35 my Dr came in and said ok I'm going to check you and break your water. I was almost 8cm. I sent my DF a text to hurry up and what just happened. Then my phone died. I started contracting but they didn't get painful till about 1:20. I started panicking thinking my DF wasn't going to make it. My DF finally came in at 1:30 and about 5 mins later I was told the anesthesiologist would be in to do my epi in just a few minutes. I wasn't even going to bother with one but since my MIL sucks and my DF panicked and didn't think while we was trying to get back to the hospital, Mathieu was going to be in the room with us and I didn't want him to see me screaming. They made my DF leave the room with Mathieu while doing it and told him to come back in 15 mins.. He had just finished my epi, the numbing barely got started and I was leaning back into position and all of a sudden I feel a ton of pressure and burning like crazy. I started saying he is coming he is coming and the nurse and Dr were both like OK we will check you in just a second. I said no I feel his head he is coming now! Get my fiance in here now! The nurse moved the sheet and was like oh ****. Dr. Gloves. Now! His head is coming.

She had one hand on Rhett's head trying to keep him in and the other hand on the intercom calling for everybody. I tried like hell not to push because damnit I wanted my DF in there lol! He was soo close lol! But Rhett wanted out! I pushed and felt his head come the rest of the way through. I looked up in my 2nd midpush and saw my DF and Mathieu come in just in time to see Rhett come the rest of the way out. 1:51pm and my baby boy was born! He weighed 7lbs7oz just like his brother and was 20.5in long 2.5 in longer than Mathieu.

Jessie333 · September 2014

Went past my due date. They started a cervadil induction on Friday at noon. I started to feel contractions an hour later. Went back to the hospital at 11pm. They checked me and I was 1.5cms. They gave me a injection of pain medications since I was so uncomfortable and sent me home to sleep.

Then next morning I woke up and went to the bathroom. At that point the contractions changed. We stayed at the house and got checked at the hospital at 10am. The nurse came in and removed the cervadil while I was having a contraction. That hurt. A lot. I was finally admitted at about noon and was 2cms. Within the first 30 min or so I had no iv placed and my water broke. I got my epidural right after that. The Dr came to check me at 2ish and I was 9cms. Another hour and I was fully dilated. DD hadn't dropped fully so the nurse had me wait to push. We waited about 30 min and I had the urge to push. I pushed for 3.5 hours and DD's heartrate started to drop. The Dr did an episiotomy and I had DD out in 1.5 pushes. She had a huge head. They told me average head of a newborn is around 35cms, the ones who get stuck and need an emergency c section are around 37cms and DD's head was 38.5.

The fact I dilated so quickly as a ftm the nurse told us that next time we have a baby, that as soon as I start to feel contractions I should come in. So naturally I'm nervous about this one coming quickly (and pray I don't have to push that long again!)

QueenOfSpades622 · September 2014

@Jessie333‌ WOW not sure I could push 3.5 hours you're a warrior!

MegsTactical · September 2014

Whoa! That is crazy!

Jessie333 · September 2014

QueenOfSpades622 said:
@Jessie333‌ WOW not sure I could push 3.5 hours you're a warrior!

Haha. Thanks. It actually went by really fast. Thank goodness for my epidural. :-)

leoandethansmom · September 2014

Went for my 39 week appointment Monday morning, OB stripped my membranes. Ouch. Went to bed that night and woke up at 4am with contractions about every 15-20 minutes. DH had just gotten home from work so I moved to the couch so I didn't wake him. I watched Friends all morning and timed my contractions. DH finally woke up around 2pm and told me I was not in labor due to 2 previous false alarms (one where I thought my water broke but really I just peed my pants in target).
His mom called at 3:30 and asked to talk to me, she asked something (don't remember what, 12 hours of labor had gotten to me) and told DH to get me to the hospital cuz she could hear the pain in my voice. He mumbled and grumbled, took his sweet time, and went the speed limit while hitting every red light and bump in the road on the way. Checked into triage and got my epidural at 5pm, 4cm dilated. My water broke at 10pm but I was so only 8 cm. I spiked a 101 fever around 2am from being in labor almost 24 hours so I had to get more closely monitored. At 5 am they told me to do practice pushes which was total bullshit cuz I pushed for 2 and a half hours and DS finally made his entrance to the world, sunny side up. After an hour of pushing they gave me this bar that went over the bed with a water ski handle that I pulled up on every time I had a contraction after I got to the point where I couldn't hold my legs up anymore. It made pushing much easier but I felt ridiculous.
After about an hour of getting stitched up and 4 days in the hospital because of my infection, we got to go home. Fast forward 5 months and I'm back in the hospital for 5 days for endometritis, the infection that I got while in labor that never actually went away.
Edit cuz I forgot the ending

MaineMama · September 2014

DS1- My eldest childs father and I divorced while I was pregnant, I was living with my sister. I went into preterm labor at 29weeks, and was put on complete bed rest. At 32weeks I went in for an appointment, all signs were clear to go back to work (low key desk job). I called my boss, and he asked me to come into work that night. I went in, and BAM! Two hours later I was in full blown labor. I didn't really want to belive it, so once I got someone in to cover me I drove myself to the hospital (at Midnight, in a snow storm).

Got to the hospital, and I was definitely in labor, called my sister (it was now 3am) and she told me to "Shut the fuck up" and hung up on me. 10mins later she called me back and apologized and said she was on her way

I walked around, did all that fun stuff, no drugs. When I was at 8/9cm my water broke and when my midwife checked me, he had both hands out. She manually repositioned him to arms in at my request and his cord then prolapsed. Long story short- emergency csection with general anesthesia and when I woke up my baby was in a hospital two hours away in the NICU.

I discharged myself 15hrs after my admission to the hospital and my sister drove me to the hospital where he was placed and I stayed in a hotel for three weeks until he was discharged.

Fun times.

MaineMama · September 2014

DD1- scheduled csection at 38weeks because I was dilated to 4cm and my hospital doesn't do VBAC. All went according to plan, went home the next day.

DS2- scheduled csection at 37weeks due to pre-e. Spinal took 45mins and 17sticks to get placed. That sucked. And I work at the hospital, so I was crying and swearing at my coworkers, oops. I just kept telling them to keep trying, NO GENERAL ANESTESIA! Lol.

Once the spinal got in my BP which started at 202/180 dropped to 70/50 and was decreasing so I got a lovely shot of epinephrine and then started to vomit.

When everything calmed down, he was out and all was relatively fine. He had 4 heart defects that were undetected, but thankfully as he has gotten older two have resolved We stayed in the hospital for two days.

MaineMama · September 2014

Lol, @MissChristineMarie- Thankfully my other children have been MUCH less maintence so far!

Krisx2 · September 2014

Our condo had water damage and mold that had to be repaired about a month before my due date, so we were staying at my parents house. 3 days after my due date we finally got to go home. I was planning on packing my hospital bag the next day since we had been so busy moving and I was still working full time, but that never happened. I woke up to go to the bathroom and as I climbed in bed my water broke. It was 2:02 in the morning. The contractions started right away. I was planning on having a natural birth and stayed at home to labor for a while expecting the usual 12 hour FTM experience. I felt the most comfortable in the shower while DH read a book to me and rubbed my back. Around 4:30 a.m. the contractions were pretty close together and I kept going to the toilet to poop. After 4-5 times of doing that DH chimed in and said "I'm pretty sure you're done shitting dear and I think you are making pushing noises". He helped me out of the shower and put some clothes on me and we drove the 10 minutes to the hospital which was the worst pain ever.

I got the hospital 5:40 and the got me to my room. I asked to go to the bathroom to put on my gown. I tried to evacuate my bowels again and the nurse yelled at me "Do NOT have that baby on the toilet!" and ushered me out pantless to the bed. She checked my cervix and started paging everybody to get into the room ASAP. I was already 10 c.m. and Cora was starting to crown. They quickly placed an I.V. as I started pushing. I have no idea how many times I pushed but at one point the doctor asked me to stop so that he could get the cord from around her neck. At 6:06 Coraline was born weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long. I was pretty shocked that less than thirty minutes after arriving at the hospital I had a baby in my arms.

Because my labor was so fast I had second degree tears and the stiches hurt way worse than the labor did. Cora was a perfect newborn and breastfed right away. When I got up to pee for the first time, I passed out on the toilet. My blood pressure dropped really low and I was bleeding a lot. I had bled during labor at home but failed to pay attention how much. They gave me a shot of methergine to stop the bleeding and I eventually stabilized without needing any more intervention. But it was scary.

Needless to say, after a 4 hour labor, I will be heading in to the hospital the minute contractions start or my water breaks. No laboring at home this time, that was a close call.

MegsTactical · September 2014

I am right there with you. It has been 12 years since I had my daughter. It's almost like being a first time mom again.

MegsTactical · September 2014

Wow... I am glad you are both okay. Scary!

MegsTactical · September 2014

I hope your birth is better this time.

agsgrrl · September 2014

leosmom25 said:
Went for my 39 week appointment Monday morning, OB stripped my membranes. Ouch. Went to bed that night and woke up at 4am with contractions about every 15-20 minutes. DH had just gotten home from work so I moved to the couch so I didn't wake him. I watched Friends all morning and timed my contractions. DH finally woke up around 2pm and told me I was not in labor due to 2 previous false alarms (one where I thought my water broke but really I just peed my pants in target).
His mom called at 3:30 and asked to talk to me, she asked something (don't remember what, 12 hours of labor had gotten to me) and told DH to get me to the hospital cuz she could hear the pain in my voice. He mumbled and grumbled, took his sweet time, and went the speed limit while hitting every red light and bump in the road on the way. Checked into triage and got my epidural at 5pm, 4cm dilated. My water broke at 10pm but I was so only 8 cm. I spiked a 101 fever around 2am from being in labor almost 24 hours so I had to get more closely monitored. At 5 am they told me to do practice pushes which was total bullshit cuz I pushed for 2 and a half hours and DS finally made his entrance to the world, sunny side up. After an hour of pushing they gave me this bar that went over the bed with a water ski handle that I pulled up on every time I had a contraction after I got to the point where I couldn't hold my legs up anymore. It made pushing much easier but I felt ridiculous.

LOL Why do so many of D14s stories involve Target?!

LSauer21 · September 2014

A friend of a friend just delivered her 2nd baby while sitting on the toliet in the ER! Yes she delivered her own baby! Yes the young girl at the check in desk let her go to the bathroom alone!

ZAP12 · September 2014

I went in for a NST at the hospital since they didn't have any open spots at my OB office. My husband got called in to work and my blood pressure skyrocketed. They checked me and I was at 4cm. They decided to induce for blood pressure. My dad and mom came to sit with me until my husband got back from work. The doctor decided it would be ok to wait to start induction until my husband got there, so we waited a few hours. Induction started at 2ish. I asked for two rounds of IV meds, bounced on the ball, and walked around. Around 6 they told me to try going to the bathroom before I pushed. I went in there and had the worst pain of my life. I told them no and that I couldn't handle the pain anymore. They checked and I was at 10cm and ready to push. I pushed for 1 hour 20 minutes and my little girl was here a little over 6 hours after the start of the induction.

MauraLou25 · September 2014

DS came the night before his due date. I had some tightening (felt like gas pains) that started in the early afternoon followed by diarrhea, some nausea, and vomiting around 3pm. I thought I was just having an IBS attack because it went exactly the same way and I was not having noticeable contractions. Around 3pm, I began losing my mucus plug, and had my bloody show around 5pm. I called my OB and described what was happening. Since my pain level was low and I was not experiencing contractions I could time, he asked me to wait an hour and then head to the hospital for evaluation.

At 5:40pm I was definitely having contractions (still not at even intervals, but more intense) and told DH to start the car. It was a 35 minute drive to the hospital in rush hour traffic.

I was registered and put on an IV of fluids. They checked and I was fully effaced and dilated. Too late for an epidural. I soon began getting regular contractions and knew I had to push, but was told I needed to wait for my OB to arrive and break my water. DS had his first bowel movement (meconium) in the womb, so I was briefed on the need for a respiratory team. By 7pm, I began pushing.

DS got stuck under my pubic bone and insisted on bringing his right hand out with his face. He was born at 9:31pm, after almost 2.5 hours of pushing. He was 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long.

The respiratory team grabbed him while I received stitches for severe tearing. Luckily, DS's lungs were clear and I was able to hold him. When they took him to be evaluated for APGAR, etc, I noticed that the scratchy feeling in my throat wasn't from all the work I just did or needing water, but because I was having an allergic reaction. My body was covered in hives. The nurses came in and gave me more Benadryl than one person should ever have. I wish I could say I slept, but a nurse came in every 15-20 minutes throughout the whole night to check my throat. Between that and the regular check-ups and feeding/snuggles, I didn't sleep at all until I got home!

emsrdh03 · September 2014

After my 39 week appointment where I had made zilch progress and was not even slightly dilated we made a "just in case" induction appt for the Monday after my EDD. Well my due date came and went. The weekend came and went. It was obvious this baby wasn't coming anytime soon. So late Sunday night we went in to L&D to have Cervadil placed before they started Pitocin in the morning. When the nurses checked me to put the cervadil in, holy uncomfortable by the way, my cervix was still very high and tight, not even a bit dilated. Yay. They started my IV, gave me some sleeping pills and told me to try and sleep until morning. Some mild contractions started over night, but nothing major.

In the morning when they took the cervadil out I was a whole 1 cm. They started pitocin around 6-7AM and contraction definitely picked up. Since I had the IV in I was pretty limited to where I could go, but they did bring a birthing ball in for me and sitting on that was the only place I was even remotely comfortable. My OB came in around 9-10am to check my progress, I think I was at 1.5cm, enough she could break my water. Once that happened the contractions really picked up and intensified. They were coming about every 2 minutes and lasting a minute each so I had about 1 minute to recoop before the next one started. The time frame after that is a bit of a blur, but I'd say around noon they checked my again and I was 3ish cm so they called in for an epidural. Once I got the epi I could finally rest and the labor really picked up, but it was much better watching the contraction spike on the monitor and not feeling a thing! Around 2-3 I was 5 or 6 cm. I continued to rest off and on, around 4 I told my nurse it felt like I had to poop. She checked me and to everyone's surprise I was fully dilated 10 cm. I started pushing at 4:50 and exactly one hour later, at 5:50PM my son was born! When they broke my water there was meconium present so they had to wisk him off quickly to be cleared by the respiratory team. I had a minor tear, so my OB started stitching me up and then they brought DS over while they finished me up.

Overall I was pretty happy with how the day went. I had heard so many induction horror stories where women labor all day and end up with c-section anyways. So I was glad to have a pretty easy and successful induction! I'm hoping this go around to go into labor on my own, but if not at least I can keep my fingers crossed for another successful induction!

kimba1976 · September 2014

I had a scheduled c-section at 39+3 with DD due to a massive fibroid/tumor in my stomach. It developed during the pregnancy and, although completely outside of my uterus, had "roots" into my uterus. I also had several other fibroids in my uterus that my doctor said would have made a natural delivery quite difficult. The tumor had to be removed surgically (lapryscopically wasn't an option), so even if I had delivered vaginally I would have had to be cut open later anyway. Anyway, on D-Day husband and I drove to the hospital and checked in. I was prepped for surgery and as soon as they did the spinal I started crying and couldn't stop. It was pretty embarrassing in hindsight. I think they ultimately sedated me because I don't remember being taken to the recovery room. I think the nerves and hormones and fear and drugs just got to be too much, so I literally cried the entire time. One doctor removed the baby and and soon as she was born another surgeon switched places with him and removed the tumor. The whole thing too about an hour. I ended up losing a lot of blood. I developed some sort of viral infection and ended up having to have several blood transfusions. I was finally released on day 4. It was a really tough recovery.

kayak11 · September 2014

I was induced at 9 days after my due date. The dr that checked me when I was admitted asked if anyone had told me about my narrow pelvic bone (they hadn't) and said it would probably shift/expand as I labored to make room for baby. They gave me pitocin in the morning and I labored through contractions all day and most of the night before asking for the epidural. I was exhausted and only about 5cm and didn't think I would have the energy to push if I had to keep laboring for several more hours.

After sleeping for a few hours, I was checked and was almost fully dilated so they asked me to try pushing. I pushed for about 2.5 hours and DS was just not coming out because his head couldn't come past my pelvic bone (apparently the space is too narrow for babies to come out). The dr recommended a csection and DS was born in the early afternoon the day after my induction started.

amylocious · September 2014

I remember sitting up in bed at 6am (at 39 weeks) and I felt like I had to pee, but I was so tired I just wanted to go back to sleep. I procrastinated this a lot in the middle of the night!

Sat up again and decided to jump out of bed to go to the bathroom. Needless to say my water broke everywhere! I knew it wasn't pee!! Lol. I jumped in the shower after because I was covered! We made it to the hospital around 7am. I was not dilated at all! But because my water broke they kept me and started pitocin to progress my labor.
Longest day of my life! At 10pm started pushing and had my DD at 10:30pm. I had 3 epidurals that day. 1st one fell out, 2nd one had blood up the line, and the 3rd one the ER doctor did when I was 9cm and basically starting to crown. (My DH had seen her head when I laid back down!)
I am definitely afraid of doing the epidural process again because of all my issues with it. I felt pretty much of my labor with her and I wonder if I would be able to go without this time. Anyone else have anything similar happen with their epidural?

MaineMama · September 2014

Keep 'em coming ladies! I'm one of those weirdos, I LOVE reading peoples birth stories....

leoandethansmom · September 2014

@MaineMama so do I!!!!!!!

[Deleted User] · September 2014

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soulcupcake · September 2014

Back story is always much longer, but the gist of it...

DD1 - 3 hours and 8 minutes of labor and a few pushes -- maybe a couple minutes. She was 9 lbs and 22 inches born at 38 weeks. (I was 3 cm and 80% effaced at 35 weeks. At 37 weeks I was 5 cm, and six days later was sent to L&D after visiting my midwife because she was concerned I wouldn't make it to the hospital once labor started. I was induced later that night. The labor itself was very fast, but there were a lot of unnecessary interventions that took place before in order to get me into labor. I also had an unnecessary episiotomy because she was LGA)

DD2 - 47 minutes of labor and a couple grunts. Her head was halfway out when my midwife encouraged only very tiny pushes to avoid a lot of tearing due to her very precipitous birth. She was born at 39 weeks, and was 8 lbs., 9 oz and 21 inches. (I was 2 cm and 70% effaced at 37 weeks, and 3-4 cm at 39 weeks. I had my membranes stripped and was instructed to return later to get checked because I had to be a solid 4 cm to be admitted. I came back a few hours later at 5 cm (ate and walked around at Wal-Mart for a while), and waited and waited to get admitted, where I was 6 cm (no labor) after receiving my heplock and getting my gown on. Labor was induced via AROM/amniotomy. Labor still hadn't started at 7 cm, so I hopped in the shower with my essential oils, and it was so relaxing. My midwife encouraged a very, very warm shower with the hopes it would get labor started. Contractions didn't start until maybe 10-15 minutes after I got out of the shower. I had a labial laceration due to her precipitous birth.)

soulcupcake · September 2014

DS1: Not a happy birth story, but labor itself was straightforward. The induction was fast and uneventful. Active labor was 1 hour 40 minutes and no pushing. He just slid out. Labor took some time to kick in due to the mechanical issues related to severe polyhydramnios. (I was 4 cm the day I was induced. I probably had been 4 cm from 33-34 weeks from all the uterine activity (due to overdistension caused by severe polyhydramnios). I was planning a homebirth with him, and had just ordered my birth kit. He apparently went into congestive heart failure due to [undiagnosed] severe heart and pulmonary defects. I realized he died shortly after ordering my birth kit. My midwife kept telling me to place my order no later than 36-37 weeks. We received "confirmation" that he died that night and I was induced the next morning.)

DS2: Um... "labor" was nonexistent. My midwife knew I wanted to induce after getting to 39 weeks. I explained to her those wishes when I hired her at 15 weeks. My anxiety was way up and I just wanted to be "done" and hopefully have a pink and crying baby in my arms. The longer he was in there, the worst my anxiety became. I was 39w4d, and had been 5 cm and 80% effaced for a week. I visited my midwife on 12/23 where she confirmed I was indeed 5 cm and 80%. We went over the plans to induce on the 26th. My ex-husband had been deployed throughout my entire pregnancy, so we were also trying to time the induction around his R&R. He arrived home on Christmas Day, and went ahead with induction plans the next day. I took castor oil... delicious, mixed in rocky road ice cream. I was told the "effects" should kick in within a hour or less. Nope. Nada. Not a thing happened. Waited a few more hours to do the next dose, and still nothing. So we moved on to herbs. And nothing.

My midwife's apprentice arrived and she hung out with us while we waited and waited. She and my midwife eventually left to grab dinner. My mom was at our home watching our girls while ex-husband and I walked around the neighborhood what seemed like forever. We walked and walked. There was just a shit-ton of waiting. Finally, roughly 8 hours after my first dose of castor oil, I made my first bathroom visit. Not bad at all. I did notice some BH and felt lots of pressure while using the bathroom, but no contractions. I made four quick trips total. I also ate and drink while we were waiting. I'd get whimsy BH contractions, but nothing resembling "labor." I felt bad for my midwife and her apprentice because they were just sitting and waiting for things to happen. But they were being entertained by Christmas movies, so that was okay.

My midwife eventually checked me and I was 6 cm thanks to all the walking and sitting on the loo. Still no labor. We were not comfortable with AROM, so my membranes remained intact. At some time, I called my mom or she called me, and we were going over how impatient and frustrated I was. At this time the kids were hanging out at her place. During the conversation I felt something leaking, thought it was fluid, but it was blood. I waddled into the living room and my midwife had that "WTF!?" look on her face. She immediately had me lie down to check for heart tones. His were in the 140s. He was doing great. She checked my cervix... swollen and bleeding (from pressure). She instructed me to turn on my left side to relieve the pressure. I was relaying all of the details to mom during all of this, and told her I'd have then DH call her to come once labor started.

I hung up the phone. One minute later I felt an intense contraction with pressure. With the second, mere seconds later, I was clinching my sheets because the pressure was so massive, and then with the third I told my midwife he was coming and she and her apprentice were stunned and went into hyperdrive. (this is when then DH called my mom to tell her I was contracting). Nothing was ready. The birth tub was a few feet away, which was NOT happening. My midwife rushed over and saw his head was out with my legs still partially closed, where she moved my right leg to the side and his body shot out and my membranes ruptured everywhere on my bed and floor. I reached down to grab him up to my chest. My mom arrived just a few minutes later to find a warm and gooey baby on my chest. She was quite stunned.

Just two minutes before I was on the phone with my mom expressing my impatience and frustration because nothing was happening. I was bored to pieces. I went from 6 cm with a swollen cervix and he at -1 station to birth inside of a minute. I was in total shock. My body was trembling. We knew to expect another very fast birth <60, but I was planning on experiencing something in the way of "labor." He was 9 lbs and 22 inches born at 39w4d.

Due to the precipitous birth I had a labial split and skid mark. They healed very nicely on their own.

colliebabe · September 2014

DD ended up being 9 days late total. I had an ultrasound around 40w4d and the fluid was low, but my OB said I could be induced on Friday or wait until Monday. I chose to wait it out.

On 8 days past my due date (41w1d) I started having contractions around 6am. I still went about my normal day - went out to lunch with my friends, went for a 6 mile walk. I kept having contractions that were about 1 minute in length, but only every 20-45 min. They picked up during the night but the on call OB said to still come in for my induction unless they started to be about 5 min apart. That never happened.

Went in around 8:30 for the induction, pitocin was given around 9:30 am. I was about 4 cm dilated when I got to the hospital. I managed to last about 3 hours through those crazy pitocin contractions, then got an epidural. Around 6 pm I was ready to push and pushed for 17 min until DD came out. I was in labor for a total of 36 hours.

Overall I had a great induction experience, except for the pain of the pitocin contractions. I think I could've gone without the epi if I didn't need to be induced - the contractions on my own weren't too bad.

JRod13 · September 2014

I woke up on my due date, went to the bathroom and had A LOT of blood. Clots and everything. Called my stepmom because of course she knows more than my doc and she was like "dumb ass- go to the hospital." Woke up H, went to the hospital with none of our belongings because I was freaking out. Got there and got checked I was a fingertip dilated (whatever the hell that means). They told me to walk, I did. They checked me an hour later and I was 1.5, so they decided shit was in fact going down and they decided to keep me. Cue MIL's arrival. I was a bitch the whole time. They started some pitocin to speed it up. I got my epi when I hit 4. Labor lasted a total of 23 hours. I started pushing at 2:45am and little man was born at 3:03am. He had pooped while in there and breathed it in, so he was whisked away with H (and MIL ugh) in toe. They got him stabilized while I got stitched up. I went to my recovery room and H texted me a picture of our beautiful son. When I was able to make it to the bathroom, they brought me a wheelchair and took me to see my baby. We got to hold him the next day after he was able to breathe without his oxygen hood. We had to stay there a total of 4 days. I had gotten an infection and he had a lung infection from the poo. Hoping things go a little smoother this time around.

LSauer21 · September 2014

@amw0914‌ right?! Thought she had to poop and it was the baby! The hospital gave her a $20 gc to BRU for her "trouble" bullshit!

MeganK81410 · September 2014

With our first, I woke up with contractions around 5 a.m. on my due date. I tried to go back to sleep because I thought there was no way I was actually going into labor on my due date. When they didn't go away, I tried going in to the bathroom because I thought maybe that was what the cramping was about. Laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, but just as I almost fell asleep I had another, stronger contraction that really got my attention. So I started timing them and they were coming between 3 and 5 minutes apart, but varied in intensity. Some would take my breath away, some were just like period cramps. But by 6 a.m., I'd had enough that were taking my breath away that I decided it was time to leave for the hospital. We lived about 45 minutes away so I didn't want to take any chances. Got to the hospital and through registration, then into a room where the nursed checked me and said I was a good 4.5 cm dilated and she could feel my amniotic sac bulging. So I was definitely in labor! My doctor came by around 7:30 and decided to break my water. I distinctly remember her saying, "Are you ready to have a baby? Because now you're not leaving without one." as she was breaking my water. That was a little surreal lol I labored for a few hours, opted for an epidural around 11 a.m., finally got one around noon, and it didn't take. Or so I thought. I still felt all of my contractions, but it just took the edge off of them. I was under the impression that an epidural would take the pain away entirely (I was admittedly not as educated as I should have been in the ways of labor and delivery

). I ended up having something pushed into my IV that made me really sleepy between contractions. I don't remember what that was called, but I hated it. Eventually, I was checked around 3:50 p.m. and the nurse said I was at 10 but not quite ready to push yet. She said I'd end up feeling an intense pressure and need to push, and to page her when that happened. Two contractions after she left, I felt that pressure she was talking about. I started truly pushing around 4:10, and our sweet 8 pound, 22 inch-long little girl was born at 4:36! I had one long second-degree tear that required stitches, and I threw up once right after I started pushing, but otherwise it all went well! My husband was so amazing through the whole thing. He didn't say much, but he always had his hand either on my back or holding my hand, something to let me know he was there.

With our second, I was induced 6 days late. We went in around 6 a.m., and I had Prepadil inserted around 7. I was about 3.5 cm dilated when we got there. Contractions started almost immediately, and I ended up throwing up my breakfast from the intensity of them. I had to stay in bed for about 2 hours for the gel to really get working, but once that time was up, I was able to get out of bed and walk the halls. So hubs and I did laps for about an hour, then went back to my room so he could use the restroom. Then I decided I'd rather just do laps in my room so we could watch TV and have something to distract us and help pass the time. I was checked at noon and was originally told that my doctor would be in on her lunch break to break my water but she got stuck in two c-sections so she wasn't able to come in before she had to get back to her office for her afternoon appointments. So I went back on the monitors for a little while, and the contractions kept getting stronger a little bit at a time, but still nothing unbearable. My doctor was able to come see me at 3 p.m. and broke my water. She said I was still at about 4 cm so she hoped breaking my water would get things moving. Around 7 p.m., I remember we were watching the Friends episode where Ross' ex-wife gives birth to his son, and she was screaming through her contractions and I was thinking, "Seriously, this is not that bad..." That's right around the time that my contractions kicked up enough that I was covered in a cold sweat when each one stopped. Still nothing excruciating, but definitely getting harder to talk through. I just laid there and squeezed DHs hand through each one, but when I started to really dread each one, I realized I wasn't going to allow myself to relax enough for them to do their job, so I paged the nurse and said I was ready for an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in around 7:30, and I was at 5 cm before he got the epidural placed. The first one slipped out of my spinal column before he could secure it, so it had to be redone. By the time all that was finished, it was about 7:50 and it was all I could do to breathe through the contractions. I thought it was because I'd been hunched over in an uncomfortable position, but when the nurse checked me immediately after having the epidural placed, her eyes got wide and she said, "Sweetie, you're at 10 already! I can feel a head!" So, apparently the really uncomfortable contractions were actually the transition contractions, not from being hunched over. I went from 5 cm to 10 in about 20 minutes. She had me labor down for a bit because she could still feel just a little bit of the anterior lip of my cervix, but at 8 p.m. I paged and said there was no way I was waiting any longer. So the nurse came back in, checked me and said I'd be good to start pushing as soon as they finished getting things set up. She had me do a practice push just to see if that lip was really out of the way, and as soon as I started pushing she said, "Hold up! How long did you push with your first?" When I told her about 20 minutes, she said, "Holy shit. This kid's coming fast." Hello, panic lol My doctor hadn't even been paged at this point. At 8:03 p.m. they dropped the bottom of the bed, and had me push twice before my doctor got there. He was already crowning when she came in. I pushed one more time to get his head out, then she told me to not push quite as hard the next time because he had turned and his shoulder was going to get stuck if I made him come out faster than she could get him turned the right way. Two small pushes later and, at 8:13 p.m., out came our 9 lb, 7 oz, 22 inches-long little boy! I had one tiny, barely first degree tear that my doctor put one stitch in just to be safe, and I was walking around about 20 minutes after delivery.

MegsTactical · September 2014

I'm loving all the stories! More... more!

vintagejjane · September 2014

DD's labor was extremely long. 48hrs. It wasn't bad by any means, but I was just really exhausted.

My water broke on a Friday at 11:45am and then I had slow contractions all day which picked up at night. We ended up doing errands and just hanging out on Friday. By early the next morning they were 6 minutes apart but then slowed down again. Luckily since we had a home birth I spent most of the time in the birthing pool. I actually wish I would have walked more instead of sitting in the pool to try and keep things going. By Sunday very early I was in transition and so done. I begged DH to take me to the hospital for an epi, but he reassured me that I could do it. DD's head was slightly tilted so I pushed for a really long time trying to get her out. (3 hrs) Finally at 11 am on Sunday DD arrived and it was amazing! I loved every minute of my home birth even though it was long, I definitely don't regret anything.

leoandethansmom · September 2014

@LimaBeanMOM haha my water also broke after my epidural and catheter and I called the nurse telling her I thought my catheter fell out because I felt liquid down there

@MeganK81410 yay for your L&D story also including Friends! That is my favorite show of all time and labor wouldn't have been the same without it. However I watched about 4 discs of episodes before we went to the hospital lol

AllTheTeaInChina · September 2014

My due date was a Thursday. At my appt that day my OB checked me, I was 3cm. She told me things looked good and I could go any day. She told me that the week before too. I asked her to strip my membranes, to try and help things along. I had some cramping the next few hours but was warned about that. Went to work on Friday and had a few mini contractions in my back throughout the day that I barely felt. That night as I was reaching to turn off my bed side lamp, the first "real" contraction happened. I noted the time, 9:56pm, to see if this was it. Sure enough about 20 minutes later another came. I tried to sleep but there was no way that was going to happen. I kept feeling like I had to go to the bathroom but then nothing. I would go back to bed then have the urge to go, but again nothing. I was doing OK, so I let DH sleep. It was maybe 2:30am when my contractions started getting really bad and needed DH's help. He applied counter pressure and rubbed my back for me. By 3/3:30am my contractions were about 5 min apart, I decided it was time to go in. I called my OB office and spoke to the after hours line. She was going to page the on-call OB to call me back. About 10 min later I got the call. She asked which hospital I wanted to go to, and would let them know I was coming. I decided to get in the shower to clean up a bit. That felt awesome, I wish I would have done that sooner. I leaned against the back wall and let the water spray on my lower back. I finished packing my bag and texted my mom. DH brought the bags out to the car. I grabbed a towel and met him there. He asked what the towel was for, I told him in case my water broke in the car.

The hospital is only 10 min away but DH freaked out about my water breaking in the car so we got there in about 7 min. Luckily there are no cars on the freeway at 4am. The main doors are locked overnight so we had to come in the ER. DH dropped me off at the door and parked the car. The ER offered a wheel chair but I declined and wanted to walk. It was a longer walk than I expected and had a few more contractions on the way. We got to L&D and were put in an assessment room, it was 4:30am. The nurse checked me and hooked me up the fetal monitor. I was only 5cm. After 6.5 hours of back labor and I was only 2cm further along than I was Thurs. That sucked. She asked what I wanted to pain management, I told her nothing, no epi. She left to check on a L&D room for me. I stood on the side of the bed leaning over while DH applied counter pressure. The blinds were closed but I would see it was light outside. It was about 6am, I had now been awake for 24 hours. I was exhausted. My body started pushing, I didn't know what was happening so I asked DH to get the nurse. I crawled into bed and curled up waiting for her. I remember thinking, if I wasn't at least 7cm I might need the epi. I was just so tired, I didn't think I could make it any longer. I was 9cm! I went from 5cm to 9cm in 1.5 hours. She told me there was a tiny bit of cervix left so fight the urge to push. Looking back, I think she didn't want me pushing because I wasn't in a L&D room yet and didn't want the baby born in the hallway. She left to check on a room and came back a few minutes later. On the way there, DH overheard a nurse saying they "closed" due to being at capacity. They have 12 L&D rooms and 3 assessment rooms but had 14 women there in labor. I opened my eyes when we got to the room and saw housekeeping finishing up cleaning the floor.

My nurse in L&D was great. I was able to use the shower to relax. My mom came around 7:30/8am to help DH. I was leaning over the bed while DH rubbed my back and mom rubbed my shoulders and arms. The nurse brought me a birthing ball to use. I continued fighting the urge to push as the other nurse told me to. She checked me again. The sack was bulging and DD was stuck. She was not able to descend. I mentioned that I couldn't not push any longer. She just looked at me and said "oh honey, push, push that baby down. force your water to break." She broke down the bed and got out the squatting bar. I pushed for a couple hours but nothing was happening. She asked if I wanted the dr to come in and break my water, I agreed. The gush of liquid felt so good. Huge pressure relief. I continued to push but things progressed much faster. Soon DD was crowning. My mom left the room when the dr came back in. As she was suiting up, she asked if I wanted immediate skin to skin- yes I did. She then said if I was OK with it, she preferred to delay clamping the cord if mom and baby are doing well. Those are 2 things I was planning on asking for but didn't even have to. I pushed a bit longer and soon DD was in my arms. I had a small perineal tear but also ripped through my labia I didn't pay too much attention while she stitched me up. I think I had one more big contraction as the placenta was delivered.

What I learned/hope to do differently:
-listen to my body. If I have to push, I will push
-I was asked if I wanted to touch her head as she was crowning, I declined but wish I would have
-DH is very squeamish and declined to cut the cord. I also declined to "back him up" or something but regret it now

ETA-- forgot to include DD arrived Saturday 11:25am, 7lb, 20.5"

colliebabe · September 2014

@alltheteainchina I definitely had that "have to go to the bathroom" feeling too. I must have made at least 30 trips to the bathroom that night, but nothing was coming out!

AllTheTeaInChina · September 2014

colliebabe said:
@alltheteainchina I definitely had that "have to go to the bathroom" feeling too. I must have made at least 30 trips to the bathroom that night, but nothing was coming out!

It was awful! I'd lay down then feel like I had to go. I'd get up, sit on there for 5 min another contraction hit but nothing. Go back to bed, repeat again and again.

JaymeeLH · September 2014

I'm loving reading everyone's stories, they're making me more excited for my own

MegsTactical · September 2014

Me too! I love reading them.

jayellekay · September 2014

The long version is here:

https://jlkennedy2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/zoeys-birth-story.html

The short-ish version:

My doctor and I had planned all along to have as natural of a birth experience as possible. She is an MD, but a very natural-leaning one and a former midwife, so she loooooves a good natural birth. Unfortunately, she was scheduled for 10 days of vacation right after my due date. Since she practiced in a small, rural hospital in NW Minnesota, her only backup was a codgery old doctor who was "famous" for routine c-sections and interventions. She didn't want me to be exposed to that, so we figured my best bet for having her deliver me was doing a slow induction. I checked in the hospital on the evening of 40w1d and she decided to do a dose of Cytotec and see what happens. That stuff is evil, but the good news is, if it didn't work, we could pack up and go home once it wore off a few hours later.

It caused cramps (which I later learned were contractions). I had sent DH home for a good night's rest since my doctor told us probably nothing would happen that night. At 3:00 a.m., I was calling and begging him to come back. I was in a LOT of pain, but managed to go pain med-free. After 2 doses of Cytotec, it was clear I was in full-blown labor, so no other meds were started, and I was disconnected from my IV and continuous monitoring and allowed to move around/labor as I wished. I spent a lot of time on the yoga ball and in the bath/shower. At 10:02 a.m., my water broke on its own during a contraction, and at 10:45 am, my daughter was born after only 1-2 pushes. It was crazy intense and probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but also the most amazing!

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