Birth Stories

To those of you w/ this being your 2nd or more kid.....

FarmingBride — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:04:04 GMT

.....if your kid is old enough to handle him/herself at the hospital did you have the kid hang out with you quite a bit when the new baby came? My son has asked if he can eat supper with us and use my tray that swings over my bed. So I'm sure he'd love to go to the cafe with hubby and get some food and come back to the room and eat. He also went to sibling class at the hospital and when he got a tour of the room where mommy and baby will be after delivery. He asked where his bed was. Has anyone ever had their kids spend the night with them in the hospital or is that just a bad idea. I know the baby will be up wanting to nurse and such but I want to make sure to make this a special time for my son as well. He is 4 end of this month so it's not like he's still in diapers and have to handle that. But just curious how much everyone else with multiple kids has done it when in hospital. Try to involve them as much as they want or just have them come visit and call it good at that.

Tell me about your labor

mrsmeatball — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:59:15 GMT

Hi ladies... As my due date comes closer, I can't help but think about the entire labor and delivery part of it all. I'm well aware that labor varies greatly from pregnancy to pregnancy, but I'm still very curious how your experience was!

I'd be immensely greatful if you'd take the time to copy, paste and answer the following questions as best as you can/want to for an anxious mom-to-be! Thanks in advance!!!

1. Which birth (first, second...)?

2. How did you deliver (vaginally, c/s, epidural, water...)?

3. What gestational age?

4. How long was your early labor?

5. When did your active labor start? Time? Signs (i.e.: contractions, waters breaking, bloody show...)?

6. When did you go to the hospital?

7. When did your transitional labor start?

8. Did you have a bloody show? What time? Which stage of labor?

9. When did your waters break? What time? Which stage?

10. When did you start pushing?

11. How long until your baby was out? How many pushes?

12. Your baby's weight and length?

13. Additional details you wouldn't mind sharing? (i.e.: how long until you delivered placenta, tearing, cord cutting...)

Thank you so much!!!

(Unplanned!) HELLP Syndrome

kkcollins0402 — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:39:01 GMT

I developed HELLP Syndrome at 34 weeks. Scariest thing to ever happen! (Here is my story: http://harleighlove.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/hellp-syndrome/). My daughter was obviously a preemie as I had to have an emergency c-section. She was 4lb 4oz but she is almost 11lbs now (at 3.5 months). Any HELLP Syndrome stories? Were you able to have more children?

Birth Story

jamie'scominghome — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:46:43 GMT

I went in for a scheduled induction on Friday...May 17th. I was already a week late and my doctor said she was comfortable with me getting induced. I've heard from a lot of friends say that it is better to go all natural and let her come when she was ready. I know this is true but at the same time, I knew all the complications that can come with letting them wait as well. Not all babies know when to come and not all bodies know when to react. When we got there, they gave me a pill to soften my cervix. The nurse on duty at the time said it could take up to 4-4 hour sessions for it to really kick in before petocine could begin. Towards the end of my first session, my doc came in and said I was ready for petocine. I was ecstatic. A few hours later, I was still at 2 cm and she decided to break my water. She found that there was meconium in my water. This was heartbreaking because my mother had meconium in her fluids with my brother and had many complications due to it. She also showed signs of hard labor and distress and the docs still wouldn't do anything for her. This was nearly 30 years ago so my parents have assured me that I am getting better medical care than what my mother ever got. The docs later diagnosed him as being 'socially delayed' and I knew I didn't want that for my child. My doc said that it so light in color and low in odor that there was probably nothing to worry about, they would just have to clean her up before I could hold her which I was okay with because I knew it was for the best.

I knew I wanted an epi so once the contractions got worse, I requested it. The baby's head was sitting on my nerve so of course my left side didn't get as much so I could still feel the contractions on my left side. I labored for about 16 hours and began to run a fever indicating infection. I was finally ready to push and did so for about 2 1/2 hours. It didn't really seem that long because my contractions were a couple minutes apart and I actually fell asleep between a few. DH watched the monitors because he could see some coming before I could even feel them and would sometimes tell me when to push. Once she came out, the nurses wisked her to her little plastic bed to clean her up and get her all settled. I had DH stay with her the whole time. I knew they had to give her antibiotics for my fever and the meconium.

She was sent straight into NICU. Again, I was alright with this because I knew it was what was best for her. They said that they are running tests for infection and giving her antibiotics. They said all her cultures came back negative but her white blood and PRC blood cells were high because she was fighting an infection but didn't know what. The antibiotics stabilized all this so it is no longer an issue. We later found out that she wasn't keeping anything down. She was constantly throwing up. They did an x ray and found residual formula in her stomach and did some tests to see why this was. The doc concluded that her intestines weren't pushing the food through her digestive tract like normal babies would so it was easier to throw it back up instead of trying to digest it. They've started her on medication to hopefully fix this problem. This meant that her visit would be prolonged.

I was discharged on the following Monday but had to leave her there. I knew she was in good hands. I cried most of the night and periodically since then because I missed her so much and just wanted her home with me. I just feel helpless now. I want to be with her all the time. When she was throwing up, she would just give me this look of either 'help me mama' or even a look of apology. There was nothing I could do to help her. She is on a feeding regimen of 7 cc's every 3 hours. The doc would like to see her up to 46 cc's every 3 hours. This only adds to my discouragement of having her home anytime soon. I know I should be grateful that her medical issues aren't worse but I cant stand to see my baby watch us walk away every day and not be home with us. I want so bad to do all the things you do with baby's at home. I want her home with her mommy and daddy where she belongs.

A part of me also misses just being at the hospital. My body is healing very well and I haven't had any problems. But I think I just miss the fact that someone was always checking up on me and looking after me. Its not that I can't do that on my own, its just nice to have that extra added attention. Has anyone else felt this way after leaving the hospital or is it just me? Maybe a little postpardum?

Prim Rose Oil

karirlaw — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:16:42 GMT

Did it do anything? What's your story?

Dad Witnesses Birth From 7,000 Miles Away (VERY long)

MrsArrants — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:08:35 GMT

This is the birth story for my son Corbyn and how with the miracle of Skype, his Daddy was able to be there even while he's 7,000 miles away protecting us and keeping our country safe.

I'm 26 years old and this was my first pregnancy. My husband and I have been together for 11 years and married for almost 4. He joined the military in the summer of 2011 and left for basic training that fall. We had planned on starting a family when he came home in March of 2012 but were handed a different destiny when after being home for less than two weeks he found out that he would be deploying later that summer. We had to decide whether to try anyway or to wait until he came home. Being that I'm posting a birth story, you can tell that we didn't wait. <3

I found out that I was pregnant when I woke up the morning of July 18 and did not have any cramping from my period which was due on the 20th. I didn't even need to take a test to know for sure as my cramps had never skipped a period in the 10 years I'd been having them. I was 3 weeks and 6 days pregnant. My husband deployed 6 days later - and still hasn't come home yet.

On the morning of my 38.5 week doctor's appointment they told me that my cervix was still closed but was very soft and that based on how quickly it had softened since my last appointment 4 days prior, they did not think I would make it to 40 weeks. I was told to make sure that I had my bag packed and was ready to go. Later that day I lost my mucous plug (grossest thing ever, btw) and called my doctor to let them know and that I thought I was feeling contractions.

I went back into the doctor's office and they checked me again. "Yes, those are contractions and No, you definitely are not going to make it to 40 weeks. How about we induce you on Thursday at 39 weeks instead?" (They knew that my husband was deployed and that I needed advance notice of my labor if possible so he could get time off from work)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning I headed into the hospital to be induced. My appointment was at 6:30 AM.

6:31 AM - Husband messages on Facebook asking if I'm in the hospital yet. Respond that we're in registration.

6:39 AM - Husband messages on Facebook asking where we are now. Respond with "In the elevator"... Asks if we can skype yet (LOL) Reiterate that we're IN THE ELEVATOR.

6:45 AM - Husband messages on Facebook asking why we aren't on Skype yet and that he's getting excited and nervous. Respond that his mother just pulled into the parking lot with the laptop for Skype.

7:13 AM - My doctor comes in to break my water. We discover that not only is the doctor who delivered me going to be delivering my son (which we knew) but that I will deliver my son in the EXACT room that I was born in.

8:05 AM - Pitocin administered and contractions begin (They had stopped late in the day after my appointment earlier that week)

My plan had been to have a natural birth if I could since I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. Everything was going smoothly for the first few hours. They would come in to check how baby and I were doing every so often and see if I needed anything. My husband was more anxious than I was I think. He saw all the equipment in the background (the stuff they use in case something goes wrong) and was worried that I was hooked up to "all those machines."

My stepmom was watching the monitors and each time I had a contraction and was breathing through it she would tell me that it measured at a 20 or 25 or whatever. I was able to make it until about 1:30 PM just breathing through the contractions. My family tells me that at one point I actually matched my breathing to my husband's during a particularly painful one.

The next time the nurse checked me I was 6cm dilated. I still had time to make a choice if I wanted an epidural or not and I said I was still OK going natural. Well, not 20 minutes later I started feeling this grating bone on bone pain that was unlike anything I've ever felt in my life. They tell me that I screamed (even though I don't remember that part) and the nurse came back in. She checked me again and told me that my cervix had this tiny little lip on the right side and that the baby's shoulders were too wide to get through so he was stuck. The pain I was feeling was him trying to get around that lip and his shoulder bone was grating against my pelvic bone. That pain was too much and that's when I basically begged for the drugs.

The anesthesiologist was called and came to administer the epidural. I was hardly able to sit still long enough for him to get the needle in because sitting up caused his shoulders to push even harder on my bones during a contraction. I finally got the epidural and they told me it would take 15 minutes to kick in. I was told to expect my legs to go numb and that I would still feel pressure but that all pain should vanish. Not the case.

After 15 minutes I could feel my legs in that pins/needles state as if they were asleep, but I was unable to lift or move them. All the pressure was gone off my back and I couldn't feel the contractions anymore, but I still felt every last bit of his bone grating on mine. At this point I was 8 cm dilated (9 with a contraction) and I was out of time. If they were going to do anything else, it had to be done NOW.

All through this my husband was so concerned and frustrated that there wasn't anything he could do for me. He kept asking if I was OK and if I needed more pain meds and "Can't anybody do anything for her?"

The anesthesiologist came back in and told me I was out of time so they couldn't increase the pain meds in the normal way little by little. I had to have the max dose given now, or deal with the pain. I took the max dose. Oh, and boy oh boy... Once that kicked in, I didn't feel a blessed thing. No pain, no pressure, nothing. My mom said that my color returned, I became so much more pleasant, and I was even checking my Facebook and texting updates.

2:45 pm - Time to push

The nurse told me it was time to push and I told her she needed to call my doctor because I was not having this baby without him here. She assured me that he would make it in time because this is the part that could take a while. She just wanted to see how it would progress once I started pushing, so I did. That's when it happened.

I had a contraction, I pushed, I felt as if my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head, and the nurse looked at the machine as it started beeping frantically. At the exact moment I was pushing, my son's heartbeat (which had been about 130-150 all day) dropped to 70. I was told to stop pushing, and his heartbeat recovered and climbed back up. After a minute or two she said to push again. Again, his heartbeat dropped down in the 60-70 range. She went and called the doctor.

I was asked to push one more time before the doctor got there and this time his heartbeat dropped to 50. So the nurse told me whatever I do, DON"T push. Of course, this sent my husband to freaking out and he did the only thing he could think of to calm down... he started cleaning his weapons. LOL Over Skype. The nurse looks up at the screen and there he is taking apart his assault rifle. I probably would have been freaking out too if I wasn't so high from the drugs. It just seemed at the time as if everything was going to work out and there was no reason for me to panic.... which was probably a good thing as I'm sure that would have made things worse.

3:25 - My doctor arrives and is filled in by the nurse on what happens when I push. He asks me how I'm doing and if I'm OK. Reassuring me that everything is going to be OK and that he's going to make sure this baby comes out OK and for me not to worry or stress myself out. I tell him that I trust him 100% and I know he will do a great job since he did a pretty fantastic job delivering me. =)

My doctor asks me to push just one more time so he can see for himself just what is going on. So I push (really thought my eyes were popping out on this one) and the baby's heartbeat dropped to 25. That did get through to me that it was really low and I started to panic a bit because it was taking a really long time for him to recover this time. It took about 15 minutes for the baby's heartbeat to climb all the way back up to the 120 range. I thought for sure they were going to tell me that I had to have a C-section. And I was pretty sure my husband was going to pass out. I had to coach him to breathe until he regained some of his color.

I can't even imagine what he must have been going through to watch all of this on Skype and not be able to do a thing to help me or the baby. I'm sure he will come home with some grey hair because of it.

It was at this point that my doctor told me he was going to use a suction thing to get the baby out since he didn't like it when I pushed and his head got squeezed. He warned me that because it was going to be quick that I wasn't going to have time to stretch and most likely I would tear and need stitches. At this point, he could have told me that he had to amputate my leg to get the baby out safely and I'd have been OK with it.

4:48 PM - Time for one last push. 15 seconds later it was all over with and there was a baby on my chest. He weighed in at 8 lb 0 oz and was 19.5 inches long. Absolute perfection and I just couldn't believe that he was here and it was finally over with.

Birth Stories

RevivingOphelia — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:05:21 GMT

Honestly, not sure if I can post this. But it is for my personal blog, so I think I'm fine!?!

Anyway, I'm looking for birth stories to feature on my blog The Beautiful Mommy Blog. If you'd like to, send me a PM or email community@beautifulmommyclub.com TIA! :)

What did you pack?

Bump Jackie — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:08:20 GMT

Hi ladies,

Curious - did you actually pre-plan what you were bringing to the hospital with you?

How did you decide what to bring - friends/family, googling? Did you pack things you didn't use? Forget things you wish you packed?

Did you husband pack a bag of his own? What was in it? (My dad packed snacks and they were gone within an hour of my mom being in labor with me!)

I would love to hear!

Bump Jackie

No epidural

BabeDebolt — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:28:07 GMT

Just curious of those of you who decided not to have an epidural in the hospital. I am thinking at some point the doc said to youThis is your last chance to take it. If you didn't take it when you had one last chance while dilating, what was the length of time from that point was it until your babies birth? I know everyones time will all differ but just curious! Thx!!

Perfect induction story.

bigbootyjudi — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:00:35 GMT

I just realized I never posted this. When I was scheduled for an induction, everything I read was about how it's prone to end up in a c-section, etc. I was scared out of my mind and really, had no need to be. I wanted to share a positive induction story, for any of those reading who need one! :)

DS was due August 10, 2012. I was induced on the 9th. I was 90% effaced and had been for 4 weeks, but was not dilating AT ALL. He was already tipping the scale at 8.5 pounds at my 39 week appointment, so my doctor scheduled an induction. At this point, I was so uncomfortable in the 100+ degree weather that I was just like, "Whatever you need to do, let's get this show on the road."

I tried everything to induce myself. I ate ridiculous amounts of pineapple, walked 5+ miles on the treadmill on an incline every day from 38 weeks on, had more sex than I'll admit to, ate spicy foods, everything. In the end, I realized it was all a huge waste of time and if DS wanted to come before my induction, he would.

He didn't. I went in to be induced at 5pm. Around 6:30, the nurse was setting up the Pitocin when DS' heart rate dropped dramatically (probably because of how hyped up I was). They immediately turned me on my side, gave me an oxygen mask, and he was fine. They gave me about an hour and then started the Pitocin at 7:30. The first hour, I didn't really feel anything. Then, around 8:30, a little cramping, still NBD. I thought, "Eh, this is going to be cake!" My nurse told me FTM moms usually labor 12-24 hours and push for 2-3 hours, so I was getting cozy.

At 9, it hit me like a freaking brick. My cramps were out of this world. I tried lunges, all of the breathing exercises I had spent weeks researching, a ball, distractions, music, chanting, and nothing was helping. After 45 minutes of this, the nurse came in and I told her I wanted the epidural. Luckily, the anesthesologist was next door and came right in. I have huge boobs, so trying to slump over and breathe through my huge boobs and huge stomach was rough. Thankfully, SO and the nurse were breathing me through the whole thing. It didn't hurt, just was a pinch, and I was in immediate heaven.

At 11:30, the nurse came in and asked me if I was feeling anything. I said no. She said my contractions were ridiculous (I was at a 2 when the epidural was put in 2 hours before this). The resident came in at 12:45am and I was at a 9! The nurse told me to get on my hands and knees (SO had to hold my feet and look at my butt the entire time...real love) and rock back and forth for 30 minutes. She came back in at 1:15am, I was at a 10, his head was down, and I felt like he was going to fall out of me.

No one could believe it. They set up the room, the doctor came in, and 20 minutes of pushing later, DS was born. He was 8.9 pounds, 20 inches long, and healthy as a horse. I had a minor one degree tear from his shoulders that healed fast and felt back to my old self about 3-4 days later.

Now, he's 6 months old, happy and healthy.

Need help dealing with an overbearing mother...

nikkid81 — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:49:43 GMT

My parents recently fell upon hard times and had to move in with my husband and me. A few months after they moved in, we began IVF. Originally, we'd wanted to keep this private, but that was impossible since my parents were living with us. One day, while in the process of giving myself an injection, my mom starts yelling at me about how it's her "God given right" to be in the delivery room. I told her that was a decision my husband and I would need to make together and that we feared she'd bring stress and tension, which isn't what we want. She threw a tantrum and stormed off. Mind you, at that point, I didn't even know if I could get pregnant.

Flash forward a month, and we're pregnant! Of course, my parents knew right away because they live with us. Now that we're halfway through the pregnancy, my husband and I are starting to talk about our birth plan. We DO NOT want my mom in the delivery room. We've had no privacy throughout this entire experience and want to enjoy the birth together, without anyone else. We also want to have two hours after delivery to bond with the baby by ourselves and for me to rest and shower. How do I tell my overbearing mother this without making my home life between now and then a living hell? Do I wait until I go into labor to let her know she won't be in there? Or do I tell her now so she can mentally prepare herself "to be disappointed?" Just to give you an idea of how selfish she can be, I mentioned how great it will be to have family so close when the baby is born, especially because we'll need someone to take care of our dog while we're in the hospital. Her response? "You'll need to get a pet sitter."

South Florida- Share your story!

Bump Jackie — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:35:28 GMT

Hi South Florida bumpies!

We're looking to feature two of our members in our upcoming issue.

Here is what we're looking for:

One woman to share her "pregnancy diary" -- from finding out about baby to the day she gave birth! We'll need 10 key days and what went on.

One woman to share her birth story -- from the first signs of labor to taking baby home!

Interested in submitting your story? Please email community@thebump.com with "SOUTH FLORIDA MOM" in the subject line!

Delilah, Keira, or Eliana/Elliana

NataliasMOM0214 — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:27:46 GMT

Seems we have somewhat of a 3 way tie!

Our MN choices are Brooke and Claire...

(still on the fence for the spelling of Eliana...not sure which one we prefer!).

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks:)

My Unexpected CSection

ally1218 — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:37:10 GMT

The due date for my son was March 1st 2013 but the Dr and I thought that he would come early. My husband had a cold in early February and by Valentines Day, I got it too. On Feb. 18th, I was asked to go to the Zoo by Laura but I felt so horrible. All I wanted to do was sleep on the couch and thats all I did. I went to bed early around 9:00 that night. I woke up at 1:34am to the feeling that I had peed on myself. I had heard that urinary incontinence was a symptom of pregnancy but I knew I had broke my water. I woke up Al and told him that my water had broke. He turned the light on to check but we had red sheets so it was hard to tell what it was. The plan was to stay and labor at home for as long as possible and I told Al to go back to sleep. He told me frantically that he couldn't go back to sleep now and that I should call the doctor. I laughed and decided to humor him so I did. I got the after hours line and got in touch with my doctors' partner who didn't really know me. He asked us to come in. I told Al it's not a big deal since my doctor knows my wishes and I decided to get in the shower to see if I could help the contractions along. I leaked the whole way. As I was in the shower, Al came in and asked that we go to hospital. Just in case. It would be easier on his nerves. That wasn't a part of the plan but the way he said it made me agree. I had already had most of my and the babys' things packed so I helped him pack a bag and get toiletries. We had a glass of orange juice and I took an apple to go because I knew they wouldn't let me eat once I got to the hospital. When we were on the road, I felt contractions start to come for the first time. They were less than 10 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, an older male guard asked us why we were there to which I responded, "Um, my water broke so I'm here to have a baby." He looked like he was a bit flustered at my response and told Al where to park after dropping me off at the entrance. The guard even got me a wheelchair but I felt bad about using it when I didn't feel horrible yet so I declined. I had only eaten maybe a quarter of the apple and threw the rest away. Al and I went to LD where the checked me in and Al left me to park the car. The nurses made sure my water had broken and how dialated I was. I was only a 1 but I had figured as much since the contractions weren't painful or close together yet. They transferred me to another room and Al found me there. The nurse assigned to me did my paperwork and asked me questions while putting in my IV. She said that she had gotten in touch with my doctor and told him that we were here. She said that he expects the baby here by noon. I was beaming and happy to get underway. I wanted Al to call his boss and mine ASAP but he wanted to wait. I decided to walk once I was cleared to. We walked down the halls for about 10 minutes, with me holding my IV fluids. We saw two sets of twins in the nursery and I couldn't wait to see our baby. I realized that I hadn't felt one contraction while walking and I decided to go back. I plugged myself up to the monitors and called my boss. I talked to her for about 10 minutes, with no contractions on the monitor. My nurse came in and checked the monitor. I sat down on the bed and had two strong contractions. I was told not to get up anymore, as it looks like it stalls the contractions. So I was bed bound while Al slept most of the morning. By 11am, the nurse came to check me and I was at a 2. She recommended going on pitocin to kick start the contractions. I agreed to it, even though it wasn't in my birth plan. After an hour on it, they had noticed that the pitocin made the babys' heart rate drop so it was stopped. This time, the doctor came and checked me. I was at a 3. He said that they'll keep an eye on his heart rate but they need to help the contractions along. He also suggested getting an internal monitor so that they can make sure that the contractions are strong enough. All this time, I was feeling regular contractions but for some reason, they weren't progressing me along. I agreed again, although stubbornly, because this wasn't going at all to plan. My contractions were strong enough and the pitocin continued. Around 7:308:00, I felt the strongest contraction yet. They wanted the contractions to be at least at a 50, but 75 was favorable. This contraction topped at 116. It was very painful and the nurse said afterwards that she was surprised I didn't scream. Everyone thought it must be time to push. I was checked and I was only a 6. The doctor came in and confirmed, although he thought it was more of a 5. At this point, he recommended a csection. He wasn't dropped enough and I wasn't progressing. He thought that my pelvic bone was too narrow which would explain what was happening. I was upset. I didn't want to entertain the idea of a csection. I had done these extra things already and I had to do this as well?! I told them no. When they had left the room, Al and I talked about what we needed to do. The doctor had told me that by 1:00am, they need to have the baby delivered or else they will do an emergency csection, with or without our consent. We decided to do a csection voluntarily, since we both didn't believe that I would deliver before that time. Al ran out to catch the doctor. They all came back in the room and my doctor said that he believed that we were making the right choice. We started prepping for surgery right away. I didn't read up on csections since I thought it was an impossibility so I was asking lots of questions. And I hope that this is the only time in my life I will ever pee in a bed pan. Al went to put on a scrub outfit and a couple of nurses went to roll me into the OR. Al and I said our goodbyes and I went in the room alone. Al couldn't come in until the doctor was ready for him. The first thing they did was put in a spinal. I hugged a nurse while an anesthesiologist put a needle in my back, which I was dumb enough to see beforehand. I started to cry. I was so scared at this point. I laid down and they started to make sure that the drug was working. I was asked if I felt a cold and wet cotton ball on certain parts of my body. They blocked my view of my body and put in a catheter. I was balling my eyes out while the anesthesiologist tried to make small talk with me, telling me that everything was going well. I think by that point the doctor had come in because someone had asked for Al to come in. He came over to me and held my hand, which was strapped down. He had never been one to pray to God but he told me that while he was waiting to come in, he had prayed to his grandmother. We were both crying at this point and I started to feel pressure. I said ouch because of it, which scared the anesthesiologist for a second. After a few minutes, we heard a cry. At 9:24pm on Tuesday Feb. 19th, our son was born. We saw him for a quick second when a nurse showed him to us across the screen but she went quickly to clean him up. I asked Al to go with him so that one of us could be with him. I could feel more pressure but that was all. I laid there crying, wishing I could hold him or have skintoskin time. Al came back with Alex with a blanket and I got to kiss his head. I wasn't able to hold him until after we got back into our room. The doctor came in and told us that our son had gotten stuck in my pelvis. He had a goose egg on his head along with two scratches. He wouldn't have been able to pass through the birth canal so we had made the right choice. The doctor also said this explained why his blood pressure lowered during contractions because his head was hitting my pelvic bone. I asked him, "So if we had tried this birth in the 1800's, we wouldn't have survived?" He replied with a very matteroffact.yes. Soon after, we were moved into a recovery room. It was around 1:302:00am before we got settled down in our room and went to sleep.

C-Section Birth Story

Krystal6826 — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:57:52 GMT

I don't think I ever posted our birth story here. I just added my thoughts on our birth story to my blog post (15 months later)...

Birth Story Blog Post

Twins birth story at 31 weeks

steff13914 — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:06:23 GMT

Our twins are six months old now, and it's hard to believe how far we've come. Corbin and Lynley were born on October 20, 2012 at 31 weeks. They stayed in the NICU for 6 weeks, and have been home for 5 months. It's been a whirlwind!

Here's our story on our blog, Spit and Sparkles:

http://spitandsparkles.blogspot.com/2012/10/corbin-and-lynley-birth-story.html

My non-natural birth story and why that's okay

rinne129 — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:08:01 GMT

I decided in my 3rd tri to have a natural birth. I read all the books and deleted the "e-word" from my vocabulary. I understand that there could always be complications and was mentally prepared for anything that came my way, but I was set on a natural birth for many reasons (most of which had to do with a terrible hip/back condition I have that could be further injured if I were to receive an epi). Fast forward to Saturday, April 6. I worked a 13-hour day, running around, carrying boxes, and was pretty much on my feet from 5:30 - 6 p.m. By the time I got home, I noticed I was rather wet. I had been wearing pads all day (some light mucusy bleeding doc had told me was perfectly normal) and I was starting to soak through the thin liner. I called the doctor around 9 p.m. and he said to go into the hospital just to check and make sure it wasn't amniotic fluid from my water breaking. We hopped in the car, sans toothbrushes, clothes for my husband, and just a lightly packed bag for myself "just in case" and fully anticipated being back home before 10:30. At midnight, they told me my water had indeed broken at some point today and I wasn't going anywhere. AH! Since I was already approaching the 24-hour mark, possibly, of having my water broken, they decided to give me a pill (I'm forgetting the name now) to soften my cervix (I was only 1 centimeter and 50% effaced). I tried to get some sleep from midnight - 4 a.m., but was rather unsucessful, and at 4 a.m. they checked me again. 2 centimeters, 60% effaced and gave me another dose of that pill. I dozed on and off again and finally at 6 a.m. contractions started. And boy did they start! From the get-go they were 1 minute apart, lasting 25-30 seconds each and never let up. The longest break I got was 2 minutes and it was glorious. By 8 a.m., I was 3 centimeters and really starting to struggle. My back pain was unbelievable. The next time they checked me, at 10 a.m., I was just about 4 centimeters and they assured me I was not having back labor. The next hour was crushing. I could no longer feel the contractions. It was ALL back pain. I have displaced hips and scoliosis and often "go out" resulting in a 12" displacement of my hips and back. I have seen a chiropractor since I was 12 and been counseled on the inevitable surgery I will one day have. With each contraction, my lower back would throb and strain and scream with pain... I felt nothing at all in my uterus. In fact, there were a few times after chaninging positions, that I would experinece 1 or 2 contractions without the back pain and they were relatively tolerable and I could easily breathe through them. It would give me hope that I could make it naturally, but then the back pain would come back. On top of that, with only about 45 minutes of sleep after such a long work day, I couldn't keep my eyes up... pure exhaustion which I'm sure was not helping me tolerate the pain. It was during this hour(11 a.m. - noon) that my contractions picked up once again... They were 45 seconds apart, lasting 20-30 seconds, giving me only 10-20 seconds of breathing time. It took me 10 minutes to communicate to my husband that I wanted to ask the nurse about an epidural. I had realized that I wasn't able to progress myself if I wasn't able to feel and concentrate on the contractions. All of the breathing techniques and mantras about focusing on the uterus contraction and envision things "moving down" etc. went out the window... all my focus was on my lower back and nowhere else and I couldn't reverse it. I received an epidural around 12:30 p.m. and had the glorious ability to sleep until about 2:30. The whole time, I could feel contractions but they were painless. So at 2:30 when I woke up and felt A LOT of pressure and A LOT of contracting, even with the epi, I knew it was time and told my husband that I thought I was ready... he laughed. Sure enough, they checked me and I was 10 centimeters and baby was more than ready to come out. It was a mad dash to get the room ready for delivery. They stopped my epidural so I could feel enough to push (even before they stopped it I had complete movement in my legs and could "feel" but was numb almost like when you bite the side of your mouth after getting novicaine). I started pushing at about 3:25 and Kaylen Elizabeth was born at 3:54 p.m. I like to think my decision to get the epidural was the first decision I made as a mother to my baby girl. I knew she wanted out, I knew she needed out and I knew my back condition was not going to allow that without some relief. Going about labor in this way was the best decision I ever made. I feel as though I labored for long enough naturally that I experienced its rush and throws, was able to rest and progress without pain with the assistance of an epi, but then I was able to feel everything during delivery once again. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Good luck to all of you 3rd trimester moms reading this in anticipation of your own baby's birth!

Hope for a natural birth dashed before it began, C-section

EmsyK — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:48:36 GMT

Here's the birth story of baby Killian six months after the event. I feel like i read so many birth stories on here that i must share my own.

Well i was planning a hospital birth and hoping to try to go drug free for as long as possible (done the classes, read the books etc etc). My OB required me to do up a birth plan (i found the plan this morning and laughed, it prompted me to share my story) so the nurses would be fine with going along with minimal monitoring and allowing me to move around. I'd had a lovely pregnancy and had been told from 36 weeks on that baby was head down. I wasn't nervous and was excited and feeling great. I had an anterior placenta so couldn't feel positions too well. So i went in at 40 weeks and the doc immediately said 'Oh' when she felt my tummy. I knew straight away we had a position problem. She sent me in for a scan and baby's head was under my ribs, he was in a frank breech position. I was gutted. I had thought his head was his bottom due to the position of my placenta.

As i was full term and had a small bump and anterior placenta, the OB felt a manual turn of the baby would be too risky and that a scheduled c section was the only option. I agreed and was booked in for the next day. To say i was in shock leaving the hospital that day was an understatement. Once i got to the car to ring my husband, i was bawling. The evening went in a blur of upset ( i even locked myself in the bathroom at one stage and refused to talk to my DH). I knew this was the best option for the baby but had really not wanted a section and hadn't much time to get my head around it.

After a sleepless night, i felt excited that we would be getting to meet our little boy soon. The prep in the hospital was fine and i was ready to rock and roll within a few hours. Funnily enough, natural contractions began that morning so i did get to experience early labour pains. We could see them on the monitor. I took this as a good sign that baby might be ready to appear. The operation was fine and i was really just concerned to hear our baby was ok. My DH nearly fainted when the baby was pulled out. I wanted him to go over and hold him and be with him as i couldn't but DH looked all pale and was sweating. I was lying out after being cut open, baby was screaming across the room and he is nearly fainting. Nurses were going over to DH, he was given water and a cold wet towel. Really? This is when i started feeling anxious as our little guy was screaming bloody murder, nobody had told me if he was ok and i wanted him but was strapped to the table. I found this the most difficult part of the birth.

Finally DH got it together and disappeared off to see our son. He immediately calmed once his daddy held him. DH brought him to me, and i kissed and touched his face, he immediately began sucking. It was magic and he was beautiful and healthy, 7 pounds 15 ounces with brown eyes and brown hair. Dh did skin to skin in the recovery room while they monitored me until i could get him onto my chest.

So at the end of the day, i never got the birth experience i was hoping for but i did get the baby so it was all worth it. Recovery was a pain in the ass. It took a week for my milk to arrive in and the drugs during recovery made me feel ill and i lost my appetite. Breastfeeding after a c section is no easy task and i am hoping to never have another section if we have more children. Now our little bundle is not so little and a healthy gorgeous 6 month old. I still get great mileage out of the state DH was in during the operation, he'll never live that one down!

You can't plan a birth, just do your best to cope with what nature throws at you. I still feel cheated a little that i had to have a section but it is what it is. I'm in great form and the section has healed really well. Mostly though we have baby Killian and thats all that matters x

Natural Delivery in Hospital with a 9+lb baby

babyalex124 — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:35:58 GMT

I am so thrilled that I am able to share this story with you all because prior to delivery, I wasn't sure how I (at 5'2/short torso/23cm amnio fluid) was going to manage an uncomplicated, med-free hospital delivery - BUT I DID!

In short: My son was born 4/5/13 @ 5:13pm @ 9lbs 6oz, 22in, with a 13in head. 14 hours of labor with day prior to labor being 0cm dilated, 0% effaced. :)

The story:

For the past week, I had a few nights of menstrual cramps that went away with lots of water and switching positions. Went to OB on Thursday with no progress other than a soft cervix. I woke up at 3:30 Friday morning with intense gas pains and thought nothing of it, felt relief after a few toots. An hour later poopie pains commenced as did going A LOT. My body emptied itself out real well before my DD was born so this process made me take the cramping a little more seriously. By 5am I had more mild cramping and poopying despite having gone already so I decided to start timing my contractions: 20-30 minutes apart/30 sec long. Called my mom to give her a heads up but decided to let DH sleep a little more. I showered and started gathering what was left on my check lists while I was calm, cool, and collected.

By 6am contractions were roughly 6 minutes apart so I woke DH up. Being that this was with my 2nd child, I thought that my labor would happen a lot faster and decided to get a move on with packing, straightening up, etc. All of this hustle and bustle and being on my feet for a few hours (3 or 4 hours) really slowwwweddddd down my contractions. They were back to 30 minutes apart. I was really bummed b/c I had already text close friends and family thinking this was it and now I'd have to tell them nevermind?? Boo.

Well my doula and one of my friends suggested sitting and rocking on my birthing ball or taking a bath. I did both and it worked! Contractions were anywhere from 2-7 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long for a hour. DH was so cute and wanted to go to the hospital (in fear of things picking up even faster), but I reassured him that I would *know* when to go in and contractions weren't long enough at this point.

By 1:45pm my contractions consistently began to take my breath away and were 3-4 min apart and 60-75 secs long. Called my mom, doula, and back up OB (my OB is on vacation until today!) to let them know we were heading to the hospital. When I got to triage at 2:30pm, I was 6cm! Just like my previous delivery, standing/walking brought utter pain instantly so I remained sitting, calmly breathing through my contractions while listening to my Hypnobirthing Relaxation CD for 45 minutes. I was 7-8cm and things were getting a little more uncomfortable. I needed silence to endure the contractions. Very quickly I got to 9.5cm and I was really getting the urge to push. Once I hit a point where my body started pushing on its own (I literally felt my uterus pushing the baby out without me doing much of anything) the dr. came in and we pushed for real. After about 35-40 minutes of pushing, my DS was born! It was very intense once I got to 9.5cm but knowing that the end was VERY near was what got me through it. I only pushed for so long bc I was so timid about pushing at first. After 15-20 minutes, I realized that I just needed to suck it up and do it. He came quickly then. He was born at 5:13pm!

Because I had an u/s at 38 weeks indicating that he was already 9+lbs and at risk for shoulder dystocia, I had planned to deliver while squatting or on all fours. Well, I could not move out of the normal sitting position at all. I had a side stitch (just like when you're exercising) that made moving and breathing a lot more challenging. My doula used pressure and a heating pad to relieve that. By the time I had to push, the stitch was gone, and thankfully, pushing while on my back caused no problems. He came right out! I did experience the ring of fire and have a 2nd degree tear, but honestly, after it all I just didn't care about it. I just was so happy to deliver a beautiful, healthy baby boy!

I immediately did skin-to-skin and nursed him. I really think that b/c of letting him sit on my chest for a while immediately that he was able to latch so well. He's nursing like a champion! Such a sweet baby. Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more in love! DD just adores him already and is smothering him with hugs and kisses!

Not how I pictured it... (long, sorry)

ErinSeale — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:57:50 GMT

So when I found out I was pregnant (being my first time), I immediately started envisioning how my baby would come into the world. I pictured a natural birth with only my husband present, no pain medications, and prayed for a healthy baby.

I had an uneventful, very healthy pregnancy except for some rather persistent morning sickness resulting in a 20lb weight loss in the beginning. After that, smooth sailing! Then at 6 months my husband (in the military) got orders for us to move to another state. We got through that, I got established with a new OB. We got through Christmas traveling back home, and came back to wait the final 4 weeks for our baby. Then at 37 weeks, I had sudden extreme pain in my right flank. It came out of nowhere, and was crippling. I am a nurse, and was fairly sure it was just a muscle spasm though, since it was worse with movement. But my husband insisted on an ER trip, so we loaded up. A week later, I got to come home after learning that I had a 1.3cm kidney stone blocking my right ureter and causing a severe kidney infection that had also spread to my bloodstream, but thankfully had not affected the baby. (and after a cystoscope, finding out that the kidney was filled with pus.) So I had a week of IV antibiotics and a ureter stent placed to keep the stone out of the way since surgery to remove it or lithotripsy to break it up were not an option while pregnant. I was stuck with it until baby was out. The stent was way painful to have moving around inside, and I was not excited about having it for 3 more weeks.

In addition, my husband was scheduled to deploy the day after my due date. So we spoke to my OB about a possible early induction so that I could have the stone out and so that dad could meet the LO before he left. She agreed to inducing 1 week early as I was already 1-2cm dilated and had a "favorable" cervix.

We thought it would be a routine induction, and I had planned a natural birth with no pain medications. I was already having not-so-painful contractions about every 10 minutes for the 2 days before. We went in on a Sunday night to have the Cervidil placed, and were told we would wait until 7am to start pitocin. That's when it went awry. The nurse who placed the cervidil told me not to move for 2 hours so that it could start to absorb properly. (very hard for me with the kidney issues that made me have to pee every 30 minutes, but I did it) After about 30 minutes, I was having painful contractions every 3 minutes, and my vagina started to burn and hurt badly. I asked the oncoming nurse if that was normal, and she said "You are going into labor, of course that's normal." After the 2 hours I was already contracting every 2 minutes and they were getting intense. The baby's heart rate dropped, and I was told to turn on my left side and oxygen was placed on my face. The contractions got closer and closer together until it seemed there was no break in between...just one long contraction. So the nurse decided to remove the cervidil to slow them and give the baby a chance to rest in between to improve her heart rate. When she went to take it out, she said "Oh, it wasn't placed correctly and was near the edge. That's why it s hurting you." Good grief. She also checked and I was dilated to 3cm. So it was removed and the contractions slowed to every 5 minutes. I was told to take a shower and rest until 7 am when we were to start pitocin.

So the pitocin was started and the contractions become more intense and about 2 minutes apart. As they increased it, they were coming every minute and felt like one continuous contraction again. This continued until noon when I was checked again. We were hoping for some progress but I was still only 4 cm. The doctor said we would decrease the pitocin by half to allow for less frequent but stronger, more effective contractions. This worked for a while. But then the 1 minute contractions again. They became so intense that I cracked and asked for an epidural. They agreed and as soon as it was placed I felt better...but also felt no tightening. The contractions stopped all together. We waited a bit, but no change. Finally after 30 hours since the cervidil was first placed, we agreed to a c-section. Nurses were slowly getting things together, getting my husband dressed and ready for the OR, and moving me there as well. As I lay on my back (which hadn't been working for the baby during the whole labor) the anesthesiologist increased my epidural meds to achieve total numbness. No matter how much he added though, I was not getting numb...and baby's heart rate was dropping rapidly. Suddenly, we went from routine c-section for failure to progress to emergency c-section for baby in distress. I was quickly put to sleep, my husband was not allowed to enter, and when I woke up I had a daughter. Seeing her face made the rest of the drama a complete blur and I didn't give any of it a second thought... It didn't matter, She was here, and healthy.

Until 4 days later. The stress of the kidney stone, stent, the unexpected complications and c-section, husbands deployment, and lack of sleep finally caught up with me. We were home, my family was visiting, and I snapped. Sitting at the table having a great dinner I just burst into tears. Partially due to normal PP hormones, I'm sure. But the whole whirlwind experience of the previous couple weeks just became too much.Since then, I haven't had any time to reflect on it until now. I have had constant company visiting, my beautifulnewborn growing and changing every day, and new mom experiences to fill my days.

I guess sharing on this board is my way of getting some emotion out and getting past the whole thing. I have since had the kidney stent removed, stone blasted, c-section healed, and I have gotten into a new "normal" routine with my daughter. I know I have so much to be thankful for, and becoming a mom is the best experience of my life so far. Lesson learned: expect the unexpected!

One question for other moms though: If you have had a VBAC, was it difficult to find a physician who would agree to it? I would love to try again for a natural birth if we have more children in the future.

Baby Helena is here- induction story

tinne004 — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:09:37 GMT

I had a very positive experience with labor induction, so I thought I'd share:

I had an induction scheduled for Sunday, March 10, which was four days past my due date. I had been three centimeters dilated and seventy percent effaced since thirty-seven weeks, with no obvious contractions. We checked into our LDR room at noon and started going over things with our first RN for the day, Abbie. I had tested positive for group B strep, so they started an IV with antibiotics right away. They waited until 2:00 pm to start the induction with Pitocin in order to give the antibiotics time to get into my system.

I didn’t really feel anything for a couple hours, even though the monitors said I was having irregular contractions. They broke my water around 3:30 pm- I was afraid of it being painful or uncomfortable, but it wasn’t bad at all. The doctor was already performing an internal exam, so she just inserted what looked like a plastic crochet hook, and it popped like a water balloon.

Finally around 4:00 pm I started feeling painful cramps, and my contractions measured about five minutes apart. I asked for the IV pain medication, which I believe was Demerol. They checked me at this point and I was dilated five centimeters.

Unfortunately for me, they administered the medication while increasing the Pitocin dosage at the same time. So after a few minutes of pain relief, my contractions started feeling worse. I waited about twenty minutes, and then decided I wanted the epidural. The pain level was at a point where I had to control my breathing and had my husband standing at my side to squeeze my hand when the contractions came.

I received the epidural around 6:00 pm. I remember being terrified of the procedure after all I had read and heard about it, but honestly the only pain I felt was the numbing shot, and that was nothing compared to the pain of the contractions. By now I measured eight centimeters. I was shocked- I had fully expected to be in labor for the standard twelve to eighteen hours, and now I realized that this baby was coming in just a few hours! I had my husband text my parents and best friend, who lived about an hour’s drive away, to let them know that our baby was coming soon.

After the epidural, my pain lessened and time seemed to fly. I could still feel the contractions, but the pain only lasted for a few seconds before subsiding. A few of my friends showed up, and we passed the time talking and joking around. Then around 9:00 pm, the nurses decided it was time to start pushing.

I was numb from the epidural, but I still thought I was going to feel intense pain or pressure, at least when the baby’s head came out. But all I remember was my doctor urging me to push- push harder, harder, as hard as you can, don’t stop, and then I saw the head! A second later the rest of the body was pulled out and my baby was placed immediately on my chest. She was already crying, but as far as baby cries go, hers wasn’t so bad.

Helena Lea was born at 9:52 pm on March 10, measuring 19.5 inches and weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces. She had a full head of dark brown hair and greyish-blue eyes.

Andrew's birth story

Rae5035 — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:35:09 GMT

My due date was 1/2/13 and that day came and went.....no baby and I was HUGE, lol, and super uncomfortable. I didnt have any signs of labor. I think I had to pee about every 15-20minutes. I was sleeping on the couch sitting up because I had horrible acid reflux. I went to doctor that Friday and was told I had reached maximun capacity and we had to be scheduled for an induction. I was still at the same 1cm and 80% effaced as I had been the past 3 weeks.

I was scheduled to be induced at 6:00am on 1/8/13, but I was put on hold for 12 hours because a bed wasn't available. Apparently 1/8/13 was a popular day for a lot of babies. So I was getting more and more annoyed thinking I would never get to deliver my baby and I wasnt about to go another week. My doctor called me and told me to come in that night at 7pm to be induced. She said she moved me to the top of the list because I was already a week overdue.

I went to the hospital that night with my husband and my mom. They hooked me up to the iv and monitor at 7:30pm. The Resident doctor came in to examine me and I was still 3 centimeters and 80% effaced. She also did a sonogram and laughed because there literally was no more room in the inn. They had me eat something because my doctor didnt want me induced until around 2:00am so she could be the one to deliver my baby. Not too long after I ate something and had the exam that I started to get some cramping, but nothing I didnt have before. The cramps would come and go. It wasnt until my mom, who was closely watching the monitor, asked me if I was having a contraction and me, not knowing, said no, just a little cramping.....well a little cramping kept coming about every 10 minutes.....the nurse came in and said how she had been watching her monitor of me and noticed I started labor on my own :) Around 9:18pm I thought I felt my water break, but it was a false alarm. My pain was about a 5/10. The nurse had me get up and start walking and that is when the real pain started and the back labor kicked in. That was the worst. A few times it made me weak in the knees and made my eyes water. My pain after walking was an 8/10. I tried out the birthing ball for a little until the doctor came in. He said I could have an epidural. The epidural was like heaven, lol....it kicked in immediately and thats when my nurse told me it was time to sleep because the hardest part was ahead of me.

At 2:00am I was examined and was 4cm and 100% effaced. They started the Pitosin drip. At 3:40am I could feel the contractions on my right side. They ended up upping my epidural, but I still could slightly feel the contractions when they came on that side.

I was examined again at 3:48am- I was 6cm and 100% effaced....that was when they noticed the "bloody show". I was well on my way...

At 5:10am- I was examined and was 9cm and 100% effaced. I did a whole bunch of trying to sleep, but it really didnt happen.

At 6:28am I was 9-10cm with small cervix on the right side. Pain was back up to 5-6/10. Again they increased the epidural. They then had to break my water.

At 7:00am I was +1 station and 10cm dilated. They had me do a couple pushes to get me started until my doctor got there. I have to say that pushing was so entirely exhausting. And because they had upped my epidural so much I couldnt feel anything. Therefore I think I pushed way harder than I needed. But and hour and 20min later my beautiful baby boy was placed on my stomach and it was amazing! Andrew was born 1/9/13 @ 8:22am 8lbs 6oz and 21 3/4 inch long.

(My husband kept a log- that's how I know the exact times :)

My Easter Surprise

Mommymorticia — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:25:06 GMT

On Saturday the 30th SO and I walked around a big baby convention and stood in lines for contests all morning. I had joked that it would put me into labor . I had some mild cramping and it wore me out but other than that I felt fine.

That night I noticed that my legs were more swollen than usual. At 11 I went to bed and just as I was dozing off I felt a strange pop that shook my whole stomach. I went to the bathroom and felt a gush after I had finished. "Omg, omg, omg.....Jason! Finish packing the hospital bag!" 15 minutes later the never-ending trickle began and I was 100% sure my water had broke. We were so excited! Jason was nervous and I couldn't get him to go over 55 on the highway.

My contractions started in the car. When I got to the hospital I was only dilated to a 1 and they started my IV but my ruptured membranes was confirmed. I got a room fairly quickly and my mother and MIL were there. I progressed to a 3 fast and then soon halted. We had a lot of trouble with both monitors. At one point the nurse had to sit on my bed and hold it in place to get a reading. They ended up doing both internal monitors.

In the early morning I was given Pitocin and then had an epidural. Contractions picked up and became strong. I did make it to 4 centimeters. At this point they were trying to get me to change positions and recline trying to get me to progress faster but the baby's heart rate would drop if I moved at all. At one point it got down to 50. I was stuck in one position through the whole labor. That was very uncomfortable for me. My legs, butt, and lower back were hurting and aching but I wasn't going to move.

Hours passed with no progression, my doctor started talking csection. I wanted to wait and see. Around noon I started to feel very sick, like I was getting the flu. I had a fever and they thought I was getting an infection so they gave me an antibiotic that started with an A?. My family arrived to visit me and unfortunately that's when I got really ill and started vomiting. They think I had a bad reaction to the antibiotic. My gammy was on my right, holding my bucket and wiping my face with a rag and my mom was on my left holding my hand. I felt so grateful for them. It kind of felt like I was crossing over to join them in motherhood and they were taking care of me and welcoming me.

The doctor came back to check me around 2:30PM. Only a 4 1/2. I had only progressed 1 1/2 centimeters in the previous 13 hours, had an infection, and my contractions had been spreading out and becoming weaker over the last few hours. He told me he didn't think I would be delivering vaginally and I agreed to a csection. That's when I got really emotional. I just kept looking at my family and crying knowing that we would meet our newest member so soon. I was getting ready to meet my child!

The csection was not at all what I expected. I was always told that the only thing you feel is a little pressure when the baby is pulled out and that's it. That could not be furthest from the truth for me. I won't go into detail but I know that I won't be able to do it again and would have to be completely put under.

We were team green. In the midst of the bright light in my eyes and the pain/pressure/pulling I hear an, "It's a boy!" and the doctor holds this squealing, goo-covered baby right above my head. Everything else leaves my mind and I start laughing and crying and look at Jason. He's crying too.

Torrin Alexander was healthy, 7lb 9oz. born exactly 2 weeks before his expected due date.

Sweet Lexi

waterbabybluuuu — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:33:34 GMT

SO here it goes!!

My beautiful daughter Lexi was born natural with no pain meds. I had been told that I would have a faster labor the 2nd time around but it was still 10 hrs! I did not tear and BF went so much easier this time around!

My water broke in Target of all places LOL! I had my son with me and he said "Uh oh" when water started gushing down my leg! Luckily I was close to home so I was at the hospital after 1 hr.

Pushing was so much easier the 2nd time! It took seriously 3 pushes and she was out.

For those who want to go natural, you can do it! Be strong!

My "painless" med free labor and fast delivery. (LONG)

docslittlestar — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:43:36 GMT

Seemed I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions and false labor forever. It had actually been for about a month or more. I was getting to the point where I didn't know what labor was like anymore and I was afraid I might not know when to go in. Tuesday morning I woke up and started my day. I had spoken with my midwife on the phone and she said that she wanted me to come in for an NST (I was almost a week overdue). She said that we would schedule an appointment for Thursday to have another NST and possibly schedule an induction. I played with DS and around 11 and shortly after realized I lost part of my mucus plug. I hoped that this was a sign that things were going to happen. I had noticed that my contractions had been all morning and continued throughout the day, which usually they were very spaced out and would come and go. I continued throughout the day trying to put together a list of things to try to get labor going without having to be induced since that was something I was desperately trying to avoid. At around 6pm my mom came over to watch DS and I went into Labor and delivery for my NST. Everything looked normal and I was having regular contractions that were 7 minutes apart. Some of them were strong enough down low that I didn't notice the tightening up above.

We headed home feeling just the same as we did at the last two NSTs (that nothing was happening) but I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that my contractions were not the same as before. After my mom went home I realized that my contractions were getting a little stronger and I had continued to lose more pieces of my mucus plug. I sent my mom a text and warned her that we might be coming over later but that I was hoping to not jinx things.

We went to bed at 10pm and before going to sleep I told DH that I didn't think we would be staying all night. I told him I would try to sleep and see what happened. I was able to sleep until 12:30am and then I couldn't sleep through them anymore. They weren't painful but were nagging me enough to keep me awake. I sent my mom another text and went and sat in the tub to try and time things. My contractions were 4 minutes apart while I was in the tub, 1 minute apart if I was walking and 3 when I went to lie down. I told DH that I couldn't sleep and that we would need to go drop DS off soon. I was just waiting for them to become painful.

At 2-2:30 I realized that if I really wanted to wait until I couldn't breathe through my contractions that I would have to still last long enough to wake DS up, get him ready, drop him off at my parents and still somehow drive to the hospital all while being in a lot of pain (from what I remember with my labor with my son). It was then I decided we should drop my son off now and make our decisions from my parents’ house. We got things ready and took him over. My husband put him in bed there and we sat and talked to my parents for a bit. My mom knew it was getting close when on my way to the bathroom I had to stop and lean against the wall for a bit. We started timing them and realized they were 2 1/2 apart and so I reluctantly called my midwife (She had been sick with the stomach flu the day before and I was afraid to wake her). When she answered she told me to go in right away.

When we arrived at the hospital we contacted those who wouldn’t mind me texting them in the middle of the night and got my doula to head over. Here is where things start getting a little more interesting but to be honest is quite a blur. They checked me and I was 5cm. I was shocked. When I was in labor with my son I was at 5 cm for an hour and then I hit transition so I was worried it was going to come at any time. After they got me my hep lock and did my NST I was able to go sit in the tub. I did for a little over an hour before heading back to the room. My contractions stayed at about 2 1/2 minutes but they kept getting stronger. The interesting part was I was able to tell everyone to be quiet while I was having one and could make them mentally painless by focusing on her coming down the birth canal and relaxing my body. They stayed "painless" until I was at 9cm.

I labored in bed a bit and then asked to be checked. I was 8cm. My midwife said she could see during my next contraction if she could stretch it a bit farther and she got me to 9 (I was almost there myself). At this point it was suggested I take a shower to try and get the baby to move down in a different position. When I stood the contraction was so bad even leaning on DH didn't make the pain go away and I couldn't relax my body. After the contraction was over I got right back into bed and got comfortable. I turned on the ipad and listened to DS’s "nuh-night" music. The midwife and nurses kept telling me all day I was the calmest women they had ever seen in labor and that I was doing wonderful. I just couldn't believe I was at 9cm and that the baby was going to be here soon. Where was transition? The midwife suggested I try walking one more time.

As I stood up I could feel a contraction come over me and I knew I wouldn't be able to manage it on my feet. I leaned on DH and as the contraction hit its peak I could feel her head coming down and said "I am pushing, I am pushing" while I hung over DH’s shoulders. When the contraction ended I threw myself back into bed knowing that another one would be the end of me if I was not able to relax myself. I was lying on my side as I felt one coming and I lifted my leg and began to push. All of a sudden I felt and saw a giant gush of water spray across the bed. I heard one of the nurses saying "...her water just broke...” (I later told DH that I was surprised no one was down at the end of the bed to get sprayed but he said "um, there was..." haha awesome :p The poor nurse was probably traumatized).

At this point the nurses surrounded me and my midwife was supporting me as my body did all the work.

At every contraction I grabbed DH's hand with one hand and his shirt with the other and pushed uncontrollably with my throat (loud frog like groan). My midwife warned me that this would hurt my throat later but I couldn't control it (and she was right). With every contraction my legs involuntarily squeezed shut as if to try and stop what was happening to me. My midwife warned that doing this would cause me to tear and that I needed to focus and keep my legs open as I pushed. It hurt so bad when I pushed and I was afraid that my insides were going to escape in a giant bowel movement if I didn't close my legs, so I couldn't stop myself. Finally one of the nurses grabbed my leg and pulled it open and told me right to my face “K listen to me, you cannot do that! You need to let her come out. You are going to hurt yourself". With that I pushed with all I had and her head came out. The next contraction came very quick and I pushed her body out. I was pushing for only 8 minutes Total!

The midwife immediately put her on my belly. I grabbed her and tried to pull her up but I could feel that the cord was not long enough so I cuddled her from my belly.

The nurse rubbed her and I said I could do it so I finished wiping her off and petting her. She cried but not as much as I had imagined. She seemed either very calm or very shocked by what had just happened to her. The midwife kept feeling the cord waiting for it to stop pulsing and then let my husband cut it. Once she was up on my chest I was able to cuddle her skin to skin for as long as I wanted. This feeling of love was instant. The moment the midwife placed her on my belly I wanted to kiss her and love her. After just a short bit she started rooting for her hands and I nursed her. She nursed like she had done it before. There was no pain just the softness of her.

I was able to deliver the placenta pretty quickly after nursing Leylie. I was given some Pitocin because I was bleeding a lot (after my blood work came back it turned out I had very low iron and my blood loss was pretty high). I had only a small tear though. After quite a while (and several texts from everyone asking) I passed her up to get weighed and measured. She was 8lb 6oz and 20 inches long. I could not believe how chunky she was/is. She is perfect. She is a very easy going baby if her needs are met she is happy. I am so thrilled with how easy my labor was and how quick my delivery was. My recovery has been great so far and I am enjoying spending this time with our family all together.