@sarah_haha760 I'm so sorry you had such a traumatic birth experience. But I'm glad you and baby are both okay. I hope you have a quick and easy recovery.
@sarah_haha760 - I hate to hear when people have traumatic experiences. I’m so sorry. While mine didn’t include a c-section, I remember taking a while to get past my first baby’s birth. I’m glad all turned out okay and that now you have a wonderful, snuggly baby to help you process and heal from the experience.
I had just gotten home from my last day of work around 2pm, Friday March 9 and was officially on maternity leave. I changed my pants, lied down on the couch and my water broke. With my first it was a full on waterfall, this time it was a slower leak but it definitely broke. My husband works an hour away so I called him immediately so he could clean up work and head home. I waited a couple of hours before calling my dr. and they told me to come in and get checked out. My husband got home and showered and ate and we got to the hospital around 6pm on Friday. They wanted go confirm that I had broken my waters so they did their normal test which came up neg, so they did it again... this one was broken so they did the old fashioned slide and it confirmed I had broken my water. I was also 0 cm dialated.
I walked around and used the yoga ball until around midnight when I decided I wanted to lie down because I was tired. At this point they wanted to book me up to pitocin to get contractions closer together. The nurse who did my IV line sucked and took forever. Finally, hooked up to antibiotics (GBS positive ) fluid and pitocin. Contractions were strong and long... about 2 mins long but I would have 3 in a row and then nothing for 4 or 5 mins, so they upped it. It continued like this until the following morning. When I was checked again I was 2 cm 40% effaced. Ugh. I was stuck in bed because of the pitocin and needing to be monitored. In and out of sleep and watching tv, it was noon when I debated an epidural. I was exhausted and wanted sleep but couldn't get any because my contractions were so intense. Dr said she would check me and help me decide... I was only 4 cm and 50% effaced. I felt like I still had a ways to go, so opted for the epi. Which happened around 1:45 and hurt like a bitch, I actually cried. Finally, sweet relief and I felt a huge wave of exhaustion and passed out for a sweet nap immediately. I woke up and felt definite pressure down below. i also felt a pop and more liquid come out. I alerted the nurse who got the Dr and she came in and checked me. This was around 5pm Saturday. She checked and said I was full dialated.woot!
Next thing I knew, the room was filled with people and trays and it was time to push. It was hard for me to get my neck up and over my belly to push because I was all baby belly. The nurses commented the whole time I was there how much this baby stuck out. He was super active during labor which made monitoring hard at times, so come time to push I needed my husband to help lift and push my neck and head into pushing position.
Thankfully, I could feel the sensation of a contraction and the urge to push. We just had to wait for the contractions, which would some times be a few minutes apart. At some point I could feel his head in the canal, it felt like a melon stuck in my vag and I couldn't wait to get it out. My Dr was getting the shoulders out and told me to reach down and grab my baby, which I did! He was born at 6:07pm Saturday. 27 hours after my water broke.
We did skin to skin for a good chunk of time while the dr stitched me up and they finally took him from me and weighed him and were all in shock that he was 10lbs 9oz. I guess all week they had 5lb babies so this was a big deal.
Eventually they wanted me to get up and pee. I felt so tired and a little light headed but took my time getting up. Once on the toilet I felt like I was going to faint and immediately told my nurses but I want down anyway. I woke up on the floor surrounded by nurses. It felt like it took forever before they got me up and back into bed. This fainting happened with my first son, too, for the same thing...
Finally, got to our room and was anxious for our oldest to meet his baby brother.
I also ended up needing a catheter because I did not have the sensation that I needed to pee and I was a faint risk, so I got a special yellow band on my wrist. They drained so much from my bladder, it was insane. They left the cath in until the day we got discharged.
Overall, I felt so much better than I had with my first and that made me so Happy!
Astor J.’s birth story: Born on 3/21 at 4:17 am weighing 8 lbs 15 oz. Went in Tuesday a day after my due date for a nst and regular ob check up. I was open 3.5 and 60% effaced. Dr checked water level and noticed on sono that there was meconium in the water. He decided it wasn’t safe to go any longer. He stripped my membranes and told me to head to the hospital when I was ready. Got to the hospital at 4 pm, settled in a room, got blood work and iv started. Nurse came in to say that the “safety officer” didn’t think I needed to be induced and they’re talking about sending me home. After 45 mins my doctor made it clear that he wasn’t letting me go anywhere so they came in and got pitocin started at 6 pm. At 7 pm dr broke my water and confirmed there was meconium. Contractions started coming strong and close together and by 9 pm it was so intense so I got an epi. Things calmed down after that. Doctor kept checking my progress and reposition me according to how he thought I needed to progress- left side, right side, feet down, peanut ball between my legs... it wAs a slow process to dialation, but it was steady progress. After a while, the epi stopped working and the contractions were unbearable. Anesthesialigist came in and Fixed it and I felt much better. At 3 am I was open 8. Went for a nap and woke up 3:45 feeling funny. Doctor came 15 minutes later and said I was open 10. They got the room ready and at 4:09 I started pushing. I didn’t feel much, so it was hard to push. But after only a couple pushes, and 8 minutes, baby was out! I didn’t tear at all, and recovery has been a breeze so far! All in all, we’re thankful the doctor noticed the meconium and induced so that we didn’t have any complications. Good luck to those of you still awaiting your little bundles.
I woke up at 1am with cramps and suddenly felt like something was going to burst. I ran to the washroom and my water broke! Fluid kept coming out gradually. I called my mom and she said to wake up my husband and go to the hospital. I wasnt really having contractions at this point. We got ready and got to the hospital around 2 am. Contractions started while we were driving and were about 3-4 min apart. I was 4cm dilated when they checked me (was 3cm for about a week prior to this). Contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart. We waited for about 1.5-2 hours for a room and contractions were getting very intense. My husband and mom were massaging me and helping me. They finally got me a room and I laboured from 3:30/4am. Contractions were painful! My husband would show me funny youtube clips we had watched previously but laughing hurt! The nurse had asked me if I plan on taking epidural but i said i wanted to try without. She and the rest of the workers were very supportive and encouraged me to have a natural birth. Honestly, I dont know what I would have done without those nurses. They were incredible. I dilated pretty quickly. When I was 9 cm I said I had to use the washroom and the nurse said no that's just the urge to push. Finally...it was time (around 530/6am). I guess I wasn't pushing "properly" and they had to do a lot of coaching. I would scream after inhaling and they told me to hold my breath as I push, which was really hard because I felt breathless and couldn't hold my breath for very long. I read you were supposed to breath as you push so when the doc told me this, i was surprised. I was also exhausted. I couldnt push for more than 5 seconds but the nurses and husband would count for me and guide my pushing, which really helped. I tried a couple of different positions to push. The nurse gave me these bars I can use to pull my body as I pushed and it really helped. My husband was telling me he could see her head. They called the doctor and he asked me if I'd rather tear or get cut. I said tear and the doc stayed silent. My husband asked what he recommended and he said cut. I didn't reply because I was unsure and continued to push. I guess every time I'd push, she'd come out a bit but back in. So he told me again and I said fine. I just wanted this baby out! He numbed the area, cut, and he also had to vacuum her out as I gave a few more big pushes. It was such a relief when she came out, and placenta came out very easily. So total, this was a 6 hour journey. I'm glad I was able to do it naturally and lucky it wasn't as long as I thought it would have gone, being my first. I had to get stitches, which really stings right now and is very uncomfortable when I have to sit up, but other than that, I've been okay and baby is doing awesome. This experience was crazy. I cried and would shout I couldn't do this and everyone cheered me on. I remember at one point during pushing that she wasn't coming out and wanted to give up. I remember being terrified of going number 2 on the table, and not only did I do that, I threw up, and when all this happened, I gave two craps. You really don't care in the moment! I didn't believe that until it happened to me lol. I also remember during contractions saying to myself "no more kids", but it really is true that when you hear that baby cry, you'd labour 100 times over again to see your child. We are very happy!
Baby Nate made his debut on 3/27 at 4:00 pm. He weighs 8 pounds and 13 oz. He's huge! I woke up at 3 am with contractions and let 3 go by before I thought I might need to time them. They were coming 7-8 minutes apart so I walked around the house and sat on my exercise ball. Around 4 am I woke my husband up to tell him he wasn't going to work today (he works an hour away). We called the hospital at 5am when my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart for 30 minutes and they said wait 30 more minutes and then come in. We got to the hospital in triage around 6 and I was dilated to a 4.5. After we got situated in a room I labored for 2 hours until I reached 7 cm and got an epidural and the doctor broke my water. At 12:00 I reached 10 cm and my epidural wore off. I still had a lip of my cervix covering his head so I wasn't allowed to push and I was glad because I was in excruciating pain. It wasn't until an hour and a half later that the anesthesiologist came and gave me a redose. After he came, I pushed for 3 hours and baby arrived at 4pm. A total of 12 hours in labor and the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life, but so worth the joy this little guy brings me. We couldn't be happier!
Sorry I have been MIA - while I would not call my birth story traumatic by any means recovery has been a little harder than I thought . Surprisingly it’s not the pain of the c-section I’ve been struggling with - it’s all the other stuff like the hormones , running a fever for no reason , ( no infection though ) , and a bunch of other little stuff that adds up when you’re sleep deprived! I know y’all understand ! Anyway I was scheduled for an induction at 12:30 am on 3/21 40 + 2 bc of my my age and also having hydramnios . We went in, started pitocon . I was scared shitless ( ftm) but everyone was so nice .i had already been having contractions before I was hooked up to the meds that I didn’t feel oddly enough . The pitocin increased them but I still didn’t feel them . Around 6 am my dr came by and checked me . He said I had scar tissue from a LEEP I had done in 2009( precancerous cells removal) and he said it would be too painful without an epidural for him to try to move it . It was preventing me from dilating . I asked to wait tri have the epi until noon since theee was still a tiny chance it may resolve on its own . It didn’t so I got the epidural. Soon after I could feel the corrections so th had to play with my dosage . The dr couldn’t remove the scar tissue but want d to wait a bit longer to see if I would dilate before doing a section . By 430 I was over it . I was tired of b by check and they kept coming to cath me every 2 hours to remove pee ( which I found odd - why not leave in the catheter? ) when my dr came back and I still had not progressed I said let’s just do the section . I got the shakes real bad during the day to where they had to give me Phenagren so I was also tired of shaking like a leaf. Aidan was born at 5:31 pm. I don’t remember much bc they had to give me extra drugs so I wouldn’t feel anything plus the shakes were awful but all that matters is our boy is healthy and usually happy!
Me: 36 DH: 37 Married: 5.27.16 Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
So many beautiful birth stories! all the Aws! Sorry I've also been MIA. Couldn't get on wifi at hospital and came home to more internet problems. Plus it's hard to choose a screen over a beautiful baby face! My story is pretty normal, I guess. After preparing for a med-free birth, baby stayed breach through week 39 so I had a cesarean. Baby was born foot first at 7:55am on 3/23. They showed her to me, made sure her lungs were cleared and put her on my chest. When I was sewed up and they had to take her, DH went with her. When I got to the OR recovery room (a curtained off alcove, really) DH was doing skin to skin and the doula was waiting for us. When I was situated they gave her back and I resumed skin to skin. We were moved to the L&D recovery room after about an hour. Our doula stayed with us most of the day, and a lactation consultant met with us. Unfortunately, baby wasn't really latching and lost 5% of her birth weight in the first day. By the end of the next day, she'd lost 9% of her birth weight, so we had to stay another day and supplement with formula and I met with the lactation consultant several times to learn how to pump and work on her latch. We finally went home on Monday 3/26 after she gained a couple of ounces. Everyone was so worried, we got a lot of attention from the nurses and staff! We went to her pediatrician on Wednesday and she had gained a few more ounces, so we are doing well, but nursing is still not working real great. (that's a story for another thread!) The only other "event" was that I had a bad reaction to the disinfectant they swabbed me with before surgery. It felt like I had a raging yeast infection the day after surgery and when I got home I had an itchy rash across my torso, front and back. The c-section was surprisingly easy and fast. Recovery is going ok. We're texting crazy numbers of pictures to everyone we know. haha
My due date was February 23, 2018. Alice Grace was of course early like her mama. February 16th was my last doctors appointment before Alice was born. I was a whopping 2 cm dilated and not making much progress. Yet I was miserable and was wishing she would just come already. That Friday, Dr. Reardon helped progress things a little further. She thought I wasn’t going to make it to my due date and I was praying she was right.
That weekend Derek and I decided to just go about our lives like nothing was happening. The weeks before I had been just waiting around, thinking my water was going to break any moment. So I was tired of waiting and stressing myself out with the unknown of when she was going to be here. So Saturday night, February 17th, we went to the movies. We had intentions of seeing Black Panther and Fifty Shades but I was only able to make it through one movie before wanting to go home and rest. The contractions were pretty intense and I knew I was in labor.
Yet, Saturday turned into Sunday and still no baby. So Sunday morning we went to church like normal. During worship the contractions were much more intense than they were on Saturday. But I ignored them and continued getting my love for Jesus on. After church, we went home and I knew I was going to be meeting my daughter soon. How? Nesting. It happened. I started cleaning my house like a crazy woman. This energy came out of nowhere and I knew it was time. Derek kept yelling at me to stop and slow down and to rest but I told him I couldn’t. This had to happen. Just let it happen! He finally backed down and let me nest.
Sunday night I was absolutely miserable. I couldn’t sleep and even contemplated calling into work on Monday. Several times Derek begged me to let him take me to the hospital but I said NO. I was not getting sent home again. In my mind, as long as my water hadn’t broken, this baby wasn’t coming.
Well before I knew it, 7 a.m. Monday morning rolled around and I was still considering calling off. Something felt off though about that morning. Alice wasn’t her active self. (I was incubating a ninja FYI) I knew babies would get really still right before birth so I knew we were getting closer. But I convinced myself to go to work and just call the doctor when I got there. I didn’t want to waste anymore PTO. So I had Derek take me in to work Monday morning, February 19th. I punched in promptly at 8 a.m.
I started my morning work like normal. Although I was in agony and doing some very heavy breathing at my desk. My boss finally came over to me and said, “Are you okay? You’re making an awful lot of noise over here.” I told her I had called the doctor and was going in at 10 a.m. to see him and get checked for any more progress since Friday. But that never happened. My cell phone rang a few minutes later and it was the nurse from the Family Birthing Center. She told me Dr. Obi wanted me to come in right away. I argued with the nurse for a minute or so before finally caving. I told her I was going to finish up my morning work and then I’d be in.
I punched out at 8:40 a.m. and didn’t return.
By the time I got to the hospital, the contractions were very close together and getting more uncomfortable. They weren’t painful, just annoying. I think the excitement and anticipation of meeting our daughter kept the pain under wraps.
The nurse checked us into a small room first. This wasn’t the Birthing Center yet because I wasn’t being admitted until they checked my dilation and monitored my contractions for 20 minutes. At that point, I was only 3 cm. My heart sank. I knew I was getting sent home again. But my contractions were 5 minutes apart and getting more intense. The nurse had paged Dr. Obi for his consultation on what to do. She came back and told us that he wanted to admit us. I cried! I was so relieved and excited at the same time.
Once we were admitted, Dr. Obi came in to see me. He was concerned that there wasn’t much fetal movement because he even knew how active of a baby Alice was. He told me I was 39 weeks 3 days and there was no reason to keep her in there anymore. He asked me if I wanted him to break my water and start Pitocin. I didn’t hesitate to answer. YES!
By 11 a.m. Dr. Obi had broken my water and started a small dose of Pitocin. Man, does that stuff work fast! The contractions kicked in harder and faster. By 2 p.m. the anesthesiologist made her way to my room to discuss my pain relief options. In my mind, I wanted to do a drug free birth. But I let her inform me anyways and I signed some papers just in case I changed my mind. At this point, the contractions were pretty painful but I was able to breathe through them with the help of my mom AKA my free doula.
With every contraction, which we could see coming on the monitor before they got really intense, she had me breathe in and out slowly to a count. She kept me relaxed the whole time while Derek stayed by my side and held my hand. At the end of the contractions she had me take two more deep breaths. One for me. One for baby Alice. That’s the only way I made it through those. I couldn’t imagine not having her there to help me relax. I can guarantee that would have been less relaxing and more painful had she not been there.
But by 5 p.m. the contractions were getting to be so quick and close together that I was having a hard time catching my breath in between each one. I had the nurse call the anesthesiologist. I was at 5 cm before she got there to administer the epidural. Am I disappointed I didn’t go through with the pain free birth? Yes. But at the same time it made things move so much faster and I was able to relax to allow Alice a fast and safe delivery.
The only thing that sucked about the epidural was actually having it put in. No, the needle didn’t hurt. The contractions hurt. And they hurt much worse in a seated position. They were coming on so fast and strong at that point, I was shaking uncontrollably. My anesthesiologist told me there was a point where I would have to remain absolutely still. That time came and just as she told me not to move, a very strong contraction hit me. I remember holding my breath and clutching the pockets of Derek’s pants so tightly that my hands turned white. I buried my face in his chest and did my best to try to control the painful quivers going down my legs. Once she told me it was okay to move again I just let go. My whole body trembled. I can’t tell you if it was from fear or from pain. Probably a mixture of both. That was the hardest part of my entire birth story but I made it.
Once the epidural kicked in, I was a whole new woman. We could see the contractions coming on the monitor fast and stronger. Yet I felt not a single one of them. By 10:45 p.m. the nurse asked me if I would like to start “practice pushing” since I was at 10 cm and it was soon going to be time! We had been practicing for not even 15 minutes when the nurse said to stop. She yelled for someone to page Dr. Obi because Alice was coming! But I figured we had a long night ahead of us anyways.
Dr. Obi came in around 11:00 p.m. and we started really moving things along. I had my mom on my left side and Derek on my right, both helping me push. To me, everything moved so quickly. Before I knew it, my mom and Derek were both telling me they could see her head. Duh, I could feel that. But at this point I was already exhausted. I could feel myself getting weaker with each push. I got so light headed, I required some oxygen to help me and baby breathe. (They say giving birth is equivalent to exerting the amount of energy it takes to run a marathon. Well… I hate running, soo…) Dr. Obi told me we had a long way to go. I remember hearing his words and I remember that flipped something inside me. We have a long night ahead of us. It repeated over and over in my head. No. I wanted this to go my way. I told myself I needed to relax, listen to him and it’ll be over soon.
Kiersten, you will have your daughter in your arms soon.
I kept imagining what she looked like and kissing her little feet. That’s what I used to push. And push I did! With every push she came out a little more, but when I would relax she would go back in. I was losing this battle. Dr. Obi realized what was happening as well.
All of a sudden he told me to stop pushing and asked me to cough. What? Cough? Did I hear him right? “Cough for me.” he said. So I started coughing and little miss Alice started to come out again only this time she wasn’t retreating. The coughing was working! You can’t make this stuff up either. I literally coughed my daughter out.
Dr. Obi once again asked me to stop pushing/coughing. The cord had been wrapped around Alice’s neck. Once he cleared her cord away, she popped right out. I heard her faint cry as she was quickly placed on my chest. I couldn’t see her face and I was trying to but my view was being obstructed by nurses with towels. Alice was burying her face in my chest as tears rolled down my face. She was here. I couldn’t believe it, my daughter was finally in my arms! When I was finally able to see her completely, I cried even harder. I was so in love!
The anticipation of growing life in my womb for almost 40 weeks and not knowing fully who this baby was, what she would look like, or who she’ll become. Each kick, each hiccup, each movement drew me closer to life’s greatest mystery. But nothing will ever compare to THIS moment. The moment when we first met outside the womb and the deepest love affair life has to offer began.
I am late posting, and technically the wrong month. I was due March 25th but we had a stubborn little girl who was born April 4th. We went into the hospital at 41 weeks 3 days to be induced. At that time I was barely 1cm dialted and mild contractions every 10 minutes (but had been for over a week). I was given cervidel at 730 am and was allowed to leave the hospital. We returned to the hospital at 1100 am because I was sore and my contractions were 2 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital I was having contractions 1 minute apart. I was checked and barely 2cms. They removed the cervidel. These contractions went on and on. I was in such pain and not far enough for an epidural so in my birthing suite there was a shower and I hung out in there for hours. At 930pm I had to get out of the shower because I was getting sick and almost passed out. I was examined and at just about 4cms. I was so excited because I was able to get the epidural. That was heavenly, until 1130pm when the Dr broke my water and the epidural wore off. I was not able to get another one. I laboured with no drugs until 100 am on April 4th when we were rushed to an emergency c-section due to our little heart rate. It went from 140s to 179 down to 92. The section went with perfection and our beautiful baby girl was born early morning of April 4th. Me and my other ended awake for 24 hours straight and it was the most painful and amazing 24 in my life. The recovery is still on going but much better.
Apparently my platelet count was a 109 and if it got down to 100 I couldn't get an epidural! I wrote down the whole birth story here, it was amazing and scary but I would do it all over again in a heart beat!
https://caseysellersblog.com/2018/03/10/wyatts-birth-story/
Okay havnt written a birth story before so here goes!
i woke up at about 1am on the 14th of March and felt like I had to pee soooo badly, I walked to the other side of the bed and stopped, stared at my peacefully sleeping husband and felt my waters break it was a lot more dramatic then I thought it was going to be there was fluid all over our bedroom floor, so im standing there with my water gushing out everywhere whispering to my husband (whose still asleep) baby my water broke... I did this about there times before I realised what was happening and screamed at him to get his arse out of bed, he gets up and asked me “what now!?” And I’m like uh yeah so we drove over to my mums to pick her up and headed on over to the hospital we signed our selves in and got my examination and the midwives tell me I’m 2 cms so go for a walk, I walked up and down 7 flights of stairs in the hospital from 2 am till 11am we went back into the labour ward and the midwife recheck me informing me that due to infection Risk if I’m checked again I have to stay so I said uh yeah okay, so she checks me again and I’m only at 3 freaking cm’s I wanted to die, I had GD so they had to put me on the drip apparently my labour stalled and my contractions even though I was having them were very irregular, so the hooked me up and man did I scream, apparently you could here me in the waiting room 😂👌🏼I yelled at my mum and asked why the hell she did this 3 times, and vomited from the gas, I swore and cried and they upped my drip and I cried some more and told my dear husband through snotty tears and sweat I was going to die because I couldn’t do the pain anymore, I begged my nurse for an Epi so after rechecking at 3pm I was only 5cm and was good to go for an epi, cut to an hour later and I FINALLY got my epi, but whoops they forgot to recheck my dilation, by the time the guy came to give me the drip I was at 9cm but they didn’t check until after they gave me the epi 😅 so I had to wait with my boys head shoved in my pelvis for an hour before I could actually push him out, so at 4:30 I started pushing and by 5:30 he was out and in my arms, love at first sight 😍 weighed 8pounds exactly, 52.4 cms long couldn’t of been more in love
Re: Labor & Birth Stories!
Born on 3/21 at 4:17 am weighing 8 lbs 15 oz.
Went in Tuesday a day after my due date for a nst and regular ob check up. I was open 3.5 and 60% effaced. Dr checked water level and noticed on sono that there was meconium in the water. He decided it wasn’t safe to go any longer. He stripped my membranes and told me to head to the hospital when I was ready.
Got to the hospital at 4 pm, settled in a room, got blood work and iv started. Nurse came in to say that the “safety officer” didn’t think I needed to be induced and they’re talking about sending me home. After 45 mins my doctor made it clear that he wasn’t letting me go anywhere so they came in and got pitocin started at 6 pm. At 7 pm dr broke my water and confirmed there was meconium.
Contractions started coming strong and close together and by 9 pm it was so intense so I got an epi.
Things calmed down after that. Doctor kept checking my progress and reposition me according to how he thought I needed to progress- left side, right side, feet down, peanut ball between my legs...
it wAs a slow process to dialation, but it was steady progress.
After a while, the epi stopped working and the contractions were unbearable. Anesthesialigist came in and Fixed it and I felt much better.
At 3 am I was open 8. Went for a nap and woke up 3:45 feeling funny.
Doctor came 15 minutes later and said I was open 10. They got the room ready and at 4:09 I started pushing. I didn’t feel much, so it was hard to push. But after only a couple pushes, and 8 minutes, baby was out! I didn’t tear at all, and recovery has been a breeze so far!
All in all, we’re thankful the doctor noticed the meconium and induced so that we didn’t have any complications.
Good luck to those of you still awaiting your little bundles.
I woke up at 1am with cramps and suddenly felt like something was going to burst. I ran to the washroom and my water broke! Fluid kept coming out gradually. I called my mom and she said to wake up my husband and go to the hospital. I wasnt really having contractions at this point.
We got ready and got to the hospital around 2 am. Contractions started while we were driving and were about 3-4 min apart.
I was 4cm dilated when they checked me (was 3cm for about a week prior to this). Contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart. We waited for about 1.5-2 hours for a room and contractions were getting very intense. My husband and mom were massaging me and helping me.
They finally got me a room and I laboured from 3:30/4am. Contractions were painful! My husband would show me funny youtube clips we had watched previously but laughing hurt! The nurse had asked me if I plan on taking epidural but i said i wanted to try without. She and the rest of the workers were very supportive and encouraged me to have a natural birth. Honestly, I dont know what I would have done without those nurses. They were incredible.
I dilated pretty quickly. When I was 9 cm I said I had to use the washroom and the nurse said no that's just the urge to push. Finally...it was time (around 530/6am). I guess I wasn't pushing "properly" and they had to do a lot of coaching. I would scream after inhaling and they told me to hold my breath as I push, which was really hard because I felt breathless and couldn't hold my breath for very long. I read you were supposed to breath as you push so when the doc told me this, i was surprised. I was also exhausted. I couldnt push for more than 5 seconds but the nurses and husband would count for me and guide my pushing, which really helped. I tried a couple of different positions to push. The nurse gave me these bars I can use to pull my body as I pushed and it really helped. My husband was telling me he could see her head. They called the doctor and he asked me if I'd rather tear or get cut. I said tear and the doc stayed silent. My husband asked what he recommended and he said cut. I didn't reply because I was unsure and continued to push. I guess every time I'd push, she'd come out a bit but back in. So he told me again and I said fine. I just wanted this baby out! He numbed the area, cut, and he also had to vacuum her out as I gave a few more big pushes. It was such a relief when she came out, and placenta came out very easily.
So total, this was a 6 hour journey. I'm glad I was able to do it naturally and lucky it wasn't as long as I thought it would have gone, being my first. I had to get stitches, which really stings right now and is very uncomfortable when I have to sit up, but other than that, I've been okay and baby is doing awesome.
This experience was crazy. I cried and would shout I couldn't do this and everyone cheered me on. I remember at one point during pushing that she wasn't coming out and wanted to give up. I remember being terrified of going number 2 on the table, and not only did I do that, I threw up, and when all this happened, I gave two craps. You really don't care in the moment! I didn't believe that until it happened to me lol.
I also remember during contractions saying to myself "no more kids", but it really is true that when you hear that baby cry, you'd labour 100 times over again to see your child. We are very happy!
Anyway I was scheduled for an induction at 12:30 am on 3/21 40 + 2 bc of my my age and also having hydramnios . We went in, started pitocon . I was scared shitless ( ftm) but everyone was so nice .i had already been having contractions before I was hooked up to the meds that I didn’t feel oddly enough . The pitocin increased them but I still didn’t feel them . Around 6 am my dr came by and checked me . He said I had scar tissue from a LEEP I had done in 2009( precancerous cells removal) and he said it would be too painful without an epidural for him to try to move it . It was preventing me from dilating . I asked to wait tri have the epi until noon since theee was still a tiny chance it may resolve on its own . It didn’t so I got the epidural. Soon after I could feel the corrections so th had to play with my dosage . The dr couldn’t remove the scar tissue but want d to wait a bit longer to see if I would dilate before doing a section . By 430 I was over it . I was tired of b by check and they kept coming to cath me every 2 hours to remove pee ( which I found odd - why not leave in the catheter? ) when my dr came back and I still had not progressed I said let’s just do the section . I got the shakes real bad during the day to where they had to give me Phenagren so I was also tired of shaking like a leaf. Aidan was born at 5:31 pm. I don’t remember much bc they had to give me extra drugs so I wouldn’t feel anything plus the shakes were awful but all that matters is our boy is healthy and usually happy!
Married: 5.27.16
Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
Sorry I've also been MIA. Couldn't get on wifi at hospital and came home to more internet problems. Plus it's hard to choose a screen over a beautiful baby face!
My story is pretty normal, I guess. After preparing for a med-free birth, baby stayed breach through week 39 so I had a cesarean. Baby was born foot first at 7:55am on 3/23. They showed her to me, made sure her lungs were cleared and put her on my chest. When I was sewed up and they had to take her, DH went with her. When I got to the OR recovery room (a curtained off alcove, really) DH was doing skin to skin and the doula was waiting for us. When I was situated they gave her back and I resumed skin to skin. We were moved to the L&D recovery room after about an hour.
Our doula stayed with us most of the day, and a lactation consultant met with us. Unfortunately, baby wasn't really latching and lost 5% of her birth weight in the first day. By the end of the next day, she'd lost 9% of her birth weight, so we had to stay another day and supplement with formula and I met with the lactation consultant several times to learn how to pump and work on her latch. We finally went home on Monday 3/26 after she gained a couple of ounces. Everyone was so worried, we got a lot of attention from the nurses and staff! We went to her pediatrician on Wednesday and she had gained a few more ounces, so we are doing well, but nursing is still not working real great. (that's a story for another thread!)
The only other "event" was that I had a bad reaction to the disinfectant they swabbed me with before surgery. It felt like I had a raging yeast infection the day after surgery and when I got home I had an itchy rash across my torso, front and back.
The c-section was surprisingly easy and fast. Recovery is going ok. We're texting crazy numbers of pictures to everyone we know. haha
My due date was February 23, 2018. Alice Grace was of course early like her mama. February 16th was my last doctors appointment before Alice was born. I was a whopping 2 cm dilated and not making much progress. Yet I was miserable and was wishing she would just come already. That Friday, Dr. Reardon helped progress things a little further. She thought I wasn’t going to make it to my due date and I was praying she was right.
That weekend Derek and I decided to just go about our lives like nothing was happening. The weeks before I had been just waiting around, thinking my water was going to break any moment. So I was tired of waiting and stressing myself out with the unknown of when she was going to be here. So Saturday night, February 17th, we went to the movies. We had intentions of seeing Black Panther and Fifty Shades but I was only able to make it through one movie before wanting to go home and rest. The contractions were pretty intense and I knew I was in labor.
Yet, Saturday turned into Sunday and still no baby. So Sunday morning we went to church like normal. During worship the contractions were much more intense than they were on Saturday. But I ignored them and continued getting my love for Jesus on. After church, we went home and I knew I was going to be meeting my daughter soon. How? Nesting. It happened. I started cleaning my house like a crazy woman. This energy came out of nowhere and I knew it was time. Derek kept yelling at me to stop and slow down and to rest but I told him I couldn’t. This had to happen. Just let it happen! He finally backed down and let me nest.
Sunday night I was absolutely miserable. I couldn’t sleep and even contemplated calling into work on Monday. Several times Derek begged me to let him take me to the hospital but I said NO. I was not getting sent home again. In my mind, as long as my water hadn’t broken, this baby wasn’t coming.
Well before I knew it, 7 a.m. Monday morning rolled around and I was still considering calling off. Something felt off though about that morning. Alice wasn’t her active self. (I was incubating a ninja FYI) I knew babies would get really still right before birth so I knew we were getting closer. But I convinced myself to go to work and just call the doctor when I got there. I didn’t want to waste anymore PTO. So I had Derek take me in to work Monday morning, February 19th. I punched in promptly at 8 a.m.
I started my morning work like normal. Although I was in agony and doing some very heavy breathing at my desk. My boss finally came over to me and said, “Are you okay? You’re making an awful lot of noise over here.” I told her I had called the doctor and was going in at 10 a.m. to see him and get checked for any more progress since Friday. But that never happened. My cell phone rang a few minutes later and it was the nurse from the Family Birthing Center. She told me Dr. Obi wanted me to come in right away. I argued with the nurse for a minute or so before finally caving. I told her I was going to finish up my morning work and then I’d be in.
I punched out at 8:40 a.m. and didn’t return.
By the time I got to the hospital, the contractions were very close together and getting more uncomfortable. They weren’t painful, just annoying. I think the excitement and anticipation of meeting our daughter kept the pain under wraps.
The nurse checked us into a small room first. This wasn’t the Birthing Center yet because I wasn’t being admitted until they checked my dilation and monitored my contractions for 20 minutes. At that point, I was only 3 cm. My heart sank. I knew I was getting sent home again. But my contractions were 5 minutes apart and getting more intense. The nurse had paged Dr. Obi for his consultation on what to do. She came back and told us that he wanted to admit us. I cried! I was so relieved and excited at the same time.
Once we were admitted, Dr. Obi came in to see me. He was concerned that there wasn’t much fetal movement because he even knew how active of a baby Alice was. He told me I was 39 weeks 3 days and there was no reason to keep her in there anymore. He asked me if I wanted him to break my water and start Pitocin. I didn’t hesitate to answer. YES!
By 11 a.m. Dr. Obi had broken my water and started a small dose of Pitocin. Man, does that stuff work fast! The contractions kicked in harder and faster. By 2 p.m. the anesthesiologist made her way to my room to discuss my pain relief options. In my mind, I wanted to do a drug free birth. But I let her inform me anyways and I signed some papers just in case I changed my mind. At this point, the contractions were pretty painful but I was able to breathe through them with the help of my mom AKA my free doula.
With every contraction, which we could see coming on the monitor before they got really intense, she had me breathe in and out slowly to a count. She kept me relaxed the whole time while Derek stayed by my side and held my hand. At the end of the contractions she had me take two more deep breaths. One for me. One for baby Alice. That’s the only way I made it through those. I couldn’t imagine not having her there to help me relax. I can guarantee that would have been less relaxing and more painful had she not been there.
But by 5 p.m. the contractions were getting to be so quick and close together that I was having a hard time catching my breath in between each one. I had the nurse call the anesthesiologist. I was at 5 cm before she got there to administer the epidural. Am I disappointed I didn’t go through with the pain free birth? Yes. But at the same time it made things move so much faster and I was able to relax to allow Alice a fast and safe delivery.
The only thing that sucked about the epidural was actually having it put in. No, the needle didn’t hurt. The contractions hurt. And they hurt much worse in a seated position. They were coming on so fast and strong at that point, I was shaking uncontrollably. My anesthesiologist told me there was a point where I would have to remain absolutely still. That time came and just as she told me not to move, a very strong contraction hit me. I remember holding my breath and clutching the pockets of Derek’s pants so tightly that my hands turned white. I buried my face in his chest and did my best to try to control the painful quivers going down my legs. Once she told me it was okay to move again I just let go. My whole body trembled. I can’t tell you if it was from fear or from pain. Probably a mixture of both. That was the hardest part of my entire birth story but I made it.
Once the epidural kicked in, I was a whole new woman. We could see the contractions coming on the monitor fast and stronger. Yet I felt not a single one of them. By 10:45 p.m. the nurse asked me if I would like to start “practice pushing” since I was at 10 cm and it was soon going to be time! We had been practicing for not even 15 minutes when the nurse said to stop. She yelled for someone to page Dr. Obi because Alice was coming! But I figured we had a long night ahead of us anyways.
Dr. Obi came in around 11:00 p.m. and we started really moving things along. I had my mom on my left side and Derek on my right, both helping me push. To me, everything moved so quickly. Before I knew it, my mom and Derek were both telling me they could see her head. Duh, I could feel that. But at this point I was already exhausted. I could feel myself getting weaker with each push. I got so light headed, I required some oxygen to help me and baby breathe. (They say giving birth is equivalent to exerting the amount of energy it takes to run a marathon. Well… I hate running, soo…) Dr. Obi told me we had a long way to go. I remember hearing his words and I remember that flipped something inside me. We have a long night ahead of us. It repeated over and over in my head. No. I wanted this to go my way. I told myself I needed to relax, listen to him and it’ll be over soon.
Kiersten, you will have your daughter in your arms soon.
I kept imagining what she looked like and kissing her little feet. That’s what I used to push. And push I did! With every push she came out a little more, but when I would relax she would go back in. I was losing this battle. Dr. Obi realized what was happening as well.
All of a sudden he told me to stop pushing and asked me to cough. What? Cough? Did I hear him right? “Cough for me.” he said. So I started coughing and little miss Alice started to come out again only this time she wasn’t retreating. The coughing was working! You can’t make this stuff up either. I literally coughed my daughter out.
Dr. Obi once again asked me to stop pushing/coughing. The cord had been wrapped around Alice’s neck. Once he cleared her cord away, she popped right out. I heard her faint cry as she was quickly placed on my chest. I couldn’t see her face and I was trying to but my view was being obstructed by nurses with towels. Alice was burying her face in my chest as tears rolled down my face. She was here. I couldn’t believe it, my daughter was finally in my arms! When I was finally able to see her completely, I cried even harder. I was so in love!
The anticipation of growing life in my womb for almost 40 weeks and not knowing fully who this baby was, what she would look like, or who she’ll become. Each kick, each hiccup, each movement drew me closer to life’s greatest mystery. But nothing will ever compare to THIS moment. The moment when we first met outside the womb and the deepest love affair life has to offer began.
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
I'm torn between not wanting to give her the traffic and also wanting to know just how unamazing this story is.
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
Okay havnt written a birth story before so here goes!
i woke up at about 1am on the 14th of March and felt like I had to pee soooo badly, I walked to the other side of the bed and stopped, stared at my peacefully sleeping husband and felt my waters break it was a lot more dramatic then I thought it was going to be there was fluid all over our bedroom floor,
so im standing there with my water gushing out everywhere whispering to my husband (whose still asleep) baby my water broke... I did this about there times before I realised what was happening and screamed at him to get his arse out of bed, he gets up and asked me “what now!?” And I’m like uh yeah
so we drove over to my mums to pick her up and headed on over to the hospital
we signed our selves in and got my examination and the midwives tell me I’m 2 cms so go for a walk, I walked up and down 7 flights of stairs in the hospital from 2 am till 11am we went back into the labour ward and the midwife recheck me informing me that due to infection Risk if I’m checked again I have to stay so I said uh yeah okay, so she checks me again and I’m only at 3 freaking cm’s I wanted to die, I had GD so they had to put me on the drip apparently my labour stalled and my contractions even though I was having them were very irregular, so the hooked me up and man did I scream, apparently you could here me in the waiting room 😂👌🏼I yelled at my mum and asked why the hell she did this 3 times, and vomited from the gas, I swore and cried and they upped my drip and I cried some more and told my dear husband through snotty tears and sweat I was going to die because I couldn’t do the pain anymore, I begged my nurse for an Epi so after rechecking at 3pm I was only 5cm and was good to go for an epi, cut to an hour later and I FINALLY got my epi, but whoops they forgot to recheck my dilation, by the time the guy came to give me the drip I was at 9cm but they didn’t check until after they gave me the epi 😅 so I had to wait with my boys head shoved in my pelvis for an hour before I could actually push him out, so at 4:30 I started pushing and by 5:30 he was out and in my arms, love at first sight 😍 weighed 8pounds exactly, 52.4 cms long couldn’t of been more in love