DD1- Aug11 
Angel Baby- June13, said goodbye Oct12 DD2- Aug13 DD3- due Feb17 
February 2017 Moms
peachesnbean
member
GTKY-ish Birth Stories
peachesnbean
member
Hi gals! So I am birth story fiend. I love childbirth and could talk about it all day. I figured we could have a post to share our previous birth stories, or our OWN (or our mom's?) birth story?
You don't have to follow this format, but here are some quick details-
Your age at birth:
Child #:
EDD:
Actual birthday:
Baby's Gestational Age:
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
Your Story:
You don't have to follow this format, but here are some quick details-
Your age at birth:
Child #:
EDD:
Actual birthday:
Baby's Gestational Age:
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
Your Story:
Re: GTKY-ish Birth Stories
Your age at birth:
28
Child #:
1
EDD:
23/08/14
Actual birthday:
29/08/14
Baby's Gestational Age:
40+6!
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
Vaginal.
Your Story:
I got a membrane sweep the day I went into labor. It was the 2nd attempt, morning appt and I started having contractions that evening. They were 7-10 minutes apart around 5 pm and progressed to 3-5 minutes apart by 8 pm. They were getting really painful and so we called in and case room told us to come in.
When they checked me, I was only 2 cm and they sent me walking for an hour. By 11pm I progressed to 3 cm. they admitted me and things got crazy pretty fast. I was 6 cm by 2:30 am and begged for an epidural which I got relatively quickly. (Best thing ever). Got a few hours of sleep and by 6 am, they checked me and i had stalled at 7 cm. They broke my water and started me on pitocin to get things going again. I reached 10 cm about an hour later and pushed for 1h and 30 mins. He came out perfectly healthy and a good set of lungs!
First BFP: 12/16/13
EDD: 08/23/14
Baby BOY born: 08/29/14
Your age at birth:
22
Child #:
1
EDD:
9/4/11
Actual birthday:
8/30/11
Baby's Gestational Age:
39&2
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
Med-free vaginal
Your Story: (LONG)
The weekend before Esme was born I started to have some period like cramping. It was very mild and un-timeable, so I knew if it was "labor" I had a while to go. I called my midwife, Anne was on call that day, for advice. She said it sounded like early labor, which could last hours or could last weeks. She said to walk walk walk to get things moving. And I did. I recruited Amy and we walked around the mall for a couple hours. Then when Jacob got home from work we walked some more. I was so exhausted on Sunday that I didn't do very much walking that day- except again when Jacob came home from work. There was no change and Monday morning that light crampy feeling went away. I felt defeated, and like my baby was going to stay camped inside for weeks to come. That day, the 29th was the day I predicted for Esme to make her appearance, but it didn't look like it was going to happen. Early evening/late afternoon (prevening as Sheldon Cooper calls it) I walked to the Marathon to get a fountain Diet Pepsi. In the store I had a contraction, followed by the light crampy feeling, and then on the way home another contraction. I went on my scavenger hunt (as mentioned in an earlier entry) to keep my walk nice and long. I came home, kicked back (due to exhaustion- I was 9 months pregnant!), made some hamburger helper, watched Kate Plus Eight, and took a shower. In the shower I realized that I hadn't felt Esme move all day except for some hiccups after dinner. So I laid down, drank some water, and waited for some kicks.
Jacob got home from work and I was still waiting for kicks in the bed. I was getting very worried at this point. At 1 am I called my midwife again. This time Sharon answered and told me to calm down, drink as much ice water as I could, and lay back and try again. If there were no changes in an hour to call her. During this time Jacob kept reassuring me. He told me that Esme was just resting up and was probably coming out very soon. I laughed at this because I had completely written off labor for at least a couple weeks. At 2 am there were still no changes so I called Sharon and she told us to come in for monitoring for my own peace of mind.
We got to the hospital and I felt so silly checking in. I obviously wasn't in labor, and I felt like everyone was rolling their eyes at me. They really weren't- the nurses were so kind and did nothing but reassure me. It was my own paranoia that they were side-eyeing me. As soon as the nurse hooked up the monitor we heard Esme's heart beat. And about 5 seconds later she kicked the monitor. I, once again, felt silly. But sooo relieved. Esme's heart beat was strong and she had 2 accelerations in 7 minutes (2 in 20 is passing). One thing that majorly disappointed me, though, was my uterine activity was flat. I was having zero contractions and that machine can pick up the tiniest contraction that my body can't even detect. We were discharged pretty quickly and on the way home I was even more upset. I thought I was at least having minor contractions, but apparently not. Jacob joked that I could be pregnant until September 14th and I felt like sobbing at that thought.
We got to bed around 4:30 am. At 6 am I woke up with "diarrhea". It was pretty painful (and gross) and I figured it was the Hamburger Helper. After being all "cleared out" I was still having the "diarrhea pain" and around 6:45 I realized the pain was coming and going. At 7 am I woke Jacob up and told him I thought I was in labor. He asked me to describe the pain... It felt like diarrhea, and period cramps. That was the best way for me to describe it. Then we started to time the pain's comings and goings. They lasted about 25 seconds and were 3-5 minutes apart. Jacob said it was probably false labor because contractions should last longer and they start out farther apart. We decided to wait until 8:30 to see if the pain went away. If not we'd call the midwife again- something I really didn't want to do after my paranoia episode the night before. In the meantime Jacob was rubbing my back and telling me to use the toilet. I called my mom at that point. I figure she'd be leaving for work and just in case I wanted her to have her stuff in her car so she wouldn't have to back track. All the time the pain was getting worse. My mom told me on the phone to call my midwife. After one particularly painful contraction I did and the midwife said it sounded like I was in labor. She said to try and get through as much at home as I could, distract myself, take a shower, and when it got bad to come into the office for a labor check.
I followed my midwife's directions. Jacob and I got in the shower. It helped immensely, but I could feel the contractions getting even worse. I got out and tried distracting myself with dishes. I did one dish and decided to go in. Jacob packed all the last minute stuff while I was pacing the kitchen, focusing on my breathing. In the car, we came to North Street that is randomly cobblestone and you either scrape the crap out of the bottom of your car or have to spend 5 minutes going across it. Jacob asked me what I preferred and I told him to hit it. We got to the office and I went to the bathroom. I was in my pjs, with hairy legs and no bra and making funny noises due to contractions. No one was there yet, but just in case someone showed up I didn't want to be seen. We were called back and Anne checked me. She said I was 5 cm and to get to the hospital- I was in labor! I knew I probably was before, but it being confirmed by my midwife was overwhelming. I started to sob. I was so scared, I thought I was going to die in labor and I didn't think I was ready. But ready or not Esme was coming.
We got to my delivery room and they were filling our tub. My nurse, Sarah, introduced herself, told me to change into my gown, and said I would have to be on the bed for 20 minutes for monitoring before I could get into the tub. When I changed into my gown in the bathroom there was blood all in my undies. Disgusting! I cried and Sarah came running and assured me it was totally normal. I was hooked up to the monitor and saw my contractions on the screen- a big difference from the night before! 20 minutes passed and during that time my contractions got a lot worse and I began shaking. Sarah said she was going to check me because a lot of women start shaking around the transitional phase. She checked and I was 6.5cm, but stretched to an 8 because my water still hadn't broken. She said she was going to call Anne and tell her to hurry because I was going quickly. I told Sarah that I would need Zofran and I'd rather not wait till I was barfing to get it, it wasn't a question of "if" I would puke, it was "when". Thank goodness she obliged with the max dose! Sarah let me get in the tub and it was magical! It helped so much with the pain I couldn't believe it. Around this time Jacob started texting everyone and letting them know how quickly I was going. My mom was upset. She was hoping to make the birth, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. In the tub I was able to relax a lot. I had more bloody show (eww) and Sarah came and scooped it with a little green fish net. Anne got there and joked that she had someone across the hall that I apologized for her having to cancel her afternoon appointments. She laughed and told me not to apologize, and she needed to be there anyway because she had someone laboring across the hall. She also mentioned that the other woman would "beat me". I think this little hint of competition really helped speed my labor along (not really, but who knows maybe on some subconscious level that comment hit my competitive nerve). Anne was having a hard time checking me in the tub and she wanted us to be monitored for 5 minutes. I got out and I was at 9.5 cm and my water still wasn't broken. We waited until Sarah got back from lunch (about 15 minutes later) and Anne broke my water. Unfortunately, there was meconium in the fluid and that meant I had to be monitored carefully and couldn't get back in the tub. It also meant when Esme came out that the NICU team would snatch her up and check her to be sure she didn't aspirate any of the meconium.
Laboring in the bed was HELL. Especially on my back. We tried the squat bar, pulling myself up when I had a contraction, but it didn't help that much and it was exhausting because my contractions, although short, were very close together. I screamed a lot. Everyone kept telling me to breathe, relax, and stop wasting my energy screaming. Before that I was able to breathe through my contractions, and I would chant (kind of) relax relax relax relax, knowing that if I tensed with contractions it would basically work against them. Anne at some point suggested that I labor on my knees, leaning against the back of the bed (it was in an upright position), with my hands over the back. This position was so great. Not as great as the tub, but I was able to rock back and forth and the pressure was off my back. As labor went on, I started to get back labor. This is when the most "f" bombs were dropped, I screamed, hit the bed, and even bit the sheets. Jacob was fantastic. He was rubbing my back, holding my water cup for me as I sipped the straw, wiping my sweat (and there was a lot). His *one* mistake was when I asked for the epidural, he accidentally blurted out, "No". I don't blame him or hold it against him, and I even laugh a little at the memory. I am glad he reminded me that I really didn't want the epidural. My midwife asked me if I was sure, I breathed through the contraction, and told her no, I didn't want it. This exact thing happened (minus Jacob saying no) about 30 minutes later. Anne and Sarah were also great. I had cold cloths on my neck, arms, and back. And at one point Anne hopped on the bed and pushed my hip bones apart, and that helped with the back labor. When the back labor was at its worst I had to have a little portable monitor type deal inserted and stuck on Esme's head. I was moving too much for the monitor and my heart rate had gotten pretty high, so the little antennae was the best way to go.
A little bit after 12pm I decided I wanted to push. I didn't feel the "overwhelming urge," but definitely an urge. Anne said I could start out with gentle pushes every few contractions. And that's what I did. Between 12 and 1:30pm or so was the worst. I screamed and convinced myself it was impossible. Thank goodness for my amazing "team". I may have broken a few hands. I always thought that was exaggerated in the movies, but man! You can really do some squeezing when you're in that much pain. Around 1:30 they started to talk to me about the ring of fire and crowning and I realize the worst was yet to come. That was when I bowed my head (really, rested it on the back of the bed), retreated deep inside me, and prayed so hard. I realize that sounds corny, but for the rest of the pushing, pretty much till crowning my pain was manageable again. I finally felt able to do it.
When Esme crowned it was a crazy pain. I am not sure if I felt "the ring of fire," but I felt like someone was trying to rip me in half. Then a push or two later- sweet relief, still a lot of pain, but nothing like a few seconds before. And one more push after that- absolute instant relief. I felt her come out and I sighed. When we watched "Knocked Up" a few days later, and Katherine Heigl was whimpering after she pushed her baby out, Jacob said that was exactly what I did. I was so exhausted. I didn't get to see Esme come out because I was facing the wrong way and the NICU team had snatched her up. I think I may have taken a 60 second nap or so against the edge of the bed, until I realized Jacob was tending to me, and I told him to go check on Esme and take pictures. She was screaming and I fell in love without even seeing her. I wanted to see her, so I turned around. When I started, Sarah told me not to freak out. I did. There was blood everywhere! I started sobbing, "this isn't normal, this isn't normal. I am going to die!" They told me to calm down, it is normal and I need to deliver the placenta. I was so exhausted I couldn't imagine pushing again. It had been about 2 hours of pushing before that. I think I even asked Anne just to pull it out by the cord. Of course she couldn't do that, and of course delivering the placenta wasn't as difficult as Esme, but it still hurt. Sarah pushed my belly while Anne and a surgical tech (who helps with "complicated" deliveries) helped down below. It came out and I felt more blood- again they assured me this was normal. The surgical tech was walking out of the room and for some reason I asked to see the placenta. She showed it to me and it was gross! And a lot bigger than I expected, like a big bloody football. Meanwhile, Anne was working "down under" stitching me up. I had a second degree tear, but she was able to sew it with one running stitch. The novacaine shot was the worst thing about the stitches. Jacob then came over and showed me pictures of our beautiful daughter. He told me she was perfect and didn't aspirate any meconium at all, but the meconium must have been in there a while because it stained her skin and umbilical cord. A few minutes later, the surgical tech cut off my tank top (I was too tired to lean forward and take it off) and Esme was plopped on my chest. I couldn't believe she was here. I cried so hard and kissed her head. I then remembered Jacob and I promised to kiss her at the same time for the first time, but I couldn't help it. She was so precious. We were able to start nursing pretty much right away. It took a couple tries, but eventually she latched and we were good to go.
After nursing Esme got her first bath and I ordered my meal. I was starved. Beyond starved. I just had the most rigorous workout of my life. I ordered a turkey sandwich, pretzels, ice cream, and cranberry juice. I think I ate half of it because I was so excited to hold Esme again. After about an hour Sarah told me I had to try to use the bathroom. This was terrifying to me, with the stitches, the hemorrhoids from labor(sorry, I warned you), and just the general Hell my girly parts had just been through I cried. I knew I had to go, but it was so scary. I told myself, hey, I just went through a natural childbirth (except for the anti-nausea meds), surely I can pee. I had good reasons for my fear- it stung like heck! But only initially. And every pee after got a little easier than the one before. After I peed we were ready to go to our recovery room. I sat in the wheel-chair, was handed my daughter, and off we went.
child 1
10/18
10/29
induction at 41.5 weeks, attempted forceps, csection
epidural only worked on one side, pushed for literally 6 hours and was finally brought in for a non emergency csection, given a spinal
DS was just shy of 10 lbs and was 22.5 inches with a 50cm head. Currently, he's off the charts huge. Not a chub, but not skinny either just built like a brick and SO tall. He is the size of an average 8 year old at 5 years old.
28
child 2
10/1
9/24
RCS at 39 weeks due to breech presentation
DD was 8lbs 21 inches. She's now taller than average also, but she's skinny. When she was a baby she was a little butterball with rolls upon rolls, we called her Michelin Man.
32
child 3
EDD 2/13 but will probably have a 2/6 birthday I think because I have to have another RCS
Your age at birth: 31
Child #: 1
EDD: 7/13/13
Actual birthday: 7/14/13
Baby's Gestational Age: 40 +1
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): c-section
Your Story: I'd had contractions off and on for about a week prior to going into labor so I woke up on the 13th soooo ready to it to finally happen. It was my due date, we were ready, and I was so over being pregnant. Contractions started picking up later that evening and around 1am, they'd gotten pretty strong and were about 7 minutes apart so we headed into the hospital. They checked me and I was at 3cm and ultimately, stayed there. They tried breaking my water, giving me an epidural to relax in hopes it would help, and after 12 hours, brought up the possibility of a section. DS was born at 3:17pm.
I usually gloss over the details of his birth because after I had him, I was really depressed about having a c-section. Of course, having a healthy baby is the ultimate goal and I got that and was so happy and blessed for it. But I was not mentally prepared at all for a c-section and I almost felt like.....my body failed me. It didn't do what it was supposed to do and I struggled for a little while with that.
Now, I'm very much more prepared for the possibility of another one and while I'm attempting a VBAC, I'm concentrating on the fact that even if I can't control what my body does, I can have more control over the settings of my birth. And I'm okay with that.
Big Bro 7/14/13
Little Bro 2/6/17
Child #: 1
EDD: 11/19/14
Actual birthday: 11/23/14
Baby's Gestational Age: 40+4
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vag
Your Story:
My experience was good. I was 4 days past my EDD (which is VERY frustrating) and my water broke. I wasn't having contractions when I got to the hospital so I was started on pitocin. I advanced quickly from there and then eventually had my epi (I wanted to try as long as I could without it) and about an hour later I was ready to push. Pushed for about 45 minutes and finally had my daughter. There was some meconium when she was born so the NICU was there hey cleaned her up. I asked several times why she wasn't crying cause I felt like it was FOREVER but in reality it was a couple minutes MAX! They said they didn't want her to cry yet and then I heard her and I immediately fell asleep. I was exhausted.
I can remember trying to sleep between pushes (which is not a long pause between them) and telling the nurse "no I'm just going to sleep" when she would tell me to push. The nurse was getting on my nerves cause I was done. Lol.
I didnt make a huge birth plan but I knew what I wanted to do and I also knew that I shouldnt expect it to be like my plan and to roll with the punches. I also wanted to yell at my husband when he would tell me to just concentrate on the Packer game during contractions. I'm a HUGE fan and never would have thought I wouldn't care about the game. This was before my epi cause after my epi I was back to yelling at my crappy defense.
I can also honestly say I don't remember the pain. I know there was and that I was crawling up the side of the bed but I can't for the life of me remember it.
So that's it.. The forth trimester was a completely other story!!! This one HAS to be easier!! It just HAS to!!
ET 9/10 - transferred 1 perfect 5AA blast
7dp5dt BFP ~~ Beta on 9/19 - 77.4 Beta #2 on 9/21 - 357
Low heartbeat on 10/7 86, lower heartbeat on 10/11 76, no heartbeat 10/14/13. D&C 10/15/13
Tests revealed MTHFR c677t mutation, put on Folgard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FET #1 1/6/14 - 4BB blast - BFN
He was born about 1 week before his due date. (Just under 39 weeks)
It was a med free vaginal birth. I had no idea what to expect and I wanted it that way. I felt I could handle it. I felt labour pains starting at home and just knew they were different than before. I ate dinner with my family but didn't mention anything. I showered and shaved and tidied up before asking for a ride to the store for sour candy. I wanted a snack before being admitted.
It was my first baby, he hadn't dropped and I wasn't dilated too far but they checked me in because they weren't busy. I was told the first baby usually dropped 1 or 2 weeks before labour started so I was surprised this one wasn't coming down. She figured I would probably have the baby sometime the next day, maybe afternoon. I declined meds/epidural. They didn't ask again. It hurt a lot but I was afraid of an epidural.
The pain was terrible but eventually I felt like something was ripping my spine out from my bottom. I carried really high and this baby slid down from up high right into place. The pain wad awful. The nurse came in and said it was time to push. She was surprised. The doctor came in and I pushed, felt like someone had a blowtorch to my vagina and took a push break. The urge to push came back and he was out quickly. I decided I would try the epidural for the next baby.
Child #: 1
EDD: June 12th
Actual birthday: June 7th
Baby's Gestational Age: 39weeks
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): c-section after 26 hours of labor
Your Story:
I had my membranes stripped at my 39 week check up and it started to get things going. I walked the next day and went into labor that night. I went to the hospital at 4 in the morning and my contractions slowed down when I got there but her heart rate dipped so they admitted me. I walked around for a bit until I got the epidural when I reached a 5. I ended up getting stuck at a 8 for 5 hours even after they broke my water. The doctor said I needed a c-section and that it was because the way my body was built. After the c-section I had the shakes really bad and had to wait for the medicine to kick in until I could hold her. I'm going straight for a c-section this time.
Child #: 1
EDD: 10/14
Actual birthday: 10/9
Baby's Gestational Age: 39+2
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal induction
Your Story:
My water broke at around 5am, I felt and heard a pop and it woke me up. It was a high tear so it was a slow leak. Called my doctor who told me to aim to get to the hospital by 8am.
I went crazy nesting at this point, getting last minute stuff together (pointless stuff like fall decorations and rearranging baby's bookshelves seemed really important)and didn't even even start the 45 minute ride to the hospital until 8:30.
Got checked in triage and nurse said water didn't break but did a litmus test and found it had. Was at 2cm and had been for 2 weeks. No contractions at all so they encouraged pitocin. I wish I had waited. Pitocin sucks, I held out getting an epidural until like 1:30 and I was stalled out at 2cm still. I have very low blood pressure normally, like 90/60 is my average. The epidural made my blood pressure go dangerously low had probably a dozen different shots to bring it up to normal rate. H went to eat lunch and I tried to nap. At 2:30 I felt a lot of pressure and I was at 8cm, when H headed back to the room a nurse said she has a surprise for you, she meant I progressed a lot he thought he missed the birth his face when he ran in was hilarious. Around 4 I felt the urge to push. Daughters heart rate was getting dangerously low with each push so they rushed in lots of nurses and doctors and used a vacuum to assist. The cord was wrapped so tightly around her neck twice! She was born at 4:20 all was fine I did have some tearing so I was stitched up and my epidural had worn off so that part wasn't fun but honestly I must have had so much adrenaline running through me it wasn't as painful as you'd expect. I felt great after delivery I was up walking around as soon as I was able to move to out of labor and delivery.
It was a rather uneventful birth and I'm hoping for a similar experience this time just would hold off on pitocin as long as possible and would know to expect that reaction if I do an epidural again.
Child #:1
EDD: 2/14/2012
Actual birthday: 2/14/2012
Baby's Gestational Age: 40 weeks
Birth type: Vaginal w/ epidural
Your Story: At my Thursday appointment the week before DD was due my midwife said we needed to schedule an induction because my body had had about all it could handle. They estimated DD to be about 8 lbs (I don't remember their estimate exactly) and my stomach was so stretched out that blood wasn't circulating quite like it should so it was always cold to the touch. They scheduled the induction for the following Tuesday (my due date) and wanted me to be at the hospital at 6AM. I walked around like crazy that weekend trying to encourage labor, but nothing. I was already a little dilated, but I don't remember how much.
On Tuesday (the day of the planned induction) I woke up to contractions a few minutes before my alarm went off. We had a light breakfast (per Dr's instructions) and headed to the hospital. Labor progressed pretty nicely without Pitocin, etc. I got the epidural around 8 cm dilated. The pain actually wasn't too bad at that point, but with not knowing if labor would stall at any point, I was afraid to not get it. I was in labor for a total of 9 hours and had visitors off and on (without the epi I would not have allowed visitors). The Dr broke my water at some point and a little while later it was time to push. With the epi, I really just felt some pressure, so I just pushed when they told me to. 20 minutes of pushing later we had an 8 lb 1 oz baby girl.
She had gotten a little stuck at the end so they whisked her off to the side to check her out really well, but everything was fine. They had a little bit of trouble getting my bleeding under control and I had apparently given them a bit of a scare for a few minutes, but again, everything turned out fine. I was in and out of it right after the baby came because of the blood loss, but they said the placenta was almost as big as she was, which is apparently unusual.
Your age at birth:28
Child #: 2
EDD: 8/17/2013
Actual birthday: 8/7/2013
Baby's Gestational Age: 38 weeks 4 days
Birth type : Vaginal w/ epi
Your Story: DS was pretty short and simple. I had been dilated and very soft for about 3 weeks before he came. The Drs kept saying they weren't sure if I would make it to the next week and I had to take my stuff to every visit because if I was dilated just a little more they would have admitted me. At my last appt before he came my midwife even said she thought she could get me the rest of the way there, but she didn't as I prefer to let babies come on their own terms when possible.
On the day he came (8/7/2013) I woke up at 2AM with contractions, so DH bolted up. He called my mom to come sit with DD so we didn't have to wake and take an 18 month old. We grabbed our bags and added in the last minutes toiletries and were off to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 2:45AM and were the 5th or 6th woman in labor that had come in since midnight, so they sent us to a temporary room to wait until I close enough to deliver (they only have 3 delivery rooms).
I told every nurse I encountered that it was my second baby and my Dr expected a very quick labor, but it wasn't until my assigned nurse found me pacing with the vomit bag that they checked me at which time they moved me to the delivery room because I was already at 7-8. We waited and waited for the epidural because the pain was fierce- worse than with DD because it was happening faster. By the time they got the epi in, I was actually yelling at the baby that he had to wait. It didn't hurt quite as much at that point, I just wanted to push so badly.
The Dr finally got there and 5 minutes later we had a 7 lb 11oz baby boy at 5AM on the dot. (3 hours from start to finish). Recovery was a lot easier with DS than with DD. I felt better 8 hours after delivering him than I did 6 weeks after her.
In hindsight, if they hadn't been trying to stall for the Dr to get there they probably would have had me deliver without an epidural because my water had already broken and I was ready to push.
Child #: 1
EDD: 7/15/2014
Actual birthday: 6/3/2014
Baby's Gestational Age: 34w1d
Birth type: emergency C section
Your Story:
I was diagnosed with placenta previa at 20 weeks, gestational diabetes at 28 weeks, and pre eclampsia at 30 weeks. I was given steroid shots at 30 weeks to develop my baby's lungs and I highly recommend these because it made my guy a NICU rockstar. I went to my 34w OB appointment and had bp = 190/110. They called an ambulance and took me to the hospital. My bp hung out right around 160/90 for a few hours. They took me for a growth scan and predicted my LO was 5lbs 3oz. They decided it was go time and my babe was born at 3:52pm. They made my DH run down to the cafeteria and get something to eat because he hadn't eaten yet that day while they prepped me for surgery. I got the spinal, it hurt a little. DH got the cut the umbilical cord and my babe was taken to the NICU. He was 5lbs even and 18.25in long. It is standard procedure that all babies before 35w gestation are taken directly to the NICU for evals. After delivery I was put on magnesium and pitocin. They press on your belly and then check to see how much blood shoots out. That's kinda terrible. And I had a reaction to the magnesium that made me swell up 10x worse than my edema. I still had elevated BP, so they wouldn't let me go to the NICU the first night. I was devastated. I didn't get to go to the NICU until the next morning. I started pumping that night and DH took my colostrum down and was allowed to swab it into baby's mouth once the CPAP came off. He had a CPAP for 24hrs, and an IV for 2 days. He spent 24hrs under the bilirubin lights. He spent 11 days in the NICU, the main concern was his suck/swallow/breath organization. There were no rules officially restricting us from the NICU, but they did recommend that we not come for every feeding because they wanted him to spend as much time sleeping as possible so that he wasn't overstimulated. It was the hardest 11 days of my life. Fast forward 2 years and I have a happy, healthy toddler who is hitting all his milestones. He is perfect.
Edit I had written out a wonderful response that the bump ate! My bottom line was it's good for people to see both sides. Some people prefer med free and feel better after while some are the opposite.
I didn't prefer one over the other. The only thing I want to avoid is an induction whoch I had with my 3rd. (Had 2 second opinions and it was necessary but that I do not want to repeat) This time I am not sure which I will choose, it really comes down to how I feel in the delivery room.
Side note:I agree it's important to see both sides
I think it's good for people to hear the good and bad so they can look at all possibilities when they decide.
I was fortunate and had a wonderful Dr administering it both times, but my dose with #2 was a lot lighter than with #1 because I was already so close to delivering. It took several hours to get all the feeling back after #1, but I already felt like I could support myself when they moved me from the delivery room to my regular room with #2 and I was up moving around within an hour or two.
I thought about going without meds for both of mine, but I got scared. After realizing how close I was with #2, I might try it with #3 (assuming I don't have to have a C-section).
Child #: 1
EDD: 12/12/13
Actual birthday: 11/28/13
Baby's Gestational Age: 38w
Birth type: emergency C section
Your Story:
This is like a worst case scenario, so don't read if you're freaking out about your own birth.
I was diagnosed with pre-E at 35 weeks, but was pretty consistently able to get my blood pressure back down with sitting and relaxing for 20-30 minutes. I went in Tuesday 11/26 and my blood pressure was insane. Like close to 200/110 and they couldn't get it back down. My cervix was completely closed and 0% effaced or whatever the other term is. So they sent me over to start an induction and the first thing they said was "this is probably going to be a c section, but let's give it a go". I was brought back and started on the magnesium drip, pitocin and had a foley bulb inserted. This was all at like 8pm. At around 10pm I started puking from the magnesium and that was pretty much all night long.
The next morning around like 11AM the foley bulb had finally fallen out and I was at a 5 and my pitocin was maxed out, nothing was happening, so they broke my water and immediately my little dude went into distress and his heart rate dropped dramatically. It was like a clown car of doctors had shown up and all of a sudden 30 people were in my room all staring into my vagina. They immediately stopped the pitocin and were about to do an emergency c/s but his heart rate went back up. They gave me like an hour break and in that hour, I got an infection and my temp jumped to 105. They put me on an IV of antibiotics and started the pitocin again. Then I stalled out around a 7-8. At this point it's been like 30 hours. I haven't eaten or slept and am covered in my own vomit. They decide at this point I need to get epidural because they believe my body isn't relaxing enough to finish dilating. So I get the epidural and it doesn't fucking work in a HUGE window.. I was not in unbearable pain before the epidural, but now have a two inch square where it feels like my ovary is exploding. I'm crying and a mess and even when they pump more shit into me, it doesn't work in that spot. My right leg is completely dead, I can't move it at all or feel it or anything and my left side is killing me.
Still that takes all night. After 40 hours of laboring, I am finally at 10CM. I still haven't slept and am disgusting and exhausted and it's time to push. I get the fucking meanest nurse that's ever existed. She's like yelling at me and telling me I'm not pushing hard enough, but I can't get him out. He's face up and you can only see the very top of his head poking out of me. She puts a mirror in front of me and is just being an all around terrible person and I ask the mirror to be taken away because I just feel like a total failure. Four hours later, this bitchy nurse takes a break and the actual doctor comes in and feels around and realizes my kid is stuck on my pubic bone. She said there was no way I was going to get him out. They have to push him back inside me for an emergency c/s. They wheel me into the room, I'm still not numb in that left section and can feel them slicing into me. I'm vomiting all over again and hysterical and start to bleed out. Like crazy hemorrhaging where I had to get a bag of someone else's blood while I was vomiting all over myself and my husband was doing skin to skin with our new baby. I didn't get to hold him for like almost 2 hours. But everything worked out and I didn't die and my baby didn't die and he's an amazing tiny beast. At 38 weeks without me eating for 2 days he was 8lbs8oz
Your age at birth: 25
Child #: 1
EDD: June 19
Actual birthday: June 17
Baby's Gestational Age: 39 and change
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): induction led c/s
Your Story:
High BP forced us to induce a few days before EDD. I just went along with whatever my doc said and never questioned. Hindsight, my BP wasn't that high and I had no other risk factors. I should have never induced.
In for cervadil at 9pm on 15th. Pitocin drip started by lunch the next day. Epidural by midnight that night b/c pitocin contractions were RIDICULOUSLY painful. Doc broke my water around 10pm on 16th. I was only dilated to a four. Maybe.
I labored all through the night and next day on epidural high. Was miserable. Never dilated past a 9cm. Around 8pm on 17th nurse was having me PUSH with 9cm dilation just to see if it would open up more. She even tried forcing it open more. Baby's head was trying to come through cervix with no luck. Baby finally goes into distress and they send me off to c/s around 10pm. I cried the entire time.
C/s hurt like hell. Baby stuck in birth canal and stuck in my fracking cervix. I felt so much pressure and tugging. After baby born, I saw him briefly, he was perfect. Then I floated in and out of consciousness for next 45 minutes while DH took baby to post-op and away from me. I remember nothing but the lights in my eyes.
Tried to hold baby after I got to post op (with everyone and their UNCLE in the post op room - TERRIBLE decision). They all watched me shake myself to a frenzy. I almost dropped DS1. I again floated in and out of consciousness for next two hours. I remember nothing but the shaking. I am pretty sure my response is b/c of how high my epi was turned to. My body just did not tolerate the meds well.
Around 2am was the first time I have active memory of holding DS1 and attempting BFing. (ha)
In hospital for five days. Recovery was awful. My incision had clotting issues and hematomas. Took WEEKS to even heal up properly.
** If I had to do it over again I would not have let him induce me until I was 41 weeks. My body and my baby was not ready.
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
Your age at birth: 27
Child #: 2
EDD: January 21
Actual birthday: January 12
Baby's Gestational Age: 38 and change
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): RCS
Your Story:
Had a RCS scheduled for 39 weeks (January 14) but was in early stages of active labor a few days before. I had timeable, but not painful, contractions all day on a Friday at work. Did not feel like BH contrax. I remember my OB saying he did not want me going into active labor before the RCS because of physical stress so I went to triage that evening. Was sent home, only dilated to 3 and hospitalist determined me not candidate for delivery yet.
Contrax continued all night and became painful by morning. I called on call doc that morning (and I loved him, so I was comfortable with being frank). Expressed that I absolutely did not want to go into active labor and come in for RCS. By body didn't handle stress + CS last time and I had major anxiety over it. He sent me in to triage that morning.
Monitored for a few hours the Awesome Doctor tells me that I'm definitely in beginning stages. He can tell I'm anxious. Baby is doing great and big and healthy and practicing breathing well. So, we go for it that afternoon. RCS delivery around 5:30pm.
Walked myself to the OR. Anesthesiologist spinal was a breeze, Awesome Doctor danced to Marvin Gaye on speakers while I was prepped. Operation was quick, painless, I got to hold DS2 immediately after and for about 15 minutes - no tied down arms, etc. He had a little fluid in his lungs because he got jumpy and tried to breathe before he was completely out. I was in post op within 30 minutes of delivery and initiated BFing immediately. Latched and went wonderful.
I was only in hospital for 2 days and sent home. Felt back to normal within 2 weeks. EBFed for 9 months and then BFed with BLW until 18months. I totally chalk that achievement up to a smoother delivery for DS2, thus a better mindset and PPD symptoms.
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
Child #: 1
EDD: 4/18
Actual birthday: 2/28
Baby's Gestational Age: 33 weeks
Birth type: Csection
Your Story: My water broke and I was on hospitalized bed rest and receiving steroid shots trying to get to 34 weeks and then they were going to induce me. I woke up early in the morning to go to the bathroom and the heart rate monitor started going off and the baby was in fetal bradycardia and they couldn't get it back up so I had a csection which I had to be put to sleep for. I was very sick for a few days afterwards and he was in the NICU for a couple weeks but everything worked out.
Your age at birth: 25
Child #: 2
EDD: 10/3
Actual birthday: 9/29
Baby's Gestational Age: 39 weeks
Birth type: Csection
Your Story: Baby was breech and sitting cross legged between my hips so we scheduled a csection the Thursday before my due date. There were a few reasons why we didn't wait until after the due date. She was sick almost immediately after being born and lost well over 20% of her birthweight and we thought we wouldn't be able to bring her home but my OB and pediatrician spoke with the hospital pediatrician and they let us bring her home instead of admitting her since the hospital I delivered at was an hour away from home and we had several hospitals with PEDs units close to home if we needed to bring her in.
Child #: 1
EDD: 10/8/13
Actual birthday: 10/12/13
Baby's Gestational Age: 40+4
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal with epi
Your Story:
At 40+3 I had no signs of labor and was only dialated 1cm. I was scheduled for an induction the next week and on a Friday night we went to dinner and walked around Walmart and had sex before bed. I woke up at 2am that night to my water breaking. Thankfully it was a trickle and didn't gush until I stood up so no soaking the mattress. Contractions began minutes later and we headed to the hospital. I got the epidural around 7am and thankfully my labor continued to progress. Slept on and off until it was time to push and she was born around 5pm. I was so thankful that my labor was smooth sailing and I'm hoping for the same experience this time around.
Child #: 1
EDD: Feb 11th, 2012
Actual birthday: Feb 9th, 2012
Baby's Gestational Age: 39.5
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): water broke (in public) labor never started. Failed induction, 36 hrs of water broken when baby had heart rate issues and I had a fever, emergency c section. C section ended up giving me a bowel obstruction and I spent around 3 weeks total in hospital. Not fun.
Your Story: see above
Your age at birth: 26
Child #: 2
EDD: June 21st, 2014
Actual birthday: June 13, 2014
Baby's Gestational Age: 38.6
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): all natural, med free vbac. Beautiful and perfect.
Your Story: went into labor naturally, watching supernatural with H. I blame deans epic hotness effecting my uterus lol went into hospital at 1am, labored slowly until I hit 4 cm at 4pm, went from 4-10 in an hr and 20 mins. Baby was out in 3 minutes of pushing. Was exactly the magical unicorn farts natural birth people want. I couldn't be happier with how it went and really hope for a repeat.
He was a vaginal birth with an epidural.
I was watching the Little Mermaid with my son who refused to sleep. I heard a pop and ran to the washroom. My water broke. It was slow at first. I used a pad, got dressed and brought a bunch of towels. I got a drive to pick up my husband as we did not have car access at the time. (He worked nights a few cities over) As we drove the labour pains started and I started leaking more. I had protected the seats and had a lot of towels as well so it was ok.
We finally reached the hospital and I was still not incredibly dilated but they kept me in. I seem to stay undilated for a long time and then progress really quickly. I was admitted and walked the halls for a long time. I had planned to get an epidural but I wanted to be at least half way done when I got it. (My doctor said it was best to be well into labour) I was sick from the pain and had to stop walking but it was soon time for the epidural. I was able to rest and felt fine when it was time to push. Again I only pushed a few times and the baby was out. We did skin to skin right away and breastfed almost immediately.
Child #: 1&2
EDD: April 12, 2013
Actual birthday: March 23, 2013
Baby's Gestational Age: 37 weeks 1 day
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): scheduled Cesarean
Your Story:
I was put on bed rest at 21 weeks after my cervix started to shorten, and was prescribed progesterone. At 27 weeks I had a positive fFN test which resulted me in getting a steroid shot in the butt (ouch). I was originally scheduled to have my c-section at 38 weeks which was Easter Saturday, however, when I went for my 37 week check-up it looked like my daughters placenta had started to shut down so they moved me up a week and I delivered the next day. This being my first pregnancy I didn't know what to expect as far as contractions where concerned so when I started to get cramps by my ribs I just thought it was my son pushing along then but when they hooked me up to the monitors it was pretty apparent to us all that I was in fact in labor, my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart. The pain was bearable, until my doctor came in to see how I was doing and checked my when he realized I was in labor. I was scheduled to go back at 8 am but was pushed back until 10 am due to an emergency c-section. I walked into the operating room at around 10:15, my doctor started around 10:45 and by 11:10 am my daughter was born followed by her brother 3 minutes later. They brought Savannah to me in recover to start nursing but Kristopher wasn't brought to my room until 8 pm because his sugar was low and when the doctors took Savannah out his sac broke and he swallowed a bit of fluid. They stayed in the room with us the entire time we were at the hospital except for the last night when the nurses took them to the nursery so we could try to get a little sleep before heading home in the morning. By 9 o'clock 3 days later we were home as a little family of 4.
Child #: 1
EDD: 5/10/10
Actual birthday: 5/14/10
Baby's Gestational Age: 40+4
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal med free
Your Story:
I went to see my OB that day and I was still just a fingertip dialated so we scheduled my induction for the following Monday. That night I went to bed feeling fine, and then woke up at almost midnight with contractions 3 minutes apart! Called the OB and they were like umm head to the hospital now. I got there and the contractions were sooooooo bad and I was begging for meds. The nurse was like "calm down, we don't even know if we're admitting you yet, so they had me change and walk the halls. Finally I got into a room and she checked me and I was at 9 cms! So she basically said I was gonna have to do it med-free because I would need a whole bag of fluids first and there just wasn't time. I remember them admitting me to the hospital (asking a million stupid questions I had already answered and mailed in) and waiting for the doctor. I started pushing when it was just the nurse and my water broke and hit the wall across the room!! Doctor finally got there and she was born after like 20 minutes of pushing. Ended up with a 2nd degree tear though which was HELL! Honestly med free was fine though. Pushing felt REALLY good compared to the contractions and I hope my next birth goes that way too!
Child #: 1
EDD: 9/04/06
Actual birthday: 09/02/06
Baby's Gestational Age: 39w5d
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginally with epidural
Your Story: at the time Husband and I were living at his dad's house. We were renting a house too small so moved back with his dad while we were looking for another place. In the recent week or so I noticed my stomach would be hard and I'd realize I was holding it before I would relax. When I told my mom as it was happening at her house she said it was contractions or pain free BH. One night as my husband was apologizing and sucking up for upsetting me greatly my stomach started hurting. It felt like cramping. Eventually it hurt bad enough I just wanted him to shut up and leave me alone while I figured out what was going on. It was somewhere around 10:30 pm that I noticed the pain. We laid down to go to bed but I was unable to sleep through the pain. I went downstairs and tried watching t.v. My fil hardly slept (weird I know, but he seriously never hardly slept) and he noticed I was still up around 2 a.m. he came out and started talking to me but honestly it was hard to concentrate on anything but the pain. Finally around 7 a.m. I woke husband up to take me to hospital. Once we got there they did their thing, and finally asked about an epidural that I eagerly accepted. Unfortunately my epi experience was a total nightmare for myself at least. The anesthesiologist came in and got ready. He poked me once and it felt like it was in the middle of my back up at my waist. It hurt pretty bad. He then said he "missed" and removed the needle. I started shaking uncontrollably at this point. Then the nurse as well as anesthesiologist told me to sit still and bend over further. I'm sorry, I can't control the shaking and I'm having contractions with a huge belly hmmmm. So I tried my best. Now the guy pokes into what I thought was my neck. It hurt so bad I lost it and started crying. My husband didn't know what to do for me. Then the guy announces he again missed!! It took the dude 3 times to finally get the stinking needle in. Once the damn thing started working I was numb from the waist down and my husband told me that the guy was poking within 1/2" the whole time. I'm assuming he was hitting nerves as I felt it in my neck. Once I was numb I asked if I could sleep due to exhaustion and lack of sleep for 24 hours. They let me. A while later they came in and told me it was time to push. I couldn't feel any pressure or contractions so the nurse felt for my contractions and told me when to push. Son was born after roughly 40 mins of pushing. He was born around 1:30 p.m. weighing 5 lb 11 oz. I had tearing going up towards clit area and needed stitches. Ouch is all I have to say about that. I was still numb from epi and they used a catheter to drain my bladder. I finally was able to walk after over 1 hour of delivering. My back hurt where I was stuck with the needles for 7 months. It felt like it was permanently bruised and was so not worth it, with the exception that I napped for a couple hours. But to be fair, after I delivered we were told the anesthesiologist was apparently training. That is huge!! Training. I will never ever let someone in training touch my body ever again. Ever.
Your age at birth: 32
Child #: 1
EDD: 7.27.2013
Actual birthday: 8.3.2013
Baby's Gestational Age: 41 weeks
Birth type: cesarean
Your Story:
I didn't even feel a twinge of contractions until the 3rd. And when they came, I assumed they were BH or whatever the ladies on my birth month board were complaining about. When they didn't go away and came back in 3-4 minute intervals, I took a bath and had SO shave my nether regions. Super sexy, I know.
The hospital I delivered at has the policy of inducing if you go 7 days over your due date, so I had an induction appointment for 6pm on the evening of the 3rd anyway. DD just decided to speed things up and spare me the induction, at least.
At intake the nurse did not warn me at ALL what she was about to do, so when she jammed her finger up there to check my dilation they practically had to peel me off the ceiling. Fortunately everyone after that was super nice. The blood draw at intake showed slight signs of raised white blood cell count, so when I wasn't dilating even after 12+ hours they gave me an epidural so I could at least rest. My water broke shortly after that, but as DD never deigned to descend into the birth canal and the amniotic fluid was green, they decided to go the CS route.
Recovery was AMAZING, especially when I hear stories about VB gone a bit more gory than expected. Still aiming for a VBAC this time around because CS is still surgery, no matter how convenient it was (for me, at least).
Child #: 2
EDD: 2/25/09
Actual birthday: 2/22/09
Baby's Gestational Age: 39w 4d
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): vaginal natural
Your Story: much happier with #2 lol. I had my bloody show 2 nights before contractions started. I woke up one morning around 6:30 a.m. and literally said out loud "oh shit!" I knew what was happening. I sent my husband to work and I started finishing up the nesting lol. I packed my son's bags for my mom's house, I washed bottles, I got multiple pump ready. Then I took a shower. I wanted to be umm shaved and clean. Ahhhhhmazing. The hot water made my contractions just about disappear. I stayed in there until the hot water ran out. I highly suggest it if you can. My contractions were different this time. They started in my back and the pain would work around to the front. It was awful. My husband got home around 7 p.m. from work. We then drove 45 minutes to my mom's to drop son off. That was a painful drive. We went to the hospital about 15 minutes from her house. I walked into the hospital, then declined a wheel chair because when they wheeled me over the bumps while in labor the first time, it set off contractions. So I walked to triage. Once in there they ho hummed around and finally checked me about 10 minutes later. They freaked out because I was already 8cm. So I got rushed to a room. They too were terrible with needles and it took 3 people to get the i.v. in. And they were not training. That was 3 people not pokes, who knows how many pokes I got. Each time they adjusted the bed like it would make a difference and it would set off contractions so by now I was super grumpy. Then this 1 nurse I really didn't like mostly from poking me and moving my bed started talking to me in that annoying over nice voice and was calling me honey and sweetie, I really didn't like that. Anyway the Dr comes in and tells me I don't get an epidural no matter what. I was trying to negotiate a local anesthetic lol I was afraid to tear and terrified of the pain I would likely feel. Of course the Dr thought I was joking but there's no such thing as a local for child birth haha. The Dr left to attend someone else and the nurses told me to let them know before I started pushing. Ok i thought, no big deal. Hahaha so not how it works. My body started forcing me to push, no control whatsoever so I told the nurses who told me to quit pushing. Yeah ill get on it. Dr comes in and I'm saying no, no, no everytime a contraction started. The baby crowned and my body quit forcing me to push. That annoying nurse said just 1 more push, and I said "no!' She said "excuse me?" I said "no, I'm done. I'm not doing it anymore" lol she started to say "you can't just...." but the doctor told her to leave me alone for a minute because the baby was fine. After a minute of everyone standing around my husband asked me to push 1 more time so I did. It was great. She came out, and they started cleaning me up. I saw the gross bag containing the placenta and heard someone say something about missing a cotton swab. Then I had a few people prodding down there to apparently find the swab. I remember thinking what kind of cave are they searching in holy crap. Lol I didn't need stitches, baby was 6lb 11oz. Immediately after clean up I asked to get up and go to bathroom, it was nice being able to move comfortably. Recovery so much faster without the epidural. It was scary and hurt but I told myself I'll go epi free again (hopefully) being in that much pain it's hard to know what you'll want to do. And also I've never been meaner than while in labor. Quit touching my bed, quit tapping the wheel chair, quit moving these stupid monitors on my stomach, they hurt. Basically I'm full of quits lol. And with going natural I was less composed, apparently I ripped my IV out, I don't remember it but the nurse said after one of the times i pushed I had yanked the sucker out and threw the line over the bed lol. And I took a swing at my vagina too, husband snatched my hand and asked what I was doing. The Dr and nurses all gasped. I'm assuming I was thinking to grab the baby and get it out but I honestly don't remember that either. The whole hospital stay I had no pain mess or relievers of any kind. They made me so tired with my son I was sleeping and they kept wanting to take him to the nursery while I slept, so I declined them. Every new nurse I saw was like oh you're the one I heard about that ripped out the IV and hasn't taken any pain meds. Apparently I was the talk of the floor haha.
I had to be induced when I was just over 1 week past my due date. (Medical issue, had second opinions) I went in Sunday night and they put gel on the cervix in an attempt to ripen/soften/prepare. My body was no where near ready for labour.
Over night not much happened other than pain on and off. I spent most of the next day walking around and on a drip of meds to start labour. Not much happened other than more pain. A doctor said he was going to check on things and he broke my water. I was not happy. (He was not my ob and I am not sure if he did it on purpose)
I was having regular and strong contractions but this baby was still really high and not moving down. (Which would apparently help things) When it had been over 24 hours of trying to get the baby to co-operate a nurse decided to help out. They weren't planning on pushing a c-section but I know they would not let this go on forever. They found the baby had passed meconium in the uterus and seemed to be a bit distressed.
A nurse told me she was off soon but knew what could help. With the help of my husband she positioned me in a really awkward position and literally with the help of my body position physically pushed/massaged this kid down. Immediately I felt the pressure strongly and knew I had to push soon. The doctor was called and I pushed the baby put in a couple of pushes. (Less than 20 minutes after the nurse did whatever she did)
I didn't see that nurse again but I am pretty sure whatever she did helped me avoid further interventions. No idea if it is an actual thing or if she made it up but it worked.
This hospital was not my favourite but the nurses were good. Since I spend most of my time with the nurses I am going back for this birth.
I have had an epidural and I have done it med free. I wouldn't say one was better although one was clearly less painful. The recovery was the same. Didn't interfere with breastfeeding or anything else.
Baby #1
due date - June 12 delivery date- 11june
vaginal birth with epidural
I was strep b positive and allergic to antibiotics so the minute I started feeling contractions I had to head in to start medication. Thankfully my water just broke and my contractions started at 5 mins apart so it wasn't much else to do but head in. That was at 10:55 pm. The night before we had been to a wedding and I told my husband I am DONE being pregnant we need this baby out! So we walked on the beach, ate the spiciest Thai food I could handle, bounced on my birthing ball, ate my dates, drank tea, and had sex to finish the night. I fell asleep at 9 pm no contractions. My water broke and I woke with a small pop feeling inside. I bolted up said "oh shit!" And ran to the bathroom. My water was gushing out it was ridiculous! My husband parked on the wrong side of the hospital so we had to walk the long way around and the poor janitor was mopping the floors. I cried to him I'm so sorry as I leaked fluid the whole way to L&D. Went there they said oh yeah you are in labor let's check for protocol and get you in a room. I labored for about 4-5 hours then they checked me. After that the pain was unbearable and I opted for an epidural. I got a small nap woke up and felt the need to push. We pushed for about an hour and out came my beautiful 8.5 lb baby boy. I got to hold him for a few minutes before things got a little crazy. I started bleeding super bad and I had to be packed. They thought I tore through my bum so I had hands and rags everywhere. I got the shakes and had to give away the baby and get some different pain medicine. Thankfully the situation got under control all was well kinda and I got all sewn up and taken care of. It was scary but I had such a great group of people helping. They called me once a week for a month to check up and make sure I healed okay. Such a wonderful birth and post birth time. This one I would like to try to go epidural free but honestly I kinda loved being in the moment and enjoying the labor haha so we shall see!
Child #: 1
EDD: 10/20/14
Actual birthday: 10/28/14
Baby's Gestational Age: 41+1
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): induction turned C section
Your Story:
*Warning - C Section Complications*
At 41 weeks, I was not at all dialated and showing no signs of labor. While I was not formally diagnosed with pre-e, I was having blood pressure issues so my OB did not feel comfortable letting me go past 41 weeks.
I went in at 41 weeks and was induced with cytotech. I only made it to 3 cm on cytotech after 12 hours, so they gave me an epi and switched to pitocin and broke my water. After another 24 hours passed, I had only made it to 4 cm.
i had started to feel a lot of pain through my epidural. The OB came in and recommended a c section. I was so exhausted at that point I agreed.
During my c section, I had a LOT of pain. It wasn't pain from the incision, but something internal that was excruciating and constant. It was so bad I was screaming on the OR table and crying hysterically. As soon as they got DD out it stopped - but I will never forget that pain.
DD was a big girl, 9 lb 10 oz and 22 3/4 inches long.
Child #: 1
EDD: 12/21/09
Actual birthday: 11/18/09
Baby's Gestational Age: 35w2d
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
Failed induction turned c-section
Your Story:
At my 34 week visit they noted that DD#1 was starting to have poor growth. Scheduled for level 2 U/S the next week that again showed poor growth, but also low fluid. Cervical exam done to see where we were at and sent home for plan to f/u later that week. Started contracting after the exam and contracted all night long until went to L&D the next am. Worse fluid levels so admitted for induction. 24 hours later and at least 12+ hours after breaking my water I only got to 4cm. C-section for failure to progress. Looking back I could have tried to push them more about giving me more time, but I was hungry and tired. Tiny baby at 4lbs 1oz, but no NICU time and went home after 2 days.
Your age at birth: 30
Child #: 2
EDD: 8/14/12
Actual birthday: 7/25/12
Baby's Gestational Age: 37w6d
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
VBAC
Your Story:
Had my 37 week appointment where I was around 1-2cm and my MFM didn't think I would go for a few more weeks(had me book out 3 more weeks of appointments). Went to bed that night and woke up just prior to midnight feeling off. Got out of bed and quickly realized my water broke. Headed into L&D after showering since I was a VBAC. Made it until around 1-2pm the next day without an epidural on pitocin, but finally caved. Got an epidural, took a nap, and woke up ready to push. I think 2-3 pushes later she was here.
Your age at birth: 32
Child #: 3
EDD: 5/14/14
Actual birthday: 5/3/14
Baby's Gestational Age: 38w4d
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc):
VBACx2
Your Story:
I was previously admitted at 29 weeks in PTL and monitored closely while on bedrest. Returned to work at 37 weeks and continued to contract daily. Goal to make it to 38w3d when my OB was on call. Went to appointment that day and basically failed our NST. Sent to L&D for induction, but first had membrane sweep in the office. Got to L&D and they were busy so basically got forgotten about for 3-4 hours(while being monitored). In that time started to have consistent contractions and made cervical change by myself. Held out again for a while on pitocin, but caved and got an epidural. Once again took a nap and woke up ready to push. One push later he was born.
This time around I know that I will have to be admitted for an "induction" due to needing special blood available just in case for myself. I have been told the latest they will let me consider is 39 weeks, but as you see above I have yet to make it that far. This baby will be a January baby. I say "induction" since most will not technically induce a VBAC with usual meds due to increased risk of uterine rupture. Curious to know how everything will go since I have had 2 very easy and successful VBACs.
Child #: 1
EDD: February 18, 2011
Actual birthday: February 12, 2011
Baby's Gestational Age: 39 weeks
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): cesarean
Your Story: I was induced with my son be user of my gestational diabetes. I was in labor for almost 18 hours when the doctor discovered that my son's noggin was too big to be delivered naturally. I had an emergency cesarean and he came out not breathing. Scariest few moments of my life. The last thing I remember from that day was hearing him cry, the rest is blank until 12 hours later when I was introduced to my amazing baby in the NICU where we lived for the next week.
My next child's story needs a trigger warning.
Your age at birth: 26
Child #: 2
EDD: October 3, 2015
Actual birthday: Born sleeping on July 28,2015
Baby's Gestational Age: 32 weeks
Birth type (quick and dirty details: cesarean, vaginal, induction, med-free, home birth, VBAC, etc): VBAC
Your Story: I went into the hospital on a Monday morning due to decreased movement over the weekend. It took a nurse and three doctors to confirm our worse fear. Our daughter passed away before we ever got to truly meet her. I was induced later that day and our sweet beautiful Kali Jean was born the next morning. I was able to do a vback with her because she was so small.
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.