Share your labor/birth stories.

kp90 · February 2016

Hey mommas, as a first time mom I find myself very curious about what exactly is going to happen when that big moment finally arrives. Will I be at work? Will I be home alone on rest while SO is at work? Will I have to call a neighbor? Will he be able to be there in time for the birth? (he's military and actually could even possibly deploy) so many variables. I thought it would be fun to hear others stories from the time you went into labor and how you knew it was time... to the time you were able to leave the hospital and come home with your LO. What's your story and how far off from your "plan" was it?

MrsKubley · February 2016

I was 5 days over so they induced me. I only needed the cervadil stuff not pitocin. We went in at 8 am, got the cervadil at about 9:30, then nothing happened until 4 in the afternoon. I went to get up and walk around and decided it would be good to pee first. Got as far as my hand on the bathroom door and my water broke. Sploosh, like in a movie, it was weird and then I started hurting. Got cleaned up and back in bed and an hour and a half later they checked me and I was at 10cm (before my water broke I'd been checked and was at 1+). Let me tell you it hurts to dilate that fast!!!

From there I got a dose of fentanyl, which helped for about 30 min. Then much screaming, I seriously had no control over it, they came to do the epidural and told me that if I felt like pushing they could just skip it. I said over my dead body. As it was only a small patch on my right thigh went numb.

I was put on oxygen and I ended up delivering laying on my left side so I wonder if there was a drop in sats. I did end up with an episiotomy, but probably never would have known if it wasn't for the sound of the scissors. At that point you can't distinguish the pain from the rest of it. (And for the record my husband says I healed up nicely there, no difference at all)

we were team green the first time around and I was honestly expecting that movie moment where the doctor says "it's a girl/boy!" I ended up having to ask, as a response the nurse who was about to wipe the baby off held the crotch toward me. That's right, the first glimpse I had of my first baby was his balls....

As for my "plan" for my first delivery (the hospital gave us a form and everything), I just wrote at the top of the page, "pain medication requested" and "everyone gets out of this alive". So it mostly worked.

we stayed in the hospital 2 days after he was born (we didn't really need to stay that long but the insurance covered it and why not have the backup from the nurses and the pain meds?)

VS2016 · February 2016

I went to my 40 week appointment right on the dot and I was disappointed because I was still dilated 3. I got my nails done and ordered Caseys Pizza and picked up buster bars from DQ to make myself feel better. While I was eating my pizza and watching Friends my contractions started. They immediately started strong and three minutes apart. So silly me, I convinced myself they were Braxton hicks because I always read as soon as they are five ministers apart you should go to the hospital and since mine were closer they couldn't be the real deal. It was only until I couldn't eat my buster bar because I was feeling sick that I called the hospital. They told me to come in. Once I got to the hospital it was so quick. I planned for a natural birth but after they broke my water it hurt so bad I had them put an epidural in. By the time that was done I was already 9cm. Best decision ever because I literally felt nothing! I didn't feel stitches being put in or anything. I pushed for a half hour and the entire process took twelve hours from my first contraction to birth.

yogahh · February 2016

Since this thread isnt getting too much traction OP thought I would link you to an older birth story thread we have for your reading pleasure. I would love if we had more replies here, and I could read these all day!

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12649121/birth-stories#latest

kp90 · February 2016

Thanks! @yogahh Yeah I was hoping to get more responses of the STM fellow May mommas on here. It helps hearing different stories and how they all vary so much.

mommar13 · February 2016

At 39 weeks I went in for my appointment that week, still at 1cm like I had been for a while. I had a membrane sweep at 37 weeks, didn't do anything. That Thursday night I started having contractions that didn't ever stop, so I started getting excited. DH went to work Friday like normal, but I was still having contractions every 7-8 minutes all day long. Enough to be uncomfortable and frustrating, but not to think I needed to go in yet. Contractions all night long, got 0 sleep. Saturday morning DH had to go in for a few hours. By around 11 my contractions were about 4 minutes apart, so I waited for DH to come home and we grabbed some lunch and headed in. Didn't feel like I NEEDED to at that point, but I was exhausted and frustrated. Honestly i think I just needed validation. Get to the hospital at around 1pm. They hook me up to the monitor, agree that I am in labor, but when they check me I'm still only at 1cm. I just about broke down and cried in the middle of triage lol they decided to watch me for a couple hours, and I finally did make it to 2cm, so I was admitted about 3pm. First thing I did was ask for some IV meds so I could sleep. They gave me stadol and I took a short nap. Problem was, at 4pm they woke me up and told me my labor had stalled from the stadol. They gave me pitocin to kick start it back. Around 8pm I gave in and asked for an epidural, but it didn't take for me and my blood pressure dropped to the point that I couldn't have anything else. They pushed some pain meds through my epi catheter right as I started pushing, so I didn't feel any of that part. I actually had to stop and ask the doctor if I was doing anything down there lol I had no feeling from boobs down, it just didn't exist anymore. DS was born at 9:47pm after about 15 minutes of pushing.

townsley2015 · February 2016

I think there was a post about birth stories awhile ago (I only remember because I posted mine in there), I think there was a quite a few responses

Copernicus08 · February 2016

At my 39 week appointment (a Wednesday), my OB checked and said I was 3 cm and 90%. A day and a half later on Friday night at midnight, my water broke at home (on the toilet, thank goodness!). Contractions started at 3 a.m, and I labored at home until around 7 a.m. Hubs and I went to the hospital around that time, where they checked me and I was 5 cm. I got into the jacuzzi tub there and labored for another hour until I couldn't help but start pushing. I got back to my room in the bed and my son was out a few minutes before 11 a.m., 8 pounds 12 ounces. Spontaneous, unmedicated vaginal delivery in a hospital -- it's possible!

He was born on the day that was supposed to be my last day of work before maternity leave

For this baby, I'm pursuing a home birth.

araecasey · February 2016

I learned at my 40 week appointment that my midwife was going out of the town the following week. I was determined we'd be welcoming our baby with my midwife attending! So that night I went home, DH and I went on a long walk, had really fantastic sex (like whoa. Maybe the best), and then I spent 20 minutes using my breast pump to try and induce labor. 10 minutes in, my contractions started.

I had prodromal labor, which is labor that comes on hard and fast but isn't consistent. Within two hours of contractions starting, I was shaking and nauseated like I was in transition, and my contractions were one on top of the other. I was suddenly worried I'd be having an accidental homebirth, so I had hubs call our doula. But by the time she was at our house, my contractions had slowed down and eased way up. She sent us to bed for some sleep

She knew we had a journey ahead of us.

My labor continued like that for the next day, ebbing and flowing. Hubby and I spent the day together walking the neighborhood. We'd stop and sway on the sidewalk while we rode out contractions together. It was July, and the flowering trees were gorgeous that day. He picked a flower for me and the baby, which I still have, dried and displayed in DD's room. DH gave me back rubs. I listened to my Hypnobabies tracks. I tried all kinds of wacky positions to get DD engaged and get labor moving. My doula came and checked in on us and helped me make cupcakes for my hospital care team, and told us to try and get more sleep that night. We got a couple hours of restless sleep, but by midnight, things started to really pick up.

I sent hubby and my doula out of my bedroom because I just wanted to be alone. I loved rocking on my birth ball leaning on the edge of my bed so I could easily sleep between contractions. By 1 AM, my doula had us packed up and we were headed to the hospital where we continued our groove. My doula was fantastic about applying counterpressure to my hips when I had to lie down in the hospital bed for fetal monitoring. They had me lying on my left side, which made contractions really intense, but my doula was so soothing.

My midwife came at 7 and asked if she could check me. I was shocked to hear I was completely dilated! I was still managing contractions well, although wasn't feeling pushy yet. She said that was because my water hadn't broken and was cushioning baby off of my cervix. She said she had another mom in labor she needed to go check on at her other hospital and asked if she could break my water so she could be sure to be there when my baby was born. I really wanted her there, so I consented. She warned me that I'd very likely be overcome with really intense pressure and the urge to push. But my sweet DD wasn't in the best position, her head was cocked to the side, and after my water broke, she got stuck. My body surprisingly gave me a break from contractions for about half an hour.

After that.... things got hairy. I climbed into a warm jetted tub in the pitch black, and I swayed through my contractions there. DD ground on my pubic bone for five hours, unable to descend because of her position. My body was exhausted and contractions were petering out. We tried pumping for an oxytocin boost to no avail. I consented to pitocin to avoid a c section, but I had been laboring for so long and my pelvis hurt. I asked for a walking epidural, just enough so I could rest for a moment. My anesthesiologist missed my epidural space three times, and then gave me a spinal block instead of the walking epi I asked for. My nurse pulled my IV just as my blood pressure began to plummet from the unexpected spinal block. I had no wherewithal to be as furious about these things as I am today. My midwife took care of these mistakes ASAP.

I rested, the pitocin did its job (thank you modern medicine!), my midwife taught me how to push since I couldn't feel a darn thing. My midwife helped MIL catch DD and place her on my chest, blue and slimey and beautiful. DH and I had never felt more in love! She latched right on and nursed happily for an hour. Even though her birth was such a roller coaster, I'd do it again. Her personality sure does match the drama of welcoming her to the world! The day after, my midwife came to check on me and the first thing she said was, "Well I hear at the nurses' station that Violet is quite the pistol!" Truer words were never spoken.

kbrands7 · February 2016

C/p here in case the old thread doesn't get traffic:

I had prepared for a natural hospital birth using Hypobirthing techniques. I had two weeks off and on of false labor (time-able, strong contractions, that would go all day, then stop by night time around midnight). Then, at the end of my 38th week, DS flipped to frank breech and they scheduled a c-section for when I was 39+2. On the morning before my scheduled surgery, I started my maternity leave, had a BIG breakfast and sat with DH wondering what we should do on our last day off together without a child yet. I felt like I had to pee suddenly, so I got up and headed to the bathroom, promising to decide on something to do when I got back. As soon as I got to the bathroom, my water broke. It was like a never-ending, pulsing river that smelled like cake batter.

So, of course, we went to the hospital. Because I had just eaten, and LO was tolerating the contractions well, they decided to monitor me off and on and wait until I had fully digested which they estimated to be around 6 hours or so before doing the csection (DS was still frank breech, bit they wouldn't risk an external version because of my uterus shape) . DH and I hung out in the hospital room and I used my visualization techniques through contractions.

Then, nearly my whole family came...they weren't supposed to, but they were getting impatient. So, for a while I had DH, my mom, dad, brother, grandma, and grandpa in there while I had contractions while waiting for the csection. It was kind of comical looking back on it. My grandma kept asking me if the contractions hurt, which was very counterproductive to hypnobirthing. Yes, Grandma, there's lots of pressure!

By 4:00pm, they were ready to prep me for surgery, so I was taken to the OR to get a spinal (I've never held so still in my life!) and DH joined me once he was gowned-up. My arms were velcro-ed down, out to the side, and they offered to give me oxygen since the spinal made me numb to my neck initially and I felt nervous that I couldn't feel myself breath of laugh even though I could hear it. I felt some pressure and tugging as they pushed DS through the incision, then I heard him cry immediately. DH was so excited and took some pictures of DS and my guts and shouted, "It's a boy!" (We already knew it was a boy.) I got to see DS breifly and they had DH take him to do skin to skin while they closed me up.

In the recovery room, we tried to breastfeed, but I got extremely nauseous as the anesthesia continued to wear off. I needed a lot of help with holding and feeding DS initially because of the nausea and the fact that my arms/hands had been numb too. Because I couldn't keep anything down for at least 8 hours after he was born, the lactation consultant had me pump colostrum since I couldn't hold DS long enough to get a good latch at first and DH fed DS my colostrum with a teaspoon. It was sort of a blur. We settled in after that, but we had a lot of difficulty BF for a variety of reasons until I hit a BF/pumping combination that worked for us, and was able to work on DS's latch consistently to then wean off of the pump and BF consistently by around month one. It all worked out well and I got to long-term BF like I had wanted. We kept going until DS self weaned at the end of the first trimester of this pregnancy.

My recovery was a little difficult because I could only handle regular strength Advil, and kept trying to push myself too hard to make up for feeling like I was so weak the first day after birth. At one point, I accidentally opened a part of my outer incision and had to go into my OB to get it re-glued. I had gotten stuck in a leaned-back position holding DS and was alone, so I just tried to muscle through the pain to sit up...I got up, but not without popping the incision some. It wasn't the horror-show I had expected when I realized what happened, thankfully.

It wasn't the birth that I had planned at all, but it worked out, and I'm glad that DS still picked his own birthday.

This baby has been favoring the breech position so far, and I've been working with a webster-technique certified chiropractor to work to correct my hip misalignment to *hopefully* give him room to engage head down like DS couldn't. If he does, I'll try for a vbac; if not, I'll have a rcs...hopefully with more proactive control for nausea and migraines, and where DH can help me do skin to skin sooner.

araecasey · February 2016

@kbrands7 I love that your birth story includes your postpartum recovery and your experience with breastfeeding. Becoming a mother has taught me how to take the very hard and the very beautiful together as one experience.

Do you know about the Spinning Babies Daily Essentials yoga flow? A friend of mine suggested it to me after her third baby was malpositioned. I just plain stink at at-home exercising, so I'm going to an actual Blooma yoga class to help this baby get into the best possible position. BUT the daily essentials yoga flow is supposed to do the same thing. Are you doing inversions? If so, how are those going? I dread inversions....

araecasey · February 2016

Copernicus08 said:

At my 39 week appointment (a Wednesday), my OB checked and said I was 3 cm and 90%. A day and a half later on Friday night at midnight, my water broke at home (on the toilet, thank goodness!). Contractions started at 3 a.m, and I labored at home until around 7 a.m. Hubs and I went to the hospital around that time, where they checked me and I was 5 cm. I got into the jacuzzi tub there and labored for another hour until I couldn't help but start pushing. I got back to my room in the bed and my son was out a few minutes before 11 a.m., 8 pounds 12 ounces. Spontaneous, unmedicated vaginal delivery in a hospital -- it's possible!

He was born on the day that was supposed to be my last day of work before maternity leave For this baby, I'm pursuing a home birth.

I'm finding myself fantasizing about "accidentally" birthing at home. Vi's birth was so peaceful and felt so right when we were at home. The hospital staff did their best to leave me alone, but they still felt intrusive to me. I wish you a very beautiful, healthy home birth!

kbrands7 · February 2016

@araecasey I haven't done the yoga-flow-- I'll have to look into that. Thank you!

I tried some of the spinning babies positions and a bunch of other wacky things like light & heat positioning last time in the few days between when we realized he had turned and when my water broke, but it just wasn't meant to be. This time, I'm trying to be more proactive in encouraging head down, but I know with a heart-shaped uterus, it just may not happen (it raises likelihood of breech positioning). Since I started with my chiropractor though, I've gotten some clearly head down days which is giving me hope.

Chappy_jr · February 2016

I was induced at 41.5 weeks. My cervix had softened but had remained dilated at only 1" for like, 3 weeks.

I had initially wanted a natural birth but consented to an induction because I wasn't feeling anything close to what the other women on TheBump board at the time were feeling before their labors so I suspected that I would be going over the 42 week mark, anyway.

My MIL had come to town from out of state and had planned to stay for a month; she had taken the time off of work and everything. And her plane ticket home was scheduled for the next week because she had convinced herself that I would deliver early as she had done with each of hers.

I am very introverted and had made it very clear to MIL and my aunt (who is the closest I have to a mother) that I didn't want them in the hospital until the baby was born. But the night I was induced, my aunt drove into town and we went out to dinner so I could have a big meal before my midnight induction. DH and I checked into the hospital. Nothing happened for about 12 hours, maybe some light contractions from the pitocin but nothing major. By that point, I had dilated to a 2.

Then, MIL and aunt arrived unannounced. I told them they could stay for a little while but when contractions became bad, I would hope they'd go back to our house and wait for the call. Shortly after, the OB broke my water in an attempt to get things moving.

Contractions got harder.

MIL and aunt did not leave. I remember being pissed about them not listening to my request, pissed about the fact that the tv was on the whole time to a fuzzy channel that was playing Law and Order nonstop, and pissed that my contractions were so hard that I couldn't vocalize my frustration. I was checked again - 2cm.

Hours passed. 3cm.

Now I was hungry, not allowed to eat, and getting really pissed. I had DH doing counter pressure while I leaned on the bed, backwards. At sometime around dinner time, MIL and aunt go to the cafeteria or food kiosk in the hospital and bring back something for DH. I looked at the nurse and said, "seriously, I'm about to eat because this policy is an outdated joke". I can't remember what she said but she basically shot me down. OB came by and I could tell that he was as impatient about this as I was but told me that as long as our vitals were good he wasn't worried, - I'm still at 3cm - so I asked if pain meds might help my body relax, maybe let me sleep and see if the cervix would dilate some more while I was relaxed. He said he recommend it but knew I wanted to avoid them so it was my choice. I got the epidural, got a couple of hours of sleep and was checked again - 5cm.
DH went home to let the dog out, I think, and I was checked shortly after he came back. Still at 5cm. I had now been 22 hours in the hospital and had only dilated 3cm since I checked in.

Around 10pm, something happened and I can't quite remember what. I think either my or the baby's heart rate started doing something they didn't like and as soon as an oxygen mask was placed on me (although I didn't feel like I was having ANY trouble breathing) my family started freaking out. When my OB came in for the distress call, I asked him the liklihood that this was going to result in a c-section and he said, very likely. He told me, after the heart rates stabilized, he would give me a few more hours before he would make the recommendation, then he checked my cervix again.

4cm.

what the f?

I told him I didn't think anything was going to happen by that time so they began the prep for the surgery.

I don't remember much about the c-section. I remember a tugging sensation on my abdomen, my DH not knowing what the f to do and being scared to death. I remember lots of shaking and worrying that my shaking was going to screw up the surgery. I remember looking over my shoulder at our son as they were weighing and tagging him and recognizing the left foot that had been the most prominent kicker of my ribs and thinking, "that's the foot! my god, he has big feet." and I remember shaking too much to feel comfortable holding him until they wheeled me back to the room, so I ended up being the last person to hold my son.

and then I remember the nurse asking me if I wanted something to drink. I told her I wanted a Coke because I needed some damn glucose because they had "denied me food and water for over 24 hours due to an outdated, medically unsound policy". Another nurse brought it to me and, when I went to take a third sip, told me to slow down. I glared and took another, long, glorious sip.

This time, MIL will be keeping DS so if she tries to pull that crap about staying in the room the whole time, I WILL tell the nurse to kick her out. and I will be bringing my own damn food and eating it, even if I have to hide it under my pillow and sneak bites. I have a feeling that I won't have as much trouble dilating this time - my hormone levels have been higher this pregnancy - and have already expressed to my doctor that I will not consent to an induction until I have exceeded the 42 week mark.

2.red.heads · February 2016

kp90 said:

Thanks! @yogahh Yeah I was hoping to get more responses of the STM fellow May mommas on here. It helps hearing different stories and how they all vary so much.

Birth stories take a lot of time to write!

But I also enjoy reading them - everyone's story is different and special in their own way.

yogahh · February 2016

2.red.heads said:

kp90 said:

Thanks! @yogahh Yeah I was hoping to get more responses of the STM fellow May mommas on here. It helps hearing different stories and how they all vary so much.

Birth stories take a lot of time to write! But I also enjoy reading them - everyone's story is different and special in their own way.

I love the stories too! Which is why I started a May bmb labor story thread already (which was attached to my reply). That's what I was trying to tell op without straight up saying it- so many of the stms here already wrote their story. Not sure they will again! I'm happy for the new stories though... Something to read today!

VS2016 · February 2016

Chappy's story reminded me that my mom showed up without my consent also. I try to block that out because I was so mad. Not to mention later my mom told me she was hurt because of the way I treated her while she was there. She told me she wanted me to call when I went into labor but promised she would not come up. When I called she asked if she should come up and at least six times I said no please wait until I call again. She said in and at 2:00am there she was. My advice to FTMs is if there is anyone you don't want at the hospital do not call them until the baby is born. Do not worry about hurt feelings.

ckcshumphrey · February 2016

We decided to have an induction at 41 weeks. I went in on a Thursday at 9 pm. The plan was to place cytotec to soften the cervix and get some sleep, then start pitocin in the morning. At 10:30pm the cytotec was placed and I was 2 cm dialated. 2 hours in I was at a 3.5-4cm. Making progress, slowly. By the time 2 AM rolled around I was starting to having pretty uncomfortable contractions. I asked for my epidural and the anesthesiologist got to my room by 3AM. At that point I was at a 4.5-5. 4:40 AM I was 6cm, 5:40 I was a 7+ and my water was bulging and so the nurse broke it! 6:45 I started to feel contractions on the right side of my stomach and pushed my button for more epidural meds but they had told me that the anesthetic works with gravity so I needed to roll to my right side. My nurse came to help and check me, I was at a 10! Wahoo! We did some practice pushes while waiting for Dr to arrive and within about 3 contractions/pushes baby was crowning. Dr came in and 3 contractions/pushes later baby boy was out! 7:30 AM, 8 lbs 12oz. Tiny 1st degree tear.

GlenLakeLove · February 2016

I was induced at 38 weeks due to very high blood pressure. No pre-eclampsia diagnosis but a complication with a chronic illness and pregnancy essentially. I wasn't dilated at all when they checked me. We found out I was being induced at an appointment around noon and was told to go home, pack up and get to the hospital. Not exactly the way we pictured it!

We arrived at 6 and cervadil was inserted at about 930. Painless. They told us to sleep and we would see how it went. We didn't really sleep - too anxious! By 730 am, I wasn't contracting but I had dilated 1cm. Doc came in and broke my water to get things moving. Pitocin was started and the journey began!

I labored hard until 330 pm. No pain meds. I couldn't be on the birthing ball as his heart rate dropped considerably when doing so even though it was comforting to me. I had hard back labor. Was only dilated 4 cm after 9 hours. So disappointed. The docs observed a few contractions and said that the way my body was reacting to the contractions was essentially fighting itself from allowing further progress/dilation. They suggested an epidural so I could relax and see what happened. With my illness, I agreed and was exhausted so I figured why not. I wasn't ever opposed to meds, I just wanted to see what my body could do.

Got the the epidural at 430. Hardest part was them timing it around a contraction. My nurse was wonderful with helping to support as they didn't allow DH to be in the room (sterile environment needed). Other than that it was a breeze and within moments I was in tears as I was pain free. Catheter was easy and painless as well. I slept on and off until about 10 pm when I was in a lot more pain.

They me checked me and we were ready to push! For me the pain wasn't just pressure as they said it would be - it literally hurt so it took us a second to realize. Doctors came in and got us set up by 1030 and we were pushing! 20 minutes later he arrived! Healthy, pink, and so clean (which I was surprised about!) We did skin to skin for the first hour and it was the best hour of my life. The placenta was easy to pass (I didn't have to really do any work) and I had a tiny tiny internal tear. A quick stitch and we were set!

Had to wait an hour to get up bc of the epidural but the skin to skin was worth it too! DH got to finally hold him while they helped me up and to the bathroom. This was interesting with the perinatal bottle. The nurse helped me with it and while uncomfortable for us both, we laughed and it was all "I know what you just saw exit me and this oddly isn't that weird anymore!" You lose a lot of shame in the delivery room!

We were taken to our room (I personally loved that we switched rooms after birthing - clean, more homey) and settled in for a bit. They took DS for a few tests related to my health concerns so I dozed for an hour or so. They checked my BP 4 hours after delivering it and it was perfect - 120s/70s. It had been 140-150/90+.

My bleeding was actually rather minimal and recovery was pretty easy. The padsicle sandwich was awesome - the ice pad, layered with tucks pads and sprayed with dermaplast was amazing. And you can take it all home! Do not buy in advance as you'll be charged for it anyway! I really didn't mind the mesh panties - they held the pad in place and were easy to change.

The nurse belly massages weren't exactly fun but had to be done. The shower was amazing. Food was decent (really just was starving so I didn't taste most of it!) All in all it was a great experience!

kp90 · February 2016

Ahhh, I love reading these. Makes me so excited and anxious for my own future story. I can't wait. All your stories are awesome.

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