My son's birth was pretty easy, overall, which makes me nervous that this kid will be the opposite!
He was measuring big my whole pregnancy, and my OB suggested that an induction might decrease my chances of a c-section since we had no idea how big he'd actually get. I scheduled an induction for 41 weeks exactly, and since I was already dilated to 3 cm, we just did pitocin. They checked me in at 8am, let me order a sandwich to eat, then the OB stripped my membranes and gave me the pitocin around 10 am. For whatever reason, the pitocin didn't agree with my son, as he started getting heart decels with each contraction, so after about 30-45 mins they took me off to see if labor would continue to progress. It did! He stopped having decels, so I didn't have to stay on oxygen.
Around 12 pm, contractions started getting A LOT more painful. I threw up my sandwich (I will NOT be eating this time around, if I have the option). I asked for an epidural, but since I was GBS positive, we still had to finish the antibiotics. My super sweet nurse sped up the antibiotics a little to help me out, and around 2ish I got my epidural. The anesthesiologist was sort of annoying and kept talking on his phone and taking his sweet time getting things going, but once he did, OMG. It was such a relief. I could feel every contraction, but none of the pain. They broke my water and I was at about 8cm.
Around 4 pm or so, I started feeling the need to push, but baby was in a weird position, so they moved me around a bunch to get baby to move. After that, I felt such an intense need to push, but nothing was really happening. I was fully dilated by this point, but I spent about an hour "laboring down," where my body just pushed with contractions without me trying, to move him further down and into the right position. At 6 pm, the OB came in to check me and said we were ready to push for real! About 20 mins later, he was born! 9lb 7oz, 22.25 inches. Immediate skin-to-skin, one tiny stitch, total of around 8.5 hours start to finish. He scored great apgars, but he had a big bruise on his head from where my body was trying to push him out but he was hitting my pelvic bone! And his cord had a true knot in it, which the OB was so excited about. She said it's good luck--I just thought it was good luck that the knot hadn't pulled tight until he was being born, because if it had, he could've had some serious complications.
I had so much fear going into the process, so for me, it was a big relief that the experience didn't live up to the nightmare I had predicted.
March 19 around 9 am I was having some bleeding and cramping. I was a week overdue so I went to get checked. The nurse said the bleeding was from my internal and sent me home. Cramps continued and got worse as the day went on. By midnight I went to the hospital as they were 5 minutes apart. I was only 3 cm dial. and they wouldn't admit me till 5, so they sent me to walk. Walked until 3 am, was finally dilated enough so I was given a room. They gave me some medicine that helped me sleep a bit but I continued with severe contractions all night. Finally decided for an epidural around 6 am but was only 6 cm dialated. Long story short I labored until 6:30 pm when I was finally 10 cm. I pushed for three hours and she was finally born at 9:38 pm on March 20 with the help of the vacuum. My epidural wore off halfway through pushing and I had a second degree tear. Recovery was a bitch, haha.
Ds - 2013
Started with contractions around 6 pm on May 29. Took a walk and labored at home until midnight. Went to the hospital and was 7 cm dialated. Got an epidural and was 10 cm dialated by 4 am. Pushed 3 times and he was born! Only had one stitch and I was up walking around feeling pretty good when my epidural wore off.
Those births were so different. We'll see what number three brings.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
Okay I've had a really hard time getting on this week, but finally starting to catch up. I love birth stories! @Cricket Bug I've heard the magnesium drop is so horrid. My SIL said she felt like she was dying. I really hope she can avoid it next time. Glad your tiny preemie was alright!!! @618mom22boys I can't believe they cut his head!! Ahh!! Hoping for a better experience for you with #4! @AnnaS930 and @camichael84 I'm glad you guys got to go into labor right before induction.. I've heard that happening to several people!! Also, I did NOT like the labor tub.. wish it had helped me! @Seitzy That would be cool to grab the baby! @marajay6 Sounds like you had awesome staff!! It won't let me tag some others, but I really enjoyed reading all of these.
Here are mine- DD- It was two nights before the due date, and ctx woke me up. We spent a few hours in the middle of the night watching a movie, and then I tried to get some sleep. Was in early labor the whole next day, so tried to walk and such. We anxiously went to the hospital that night around 7pm, when I thought ctx were nearing 5 min apart, though not consistent. I was only 1cm, but since the next day was my due date, she let me be admitted. I went ahead and got the epi and pitocin, and at midnight my Dr. had just finished a birth, so she broke my water. I got some sleep, and she was back the next morning around 8am. Soon after, it was time, I pushed for 5 minutes and had a baby! It was a great experience.
DS- I wanted a med- free labor, without induction. I listened to hypnobabies, but not as much as I should have. DH was not supportive, so when I was finally in labor, he started listening to the CD... sorry babe, not going to work like that. I was 40w3d, woke up at 6am, and had ctx from that time until 4:30pm, they were getting pretty intense and everyone thought I should go to the hospital. MIL had just gotten to our house to keep DD, and I didn't want to labor around her, so we went ahead. Everyone was all nonchalant, there was 3 people ahead of me checking in, and I was really trying to keep my cool during every ctx. We finally got a room in triage.. about 6:00pm and they checked me..6 cm, oh.. you really are in labor, let's move this along. I was proud, since I wanted to go med-free. The nurse was great, coaching me through them, but then shift change happened and I no longer had that help. I got a room, with the labor tub I asked for. They got that all set up, and I hated it. It was not comfortable and I was just cold. So, I mainly stayed on the labor ball, and the bathroom. Ctx were pretty terrible, but at this point I was still focused and calm. And hour had passed, and I was still at a 6. DH wasn't helping, he was trying bless his heart, but it made him really uncomfortable to see me in that much pain and he felt helpless. Anyway, I finally told myself if I hadn't progressed much the next time, I would just ask for the drugs. At about 7:45, he checked and I was 7-8. At that point, I had mentally given up. I asked how much longer, and he said he could be an hour.. he could break my water and it be sooner, but more intense. So we called for anestesia. Looking back now, not THAT much time had passed, and I know it would have been a better experience if a nurse (which i found out later had med-free births herself) had helped, or I had a doula. I was pretty disappointed and felt defeated. Anesthesia was there soon, prepping my back for the needle. Now, I was just screaming my head off the whole time, miserable... (and I rarely even raise my voice).. so out of character, and couldn't get off my side. I felt my water break very shortly after he checked me, and said, "wait...he's coming out!!! he's coming out!!! Don't put the needle in!!!" They told me not to push yet, and I had to wait a few minutes, but 8lb 10oz baby boy was born at 8:25 pm.. 40 minutes of craziness later, about 3 pushes. NICU was in the room because they saw meconium, DH didn't know why, and it all happened so fast, that he almost passed out. But then all was well.
I would like to wholeheartedly agree with whoever said that the magnesium is horrible. It was so bad. I had to be on it for 24 hours after my daughter was born. I had a few visitors during that time and I'm pretty sure I was quite out of of it. I ended up telling the social worker a bunch of random stuff, which she interpreted as my husband being a lazy bum. He is not, at all. My daughter was in the NICU for most of that 24 hours, just because I could not hold her and stay awake. All I could really do is sleep and people kept coming to my room. It was very frustrating and I emailed the director of the Labor and Delivery ward to suggest that they let all those kind of people wait until the next day. It was things like the secretary pestering me about filling out the birth certificate, the person from the kitchen asking about our celebratory meal, stuff that could have waited until I was not on the magnesium anymore.
I didn't have a chance to type out my birth story for my third. So here it is. The pregnancy was mostly uneventful, but they were keeping a very close eye on my blood pressure. I'd had severe pre-eclampsia with my previous pregnancy. At my 38 (? I think?) week check up I had high blood pressure. So they sent me to the hospital for more testing. That wasn't anything to worry about, my blood pressure was fine when they took it there. But they did a quick ultrasound to check on baby and surprise! baby was upside down. This was on a Monday. We scheduled an external version for that Thursday. The version did not work. Outside of childbirth, it was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever done. But I'd do it again if I had another breech baby. The doctor gave me a choice. I could wait until 41 weeks and do another version and hope that she turned on her own. Or I could schedule a c-section. Waiting would mean that if I went into labor, I'd have to rush to the hospital for a c-section. The baby was already estimated at being about 8 lbs. If I did the c-section right away, DH would be able to take 2 full weeks off work. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to take much time off. I'd also have a babysitter for the whole time I was in the hospital, because my mom was off work for a few days. So I chose to schedule a c-section for as soon as possible. They wouldn't schedule it until I was 39 weeks, which was the next day. So it was scheduled for the next day at 7 am. We went home for the night, my mom picked up our kids and we tried to relax. I cleaned my house, avoided thinking about what was happening the next day, and attempted to sleep. I didn't sleep well, woke up many times. We got to the hospital by 5:30, left early because we were both jittery waiting at home. The nurse thanked us for being early. They prepped me for surgery, and I got more and more nervous. At 7 I was helped into the operating room, DH had to wait until I had the epidural in. (Or is that what it is I can't remember.) This was the hardest part. Because I was alone until he came in. I also couldn't really talk very loud, as I'd had a cold and lost my voice. When DH came in I told him not to look at me. At my insides, that is. I didn't want him to see what my guts looked like. I can't really explain this. Anyways, the incision was made and the baby was pulled out. She came out butt first. I got to peek at her and they brought her over to the baby warming bed thing. The worst thing about it is that I couldn't make any noise to ask them to pull the curtain back just a little bit so I could see the baby. The way it was positioned, it was about an inch into my line of sight. The baby was perfectly fine. She was 7 lbs 13 oz. I think. A few more things I remember about it: The nurses were awesome. DH was supposed to take pictures, but he sucks at taking pictures and the so after the baby was taken care of, the nurse took the camera and took pictures of me meeting the baby. The doctors talked the whole time, and not about my insides. They talked about fishing and their kids, and other random stuff. It was relaxing. It told me that they do this all the time and it's not a big deal. I don't think I could have handled it if they talked about my insides. DH didn't cut the cord. He was holding my hand, so the med student who was observing did it. The c-section was not nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Recovery sucked, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.
I'm going to try to keep this somewhat short, I know these get fairly long.
I had my first contraction at 3:30pm on Wed, April 22nd, by midnight we decided to go in because they were so close. I was only dilated to 2 and didn't progress in the couple of hours that I was there even though my contractions were only about 2 minutes apart, so they gave me some fluids to slow them down and sent me home. I spent the night dozing off on the couch only to wake up to each contraction every 5-10 minutes, which continued all of Thursday and finally at midnight Thursday night I decided I couldn't take it anymore and we had to go back in. I was so thankful to hear that I had dilated to 4 so they were keeping me. DS wasn't born until 2:28pm on Friday, April 24... that's 47 hours of labor if you're counting! Other than the long labor, the birth was fairly uneventful, which was good. When I first arrived I asked for something to help with the pain and they gave me something (I can't remember now what it was called) that dulled the pain enough for me to sleep (which I desperately needed to do). Closer to giving birth I asked for my epidural, which I had pretty much planned for all along but being as exhausted as I was I'm not sure if I would have gotten through all the pushing without it. I pushed for about an hour before little man arrived. Overall I feel like I had a pretty good labor and birth experience so I'm hoping and praying that this one is similar.
Bumping! Now that we are nearing the end, I thought this thread would be a good one to re-read. Soon we will start seeing more and more of our birth stories from this time around.
Here's Ellie's birth story...it's incredibly detailed so pretty long...I wrote it for my daughter so the wording is kind of cheesy....tldr: I had a baby on September 17, 2013
Mommy started feeling light
contractions the night of Friday. September 13, 2013. They were about 10-12
minutes apart and not very intense. By Saturday night, they were 7-10 minutes
apart and a bit more painful. They lasted like this the whole weekend and
Monday morning. Mommy didn’t sleep very well those nights!
On Monday, September 16, Mommy and
Daddy went to a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Mommy was dilated about
3.5 cm. The doctor said she thought you would come that night- Mommy and Daddy
didn’t believe her. Then, Mommy and Daddy went to a special test where we got
to listen to your heartbeat and make sure you were healthy, and everything
looked good and normal. When we got home, Mommy and Daddy went on a long walk. It
was a little hard for Mommy but she thought it might help you come out. We went
to Tu Mero Mole for dinner and got Mommy’s favorite: Camarones a la Diabla!
Yum! We finished dinner at 7:00 pm, and that’s when things started to change!
Very quickly, the contractions became
much more intense, and they were all of a sudden 2 minutes apart! Mommy knew
this was the real thing. She took a quick shower and started getting ready to
go to the hospital. Daddy called the hospital and they told us to come in. We
left the house at 8:30 pm and got to the hospital at 8:50. It felt like the
longest car ride of Mommy’s life!
We went to the Labor and Delivery
triage and Mommy was hooked onto the monitors. Contractions were 1-2 minutes
apart and very painful. The doctor said she couldn’t believe how intense they
were! They checked mommy, but she was only dilated 4 cm! The doctor still
decided, since Mommy’s contractions were so strong, to go ahead and admit her
so she could start getting medication. Mommy was officially admitted into the
hospital and brought to a delivery room at 9:50 pm.
The delivery room was so nice and big
and private! People started to show up to wish us well, but Mommy was in so
much pain! At 10:05, they gave her some pain medication through an IV to help her
feel better, but it didn’t do much. You were trying hard to get out! The
anesthesiologist had an emergency, so it took a long time for the epidural to
come. Mommy was in a lot of pain. Finally, at 11:30, he came and gave her the
epidural. It felt so much better right away, but that’s when things started to
change.
The doctors came in soon after and
let me know there was a problem. Your heart rate was dropping pretty
dramatically with every contraction. They said we might need to have a
c-section if things didn’t improve. Mommy was very worried about you. They
broke my water at 12:45 to see if things would start to progress faster to
avoid the c-section, but I was still only dilated 5 cm, and your heart rate was
still dropping with every contraction.
The doctors made the decision that a
c-section was necessary to prevent anything happening to you. At 1:45, they
took Mommy into the Operating Room for the procedure. Mommy was scared, but
excited to meet you.
At 2:10 am on September 17, 2013, you
were born. Mommy and Daddy were so proud. You lay in Daddy’s arms for more than
hour while they stitched up Mommy. You just started at him. It was beautiful.
At 3:30, everything was finished and they wheeled us back into our room where
your two grandmothers were anxiously waiting to meet you.
It was the best night of my life.
ETA: rereading this seriously made me ugly cry...I'm so happy I wrote this- so many details will be forgotten
I just noticed this thread! I can't wait to spend my entire day tomorrow reading them all also, it's hard to not write a long story
On the night before the first day of fall, H and I were getting ready for bed. He told me that it would be a good time for baby girl to come because it was Sunday night and we didn't want to go to work tomorrow. So I told him "if youll just have sex with me, I'll go into labor." So we did. And I did. Totally didn't expect that to work, I just wanted to get laid. So we had sex, went to bed, and my back started hurting so I got up and obviously needed to pee because standing. So I went in and peed and my back stopped hurting. I laid back down and the back pain was back. Then it was gone. I got suspicious so I went to the bathroom and paced like a lioness in a small exhibit in the zoo. I started to notice the back pain came and went pretty regularly so I got out my phone and my contraction timer. The pain would come every 2-3 minutes, so I assumed it wasn't real labor because everyone knows contractions don't start that close together. Bahahha So I continued pacing and the pain moved to my stomach. Then I had to pee again, and the pee didn't seem to stop when I stopped. I kept leaking very, very slowly, but still wasn't convinced it was the real deal. Some point along the way, I had a poopsplosion, I can't remember when though. My mucous plug also came out. So finally, after a couple of hours, I woke up H and told him I was calling L&D, I think my water broke. Call them, they told me to put on a pad and soak it in an hour, then come in. So I did.
We we got around, drove to L&D around 12:30am, with H telling me with every contraction, "don't push!!!"
we got there, peed in the cup, went into the room I did a NST in at a previous visit, and they swabbed me and put monitors on my belly. She dropped off the swab and came back to check mu cervix and said that I was at a 5, so it didn't matter if that was amniotic fluid, they would admit me. She left, came back in and said my water did break. They moved me to a room, blew out my vein trying to place an IV, moved it to my hand and then we did paperwork. Eventually, the anesthesiologist came in around 4am and gave me the epidural, and then there was a lot of sitting around. They gave me pitocin because my contractions slowed after the Epi.
Finally, I was fully dilated and effaced, but baby wasn't dropped into position so they put me on my side. I slept for about 20 minutes. Then they said she was there and to practice push a few times because my dr was on her way. I liked that it was the middle of the day because I was the person that my doctor was running down to deliver like she had during some of my appointments. I was the reason she was wearing the scrubs and crocs that day. That always made me excited when she was wearing scrubs at my appointments because I knew some mama was having her baby downstairs and this time, it was me.
I pushed for 1.5 hours and she would almost come out and then suck back in, so my dr thought my pelvis was too small. She realized after a bit that DD was face up, so she put the vacuum on her head and pulled out the most beautiful baby girl! She was 7lbs, 3oz, 20 1/4in long, born at 1:18pm 9/22/14 in room 5. I always wondered how parents remembered all the numbers....you just do.
she will be 2 next month, she has gorgeous light blue eyes, very blonde hair (finally!!!!) STILL has deep wrist rolls, 12 teeth and is the absolute love of my life. She is the best thing that's ever existed and I'm so, so excited to meet and feel that heart bursting love for her sister. I can't wait to do it all again!
I just LOVE reading birth stories, thanks for posting ladies! I will share mine also with as much detail as I can remember. Sorry, super long!!!!
I was hanging out in my bed watching "One Born Every Minute". This was a daily occurrence at this point but I still think it's funny that I went into labor watching birthing videos. Anyhow, I had been having contractions/false labor for weeks and was for once not having any contractions, so I was convinced I was not having a baby that night (I was 39+1). All of a sudden I felt a pop as if a balloon popped in my stomach. I suspected it was my waters and sure enough, when I stood up I leaked a tiny bit. If it hadn't been for the pop I probably would have dismissed it. So I called DH to tell him we would be leaving for the hospital when he got home but that my water just broke and we probably had hours. Ha! As soon as I hung up I was hit with a contraction so strong I couldn't breathe. I called my mother in law to tell her I was in labor and she later told me she was timing my contractions (I couldn't talk through them) and that she had been about to call an ambulance once my husband came gome. They were 1 1/2 minutes apart and lasted a minute.
We drove to the hospital and I seriously started doubting if I could do the pain med free birth I had wanted. I kept thinking I had hours left in this type of pain and I was almost at my breaking point. DH kept telling me that all our classes had said you were in transition when you started to doubt if you could do it, but I didn't believe him because i had only been in labor for an hour.
We got to the hospital and I had to go through the ER entrance because it was 12:45 am. That meant I had to sit in a wheelchair which SUCKED Sitting and being on my back was extremely painful. I got to triage and reception had lost all our check in paperwork. The secretary told the nurse on the phone "she can't be far along, she's really quiet". I was pissed because I'm extremely quiet when in pain, but I couldn't speak up because of the contractions. They finally got around to check me after telling me my water hadn't broken (it had but DS's head was holding it in). The nurse froze and said "do you need to push?" and told me I was at a 10. I did! They called the doctor who didn't believe them, made them do a second check and then finally started driving to the hospital while the nurses told me "please don't push". Then an awesome tenured nurse came in and told me to do whatever my body wanted me to, and I got to push against the contractions which felt so much better. My doctor finally arrived (the one doctor in my clinic I really didn't like) and started petting my arm during a contraction asking if I was excited to be in labor. I remember thinking "I am pushing lady, what the hell are we making small talk for" but only looked at her with what I'm guessing was fury and pushed her hand off me.
After 10 minutes of pushing, DS was out. 1:15am, 8lbs 2oz and 20 3/4 inches long. I was so happy labor was over and I was shaking pretty bad. He wasn't breathing at first but they got him going, wrapped him up and gave him to DH while they stitched me up. I really wanted skin to skin immediately, but in that moment I was relieved I wasn't holding him. I was shaking so bad I was scared of dropping him.
I did not feel a rush of overwhelming love, just relief that it was over. The love came after once I started nursing him and he opened his eyes, but it took me weeks, if not months, to build up to the love I feel for him now. Please know that if you don't feel immediate undying love, it's normal and it's OK. It will come! And it doesn't make you a bad parent .
I love birth stories! I remember obsessing over them last time. I would constantly lurk on the other BMBs to read all the stories. I actually got out my laptop so I could log in and read my birth story from my August 2014 BMB. So this is long, but here's the whole story!
Harrison Hendrix was born on Thursday, July 31st at 38 weeks, 3 days gestation, weighing 6lbs, 5.2 oz and 20" long.
Some of you may know that I was put on bed rest after being diagnosed with gestational hypertension just before 35 weeks. After the diagnosis, I was put on a low dose of Labetalol and I was going to the doctor for weekly NSTs, blood work and 24 hour urine collections. My OB said I would be induced by 39 weeks if things continued to go well. At my 37 week appointment, LO wasn't cooperating during the NST after changing positions, chugging cold water and eating candy, so they sent me to L&D for monitoring. Of course, as soon as I arrived, he started moving more and they saw the accelerations/decelerations in heart rate that they look for. So I went home and then started NSTs twice a week! I was scheduled for induction at midnight on August 1st.
At my appointment on Wednesday, July 30, LO wasn't cooperating again. After trying all the tricks, the OB wanted to send me back up to L&D for monitoring. I asked if we could just go ahead and start the induction since it was scheduled to begin in 36 hours anyway! Thankfully, she agreed and I went home to get my bag and meet up with DH before heading to the hospital.
We got checked in and they started the Pitocin around 1 p.m. I was already 4cm, 50% and -1 station, so I was hoping things would progress quickly... no such luck! At 4:30 p.m., they broke my water and I was only 5-6 cm, so not going too fast. Around 5:30 p.m., contractions were ramping up to the point where I couldn't talk through them, so I went ahead and asked for the epidural. By the time the anesthetist arrived, I was VERY ready for some relief. I was nervous about the epidural and even more so after my mom (also an anesthetist) looked at my back and said I would be difficult. The anesthetist who did it said the same thing and they both proceeded to chat about how hard it is to do people like me (THANKS!). Thankfully, it went well and I was feeling relief within minutes. In fact, it worked a little too well. LO's heart rate plummeted and three nurses and the anesthetist all came rushing in and had me change positions to try to get his heart rate to come back up. It was a scary few minutes, but it didn't last long, thankfully.
After that scare, things calmed down and I was feeling NO pain. I had no idea it could be that good...I kept saying, wow, I feel nothing! I could barely tell if I was having a contraction. It was amazing. I couldn't even move my legs. The nurses had me lay on my side for a while to get LO to move down. They didn't want to check me again until I felt pressure to push, which was irritating because I wanted to KNOW what was going on! I kept thinking soon it will be time to push...I was looking at pizza delivery companies to see which ones would be open for my dad to go get me pizza after the delivery...I was starving because I had just eaten cereal and a banana before my appointment that morning. My dad and DH's parents were hanging out at our house waiting for the call that it was time and around 10 p.m., they decided to go ahead and go to sleep.
Around 1 a.m. the nurse finally agreed to check me again and found that I was 8 cm and 100%. At that point, I decided to go ahead and try to get some sleep. That's when the fun started again...LO's heart rate kept going down when I would have a contraction. The nurse said that was a good thing if it went down at the beginning of the contraction because it meant he was being pushed down. But it was hard to tell when exactly it was happening and we kept losing him and my contractions on the monitor. So every 15 minutes the nurse was coming in to try to re-position the monitor. Then they kept coming in to give me fluids because they found he did better when I was getting fluids. So sleep was pretty fleeting. I think I may have gotten about 30 minutes of sleep all night!
Around 4 a.m., I finally started feeling some pressure to push. The nurse checked me again and I was 9 1/2 cm and still -1. So they wanted me to "labor down" more. Ugh, that's when the pain started. Of course, we all know epidurals can't take away pressure and the pressure was terrible. It got worse and worse and after about 30 minutes I asked to be checked again and she said I was nearly 10, there was just a small lip on one side. I felt like, OK, let's call the doc and get this show on the road! The nurse said I needed to wait for the lip to dilate. By 5 a.m., I was feeling the urge to push and in even more pain. I was finally 10 cm and they had me do a few practice pushes.
They finally called the doctor at 5:30 a.m. and told her not to rush in since I wasn't crowning yet... are you kidding me?! I had tears in my eyes and this point. I just wanted to push SO bad! The wait for her to arrive was eternal. I called them in twice and asked if I could PLEASE start pushing??? The doctor finally arrived around 6:10 a.m. and LO was here at 6:24 a.m., so pushing went fast.
I was so focused on pushing that I didn't really notice anything else going on, but I know they were somewhat concerned about LO and they were putting me on oxygen between pushes. Then the doc told me that she'd need to use the vacuum so they could get him out faster. After three or four pushes, he was finally here! He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, which explains why his heart rate was going down with contractions all night. But he is perfect now .
Re: Birth Stories!
He was measuring big my whole pregnancy, and my OB suggested that an induction might decrease my chances of a c-section since we had no idea how big he'd actually get. I scheduled an induction for 41 weeks exactly, and since I was already dilated to 3 cm, we just did pitocin. They checked me in at 8am, let me order a sandwich to eat, then the OB stripped my membranes and gave me the pitocin around 10 am. For whatever reason, the pitocin didn't agree with my son, as he started getting heart decels with each contraction, so after about 30-45 mins they took me off to see if labor would continue to progress. It did! He stopped having decels, so I didn't have to stay on oxygen.
Around 12 pm, contractions started getting A LOT more painful. I threw up my sandwich (I will NOT be eating this time around, if I have the option). I asked for an epidural, but since I was GBS positive, we still had to finish the antibiotics. My super sweet nurse sped up the antibiotics a little to help me out, and around 2ish I got my epidural. The anesthesiologist was sort of annoying and kept talking on his phone and taking his sweet time getting things going, but once he did, OMG. It was such a relief. I could feel every contraction, but none of the pain. They broke my water and I was at about 8cm.
Around 4 pm or so, I started feeling the need to push, but baby was in a weird position, so they moved me around a bunch to get baby to move. After that, I felt such an intense need to push, but nothing was really happening. I was fully dilated by this point, but I spent about an hour "laboring down," where my body just pushed with contractions without me trying, to move him further down and into the right position. At 6 pm, the OB came in to check me and said we were ready to push for real! About 20 mins later, he was born! 9lb 7oz, 22.25 inches. Immediate skin-to-skin, one tiny stitch, total of around 8.5 hours start to finish. He scored great apgars, but he had a big bruise on his head from where my body was trying to push him out but he was hitting my pelvic bone! And his cord had a true knot in it, which the OB was so excited about. She said it's good luck--I just thought it was good luck that the knot hadn't pulled tight until he was being born, because if it had, he could've had some serious complications.
I had so much fear going into the process, so for me, it was a big relief that the experience didn't live up to the nightmare I had predicted.
Dd (2010)
March 19 around 9 am I was having some bleeding and cramping. I was a week overdue so I went to get checked. The nurse said the bleeding was from my internal and sent me home. Cramps continued and got worse as the day went on. By midnight I went to the hospital as they were 5 minutes apart. I was only 3 cm dial. and they wouldn't admit me till 5, so they sent me to walk. Walked until 3 am, was finally dilated enough so I was given a room. They gave me some medicine that helped me sleep a bit but I continued with severe contractions all night. Finally decided for an epidural around 6 am but was only 6 cm dialated. Long story short I labored until 6:30 pm when I was finally 10 cm. I pushed for three hours and she was finally born at 9:38 pm on March 20 with the help of the vacuum. My epidural wore off halfway through pushing and I had a second degree tear. Recovery was a bitch, haha.
Ds - 2013
Started with contractions around 6 pm on May 29. Took a walk and labored at home until midnight. Went to the hospital and was 7 cm dialated. Got an epidural and was 10 cm dialated by 4 am. Pushed 3 times and he was born! Only had one stitch and I was up walking around feeling pretty good when my epidural wore off.
Those births were so different. We'll see what number three brings.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
@Cricket Bug I've heard the magnesium drop is so horrid. My SIL said she felt like she was dying. I really hope she can avoid it next time. Glad your tiny preemie was alright!!!
@618mom22boys I can't believe they cut his head!! Ahh!! Hoping for a better experience for you with #4!
@AnnaS930 and @camichael84 I'm glad you guys got to go into labor right before induction.. I've heard that happening to several people!! Also, I did NOT like the labor tub.. wish it had helped me!
@Seitzy That would be cool to grab the baby!
@marajay6 Sounds like you had awesome staff!!
It won't let me tag some others, but I really enjoyed reading all of these.
Here are mine-
DD- It was two nights before the due date, and ctx woke me up. We spent a few hours in the middle of the night watching a movie, and then I tried to get some sleep. Was in early labor the whole next day, so tried to walk and such. We anxiously went to the hospital that night around 7pm, when I thought ctx were nearing 5 min apart, though not consistent. I was only 1cm, but since the next day was my due date, she let me be admitted. I went ahead and got the epi and pitocin, and at midnight my Dr. had just finished a birth, so she broke my water. I got some sleep, and she was back the next morning around 8am. Soon after, it was time, I pushed for 5 minutes and had a baby! It was a great experience.
DS- I wanted a med- free labor, without induction. I listened to hypnobabies, but not as much as I should have. DH was not supportive, so when I was finally in labor, he started listening to the CD... sorry babe, not going to work like that. I was 40w3d, woke up at 6am, and had ctx from that time until 4:30pm, they were getting pretty intense and everyone thought I should go to the hospital. MIL had just gotten to our house to keep DD, and I didn't want to labor around her, so we went ahead. Everyone was all nonchalant, there was 3 people ahead of me checking in, and I was really trying to keep my cool during every ctx. We finally got a room in triage.. about 6:00pm and they checked me..6 cm, oh.. you really are in labor, let's move this along. I was proud, since I wanted to go med-free. The nurse was great, coaching me through them, but then shift change happened and I no longer had that help. I got a room, with the labor tub I asked for. They got that all set up, and I hated it. It was not comfortable and I was just cold. So, I mainly stayed on the labor ball, and the bathroom. Ctx were pretty terrible, but at this point I was still focused and calm. And hour had passed, and I was still at a 6. DH wasn't helping, he was trying bless his heart, but it made him really uncomfortable to see me in that much pain and he felt helpless. Anyway, I finally told myself if I hadn't progressed much the next time, I would just ask for the drugs. At about 7:45, he checked and I was 7-8. At that point, I had mentally given up. I asked how much longer, and he said he could be an hour.. he could break my water and it be sooner, but more intense. So we called for anestesia. Looking back now, not THAT much time had passed, and I know it would have been a better experience if a nurse (which i found out later had med-free births herself) had helped, or I had a doula. I was pretty disappointed and felt defeated. Anesthesia was there soon, prepping my back for the needle. Now, I was just screaming my head off the whole time, miserable... (and I rarely even raise my voice).. so out of character, and couldn't get off my side. I felt my water break very shortly after he checked me, and said, "wait...he's coming out!!! he's coming out!!! Don't put the needle in!!!" They told me not to push yet, and I had to wait a few minutes, but 8lb 10oz baby boy was born at 8:25 pm.. 40 minutes of craziness later, about 3 pushes. NICU was in the room because they saw meconium, DH didn't know why, and it all happened so fast, that he almost passed out. But then all was well.
I didn't have a chance to type out my birth story for my third. So here it is.
The pregnancy was mostly uneventful, but they were keeping a very close eye on my blood pressure. I'd had severe pre-eclampsia with my previous pregnancy. At my 38 (? I think?) week check up I had high blood pressure. So they sent me to the hospital for more testing. That wasn't anything to worry about, my blood pressure was fine when they took it there. But they did a quick ultrasound to check on baby and surprise! baby was upside down. This was on a Monday. We scheduled an external version for that Thursday. The version did not work. Outside of childbirth, it was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever done. But I'd do it again if I had another breech baby. The doctor gave me a choice. I could wait until 41 weeks and do another version and hope that she turned on her own. Or I could schedule a c-section. Waiting would mean that if I went into labor, I'd have to rush to the hospital for a c-section. The baby was already estimated at being about 8 lbs. If I did the c-section right away, DH would be able to take 2 full weeks off work. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to take much time off. I'd also have a babysitter for the whole time I was in the hospital, because my mom was off work for a few days. So I chose to schedule a c-section for as soon as possible. They wouldn't schedule it until I was 39 weeks, which was the next day. So it was scheduled for the next day at 7 am. We went home for the night, my mom picked up our kids and we tried to relax. I cleaned my house, avoided thinking about what was happening the next day, and attempted to sleep. I didn't sleep well, woke up many times. We got to the hospital by 5:30, left early because we were both jittery waiting at home. The nurse thanked us for being early. They prepped me for surgery, and I got more and more nervous. At 7 I was helped into the operating room, DH had to wait until I had the epidural in. (Or is that what it is I can't remember.) This was the hardest part. Because I was alone until he came in. I also couldn't really talk very loud, as I'd had a cold and lost my voice. When DH came in I told him not to look at me. At my insides, that is. I didn't want him to see what my guts looked like. I can't really explain this. Anyways, the incision was made and the baby was pulled out. She came out butt first. I got to peek at her and they brought her over to the baby warming bed thing. The worst thing about it is that I couldn't make any noise to ask them to pull the curtain back just a little bit so I could see the baby. The way it was positioned, it was about an inch into my line of sight. The baby was perfectly fine. She was 7 lbs 13 oz. I think.
A few more things I remember about it:
The nurses were awesome. DH was supposed to take pictures, but he sucks at taking pictures and the so after the baby was taken care of, the nurse took the camera and took pictures of me meeting the baby.
The doctors talked the whole time, and not about my insides. They talked about fishing and their kids, and other random stuff. It was relaxing. It told me that they do this all the time and it's not a big deal. I don't think I could have handled it if they talked about my insides.
DH didn't cut the cord. He was holding my hand, so the med student who was observing did it.
The c-section was not nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Recovery sucked, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.
I'm going to try to keep this somewhat short, I know these get fairly long.
I had my first contraction at 3:30pm on Wed, April 22nd, by midnight we decided to go in because they were so close. I was only dilated to 2 and didn't progress in the couple of hours that I was there even though my contractions were only about 2 minutes apart, so they gave me some fluids to slow them down and sent me home. I spent the night dozing off on the couch only to wake up to each contraction every 5-10 minutes, which continued all of Thursday and finally at midnight Thursday night I decided I couldn't take it anymore and we had to go back in. I was so thankful to hear that I had dilated to 4 so they were keeping me. DS wasn't born until 2:28pm on Friday, April 24... that's 47 hours of labor if you're counting! Other than the long labor, the birth was fairly uneventful, which was good. When I first arrived I asked for something to help with the pain and they gave me something (I can't remember now what it was called) that dulled the pain enough for me to sleep (which I desperately needed to do). Closer to giving birth I asked for my epidural, which I had pretty much planned for all along but being as exhausted as I was I'm not sure if I would have gotten through all the pushing without it. I pushed for about an hour before little man arrived. Overall I feel like I had a pretty good labor and birth experience so I'm hoping and praying that this one is similar.
BFP #1 5/5/13 MC confirmed 5/9/13
BFP #5 5/16/18 EDD 1/29/19
Mommy started feeling light contractions the night of Friday. September 13, 2013. They were about 10-12 minutes apart and not very intense. By Saturday night, they were 7-10 minutes apart and a bit more painful. They lasted like this the whole weekend and Monday morning. Mommy didn’t sleep very well those nights!
On Monday, September 16, Mommy and Daddy went to a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Mommy was dilated about 3.5 cm. The doctor said she thought you would come that night- Mommy and Daddy didn’t believe her. Then, Mommy and Daddy went to a special test where we got to listen to your heartbeat and make sure you were healthy, and everything looked good and normal. When we got home, Mommy and Daddy went on a long walk. It was a little hard for Mommy but she thought it might help you come out. We went to Tu Mero Mole for dinner and got Mommy’s favorite: Camarones a la Diabla! Yum! We finished dinner at 7:00 pm, and that’s when things started to change!
Very quickly, the contractions became much more intense, and they were all of a sudden 2 minutes apart! Mommy knew this was the real thing. She took a quick shower and started getting ready to go to the hospital. Daddy called the hospital and they told us to come in. We left the house at 8:30 pm and got to the hospital at 8:50. It felt like the longest car ride of Mommy’s life!
We went to the Labor and Delivery triage and Mommy was hooked onto the monitors. Contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and very painful. The doctor said she couldn’t believe how intense they were! They checked mommy, but she was only dilated 4 cm! The doctor still decided, since Mommy’s contractions were so strong, to go ahead and admit her so she could start getting medication. Mommy was officially admitted into the hospital and brought to a delivery room at 9:50 pm.
The delivery room was so nice and big and private! People started to show up to wish us well, but Mommy was in so much pain! At 10:05, they gave her some pain medication through an IV to help her feel better, but it didn’t do much. You were trying hard to get out! The anesthesiologist had an emergency, so it took a long time for the epidural to come. Mommy was in a lot of pain. Finally, at 11:30, he came and gave her the epidural. It felt so much better right away, but that’s when things started to change.
The doctors came in soon after and let me know there was a problem. Your heart rate was dropping pretty dramatically with every contraction. They said we might need to have a c-section if things didn’t improve. Mommy was very worried about you. They broke my water at 12:45 to see if things would start to progress faster to avoid the c-section, but I was still only dilated 5 cm, and your heart rate was still dropping with every contraction.
The doctors made the decision that a c-section was necessary to prevent anything happening to you. At 1:45, they took Mommy into the Operating Room for the procedure. Mommy was scared, but excited to meet you.
At 2:10 am on September 17, 2013, you were born. Mommy and Daddy were so proud. You lay in Daddy’s arms for more than hour while they stitched up Mommy. You just started at him. It was beautiful. At 3:30, everything was finished and they wheeled us back into our room where your two grandmothers were anxiously waiting to meet you.
It was the best night of my life.
ETA: rereading this seriously made me ugly cry...I'm so happy I wrote this- so many details will be forgotten
On the night before the first day of fall, H and I were getting ready for bed. He told me that it would be a good time for baby girl to come because it was Sunday night and we didn't want to go to work tomorrow. So I told him "if youll
just have sex with me, I'll go into labor." So we did. And I did. Totally didn't expect that to work, I just wanted to get laid. So we had sex, went to bed, and my back started hurting so I got up and obviously needed to pee because standing. So I went in and peed and my back stopped hurting. I laid back down and the back pain was back. Then it was gone. I got suspicious so I went to the bathroom and paced like a lioness in a small exhibit in the zoo. I started to notice the back pain came and went pretty regularly so I got out my phone and my contraction timer. The pain would come every 2-3 minutes, so I assumed it wasn't real labor because everyone knows contractions don't start that close
together. Bahahha So I continued pacing and the pain moved to my stomach. Then I had to pee again, and the pee didn't seem to stop when I stopped. I kept leaking very, very slowly, but still wasn't convinced it was the real deal. Some point along the way, I had a poopsplosion, I can't remember when though. My mucous plug also came out. So finally, after a couple of hours, I woke up H and told him I was calling L&D, I think my water broke. Call them, they told me to put on a pad and soak it in an hour, then come in. So I did.
We we got around, drove to L&D around 12:30am, with H telling me with every contraction, "don't push!!!"
we got there, peed in the cup, went into the room I did a NST in at a previous visit, and they swabbed me and put monitors on my belly. She dropped off
the swab and came back to check mu
cervix and said that I was at a 5, so it didn't matter if that was amniotic fluid, they would admit me. She left, came back in and said my water did break. They moved me to a room, blew out my
vein trying to place an IV, moved it to my hand and then we did paperwork. Eventually, the anesthesiologist came in around 4am and gave me the epidural, and then there was a lot of sitting around. They gave me pitocin because my contractions slowed after the Epi.
Finally, I was fully dilated and effaced, but baby wasn't dropped into position so they put me on my side. I slept for about 20 minutes. Then they said she was there and to practice push a few times because my dr was on her way. I liked that it was the middle of the day because I was the person that my doctor was running down to deliver like she had during some of my appointments. I was the reason she was wearing the scrubs and crocs that day. That always made me excited when she was wearing scrubs at my appointments because I knew some mama was having her baby downstairs and this time, it was me.
I pushed for 1.5 hours and she would almost come out and then suck back in, so my dr thought my pelvis was too small. She realized after a bit that DD was face up, so she put the
vacuum on her head and pulled out the most beautiful baby girl! She was 7lbs, 3oz, 20 1/4in long, born at 1:18pm 9/22/14 in room 5.
she will be 2 next month, she has gorgeous light blue eyes, very blonde hair (finally!!!!) STILL has deep wrist rolls, 12 teeth and is the absolute love of my life. She is the best thing that's ever existed and I'm so, so excited to meet and feel that heart bursting love for her sister. I can't wait to do it all again!
I was hanging out in my bed watching "One Born Every Minute". This was a daily occurrence at this point but I still think it's funny that I went into labor watching birthing videos. Anyhow, I had been having contractions/false labor for weeks and was for once not having any contractions, so I was convinced I was not having a baby that night (I was 39+1). All of a sudden I felt a pop as if a balloon popped in my stomach. I suspected it was my waters and sure enough, when I stood up I leaked a tiny bit. If it hadn't been for the pop I probably would have dismissed it. So I called DH to tell him we would be leaving for the hospital when he got home but that my water just broke and we probably had hours. Ha! As soon as I hung up I was hit with a contraction so strong I couldn't breathe. I called my mother in law to tell her I was in labor and she later told me she was timing my contractions (I couldn't talk through them) and that she had been about to call an ambulance once my husband came gome. They were 1 1/2 minutes apart and lasted a minute.
We drove to the hospital and I seriously started doubting if I could do the pain med free birth I had wanted. I kept thinking I had hours left in this type of pain and I was almost at my breaking point. DH kept telling me that all our classes had said you were in transition when you started to doubt if you could do it, but I didn't believe him because i had only been in labor for an hour.
We got to the hospital and I had to go through the ER entrance because it was 12:45 am. That meant I had to sit in a wheelchair which SUCKED
Sitting and being on my back was extremely painful. I got to triage and reception had lost all our check in paperwork. The secretary told the nurse on the phone "she can't be far along, she's really quiet". I was pissed because I'm extremely quiet when in pain, but I couldn't speak up because of the contractions. They finally got around to check me after telling me my water hadn't broken (it had but DS's head was holding it in). The nurse froze and said "do you need to push?" and told me I was at a 10. I did! They called the doctor who didn't believe them, made them do a second check and then finally started driving to the hospital while the nurses told me "please don't push". Then an awesome tenured nurse came in and told me to do whatever my body wanted me to, and I got to push against the contractions which felt so much better. My doctor finally arrived (the one doctor in my clinic I really didn't like) and started petting my arm during a contraction asking if I was excited to be in labor. I remember thinking "I am pushing lady, what the hell are we making small talk for" but only looked at her with what I'm guessing was fury and pushed her hand off me.
After 10 minutes of pushing, DS was out. 1:15am, 8lbs 2oz and 20 3/4 inches long. I was so happy labor was over and I was shaking pretty bad. He wasn't breathing at first but they got him going, wrapped him up and gave him to DH while they stitched me up. I really wanted skin to skin immediately, but in that moment I was relieved I wasn't holding him. I was shaking so bad I was scared of dropping him.
I did not feel a rush of overwhelming love, just relief that it was over. The love came after once I started nursing him and he opened his eyes, but it took me weeks, if not months, to build up to the love I feel for him now. Please know that if you don't feel immediate undying love, it's normal and it's OK. It will come! And it doesn't make you a bad parent
Harrison Hendrix was born on Thursday, July 31st at 38 weeks, 3 days gestation, weighing 6lbs, 5.2 oz and 20" long.
Some of you may know that I was put on bed rest after being diagnosed with gestational hypertension just before 35 weeks. After the diagnosis, I was put on a low dose of Labetalol and I was going to the doctor for weekly NSTs, blood work and 24 hour urine collections. My OB said I would be induced by 39 weeks if things continued to go well. At my 37 week appointment, LO wasn't cooperating during the NST after changing positions, chugging cold water and eating candy, so they sent me to L&D for monitoring. Of course, as soon as I arrived, he started moving more and they saw the accelerations/decelerations in heart rate that they look for. So I went home and then started NSTs twice a week! I was scheduled for induction at midnight on August 1st.
At my appointment on Wednesday, July 30, LO wasn't cooperating again. After trying all the tricks, the OB wanted to send me back up to L&D for monitoring. I asked if we could just go ahead and start the induction since it was scheduled to begin in 36 hours anyway! Thankfully, she agreed and I went home to get my bag and meet up with DH before heading to the hospital.
We got checked in and they started the Pitocin around 1 p.m. I was already 4cm, 50% and -1 station, so I was hoping things would progress quickly... no such luck! At 4:30 p.m., they broke my water and I was only 5-6 cm, so not going too fast. Around 5:30 p.m., contractions were ramping up to the point where I couldn't talk through them, so I went ahead and asked for the epidural. By the time the anesthetist arrived, I was VERY ready for some relief. I was nervous about the epidural and even more so after my mom (also an anesthetist) looked at my back and said I would be difficult. The anesthetist who did it said the same thing and they both proceeded to chat about how hard it is to do people like me (THANKS!). Thankfully, it went well and I was feeling relief within minutes. In fact, it worked a little too well. LO's heart rate plummeted and three nurses and the anesthetist all came rushing in and had me change positions to try to get his heart rate to come back up. It was a scary few minutes, but it didn't last long, thankfully.
After that scare, things calmed down and I was feeling NO pain. I had no idea it could be that good...I kept saying, wow, I feel nothing! I could barely tell if I was having a contraction. It was amazing. I couldn't even move my legs. The nurses had me lay on my side for a while to get LO to move down. They didn't want to check me again until I felt pressure to push, which was irritating because I wanted to KNOW what was going on! I kept thinking soon it will be time to push...I was looking at pizza delivery companies to see which ones would be open for my dad to go get me pizza after the delivery...I was starving because I had just eaten cereal and a banana before my appointment that morning. My dad and DH's parents were hanging out at our house waiting for the call that it was time and around 10 p.m., they decided to go ahead and go to sleep.
Around 1 a.m. the nurse finally agreed to check me again and found that I was 8 cm and 100%. At that point, I decided to go ahead and try to get some sleep. That's when the fun started again...LO's heart rate kept going down when I would have a contraction. The nurse said that was a good thing if it went down at the beginning of the contraction because it meant he was being pushed down. But it was hard to tell when exactly it was happening and we kept losing him and my contractions on the monitor. So every 15 minutes the nurse was coming in to try to re-position the monitor. Then they kept coming in to give me fluids because they found he did better when I was getting fluids. So sleep was pretty fleeting. I think I may have gotten about 30 minutes of sleep all night!
Around 4 a.m., I finally started feeling some pressure to push. The nurse checked me again and I was 9 1/2 cm and still -1. So they wanted me to "labor down" more. Ugh, that's when the pain started. Of course, we all know epidurals can't take away pressure and the pressure was terrible. It got worse and worse and after about 30 minutes I asked to be checked again and she said I was nearly 10, there was just a small lip on one side. I felt like, OK, let's call the doc and get this show on the road! The nurse said I needed to wait for the lip to dilate. By 5 a.m., I was feeling the urge to push and in even more pain. I was finally 10 cm and they had me do a few practice pushes.
They finally called the doctor at 5:30 a.m. and told her not to rush in since I wasn't crowning yet... are you kidding me?! I had tears in my eyes and this point. I just wanted to push SO bad! The wait for her to arrive was eternal. I called them in twice and asked if I could PLEASE start pushing??? The doctor finally arrived around 6:10 a.m. and LO was here at 6:24 a.m., so pushing went fast.
I was so focused on pushing that I didn't really notice anything else going on, but I know they were somewhat concerned about LO and they were putting me on oxygen between pushes. Then the doc told me that she'd need to use the vacuum so they could get him out faster. After three or four pushes, he was finally here! He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, which explains why his heart rate was going down with contractions all night. But he is perfect now
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BFP - 01/04/2016; EDD - 09/15/2016 DS #1 - 07/2014