Birth Stories

saltedcaramel518 · October 2018

Second, third (etc.) time moms, share how your children came into the world.

I’m going to go ahead and say there’s no need for TMI warnings because birth is pretty much just a giant TMI.

saltedcaramel518 · October 2018

Tuesday 5/17: I was 37 + 3. Normal day, I came home from work and ate dinner with DH. We discussed how neither one of us has packed a hospital bag and need to do it that weekend. I went to my weekly Bible study, came home, and went to bed around 10.

Not long after I went to bed, I felt a small gush of fluid. I went to the bathroom, decided that it was either discharge or pee, changed my underwear, and went back to bed. I woke again around midnight, and my underwear was wet again. Now I’m thinking it could be my water breaking, but who knows??

I started having contractions, and by 1:30 a.m., they were 4-5 minutes apart. I’m was still leaking small amounts of fluid. I woke up DH and told him I thought my water had broken. He said, “Thank you,” and rolled over to go back to sleep.

I called the nurse triage line, and she told me to head to the hospital. DH and I scrambled in a half-asleep, anxious state to pack bags (side note-DH ended up packing, like, 5 pairs of jeans and 0 shirts). We got to the hospital around 2:30 a.m. I got hooked up to the monitors, and the nurse used a test strip on my leaking fluid to see if it was amniotic fluid. The first strip was inconclusive. She tried again a few minutes later, and it was negative. The nurse said she was surprised because it looked like amniotic fluid. She did a cervical check, and I was only 1 cm and 50% effaced.

I was checked again an hour later; no progress. The nurse called the on-call doctor, and she said to check again at 5:45 a.m. I continued to have contractions 5 minutes apart, but there was no change again at 5:45, so I was sent home.

I had my weekly OB appointment scheduled for 8:45 that morning, so DH and I went home for a couple of hours and tried to rest/get something to eat. I was still having steady contractions when I saw my OB. They were getting more intense. She did another cervical check; no progress (so frustrating!). They also did an ultrasound to check my fluid levels; they looked fine. My OB told me that this could be false labor, but she did think I would have the baby sooner rather than later. She told me I would need to rest if this was the real deal, so she gave a prescription for Ambien and told me to go home, get some rest, and go back to the hospital if my contractions got to where I couldn’t walk or talk through them.

I took the Ambien and fell asleep pretty quickly once we got back home. After sleeping for an hour and a half, I had a dream that a waterfall was coming out of my vagina.. except that was actually happening. My water broke, movie-style, all over our bed. I yelled for DH, and he came running, but my brain couldn’t comprehend what to do next because I was so out of it from the Ambien. I did know I needed to wash off, so I got in the shower, despite DH’s protests that we needed to leave right now.

The ride back to the hospital was brutal. My contractions had really ramped up in intensity. We got settled into L&D (I think it was around 2 p.m.), and I went ahead and asked for an epidural, since I’d heard that it can take a while. Surprisingly, it was inserted about 20 minutes later. I don’t remember it being painful at all. In fact, the tape they used to hold it in was way more painful when it was removed that getting the actual epidural.

Ah, sweet relief. My epi worked really well. I could no longer feel the contractions, but could still move my legs around somewhat. I was only 3-4 cm at this point. They started me on a low dose of Pitocin since my contractions had slowed. DH and I were dozing on and off for the next few hours.

Suddenly, I felt something come out “down there.” I immediately paged the nurse. She told me that my fore bag of water had broken, and I was at 8-9 cm. She called the OB in, and by the time she got there, it was go time.

I started pushing a little after 8 p.m. My contractions were coming in 1 minute apart, so I had little time to rest in between. Pushing was hard work! After 35-40 minutes of pushing, my boy was out. The cord was too short for him to go on my chest, so he awkwardly laid on my stomach until the cord stopped pulsing.

The nurses took him to be weighed (8lbs 7oz) and cleaned up while I delivered the placenta and got my second degree tear stitched up. We spent the next hour and a half or so doing skin-to-skin before being moved to a postpartum room.

sweetyjenj · October 2018

DD was born 2/3/17 at 7:15pm
First started dilating 3 weeks in advance and the doctors thought for sure I'd go early, especially since DD was in 0 position (engaged in my pelvis) 2 weeks early. From week 38-40+5 I had 3 rounds of false labor, which was more emotionally draining than anything. Each time I got excited, then they went away a few hours later. At 40+3 they wouldn't induce me because my cervix wasn't "favorable". At 40+5 I went in again and my cervix was favorable, so they sent me straight to the hospital to be induced. Since I kept having false labor, they didn't think my body would start on its own. I called DH from work and he met me at the hospital. I went home to get my hospital bag and had an early lunch.

Went in at 11:30am. It was very relaxing. They brought me to the L&D room, nurse came in to go over a bunch of stuff and they calmly broke my water. They said to expect to deliver around midnight. About 12:30 I was 3cm and they started me on a low dose of Pitocin, which started mild contractions. We sat around the room, took some pictures, then I started walking around the halls. My mom and sister were going to come join us later in the evening, and my mom was going to stay for the actual delivery. Around 2:30 they checked and I was at 4cm, so they upped the Pitocin. I kept walking the halls and every time I got a contraction, I breathed deep and each exhale I imagined my cervix opening up. I don't know if this was helpful lol but mentally it helped the pain seem productive, rather than just pain. The contractions weren't really painful at this point, but I have a high pain tolerance. At 4:30 I was 5cm and they upped the Pitocin quite a bit. These contractions were painful, but I still kept up the walking until I couldn't. The walking helped keep me going and eased it quite a bit, but I had to stop during the contraction until it passed. Once they were too close together, walking became more of a burden and I just wanted to be in the room. I had wanted 1 hour of painful contractions to help dilate as much as possible before getting the epidural, so the nurse came back at 5:30 and I asked for an epidural.

There was only 2 people in labor at that time, and I was one of them, so the epidural came pretty quick. This was my worst part of the whole process!!!!! I had spinal surgery when I was 13, and ever since, at the middle-lower part of my spine there's a spot that's REALLY sensitive and creates involuntary spasms when touched. Well guess where the needle had to go in. DH had to sit in a chair in front of me while I sat on the bed squeezing his hands trying with ALL MY MIGHT to be as still as possible while he did his thing. I was so afraid of it going wrong, but it was perfect on the first try. Nurse didn't check me before getting the epidural, since only an hour previous I was a 5cm. Nurse had me lay on my left side and left for 15 minutes, then was going to turn me to my right side to help spread the epidural meds. As soon as I had my first contraction after the epidural, I said to DH "I don't feel the pain, but it feels like I need to poop out a baseball." Nurse came in and I said there was an uncomfortable feeling of needing to poop with every contraction. She didn't seem concerned, rolled me over, but checked back 10 minutes later.

At this point I was like, "It REALLY feels like I need to poop out a watermelon. I swear..." so she decided to check me since I was feeling a lot of pressure. She stopped and was like, "Your mom wanted to be here when you push, right?" me: "Yes.." Nurse to husband: "You will want to call her mom and let her know she needs to get here right now. As soon as possible." to me: "You're at 9.5 and I can feel the baby's head." This was at 6:30! Nothing was prepped at all. So the doctor came rushing in, a handful of nurses came rushing in, and everyone worked to prepare the bed and the baby space for delivery. My mom RUSHED over and barely made it. I started pushing at 7 and she was born at 7:30. While pushing they had me push solid for 10 seconds (DH counted) without breathing, then breathe until the next wave of contraction hit, then I pushed again. It was probably a minute or 2 between pushes. It felt like it went by really fast. Once out they laid her on my stomach until the cord stopped pulsing, clamped it, then laid her on my chest to do skin to skin for 1.5hrs. I asked them to delay the weighing and cleaning until after skin to skin. It was glorious. I know I delivered the placenta, but I don't even remember. I only had a centimeter long 1st degree tear, but that was easy for them to fix and I don't remember that either.

kmvisioli · October 2018

DS1: At 40+6 I woke up around 3am to pee, felt a contraction and somehow just knew that it was an actual labor contraction instead of the BH or false labor ones I had felt before. I timed them for a bit while laying in bed and got some sleep. By the time DH was waking up I let him know that I was having regular contractions averaging 6-8minutes apart, but they were still manageable. I hid out in my room dealing with them for another couple hours (my sister had flown in the day before, and I was trying not to let her know so I could avoid the fuss for as long as possible). Sometime between 11am-1pm DH convinced me we needed to get to the hospital, as my contractions had been consistently 2-3min apart for an hour and I was not being super coherent anymore when they hit. Turned out I was only 3-4cm when we arrived, so we walked the halls for an hour and I would hang on DH and sway/rock when contractions hit. After an hour I was at a 6, so they officially admitted me. Labored in the bed, with contractions 1min apart for several hours, until I felt really hot and sweaty and pressure. My water sac was super bulging and basically exploded straight at the nurse on the first practice push lol. I pushed for a total of almost 40min; the nice part was my contractions kind of spaced out and felt more manageable during this phase (I literally started cracking jokes with the nurse), the worst part was baby would crown and then pull back up as soon as I stopped pushing. Turned out he was “sunny side up” which is why my labor was rather non-textbook, with transition phase lasting for hours and hours. On the last push he totally shot out all at once, around 8:15pm (DH said the dr legitimately had to catch him!) and it was amazing how quickly all the pain just disappeared! I don’t remember delivering the placenta, and did not notice when they stitched my small tear. Baby was a sweet 8lb 1oz, 21inches.

skilouise · October 2018

Me as a FTM reading this thread:

sweetyjenj · October 2018

@AshVa in my last BMB I was 2nd to last to deliver, so it was SUPER helpful to read through everyone else's birth stories as babies started being born. When mine finally happened I felt more relaxed and mentally prepared. It was actually reassuring to know that MOST birth stories weren't the "textbook" ones you see or hear about, so then I didn't go in expecting it to be easy like I thought it should be. Instead I was mentally prepared for the worst, then was grateful when it was better than that. Just my experience

skilouise · October 2018

@sweetyjenj Oh, I think this thread will be super helpful, in a scary AF sort of way! I'm still slightly in denial about what's coming lol

kmvisioli · October 2018

DS2&3: went in for my 37 week check-up, and had previously discussed a c-section that week as both babies were breech. At that appt my dr said “Friday is all booked, so looking at dates next week” and I just rolled over and started crying thinking about carrying them a whole week longer. I said I really could not last that much longer and asked about that day or the next, so he went to go check and said we could come back that afternoon for the c/s. We went and got breakfast and grabbed the hospital bag, tidied up around the house a little, and headed back. When they went over all the paperwork I sort of panicked about the surgery, but DH calmed me down, I got the spinal block, and we headed toward the OR. It was honestly so strange in there- cold, a big team of people all just chatting about movies or whatever like I wasn’t even there, and it kind of looked like a super sterile auto body shop. The actual surgery was really fast (maybe 20min from walking into the room to babies out) and the parts that were weird/uncomfortable were the smell and feeling the pressure and pull when they were delivered. I had talked to my dr about a “soft c-section” so my arms were not tied down, they dropped the curtain when babies were actually delivered so I could see them, and they put them on my chest right away. While they were reassembling me after delivery I suddenly felt really queasy and almost like I would pass out (apparently fairly common) and the nurse sitting next to me had a tiny square of paper with something on it (like smelling salts?) that immediately settled that feeling. Baby A was breathing a little funny, so he went to NICU after being cleaned up, and Baby B came back to the room with me for a bit then joined brother in NICU for a little oxygen. Our hospital has no regular nursery, only NICU, so both babies were there for about 24hrs mostly just on oxygen while their lungs dried out and adjusted to being on the outside. I was able to pump while they were there, then several breastfeeding attempts in our room with help from the lactation team. Because I asked for them, the lactation consultants at the hospital were able to prioritize me as they knew breastfeeding was important to me and that we had a bigger learning curve. Baby A was 6lb 8oz, Baby B was 5lb 12oz, both 18inches, and our total hospital stay was 4 days.

MrsDho11 · October 2018

I’m going to give you the full details here in the hopes that it will help anyone else facing an induction. I had this typed up for a few people who asked about my induction that were scared of induction/pitocin/epidurals so it’s kinda written from that perspective, and I don’t feel like retyping it. So sorry!

I was induced at 39 weeks (well, they didn’t have room for me that night, so technically we went in the morning of 39+1) because I’d been having high blood pressure issues (but no preeclampsia).

When I checked in, I was maaaaaayyybe 1 fingertip dilated if the MW was feeling generous and only 20% effaced. She was also still very high-- we're talking -3 or -4 (I suspected it was -4, but they didn't want me to be too discouraged). We started with Cytotec and the plan was for me to take it up to every 4 hours with a maximum of 6 doses. The only problem was that it got my contractions going too quickly for them to ever give me another dose (the concern there is, I think, putting the baby into distress by contracting too much). So I spent the first 15 hours or so, just with that one dose walking up and down the halls, bouncing on my exercise ball, etc. I was lucky that my hospital had the monitors that could be worn wirelessly.

At the end of those 15ish hours, I was still only 1cm dilated. They put the balloon in and drugged me up with morphine so I'd sleep through the night (if that is an option for you at some point, do it. I slept really well and then continued to be kinda sleepy for a while the next day and got in some naps to pass time and gather energy). The goal with the balloon was to get to 4cm so that it falls out on its own, but there's a maximum time it can be in, I think it was 12 hours. When I woke up in the morning, I took a shower (A+ would recommend) and had breakfast. Made it through the 12 hours and the balloon hadn't fallen out. At that point they told me that if I was only 2-3 CM and not fully effaced, they'd do another cytotec, but if I was 3 or 4 that would make it seem like I was making progress, and I'd get pitocin.

I was a 3, and they decided I was making enough progress for the pitocin, but her head was still waaaaayyyy up there at a -4. I lost my mucus plug finally after they took out the balloon. With pitocin I had to stay in bed for I think an hour before I was allowed up just to make sure baby and I were responding okay.

Things did progress after that, and pitocin contractions were stronger. In about half an hour, I'd made it to a 4 and things were starting to hurt rather than be crampy. I actually was still managing the pain well by being up and rocking in various positions (the best was all fours with my yoga ball and music playing), but my BP skyrocketed and they stuck me in the bed. That was pretty much the end of med free for me. I mean, I made it a couple hours longer, but I couldn't do any of the things I'd been doing to help deal with the pain. I had a dose of fentanyl (a narcotic) first, but that only helped for about 15 min.

So here's the thing about the epi. I had built it up to be this huge thing in my head, and it really wasn't. When I finally asked for it, I did so because of the pain but also because I was pretty sure I was fighting the contractions at that point, and I understood that to be something that would just make the whole thing take longer. I was disappointed at the time, and my H was surprised I caved "so early" (his dumb words, not mine), but in hindsight I'm so glad I took it.

I think if I were to do it again and I wasn't having BP problems and could move through the pain during transition, I might have made it without the epidural. My recommendation to people now is if you're going to be stuck in bed, make a reasonable goal like 4 or 5cm, and then just take the epi. At least in my opinion.

I ended up making it to a 6 on my own, so I was just heading into transition, and the MW broke my waters while she was checking me. I believe my exact quote after that was that the epidural was Heaven. The only problem I had was that I didn't know or forgot that there was a button for redosing your epi that I never pushed, so it wore off. The anesthesiologist came in and topped it off (and was all kinds of doom and gloom about that), but it never actually then caught up or worked. I don’t know why.

By the time I was pushing, it was pretty much worn off, I think. I could feel everything and move my legs. But that meant it didn't hinder my pushing so I guess that part was a win? In the end it was a 45 hour induction, but only 45 min of pushing. When I started pushing, she still hadn't dropped below a 0. They wanted me to wait longer, but they'd already delayed me an hour and a half past when I wanted to push the first time and I was having none of it, so I pushed from a 0.

Sorry that got really long winded, but basically I'm saying this: if anyone is fearing an induction because they planned an unmediated birth, I think it IS possible to have an unmedicated childbirth with pitocin (well, unmedicated beyond pitocin). For me that would have required free movement, but I'm sure others can achieve it through things like visualization. It's also possible from what they told me when I started, that they'll give you cytotec in the beginning and never need anything more in that (i.e., no pitocin). And if you're very scared of pitocin, I might recommend that you try advocating for something else first.

And bottom line is that even if you do end up with an epidural, you haven't failed anything. You'll just be doing what you and LO need for delivery.

I didn’t want to be induced, but it worked out pretty well for me, and it was what was best for both DD and I. If anyone ever wants to talk this all through, just PM me (and tag me to let me know)!

ETA: I remember delivering the placenta but didn’t remember it being particularly painful. I did feel all the stitches and did not enjoy that.

bradleysmommy28 · October 2018

I went in for my last monthly visit on 12/11 and was starting bi-weekly visits from then on out. I had worked for a few hours that morning and noticed i was "peeing" my pants just a bit so I figured the incontinence was starting because I was almost 30 wks. My drs appt was uneventful and she even said I was the perfect pregnant patient and I didn't mention the peeing. I went back to work and noticed the peeing was more frequent and at one point noticed something when I wiped (ended up being my mucus plug but I didnt realize it at the time). I texted my husband about it and tried to stay at my desk sitting as much as possible. After work I got to my car and called my husband and he convinced me to xall the OB. They were closed but thankfully the on call called back immediately and said to go straight the L&D as quick as possible. So I drove home (right past the hospital) changed into new clothes because by this time my pants were soaked and Ipicked my husband up. My mom called on our way to the hospital so we told her we were heading out to dinner so we didnt freak anyone out. When we got to L&D they admitted me without hesitation and as I was being triaged I heard the nurse calling the on call to let them know she had a patient with membranes ruptured. DH googled it and showed me hos phone and I went into immediate panic and started having a full on panic attack. DH then called our parents and told them amd everyone rushed to hospital. I got my steroids, was monitored in L&D for a few hrs and then transferred to high risk ob unit. I stayed in high risk unit with daily monitoring for 9 days and on 12/20 I started having back pains about 7am. I called the nurse and they hooked me up however no contractions were showing but with every back spasm DSs heartrate dropped. They did a biophysical profile and DS scored a 0 so they told me to make sure DH got there ASAP. I called my mom too and both showed up as they were pushing me into the OR. DS was born at 11:57am at 31wk 4 days. I didn't get to see or hold him as they rushed him to the NICU super fast. DH stayed with the baby and my mom stayed with me until the procedure was over. After about 4 or 5 hrs, I was able to see him but didnt get to hold him for a few days. After a 21 day NICU stay, we were all home.

hollye30 · October 2018

I saw my doctor 2 days before my due date and she checked me at that appointment said I was high and closed and she would definitely see me at my next appointment in a week. Well..

2 days later on my due date I was up early as my husband was going out of town and I was running his store for him. I cleaned the whole place for him that day. He came home in the evening we had dinner then watched tv. I kept falling asleep watching tv and he kept poking me awake. Finally decided to head to bed at 11pm. I got up from the couch and walked across the room felt a small pop and then a small trickle of fluid. I thought it might be pee so went to washroom to check. Had a pinkish tint so I knew it wasn't pee.

We grabbed the hospital bag and a towel. Stopped at husbands store to put a sign up that it would be closed the next day. Meanwhile I'm waiting wondering what's taking him so long and soaking the towel as fluid continues to leak.

Arrived at the hospital got checked in around 1 am and settled in our room. Nurse suggested walking to get the contractions going we walked for hours until about 4 or 5 am and they weren't progressing Dr suggested pitocin to get them going so we started that. We tried to rest a bit after it was started as didnt know when we'd have another chance. We didnt get much rest. Contractions started getting pretty serious after a bit. The Nurse suggested the tub at this point and it was amazing. Contractions started getting really intense and I decided it was time for the epidural which I was hoping to avoid. The nurse had me get out to be checked again I was at a 6 or so and begging for the epidural..which i had to wait a bit as they were having trouble with getting one placed for someone else which made me nervous. Anyways they came and did mine and it was so quick said i was textbook. I couldn't feel anything and couldn't move my legs either. The nurse checked me again a bit later then gave me something so i could rest before pushing.

Had the on call doctor for delivering which was fine started pushing around 12:30pm. The doctor and my husband were having small talk. My husband makes cabinets and furniture and the doctor started asking about a vanity for his bathroom reno. All while I'm pushing a baby out. Pushing took about an hour, they kept saying I was so close each time, then he was out very quickly and placed on my chest while cord was cut.

They took him to get cleaned up and checked over while the placenta was delivered and a small tear was stitched up. We stayed a few hours in the delivery room, where I ate the best toast of my life because I was so hungry by this point. then we were moved to the mom and baby ward. I needed help getting out of bed for the next while as it took awhile to be able to use my legs again.

The next day the doctor came to check on me and baby and my husband gave him a business card. The doctor ended up buying a vanity from my husband a couple weeks later.

Jackiemxoxo · October 2018

DD1 Birthstory (12/20/2012)- So DD1 was due 12/23 and we went to the OB on 12/19 for our final check-up. I was 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. My blood pressure was elevated but not pre-eclampsia. They told me that because my blood pressure was elevated, they recommended I get induced and the only availability was tomorrow (12/20). She said I could wait until my due date but they didn't recommend it because there were no inductions available which meant I would probably be overdue until January which was more risky for the baby. She said she would give me the afternoon to think about it and to call back when I decided. DH and I went home and I called my family to update them. I cried my eyes out cause I wanted this baby to come naturally on her own but I knew with the holidays coming up that they doctors were less available at the hospital. I ultimately decided to go in at 630am the next day for induction. I woke up, ate a huge bowl of cereal, and headed to the hospital. They hooked me up to iv's and pitocin. The pitocin was no joke and by 2cm dilated, I was asking for an epidural. I am super sensitive to medications, so I met with the anesthesiologist beforehand and told him that I probably wouldn't react well to anesthesia so not to give me a full dose. They usually give a bolus dose which is a big dose in the beginning and then slowly titrate it down. He decided to just start titrating it without a bolus dose. All of a sudden, I felt dizzy and the baby's heart rate dropped. No joke, about 20 ppl rushed into the room and alarms went off. They told me that they knew i couldnt feel my legs but that they needed to get me on my knees and hands position. With help, I got on my hands and knees and the baby's heart rate came back. It was super scary but turned out ok. I was in labor for about 8 hours and it was time to push. The epidural didn't work that well so I could feel more than I would've liked but it helped with pushing. I started to push and my OB said that she thought I might need a c-section because of how big baby was feeling. I told her to just let me try and she agreed. I literally pushed for 45 minutes but she finally came out. I was exhausted. She was 9lbs 5oz. She had swallowed muconeum so they took her right away and sucked it out but she still came out crying which was relieving. I had a 2-3rd degree tear. I could walk to the bathroom right after I gave birth and I was starving. They gave me a turkey and cheese sandwich which worked for me.

jgil85 · October 2018

DS was born on 4/28/17, 6 weeks before his due date.

I had started to swell and feel like general crap around 33 weeks but we were also having a really hot spring in Chicago so I thought that the heat had something to do with it. By the time I got to 34 weeks, my legs and feet were so swollen that I couldn't even wear my leggings to work so I wore dresses and my Birkenstock sandals. I went to my 34 week appt and as soon as the doctor came into the room, she immediately told me that I needed to go next door to the hospital to be admitted. I was freaking out and completely unprepared.

I was hospitalized that Wednesday morning and they decided to keep me overnight to do the 24 hour urine collection and try and get my blood pressure down. Fast forward to Thursday morning, my blood pressure remained high even after meds and the results for my urine collection was off the charts. There was lots of quiet chatter about sending me to a bigger hospital just in case, but they ultimately decided to keep me and start the induction.

Dr came in at 3 to place the Foley bulb and holy hell it hurt! They also started me on magnesium and penicillin due to not having done the Group B strep test. The magnesium was awful and made me feel sick immediately. At one point, I had to get up and pee and DH helped me to the bathroom. I sat on the toilet and all of a sudden had to poop and poor dh sat with me and helped me. And then I felt this intense urge to puke but I had nowhere to go so I just threw up on the floor of the bathroom. It was so embarrassing and I remember telling dh "I can't do this!!" to which he replied "You're already doing it and doing great!" cue tears because I was so emotional.

By 7, the contractions I was feeling stopped and the Foley bulb fell out, I was dilated to a 4. They started me on Pitocin and I knew I wanted the epidural asap. The anesthesiologist came around 8:30 and was the most wonderful man ever. He was commenting on how swollen my spine was and he hadn't seen someone as bad as me, gee thanks. Placement was quick and I felt immediate relief. I was able to fall asleep around 9:30 and slept until my nurse came in at 3. She wanted to check me and I was already at an 8. After she left, I couldn't really fall back asleep so I just laid in bed and savored the last moments with my little guy. Around 4, I felt pressure and called the nurse back in. She checked me and I was fully dilated and his head was right there. Everything happened so quickly and I just remember looking at the tv, seeing Donald trump's face and telling dh he better turn that shit off because I wasnt going to push looking at his ugly mug! I thought dh wouldn't look while I was pushing but he got all up in there and was a great support system. He kept telling me he could see his hair and that I was doing so good. After 18 minutes of pushing, DS arrived. They actually let me hold him right away but then he was whisked away to be checked out and cleaned up. They brought him to me one more time before they took him to the NICU. Dh went with ds and they finished stitching me up. I felt really lonely because i felt like as quickly as everyone came into my room, they all left just as quickly.

Sorry, that got really long!

Jackiemxoxo · October 2018

DD2 Birthstory (07/08/2016)- I was 5 days overdue with DD2 and had been having contractions for weeks. They wouldn't induce me because my blood pressure was fine. I was walking around at 3cm dilated and 70% effaced. About 11pm at night, I started to feel more regular contractions. I convinced DH that I needed to get checked out at the hospital. My mom came over to watch DD1 and off to the hospital we went. I went to triage and I was 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. They told me that they weren't that busy that night and I was so far along that they decided to admit me. They broke my water and I was in labor for about 5 hours. I got an epidural and since my blood pressure dropped with my previous pregnancy, the anesthesiologist was more aware this time. He kept bouncing back between giving me the epidural meds and ephedrine so I felt really hot, dizzy, and yucky but luckily didn't pass out and DD2's heart rate was fine. So it was about 4am and I was so tired. The OB came in and told me I am fully dilated and effaced but that she was face up. She told me that she could deliver this way but it might be harder and take longer. She asked me if I wanted to wait another hour and I said yes cause I was so tired. Another hour went by and she was still the wrong way. The OB told me that she was going to try and turn her as I pushed. My left leg was super numb at this point because I slept on it most of the night and I really couldn't feel much of anything. Luckily, I was good at pushing and they told me when the contractions were. She was able to flip her during delivery and they put her on me right away. Oh yeah, and with both deliveries I remember getting sprayed in the face when DH cut the cord so close your mouth when someone cuts the cord. DD2 weighed 8lbs 12 oz and you could see her red hair right away. My delivery was much easier with DD2 but recovery was harder. I couldn't walk without help until 2 days after because my left leg was so numb. I wish I had switched positions more with the epidural. They gave me pitocin after birth to get my uterus back into place and that was so painful. Breastfeeding also helped this along. This next birth, I really hope I stay home until my water breaks because I want that experience. But I'm also very anxious/neurotic that the baby is just gonna come out.

sfgiantsgamerbabe · October 2018

I started contractions at about 4:30am on 1/14/15 (39+5) and I also had bloody show. My contractions were about 8 minutes or so apart. When they got to be around 6 minutes I told DH we should go to the hospital because I was sure they would be closer together by the time we got there (we live across town). They monitored me for an hour and I was at about 2.5 cm. They sent me home and my contractions tapered off. I went in for my regular OB appointment and I had progressed to a 3. My contractions came back that night so we went to my parents’ house because they live closer to the hospital. I labored there until my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. I also had thrown up and my mom said the same thing happened to her when she reached 5cm. It’s about 1am on 1/15 and they take me back to triage to monitor me. I was still only at 3cm and they sent me home after an hour of no progression. We go back to my parents’ house and my contractions taper off. My contractions were about 15-20 minutes apart most of the day and I was still losing my mucus plug/bloody show. I took an epsom salt bath in my mom’s jucuzzi tub and it helped a lot. I’m guessing that’s when my water broke because when they tried to break my water bag later, nothing came out.
About 11pm my contractions get closer together and I can barely talk. We check into the triage at midnight on 1/16 (due date!) and they monitor me for an hour. I begged the nurse to not send me home. I was exhausted and in pain. At the end of the hour the nurse brings me a gown and says they’re admitting me because I finally reached 4 cm. I immediately asked for an epidural and the angel, I mean anesthesiologist, shows up when I get to L & D. I tried to get as much sleep as I could. I progressed pretty slow so they tried to break my water bag first but nothing came out. Then they started me on pitocin. At 2 o’clock I was at 6cm and the doctor was concerned about infection. I thought I was headed for a c section. I could move my legs so my nurses told me to get on all fours. I was so tired I fell asleep while on all fours. My mom has a picture of it. At 3 o’clock, I tell my nurses it feels like I have to poop. They check me and I’m finally at 10cm! I pushed for about an hour and either my epi was turned off or had worn off because I felt when to push. After an hour of pushing (with some vavcuum assistance) DS was born at 4:12pm on 1/16/15. I had a second degree tear and I was tired but I was up and walking in no time. We spent two nights because DS had a touch of jaundice. Probably from a rough start to nursing.

Wow that was long lol

jandd2014 · October 2018

I got put on bed rest with DD at 25 weeks (shortening cervix), so I spent my whole third tri kind of on edge hoping to make it to full term. I stopped progesterone at 37 weeks and my doctor told me she could come at any time.
The day after Thanksgiving (38+6), I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions (uncomfortable, but not painful) that were 5-10 minutes apart... all day long. By the next day, they still didn't really hurt, but were consistently 5 minutes apart. That evening, I told DH I wanted to go in to L&D, just to make sure things were ok. They hooked me up I walked the halls for a couple hours, but never progressed so we went home. The next day, I still had the same non-painful contraction about 5 minutes apart. I went to bed just before 9 and fell right asleep. I woke up at 9:15 when I was suddenly soaked. I told DH "my water broke" and he asked me if I was sure I hadn't just peed myself, so I showed him the giant puddle on the bed. I sat on the toilet for a few minutes to see if it would drain and then got in the shower. Right away, I had painful contractions that were about 3 minutes apart. We called our parents and headed to the hospital. By 10:30, they had me in a room and I was at 3 cm. Pretty quickly, I just kinda went into myself and closed my eyes and quit responding to anyone. The nurses were trying to get me to sign some papers and I wouldn't even respond so DH had to sign some of them. Around midnight, I told DH I wanted an epidural, which wasn't in my birth plan, but I didn't know how much longer I could handle things the way they were going. The anesthesiologist got there around 12:45 but right as he was prepping me, I told the nurses I needed to push. They told me I couldn't and to hold still because he was trying to place the epi. The first time missed, so he had to do it again (I don't remember it hurting). He finally got it placed around 1:45 and did the test dose, THEN the nurses checked me and I was at 10 cm (note to self to ask where I'm at before getting an epi!). The doctor finally came in around 2 and said I wasn't quite open all the way (I guess there was still a lip, whatever that means), but she asked if I wanted to push or wait and I said I just wanted to push because at that point they had been telling me not to push for like 2 hours. I pushed for just over an hour and DD was born at 3:16. They put her on my chest for a few minutes and then took her off so DH could cut the cord. I delivered the placenta, which didn't hurt, but as soon as it was out, I immediately felt all the pressure just disappear and felt so much better. I had a second degree tear, so needed some stitches. DD has a different blood type than me, so she had to be monitored closely for jaundice but luckily she never needed treatment for it. DD was born early on Monday morning and we went home Tuesday morning.

gorgeousariel · October 2018

DD was born May 11,2016 at 10:28pm 6lb1oz and 18.5”. I went to my 37th week appt and checked in at almost 3cm and 75% effaced. Two hours later, at 5:20 my water broke at home. Contractions started twenty minutes later and progressed fairly quickly. When we got to the hospital , they checked me to confirm that was my water and I was at 4cm, 90%, 0 station at 8:45. We were in L&D by 9pm and the nurses started to ask the intake questions and start my IV for antibiotics (GBS+). DH decided to go to the car and get my labor bag while the nurses were in the room with me. Contractions were coming two minutes apart and were very strong. At 9:45 I felt the urge to push, so the nurse checked me again and I was at 8cm 100%. I called DH and told him “ get here now” while the nurse called the midwife. Luckily the MW was already at the hospital so she came in right away. By 9pm I was ready to push. Because everything moved so quickly I didn’t get any pain medication. My plan was to labor in the tub/shower and use nitrous oxide. I got on all 4s and pushed for a half hour and she was here at 10:28.

They placed her on my stomach for skin to skin but because her cord was so short she could only reach my belly. We waited about 10 min for the cord to stop before DH cut it. I delivered the placenta pretty easily and then midwife realized that I had a bilateral periurethral tear. She gave me a local, which didn’t really work because I could still feel her working. She stitched both sides but because the tears were so close to my urethra she wanted to insert a catheter to make sure she hadn’t accidently stitched that. But she couldn’t find my urethra and undid my stitches on the right side. After that she and the nurse still couldn’t find it so they called in a urologist who found it in about 30 seconds. He gave me more local and left in a hurry. The midwife had to stitch me up again on the right side. So in all I was getting stitched up for about an hour.

After that everything has been just as I had hoped. Great bonding and breastfeeding has gone really well. My milk came in on day 3 and she is a very efficient eater. Dh and I couldn’t be happier and we are so in love.

pttomato · October 2018

DD was born at 39+1, 6 lb 14 oz., 19 inches. We went in for my induction Thursday night at 8 pm. When they initially checked me I had a bishop score of 0 so they gave me cytotec around 11 pm. I was a little worried at that point about the induction being successful since my body was so not ready. When they checked again at 4 am I was 3 cm and 75% effaced, which was encouraging. My blood sugar kept dropping below 70 so they let me eat breakfast and then they started the pitocin. They kept increasing the pitocin every 30 min to an hour but my contractions stayed inconsistent and not painful. They also had to give me dextrose drip because for some reason we were having a really hard time keeping my blood sugar above 70. Eventually at around 1 pm I was 5 cm so they went ahead and broke my water which immediately made the contractions closer together and very painful, and I was starting to have the urge to push. I got an epidural probably about an hourish later and around 3:30 they checked me and I was complete so we could start pushing. I pushed for a little more than an hour. She was sliding back in between pushes so I had to hold her in place in between pushing. The epidural made it so the contractions weren’t painful, but I could still move my legs and feel things like the doctor’s fingers and being stitched up. I really did not like having multiple doctors sticking their fingers in my vag pushing down on my perineium trying to get the head out, and I may have yelled at them a couple times.

Seeing DH get really emotional as they pulled her out and announce it was a girl was really sweet and getting the skin-to-skin time right away was amazing. I did have a hemorrhage so I was kind of out of it and not feeling great for the next couple hours.

Both of us were convinced it was a boy so seeing a little girl was kind of a surprise, lol. And she weighed one ounce more than they estimated she weighed at my 36 week growth scan three weeks before, so obviously that was wrong, lol.

She was perfect and healthy and passed all of her blood sugar tests. My blood sugar looked great in the hospital, but slowly started to creep up over time.

They had me start pumping after feeding on day 2 because I guess losing a lot of blood can make your milk come in slower. My milk ended up coming in at the end of day 3. DD lost almost 10% of her body weight, but was back up to birth weight by 1 week old.

tosh24 · October 2018

DD: Born October 2006 @ 38+4, 7 lbs & 5.5 oz, 21" long, 13.5 hours of active labour.

I had my 38 week appt with my OB on the Wed or Thurs and was 2-3 cm dilated. Decided to get my hair done on the Thursday just in case haha. I had been having inconsistent period-like contractions since 34 weeks. On Friday morning I was having a lot of cramping/mild contractions so I decided to go to the mall and walk around. Went home for lunch, then went back to the mall to do some more walking. Had a handful of really painful contractions around 3:30-4pm and decided I should go home. Contractions disappeared by 6 pm. DH and I had dinner, went out for some ice cream, then rented two movies and lounged around at home for the evening. We went to bed at 1:00 AM and DH passed out right away. At 1:10 AM I felt a gush (thank goodness I had put a pad on before bed just in case) and got up to check things out in the bathroom. The gushes kept coming. I woke DH up laughing my head off because it was such a strange feeling. I sat on the toilet until the gushes stopped. Also had a loose bowel movement (totally normal before labour....now that I think about it, I had had loose BMs all day). DH was frantic trying to get everything together for the hospital and I decided to take a shower. DH called my parents and they left to drive up to meet us at the hospital. My contractions picked up and became regular as soon as my water broke.

When I got to the hospital I was at 4cm so they admitted me. Long story short, I had an awful nurse who didn't want to do anything but chat with her friends so I felt like an inconvenience. She gave me Demerol without my consent and I was throwing up within an hour or so (because narcotics will do that to you...). At 8:30 AM I got an epidural and was about 6-7 cm dilated. The epidural slowed my contractions waaaaay down and they were now only coming every 10-20 minutes. I slept some. Around noon I felt intense pressure in my butt and was at 10 cm but there was still a lip on my cervix so they wanted me to wait a bit for it to go away. I started pushing at 12:30 PM and once DD's head started showing, they realized she was OP ("sunny side up") which is generally harder to deliver. I pushed for 2 hours and she was born at 2:30 PM. Her hand was against her face as she came out so her fingernails tore me up inside and I needed a good amount of stitches both inside and out (also had some exterior tearing). The doctor wouldn't tell me how many stitches she used when I asked so I'm assuming it wasn't a pleasant number. DD was totally fine and I got to hold her before DH took her away to show the insane amount of family members I had in the waiting room. An hour after she was born, the nurse made me take a shower because it was "hospital policy" and then gave me attitude and rolled her eyes when I said I needed help because I still couldn't feel my legs from the epidural. After the shower she sat me in a wheelchair and left me and I feel asleep in the hallway. Needless to say, I changed hospitals when I had DS. I had a hard time recovering because of the epidural and the tearing, but also because of a serious case of hemorrhoids and an anal hematoma (that I finally got diagnosed and removed when DD was 2). I was in the hospital for 48 hours because they wanted to keep an eye on DD for jaundice since we were a different blood type. The first night they didn't have any private rooms available so DH had to go home, but the second night I got moved and DH stayed. Breastfeeding went well and my milk came in with a vengeance on day 3.

ladystout08 · October 2018

I went to my 35 week check up and had high BP. At 36 weeks it was even higher so they put me on bed rest. At 37 weeks it was high AND I had gained 10 lbs in between appointments. My OB ordered a 24 hour pee catch to test for pre-eclampsia. It was memorial day weekend so I dropped off my pee and then we got the results the following Tuesday and my OB said she wanted to see me that day. I went in at 37w6d and my BP was super high, I was swollen and miserable and sure enough lots of protein in my pee so she said go home and pack and she'd call me with an induction time. I called my husband at work, he was supposed to be going down to DC for the day to help at our HQ but hadn't left yet. I told him to wrap stuff up, set his out of office reply and meet me at home and explained why. I went home and showered and packed, the OB called and told us to check into the hospital at 4:30, we'd do cervadil over night to soften my cervix and go from there. DH and I went and ate a big lunch and just kind of killed time until we got to the hospital.

We get there at 4:30, check in, get all hooked up and they do a quick ultrasound and NST to check little dude. OB comes in sometime around 7 or 8, they place the cervadil and she said she'd see me in the morning. I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT. The f-ing worst. I had just annoying contractions but little dude would kick the monitor off, nurses would come in, hospital beds suck, etc.

My OB came in the next morning(Wednesday, May 29th) around 0730. I had dilated to about a 3 which was great considering I went in with nothing. We agreed to break my water and let me labor on my own without pitocin BUT I had to get antibiotics for GBS every four hours and during that time I would be hooked up to monitors to check on babe. I sent my husband away to get breakfast and go home and shower and such. I sat on the ball, took a shower and ate some breakfast. The nurse came in about 1030 and told me to hurry and order food because they had just started serving lunch and it might be my last chance to eat (her name was Britney and she was my favorite person ever). I ate some lunch, got my antibiotics and got checked and was around a 5/6. At this point I had wicked back labor and I kept complaining about my tailbone hurting. Around 3 they came in for my next check and to get me ready for my next round of abx. At this point I hadn't really progressed much so my OB wanted to start pitocin. I got the epidural, we started the lowest dose of pit and I took a nap. I woke up around 6, DH and I talked baby names and just labored. I could feel the contractions but nothing awful. I joked with the nurses that this baby better get the show on the road because the Blackhawks played game 7 in the playoffs against the Red Wings at 8 and I wanted to see the game. About an hour later, the back pain intensified and I thought for sure my butt was breaking. Like I thought my tailbone was being ripped apart and I got the urge to push. I told the nurse and she told me that my OB was finishing up another delivery and to wait. That lasted all of twenty minutes or so when I told Brit Brit that the baby was coming and there was no way I could stop it, my body had taken over and pushing.

My OB comes in, sits down at the edge of the bed and puts on gloves to check me. She's telling me that we'll do some practice pushes, take a break and then get to work. She expects that because I'm a first time mom, I'll push for about an hour, etc. etc. etc. She checks me and says "nope, he's crowning, break down the bed and hand me my gown!" From there things get quick and blurry. I remember DH standing by my head, Britney holding my hand/leg and my OB's resident on the other leg. I pushed for about twenty minutes. I only remember like four good pushes. The first push when he crowned I remember my OB saying "there's his hea- oh, wait, there's an arm too." Apparently he had his arm up over his head and was elbowing me in my tailbone, hence the pain. I remember the final push and my OB said "I'm calling it, 8 lbs on the nose." He weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and she told the nurse to toss the umbilical cord on there, lol. He was born at 7:57pm, a mere three minutes before puck drop. The wiped him off, handed him back and we snuggled and watched the game. My two best friends showed up about twenty minutes after he was born, with my mom in tow(they had picked her up at the airport). I sent DH out for food because I was ravenous and we all sort of hung out for a while. DH later went home to take a hat for the kitty to get used to his scent and my mom stayed with me in the hospital. Because he was born so late I had to wait an entire day to go home. The next day they moved me into a recovery room because a big thunderstorm came in and sent a bunch of women into labor so they filled up every delivery room. lol

My breast milk took and entire WEEK to come in which I now know might have been because he was born at 38 weeks. I also have super flat nipples and the lactation consultant sucked. He was born Wednesday, we went home Friday and I didn't see the pediatrician until Monday. By then, he'd dropped a ton of weight and his bilirubin levels were super high because my colostrum wasn't enough and I was essentially starving him and didn't know it. We got re-admitted to the hospital, I started pumping every two hours and we gave him formula in between. We stayed for a night and got released the next day but it was traumatizing AF. He's a happy, healthy, 5 year old now.

tosh24 · October 2018

DS: Born November 2011 @ 38+0, 6 lbs 1 oz, 18" long

DH and I went out for his annual work Christmas party and my mom watched DD at my house. DH had been joking for weeks that he thought baby would come the night of his party and I scoffed and said it was too early. I had a great pregnancy with DS and I wasn't ready for it to be over yet. On our way home from the party we stopped and got some pizza a fries and pulled in the driveway around 1 AM. On her way out the door, my mom joked that she was tired and not to call her until 8 AM if I went into labour. DH and I watched TV for a bit and he fell asleep on the couch while I did my exercises on my fitness ball. I got down on the floor to do butterfly pose and felt a gush. I figured I had just peed myself because of the pressure the position put on my bladder and went to the bathroom to check. Convinced it was just pee, I went back downstairs to finish my exercises. More small gushes. This time I knew it was my water, but it was more of a slow trickle than it was the huge gushes I had with DD. I woke DH up and we laughed about how my water only seems to break right after he falls asleep. I wasn't having any contractions yet so I decided to take some Tylenol and get as much sleep as I could since I knew I'd need it. Between 3-4 AM I was having some more regular contractions but they weren't too bad so I would pass out in between them. I woke up around 7:30-8 AM and wasn't feeling much in the way of contractions (but felt DS moving tons). I took a shower and then decided to putter around cleaning and moving about to get contractions going. Around 10-10:30 they finally started again and came fast and furious. I was adamant that I was not going to the hospital until the last possible minute because of my awful experience with DD (even though we chose a different hospital this time). DH called my mom and she came over. She took one look at me and said "you need to get to the hospital now". DH and I left, called my doula on the way, and she met us at the hospital.

We checked in and my doula was extremely concerned about how far along I was and told the nurses they needed to admit me STAT and do a check. It was 11:40 AM and I was at 6 cm. They hooked me up to monitors and I laid in bed and had two more contractions that were like an out-of-body experience. At the end of the second contraction I grunted that I felt like I had to push. The nurse told me it was impossible because I was only at 6 cm. I made her check me again and sure enough I was at 10 cm and baby's head was right there. There was a mad scramble and I heard a nurse run into the hallway and yell for the doctor. Doctor came rushing in. Because of how fast labour was progressing, DS' heart rate was going down with contractions while pushing. Doctor said I had to get him out....3 contractions later and I had my baby boy on my chest. There were only 35 minutes between getting to the hospital and when DS was born. I was able to do everything med free like I had wanted and recovery was a million times better without a bunch of drugs in my system (I guess I'm just sensitive maybe?). We started BFing right away in the delivery room and I was having such a glorious time with my new son that I forgot to let DH hold him for the first hour LOL! My mom brought DD to the hospital and we asked that DD come in alone so that she was the first one to see baby and learn his name (we were team green so we wanted DD to have the first honours). DD then went out and told everyone else and I think she felt really special about that (she was 5 at the time). We were discharged from the hospital at 9 AM the next morning and milk came in that day (day 2). I'm hoping labour with baby #3 is as easy and smooth as it was with DS, but I've heard many stories about 3rd labours being very unpredictable so who knows...one can hope, at least!

rooonilwaazlib · October 2018

I flippin love reading all of these, thank you ladies for sharing!!!!!

Edit: LOL @AshVA ! SAME gurl!

CoastieGirl79 · October 2018

DS was born at 12:52 p.m. July 21, 2015. I will preface this by saying, that hindsight is 20/20. I was a FTM with no expectation for the L&D experience. But sometimes ignorance is bliss. This time, I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Lol!

I had BH contractions all pregnancy. The weekend before I went into labor, the BH contractions completely stopped. July 20 I woke up, and I felt contractions coming from my lower back. They were erratic, but strong. I called my doc. She told me to keep timing them and get into the hospital before her shift change at 7 p.m.; it was 8 a.m. at this time. I called DH and told him to get home from work at a decent time. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. I didn't want to get to the hospital and be turned away.

I managed fine throughout the day. I told DH let's get to the hospital around 8 p.m. I was hell bent on staying home as long as possible. We show up at 8 p.m. Doc checks me. I'm at 2cm. She tells me to not leave the hospital and walk L&D for two hours. What the hell. So for the next 90 mins., DH and I walk the floor until I literally couldn't take another step. The contractions would come, we'd stop, I'd grip on to DH and freeze in pain.

I go back to the nurse and doc. Doc checks me, and boom, I dialated to 4cm. The magic number I needed to be admitted. By this time it's 1 a.m. It took another couple of hours to get the epidural. It didn't hurt at all. My L&D nurse said to rest. Bahaa!!! How do you rest when people are checking on you throughout the night. Meanwhile DH is snoring on the pullout bed. Grrrrrr.

Morning comes, I'm making slow progress. The nurse said I would know when to push; my body would tell me. That didn't happen. By this point the epi was wearing off. I could feel the contractions and my legs. They broke my water. Things were moving slow. At 9:30 a.m. I started pushing not because my body told me to, but because I was tired of laying there and nothing happening. They said they would let me push for three hours before we started talking C-section. That's all I needed to hear. I pushed like my life depended on it. Everytime I pushed, DS would crown and then go back in. TMI: I was tooting in my doctor's face the ENTIRE time I was pushing. I was so embarassed. The doc, however, told me to not be embarassed. It meant I was pushing with the correct muscles. I remember at one point, hearing my mom and dad come in the door. I morphed into Medusa - thank God a contraction had come on, because it took my breath away (breath I was going to use to tell them to stay away, please). The nurse stopped them, and my doc (who is the kindest man) gently explained to then that I didn't want anyone in the room and that DS was almost here.

At 12:30 p.m. I started to get nervous. I didn't want a C-section. I have no idea what happened or how it happened, but by 12:40 p.m. a bazaillion people rushed in the room, the room started transforming, the doc rolled up his sleeves, and 10 mins. later DS arrived weighing 8 lbs., .06 oz.

UnbreakableKimmySchmidt · October 2018

"Hearting" all these stories!

During my pregnancy with DD, I was high risk due to high BP. I was on meds and doctor was having me do NST and ultrasounds weekly starting at like 32 weeks. All was going great until my 36 week appointment. I gave a urine sample and the doctor called me back right away and said I needed to do a 24 hour urine collection due to the high level of protein found in my urine. This coupled with an ultrasound when baby didn't move much prompted the doctor to tell me to get to the hospital for an induction. Checked in, started a cervical ripener overnight there was no progress. We reassessed in the morning and the doctor told me she wanted me to stay in the hospital until I got to 37 weeks to induce (since I was on the line to induce/she would need special permission to continue an induction). We had another ultrasound while at the hospital and baby did great during that I convinced them to send me home and put me on bedrest at home. I had to go back to the hospital for ultrasounds/NST or do doctor appointments like every other day.

Doctor finally made the decision to induce me at 37 +2 since my BP was creeping up. I was admitted to the hospital and started the cervical ripener again overnight. This time, success! My water broke at like 4:30 a.m., they started pitocin around 9 a.m. and by lunch I was ready for an epidural. I made slow progress during the afternoon, by 3:30 p.m. I was 5 cm...within an hour we could hear baby's HR monitor going up and down and was checked again around 4:30 p.m. I was 10 cm. I was shocked and so was DH. The nurse asked my husband and a nursing student to hold my legs, I think she called my doctor at some point, who was in route...I started pushing and by the time they doctor came she decided to use a vacuum with the baby's HR going all over. The room filled up with nurses, NICU staff, etc...DH was on the other side of the room from me and I maybe pushed for 10 minutes and baby was out and put on my belly at 4:57 p.m. They took her away pretty quickly to check her out, I remember asking if I tore (i did, slightly), they stitched me up. I remember a nurse talking about how the placenta had started to calicify ( a sign of PE) and DD was brought back to me pretty quick for skin to skin. She was a healthy 6 lbs, 15 oz. My BP ended up going pretty low after delivering so I felt kind of terrible for awhile. I did manage to have breakfast, lunch and dinner and give birth in between, pretty proud of that-- haha!

ladystout08 · October 2018

@cait32 my friend had her son in her garage earlier this year. And because they live close to the Mexico border they had to jump through a thousand and one hoops to prove he was born in the U.S. and is a citizen since no medical professionals attended the birth. And then, the hospital sent her a bill for a full birth despite them just delivering her placenta and sending her home a few hours later. She was paying like a $1 each month to keep it out of collections while she waited for an itemized bill. Suddenly the payments stopped coming out and she called to find out that they had marked her as deceased. So much drama.

pttomato · October 2018

cait32 said:

@tosh24 I have a friend who just had #3 at home in her BATHROOM because of how fast it went...here's hoping for something closer to your DS!

This happened to my cousin with her second!

libertymomrn · October 2018

Baby #1

It was exactly in my EDD, and I had been having irregular, but frequent Braxton’s hicks contractions all night long, and wondered if it was early labor.I took the awful advice of another mom to not go to sleep when you’re getting frequent BH, or think you might be labor because it might stop the contractions. (Bad advice! Do not stay awake all night at 40 weeks pregnant because you want to get labor going!) I tried some nipple stimulation with each contraction, and just before 4am, I knew the contractions were for sure labor. We called the midwife around 8 or 9, and when she arrived and checked me, I was only at a 1.5. She gave us a list of things to call her for and said she would be back to check in later on the day. I labored all day with my husband. I used the hypnobirthing techniques I had learned and they worked really well; though I would still describe the contractions as painful. Looking back, though I think I had been too focused on this idea of a pain-free natural childbirth and felt down on myself like I wasn’t doing the hypnobirthing right because it was still painful. Also looking back, all the techniques I used were focused on numbing away the pain and escaping the pain; none were focused on progressing the labor or delivery. I kind of think this may be why my labor was so long. My husband spent hours and hours applying counter pressure to my back, and got the birthing pool ready at some point. Being in the warm water was so nice and soothing. It’s all kind of jumbled together, but at some point, we called the midwife to come back, probably at around the 24 hours into labor mark. I remember thinking that if I wasn’t at least at a 7, I was going to ask to go the hospital for some pain meds. I just felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. But then she checked me and said I was at a 10, except for a little anterior lip. My resolve, returned. It took 3 hours of pushing after that, but our little man was born into the joint hands of our midwife and my husband. The cord was around his neck, but the midwife slipped it off and rubbed his chest a bit and he started making little fussy noises. He was 7lbs 6oz and just shy of 22 inches long. I still remember my husband holding him for the first time and watching them gaze at each other; it was like they already knew each other. Our little guy was so long and skinny! He nursed what felt like non-stop for the next several weeks and chunked right up.

ersh1010 · October 2018

@CoastieGirl79 thanks for the laughs. Between the tooting and medusa comment I almost spit out my breakfast reading your story ; )

libertymomrn · October 2018

Baby #2

After a 31 hour labor with my first baby, I figured I would be in labor for at least 18-24 hours with this one. I had decided that I wanted to have the baby at home with our same midwife again, but was going to do everything I could to better prepare my body for labor. I did prenatal yoga, saw my chiro regular, and started red raspberry leaf tea in the 3rd trimester. I also did spinning babies exercises to try to make sure my baby was anterior instead of posterior.

I wanted to work right up until my due date because I didn’t want maternity leave to start until the baby had come. I was working a double shift as a floor nurse in a facility, and was 14 hours into the shift when I went into labor. I did my best to ignore it and just kept taking people their nightly medications and doing my job. There were a few times I had to pause in the hall to breathe through a contraction, but I was mostly fine. The contractions were coming 8-10 minutes apart by the time I was off work, and I only lived 5 minutes away, so I waited for a contraction and then drove home. I told my husband I thought I was probably in labor. I got a snack and then went to lie down and rest. I was able to snooze some between contractions, but at some point decided a I really wanted to take a shower because I’d been working all day and felt gross. I remember thinking that I’d either been in the shower for a really long time, or else the contractions were coming really close together. Throughout this labor, Invisualized labor progressing quickly and my cervix opening. Instead of trying to retreat and escape the pain of the contractions ( like with my first) my mantr was “I welcome this contraction; I welcome my baby.” I went back to bed and tried to sleep, but couldn’t get back to sleep after that. I needed to get up to use the bathroom, but felt a little unsteady, so I asked my husband to help me to the bathroom. As soon as I sat on the toilet, my water broke with a big gush and I immediately felt the urge to push. At this point, we hadn’t called the midwife because I thought we still had hours and hours to go before we’d need her. My husband called the midwife and explained what was going on. She listened to me through a contraction, and then told my husband that he would probably be catching his baby. He had a brief freaking out moment where he asked me to wait and hold the baby in, but then he pulled it together. The midwife stayed on speaker phone and talking mybhusband through the whole thing as she drove to our house. 10-15 minutes later, our baby girl was born into the waiting hands of her dad. The midwife arrived shortly after that and helped with the delivery of the placenta and checked out me and the baby. We were both doing great, so after that we went up to bed, and she left. I nursed our baby and then we fell asleep. Our son woke up the next morning to a new baby sister!

Wen all was said and done, my labor was 3 minutes shy of 7 hours, including the last couple hours of my shift when I was in labor, and it was so much easier than my first, I thought I was in early labor up until I had to push.

libertymomrn · October 2018

Baby #3

I had been having more frequent BH contractions throughout the day, and was hoping it wouldn’t turn into real labor. I walked all over parks that day with my older two kids. However, remembering how exhausted I was during and after labor with my first, I was not about to stay up, so I went to bed at my regular time. I woke up at 1:30 to a contraction. I had another at 1:40 and another at 1:50. When I had another just before 2am, we called the midwife. About a half hour after that, before the midwife had arrived, my water broke. I briefly wondered if we’d waited too long to call her again. But then my labor slowed. The contractions spaced out some and became less intense. To this point, my labor had been fairly easy. Then came the urge to push. In previous labors this had been a relief and felt my better than the Tara sitcom contractions. But with this one, I felt like my insides were about to tear open. It is the only time in my life I have felt a pain level of 10 out of 10. The midwife had to reach up and hook under the baby’s arm when I pushes to help pull her out. My husband said she had her hand up by her face when she was born, and the midwife said there was some mild shoulder dystopia. But she made it out without injury and was a happy healthy baby. This is the only birth I required stitches after.

From the first contraction that woke me up, to holding my baby in my arms was 2.5 hours. My fastest, yet most painful labor.

drabong88 · October 2018

Finally got on a computer so I could participate in this thread! I did not want to type it all out on mobile.

With DS when I went to my 36 week appointment I was already 1cm and I think 40 percent effaced. The doctor told me that she thought I would go early for sure. Fast forward to 41 weeks on a Thursday and I was 3 cm and 90 percent effaced. We set my induction date for Saturday and she stripped my membranes. Stripping my membranes was more uncomfortable than I was anticipating but not too bad. The rest of the day and all of Friday I had cramping all day long and just felt tired and uncomfortable. I timed some of the cramping but it never got closer than 10 minutes apart. I took a lot of baths which felt amazing. Friday night we were finishing packing our hospital bag around 1130 and I got up to to the bathroom and felt a pop. It was such an odd sensation, but my water did not break. 5 minutes later I had a contraction. I always wondered if I would know when I had an actual contraction and I did for sure. Granted, I never had any braxton hicks that I knew of so I didn't really have anything to compare it to. From my first contraction they came ever 3-5 mintes apart after that. I remember thinking "This isn't how they said it would be, they are supposed to be more spaced out in the beginning". I feel like by the time I caught my breath I was having another contraction. After an hour at home we called the doctor and she told us to come to the hospital. About 1 am we got there and I was around 4cm. The triage nurse said she would go see if they were going to keep me. I looked at her with I'm sure the bitchiest look and told her I was supposed to be there in 6 hours for my induction so why would they send me home. It's possible that I am a huge baby but my contractions hurt, a lot. I feel like the nurse did nothing to comfort or support me, she just kept saying," Keep breathing". She was just phoning it it, which was annoying. My contractions were still less than 5 minutes apart. She came back and said they would keep me and then took me to my room. The nurses in the delivery room were fantastic, the were supporting and encouraging and I hope I have good nurses this time around too. Around 3 I got my epidural which I did not feel at all, I was so focused on remaining still and breathing through the contractions I was having I was surprised when they said they were done. My epidural worked perfectly, I couldn't feel the contractions but I could still move my legs. Around 430 they broke my water and at 7 I was complete but DS was still up too high so they sat me up in bed for an hour to try and get him to move down. I started pushing at 8am. They then found out that he was sideways so they had me lay on my right side and push to try and get him to flip. I pushed that way for about an hour. Then at that point my contractions were slowing, happening around every 7-8 minutes. They started giving me pitocin to get them to speed back up. Finally, after 3 hours of pushing DS was born at 1142. He was 8lbs 4oz 22inches. I has a 2nd almost third degree tear and I felt like I was getting stitched up for hours. I think when he finally came out I was so tired and in almost a state of shock it didn't even register with me that he didn't cry right away. DH had a camara set up on the room, which really didn't show too much but you could see when the baby came out and when I was watching it at home I was surprised how long it took him to cry. Luckily everything was fine with him and he latched great right away.

jandd2014 · October 2018

@drabong88 I had the same thoughts while in labor- the lady that taught our birthing classes said, "only 1/3 of labor is contractions, so make sure to rest and relax your body in between." I just remember thinking, "she lied!!! there is no 'in between' contractions!!" lol

I forgot to mention in my birth story that DD was sunny side up when labor started and I could literally feel her turn around about halfway through my labor. It was the weirdest feeling ever.

libertymomrn · October 2018

I love reading everyone’s birth stories! They remind me of the importance being being prepared for labor, but also being easy going and ready to adapt, because no 2 birth stories are the same. For example, 2 of mine were born in the birthing tub, one wasn’t. Someone asked me if I plan on having this one in the water. I told them that I planned to have the birthing pool set-up, but that it would depend on how things went and what my body was telling me at that time. It’s wonderful to be prepared with a birthing plan, but it shouldn’t be a script. Birthing is definitely more improv than scripted.

mtengl · October 2018

Love all the stories! FTM and they are super helpful. I am normally a huge planner but for some reason pregnancy has made me more relaxed and I am focused on going with the flow because as all your stories demonstrate it is different for everyone.

BitterBetty12 · November 2018

This one is a bit cray. So hold onto your seat.

40+5 I was scheduled for induction (my OB thought my blood pressure had been trending up so she didn't want to wait anymore). I was basically only 1/2cm dilated, not at all effaced, and had made no progress. She wasn't super hopeful it was going to work but we gave it a shot.

I was admitted around 7pm. Before anyone even came to see me I went to the bathroom and noticed I was losing my mucus plug - which I was hoping was a great sign that my body was moving in the right direction. Around 11pm the residents came in, did an u/s, inserted a foley balloon into my cervix (I was told this was the most painful part - it wasn't that bad!), and left a cervidil pill in there.

The cervidil actually caused me to start contracting (it doesn't always). Unfortunately they were back contractions which was brutal. I basically didn't sleep because I couldn't lay down. And I couldn't get in any other comfortable position because it would mess with the monitor that was tracking baby girls HB. By morning (maybe 3-4ish am?) they came in to check my progress - I hadn't made any. I was still only 3cm (how far the balloon forces you to dilate). The balloon typically falls out once you make it to 4-5 cm. They took out and then re-inserted the folley balloon, and gave me another dose of cervidil. I continued to contract. Continued to make no progress.

Instead of giving me another dose of cervidil, my OB wanted me brought into L&D to start pitocin. So around noon I was in there and hooked up. We kept upping my doses of pit. I was standing and rocking because by this point the back pain was too bad laying down. I was having regular strong contractions. I was making no progress.

Finally around 4:30pm I talked to my OB and she said I had two choices - if it was too much I could choose a c-section, otherwise we would re-start the process that night (new balloon, more cervidil). I was game to restart the process but decided I wanted to get an epidural because the back contractions were making it impossible to lay down and my legs were about to give out from exhaustion and hours of rocking back and forth.

The anesthetist came in, after 2 botched tries was able to place the epidural on the third tri. Except I immediately went completely numb from the waist down and couldn't move or feel any part of my lower body. A couple of minutes later I started shaking uncontrollably. They took my temperature and it had started to spike. My hospital has a policy where if a fever goes above 100.4 the baby has a mandatory 2 day nicu stay for observation and antibiotics. My OB thought the fever was not an infection and she had the nurse take my temp again and it was below the threshold.

My OB then gave me the 'choice' of having the c-section right then and there, or waiting because she had a scheduled one at 5pm. It felt nice to have a choice but I later learned it really wasn't one. It was an emergency C. She didn't want to risk my temperature increasing or my body having any other responses to the anesthesia.

So back comes the anesthetist and his resident. They pump me up with MORE of the epidural (because you need a higher dose for the surgery). They begin to wheel me to the ER. On the way there I become super groggy, lose control of my arms, and lose the ability to move my head and talk. They're talking to me and trying to get me to help them with things (like lifting my arms into the supports) and I'm literally incapable. I felt like I was having trouble breathing and just kept focusing on taking breaths. I had the mask over my mouth because I was not breathing through my nose.

At 5:44pm my daughter was born. I remember my husband bringing her over to me and showing her and saying she was perfect. I remember other small parts of the surgery like them counting their instruments after they sewed me up. And then I remember the anesthetist trying to bring me back.

I came back 'to' as I was being wheeled to recovery. I could all of a sudden talk and move my head and start to move my arms. When I saw my OB she told me she suspected the anesthetist gave me narcan because she saw an empty vile in the OR. It took me 4+ hours of being in recovery before I was able to be transferred to a room because that's how long it took for me to gain enough control of my legs to allow them to change my bandages.

So yeah. It was insane. And I had some crazy things happen afterward because of it as well (like a spinal headache because the epidrual was likely misplaced which caused the sedative to have such severe effects on me to begin with). BUT here I am 16 months later ready to do it all over again.

TLDR: I was induced. My anesthetist severely messed up my epidural. I had an emergency c-section and had to have narcan administered post surgery to bring me back from the anesthesia overdose.

VallieS86 · November 2018

The day before I gave birth I went to work like usual, I had the next 2 days off so when I left people were joking about me going into labor but I figured I'd still be working. I went home and my hubby and I went for a walk, and I took a long warm bath that night. I woke up several times Sunday night/Monday morning to pee. I think I woke around 430am Monday morning to pee and felt kind of crampy but disregarded it as Braxton hicks and went back to sleep. Woke up again around 530 and had to pee again, felt crampy again but still disregarded it and crawled back into bed. A minute later it felt like dd did a flip and all of the sudden I felt a whoosh of water. I nudged my hubby and told him I thought my water had broken, he sleepily asked if I was sure and I told him I was pretty sure since the bed was wet. I went to go shower while he called the hospital and they said if we thought it broke we should come in and they'll check. We grabbed towels and drove to the hospital. Got a little confused about where we were going even with directions from hospital staff we walked right past l&d. Luckily the nurses didn't have anything going on and must have been on the lookout because we got a little ways past l&d and they called down the hallway to ask us where we were headed. They took me in a room and did the test to confirm my water had broken. If I remember right it was only me in l&d at the time. They checked and I don't remember what I was at, maybe 2 cm? They said they'd call my doctor and let her know I was there. They told me after they got ahold of her that she'd be in in a few hours before she went into the clinic for the day. I brought things to entertain myself (ipad) but honestly I don't think I used it. I got one of those balance balls but didn't understand the purpose of it so it more frustrated me. My doctor came around 10-1030 and checked me, I think I was around 5cm. I told her I wanted the epidural and they let the anesthesiologist know. I think he came in around 11 and gave it to me. They rolled me to my right side around noon, and by 1230 I was calling for the nurse because I felt like the epidural was wearing off because my butt felt weird (I didn't know it was the pressure at the time). She showed me where the button to get more mess was and had me push it. A few minutes later they checked me and said I was at 10cm so they were calling my doctor. I think she got there around 1 so they started prepping me but she wanted me to labor down for an hour or so before pushing. Just before 2 they asked if I could feel my contractions, I couldn't so they had to tell me when to push. By 215 dd was out and crying. 8lbs 20 inches. So from water break to birth it was only about 9 hours, and she was only 2 days early. I'd like to think my walking and bath the night before helped everything happen.

My hubby is hoping everything goes as smoothly, he's not looking forward to listening to me say 'ow' for hours again, and is really hoping everything doesn't progress so fast that I can't get my epidural. I'm trying to go into it like I did last time. In denial. I tend to overthink things, so if I think about it too much it'll freak me out. I stay much calmer being in denial.

oaklandava · November 2018

I was induced on Monday June 2 for extremely low fluid. I also had high BP and Gestational Diabetes. I was given the cervadil & Pitocin and told to rest overnight to give it time to work. By morning, nothing had happened. Well, not what they said would. I was at 4cm, but the contractions were off the charts with the Pitocin. They were not being productive, however. They broke my water to get things to move along. That night, still nothing had happened. I was at 7cm, and that's where I stayed. The epidural had not worked (they gave me 2 that did not work). Fast forward to Thursday, June 5. I had seen my OB for 3 rotations at that point. The OB came in and said the baby was not in any distress, and that we could turn off the Pitocin and rest and try again the next day. I told him that I had not eaten, slept, etc. in 42 hours and I had no energy to help him. If I were at a 10 and ready, he would have to reach in and pull out my son on his own because I was too tired to help.

He said he totally understood and offered a c section. At that point, I gladly accepted. When they put the spinal in, it had to go up higher than normal because of the two failed epidurals. That caused my spinal to go all the way to my eyelids instead of stopping at my chest which was crazy! I was so relieved to not be in pain, that I fell asleep during the c section. I woke up to my son crying! They had said that he was lodged in my hips and there was no way I would progress to a 10, but they didn't know that until got in there for the c section. He was perfect. It was not the way I had hoped everything would go, but I do have a wonderful 4.5 year old son who is my world.

At this point, I am going to have another c section. The thought of potentially having the same thing happen again is not something I can stand. To each their own I guess, but it was horrible for me. They think that it also played a large part in the horrible PPD I had afterwards. Praying for everything to be better this time!

libertymomrn · November 2018

At this point, I am going to have another c section. The thought of potentially having the same thing happen again is not something I can stand. To each their own I guess, but it was horrible for me. They think that it also played a large part in the horrible PPD I had afterwards. Praying for everything to be better this time!

Have you looked into gentle C-sections? Planning for a repeat cesarean, you still have a lot of options. My SIL found a great OB, who was wonderful to discuss all her options. She chose to go into labor on her own, and then report to the hospital where she got an epidural and had her section. They did immediate skin-to-skin, and delayed cord clamping. She said she felt so much happier about that than with her first where she they immediately clamped and it the cord and wisked him away to be wiped off and bathed. She said with her first, she didn’t even know if they wisked him away because something was wrong, or because it was just protocol.

oaklandava · November 2018

@libertymomrn Yes, my OB has been fine and good with all of that. My high risk OB is quite a bit older, but a wonderful doctor, and more rigid. So far, I am hoping they meet in the middle and give him to me first at least.

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