Hellobee Boards: Forum: Birth Stories

Hellobee Boards: Forum: Birth Stories - Recent Topics https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:51:38 +0000 MamaBear87 on "My super fast birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-super-fast-birth-story#post-2884485 Tue, 14 May 2019 13:25:04 +0000 MamaBear87 2884485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My second was born 5/13 at 705. I woke up that morning with contractions more painful than what I had been having but spaced like 10-40 min apart, figured maybe start to early labor and tried to ignore them. Sent my husband to work and my 3 year old to school (my mom is here so I wasn't alone) Went to my midwife appt at 130. Got a sweep. Was 2cm and "decently" effaced. Stopped at my favorite coffee shop to make myself feel better. Had 2 wicked contractions while I was there. Headed home. Wandered around the house, having contractions but didn't really feel like I should time them yet. Put my doula on standby. Looking at my contraction timer I had 2 5 min apart at 4 o'clock so that's likely when active labor started then there's a gap while I worked through them. Told my doula I wanted her to wait until bedtime for my 3 year old so I didn't upset her more with her coming over. Called my husband at 445 and said you should come home. He of course hit every light and didn't get home until 515. Had like 3 contractions, told him to call Willow, he spoke to the midwife on call, she said meet her there at 615. I thought I was dying on the 20 min drive over and started getting worried we were going to have a baby in the car (mind you I was 2cm less than 4 hours ago so I figured I was being paranoid) We got to the birth center at 615 on the dot. Had 4-5 contractions in the triage room. Emily managed to check me, said we're for sure admitting you but do you want to walk around a bit first? You're moving along but he's not that low yet. Scott and my doula grab my stuff and i have to stop in the living room to have 2 contractions, decide they've passed, take 2 steps towards the stairs and I'm like nevermind mumble incoherently and head for my room. Collapse leaned against the bed, have a massive contraction. Fall to my knees after and am internally freaking out because I feel pushy, how am I going to make it through any amount of time like this? (I think this was likely about 20 min but my mind has already compacted it) I manage to smile at my husband a couple times while I try and breathe through these massive contractions. I'm finally pushing involuntarily and I ask Emily in a lucid moment "is it ok that I'm pushing?" She just tells me to follow my body. Next contraction I feel my water break. Finally at this point they put me in the tub, we've been waiting all this time for it to fill. I start out kneeling and I can feel baby making his way out. Kneeling feels horrible because I have to sit back on my heels to keep my vagina in the water. This was the only contraction that I felt totally out of control and let out a shriek. I did pretty well the rest of the time keeping my noises low and breathing. I ask if I can move and roll to my back. With the next contraction I can feel intense pressure everywhere. At this point I think in my head, nevermind I want an epi! I reach down with my hand and feel his head. Yell "oh my God his head is right there!" And get down to pushing. Crown him, think no fucking way is his head going to fit, wait for the next contraction and push him out slowly (may have taken 2 contractions, I just remember trying to pant and go slow because I didn't want to tear.) His head comes out and I wait again. His shoulders took some serious effort to push out too (this I was mad about 😂) And then he was here! At 705, about 3 hours of active labor. Screamed from the moment they put him on my chest. He is adorable and I can't stop staring at him. So I guess I was about 5 cm when Emily checked me but basically fully effaced. So went from 2-5 in about 4 hours and then 5- full in an hour. It was super intense and I'm a bit shocky but so so glad that I planned for a med free birth. I mostly just feel incredibly empowered and so in awe of what I did. I can imagine that it would have been pretty scary if I had been counting on meds I had a 17 hour labor with my daughter so the precipitous birth was really unexpected. Glad we aren't having any more as we'd likely have to have a home birth 😂 For anyone who made it to the end of my 3am birth high writing I take my hat off to you. [attach=6228/19/prib5s.600x450.IMG_20190514_070348.jpg] Umbreon on "Baby Umbreon's birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-umbreons-birth-story#post-2883127 Fri, 03 May 2019 10:10:48 +0000 Umbreon 2883127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Hello everyone! I'm so excited to finally be able to share my own birth story. I really enjoyed reading these before and during my pregnancy. It might be long! It was 15 days before my due date and I woke up around 5 in the morning with slight cramps. I was so tired though, that I convinced myself it was because of the upset stomach I had the night before. I had to get up at 7 for work so I just ignored it and kept going back to sleep. I got up at 7 went to the washroom and noticed I had some bleeding. I was excited. We called the on-call doctor to see if I should go to the hospital, I wasn't sure because of the bleeding if that could indicate a problem or not. The doctor said if I was concerned I could go and get checked out. It took us about an hour to get everything ready before we left. I had a feeling this could be it, so I told DH that we should stop for some food. We went to McDonald's and had some breakfast. I was having contractions, but when I timed them I saw no consistent pattern. They also were not very strong at all, very minor menstrual cramps. We got to the hospital, filled out the paperwork, and eventually got into triage. They hook me up to some monitors, everything looked fine. She checked me and said I was 1cm and she said that I was having irregular contractions. She told me it could be a day, or it could be a week. She sent me home and told me to come back when they were coming every 5 minutes ,lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour. We went home, I had a bath and then I decided to have a nap. I had only slept an hour before I woke up with a stronger contraction. I got up and started timing them while DH made me lunch. After an hour, I noticed the 5-1-1 pattern. But I was doubting myself, since I got to this point so fast. I ate lunch and continued to time them. I told DH I think we need to go back to the hospital. I helped clean up from lunch because I didn't want to sink full of dirty dishes. Then we left again. The contractions started to get stronger. By the time we got back to the hospital, I wasn't able to walk during a contraction. But I still wouldn't say they were that bad. Eventually we got back into triage and they checked me again. I was at 5 cm! The nurse said she was surprised I was that far along, and that I was handling things really well. She told me they would admit me but they had to get a room ready first. I wanted to labor in the tub, so I asked about that and she said she would make sure that I got a room with one. At this point I was just taking it one contraction at a time. Squeezing DH's hand with each one and breathing. They brought me a yoga ball. I found it easier to get through contraction if I was sitting rather than lying in the bed. Eventually they came back to check me again, this might have been a bit over an hour later. I was 8 cm! Again they said said I was doing really well and that they would get me a room soon. At this point I realized I hadn't gone to the bathroom at all so I figured I should try. When I got back to the room I decided to get on the bed. The next contraction came and when it got to the peak I felt a warm gush. DH said the look on my face was hilarious. It was such a weird, warm feeling like I had just peed my pants. I got out of the bed where I leaked more fluid and at this point they came in with the wheelchair and said my room was ready. I'm not sure if they rushed me out of there because my water had broken, or if it was just really good timing. Got to labor room. They told me the baby was very low, I was feeling a lot of pressure. I was not sure how much pressure I should be feeling, because I almost felt like I needed to push with every contraction. But they checked me and said I was still at 8 maybe 9cm. At this point, with every contraction I kept telling them I felt so much pressure and I didn't know if it was time to push or not. I really didn't like the nurse at this point. She kept asking me if I wanted something for the pain. She kept trying to tell me I should take gas and that it won't harm the baby. It was annoying though, because I thought I was doing really well. I was breathing, I wasn't screaming in agony, and I wasn't feeling like I can't do this. Plus I was at 9 cm, I've gone this far! Concentrating is what really got me through the contractions, and I feel like gas would have just been too much of a distraction. Plus I was more afraid of throwing up than I was of the pain, and I was worried gas would make me nauseous . She checked me at one point, and didn't trust what she felt so she called another nursing to check as well. She said shortly after this that she was probably going to be switching out with someone else, and it took everything I had not to show my happiness at this. Then I felt that unmistakable feeling, that I need to push. Luckily the nurse switched out around this time. During the contraction I was saying "I'm trying not to push I'm trying not to push". I felt kind of a burning sensation, so I knew that when they check me next I would be ready to push. I was right, and they told me to start pushing. With that first push, I remember almost having an out-of-body experience, and I thought wow is my body really doing this? I was so surprised that it just knew what to do. Pushing wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be, I didn't realize I could trust my body so much. I can't remember how many contractions I went through during the pushing. But at one point they said I was ready for the doctor to come in. This was hard, they told me to stop pushing and I felt like the baby was half out of me. The burning was crazy. I I just concentrated on that feeling and imagined everything stretching out. The doctor came in, a contraction came and I told them I had to push. DH said the doctor was not expecting things to happen so fast. He said she almost missed it, but I'm not sure. We were Team Green, and after only 20 minutes of pushing, we finally got to meet our beautiful baby boy. He was only 5 lb, but I'm not surprised because I'm a tiny person and was a 5lb baby myself. He was full term though, and absolutely perfect. I'm so proud of myself for being able to do this naturally and unmedicated. Things happened so fast, I wasn't able to use the tub like I wanted to, but at no point did I feel like I can't do this. I honestly think the key is not being afraid. At no point did I have any fear. While pregnant, I feel like people couldn't wait to tell me their horror stories. But I feel like the common thing in all those stories was fear. I was excited, not afraid and I think that made things a lot easier. From the time I woke up from my nap with consistent contractions, he was born within 8 hours. Not too bad! I had a second degree tear, 3 stitches. He's 4 weeks now, and we're still getting the hang of the night-time feeds but we're doing really well. pachamama on "Pachamama's birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pachamamas-birth-story#post-2868097 Tue, 22 Jan 2019 11:17:24 +0000 pachamama 2868097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ After all the ridiculous, anxiety-riddled posts I have made and the long journey some of you knew it took to get here, I thought I'd share how my son made his entrance into the world last week. :happy: So I hadn't gained weight in 6 weeks and my bump hadn't grown much so (as per usual with me) I was pretty anxious for my 40w2d ultrasound/ NST. I had got a high risk ultrasound at 38w (heart arrhythmia) showing him to be 7lb11oz. This u/s at 40w2d showed him at 7lb2oz. !! Of course he hadn't shrunk but it was unsettling that there was no growth (different machines and techs but still) and it sent me into a COMPLETE vortex of panic. The OB wasn't too worried (?!) but I was shaking with fear. She said I was 3cm, very ripe and gave me a membrane sweep. She said "I see no reason for you to be pregnant another day" and sent me to L&D to be induced. I was LOSING my mind with worry but he wasn't showing signs of distress or anything. He had an irregular heartbeat so I was thinking it had something to do with that but looking back I think he was just not meant to be a big baby and wanted out. Who knows. The plan was unmedicated labor like I did with my first son but I knew Pitocin would complicate that or make it impossible to endure the pain (I have read many of your stories after all!). Got to L&D at 4pm with some contractions- that membrane sweep definitely worked. Had my bloody show. Then the hospital had a bunch of emergencies so we didn't start Pitocin til 12:45am and HOLY SHIT THAT STUFF IS THE DEVIL. But effective in my case. Luckily I was in very early labor but omg by 1:45am I couldn't walk and 2:30am I couldn't talk. I was like EPIDURAL NOW PLEASE!! At this point I was 7cm. Contractions 2-3 mins apart on a 9/10 scale painwise. I went completely inside myself if that makes sense. Unlike my non-induced labor with my son, there was no break between contractions; my body wasn't resting. But per my stupid birth plan, my midwife got me in the hot tub (was now 9cm like 15 minutes later), and JUST like with my son, the instant I got in there I had the urge to push. It felt so good to push! No one believed me b/c it was too fast. So I had a huge push and he almost came out in the tub. Big insurance no-no! The midwife got me out, holding the baby's head in as I climbed on the table. 3 pushes later that I was *pretty* sure ripped me apart at the seams, Keegan was born 7lb 9oz, 19", screaming and pink and full of fury. The pain was instantly gone. It was over!!! He is a nursing pro and I only had a tiny 1st degree tear (not a "vaganus" like I thought), but I am MUCH more sore this time and have very little bladder control. I have nothing but wonderful memories of the labor and delivery and am so so thrilled my little guy is here safe and sound. But Pitocin is some scary shit! mediagirl on "No longer "one and done" - a birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/no-longer-one-and-done-a-birth-story#post-2868197 Tue, 22 Jan 2019 15:39:49 +0000 mediagirl 2868197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Many of you who know me on here know I was one and done for a very long time. My husband and I had a little midlife crisis and changed our minds (eh hem.....he changed his mind). :) This is our second daughter's birth story. Short story: Induced at 39 weeks because I'm in my 40's, pushed for 2 hours, ended up with a (traumatic to me) emergency c-section. Long story: At my 38 week appointment, I was scheduled for an induction. It is standard practice at the OB practices in my area to induce any mom who is 40 or older at 39 weeks. I decided to be induced on the first day of my 39th week because it worked best for my work schedule... I got the call at 6:30am to come in to the hospital. At 8am, I saw my OB and I had my pitocin started. It was started very slowly and I hardly felt anything for a long time. Throughout the day, the nurses kept upping the pitocin and I continued to have very mild contractions that weren’t too bothersome. I walked the halls, bounced on a ball and watched a few episodes of Below Deck. At 5pm I still wasn’t feeling much but my OB came in and decided to check me. I was 4cm and she decided then to break my water. It gushed and gushed and soaked the nurses, my OB and me. Everyone was a little surprised by that, even though we all knew I had poly. About an hour after my water was broken, I started having terrible contractions and a burning sensation through each of them. At that point, I asked for the epidural. Soon after that, I had advanced to 10cm and started pushing. I pushed for 2 hours, just like with my first. Everything was going great until the baby wouldn’t come down any further. At this point my OB started trying to do a few things to help the baby down. They shifted me into different positions (hard with the epidural). Then she pulled out the vacuum to try to shift the baby’s head. At this point she told me the baby was stuck. She was trying to come out with her head facing the wrong way. Her head just wasn’t going to come out so, they decided it was time for a c-section. I was very, very upset. My whole body was shaking and I was so scared. My OB was wonderful and the nursing staff could not have been better but I was scared and pissed and sad. I was prepped for c-section and was later told that it was “a very difficult c-section”. After the OB made her incisions, the baby’s arm popped out so she had to shove it back in and then the baby flipped and ended up breech. She finally got her out and after they cleaned her off, they brought her to me (my husband was with me this whole time) before they took her away again. I lost a lot of blood during the surgery and a second OB had to be called in to help sew me up. Thankfully I did not end up needing a blood transfusion but apparently I came pretty close. Rory was born at 9:12pm, 6lbs 13oz, bruised up and down one arm, as well as on the side of her head where she was stuck. She had a myriad of health issues that we have been working through, but she is just a wonderful baby. Her big sister absolutely loves her to death. C-sections are no joke. Recovery was awful. I spent 3 nights in the hospital and 3 weeks on a couch in my family room because I couldn’t get into or out of our bed. It took a full 6 weeks to finally feel better again, not only physically but mentally, as well. It didn't help that I was not prepared at all for the c-section and it hit me really hard mentally. **If I had to do it all over again (hindsight being 20/20 of course) I would wait until 39.6 to be induced to hope she would come on her own and maybe change the course of events. I'm still very bitter about the c-section and probably will be for some time. YogiRunner on "What worked to kick start labor?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-worked-to-kick-start-labor#post-2849015 Wed, 03 Oct 2018 15:27:11 +0000 YogiRunner 2849015@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Asking for a friend :silly: (ie the tiny human inside me...) Due date is tomorrow so I’m not even overdue, but just over it and we’re all ready... my parents came to stay with us early to help with LO #1 since last week I was convinced he was coming any second (ha). I’ve had a membrane sweep, been on long walks, got a pedicure with focus on acupressure, and even DTD... contractions are really irregular and are mostly mild. What seemed to get the process going for you? birdofafeather on "True Life: I gave birth in the hallway at the hospital!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/true-life-i-gave-birth-in-the-hallway-at-the-hospital#post-2820036 Thu, 03 May 2018 10:03:26 +0000 birdofafeather 2820036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Well, it's been a while since we've had a crazy birth story, so I figure I should throw my hat in the ring. TLDR: Baby girl #3 born into DH’s hands while I was on my knees on a wheelchair on the way into labor and delivery after 2 hours of labor and 20 minutes after my OB checked me at his office and I was at 4 cm. Slightly longer story: a membrane sweep (didn’t even feel like anything!) did indeed send me into labor about 5 hours afterward (my OB guessed 4-6 hours and apparently he is known for his ability to jumpstart labor!). I was only at 1 cm at 9:30 am but he was convinced it would start. The OB suggested the membrane sweep as a possible controlled start to labor since DD1 was 5 hours active labor and DD2 was 4 hours. Both started with my waters breaking. After the prior week of BH and me continuing to think something might start and then nothing did, I wasn't convinced when another round of BH started shortly after getting home. Around 2 pm though, my contractions turned into the real deal and were already 1.5-2 minutes apart and we went back to my OB’s office around 315 so he could check me (he suggested coming in if things hadn't started, so there were pluses and minuses to me going in then but at least i had called my mom to pick up our girls from school at 4 just in case we were either a) in the hospital or b) still at the OB). It was there that I really started having to breathe through them instead of just relying on counter pressure from DH. OB finally checked me at 345, said I was a 4 and fully effaced, and with my history of fast labors, he called over to the hospital 3 blocks away to let them know I was coming in. I told DH that I was glad we got to leisurely go to the hospital instead of having an awful car ride over and to have to rush (cue foreboding or comedic music depending on how you feel about irony). I decided to pee at the office before we headed over and my water broke in there and I thought, I wish I could just have this baby here. I somehow got myself down the long parking lot to the car where DH was waiting for me. I started to shake and cry and freak out (cue transition) and DH booked it to the hospital (literally 1 minute away). By the time we got to valet, I was in animal mode and hopped out of the car walking as fast as I could to get to the hallway and elevator up to l&d. We made it maybe halfway down the hallway (probably 50 yards) when I stopped and said, I have to push. I popped off my underwear under my dress to feel if the baby's head was right there or if i had a minute or two. i didn't feel her head and when I didn’t see anyone to help (probably scared an elderly couple half to death though!) basically yelled out that I was going to have this baby and needed help. Some ER nurses found a wheelchair, told me to get on my knees and they just started running. DH knew I was pushing, grabbed some gloves from a nurse because no one else seemed to be doing anything (he’s a firefighter/medic) and as he caught baby girl, he calmly voiced everything: she’s crowning, the head is delivered, she’s out. She had her cord wrapped around her neck and DH reduced it before the rest of her body was delivered (so thankful for his skills and him knowing me and how i deliver!). Then I could feel the baby on my back as they continued to run down the hallway! i asked them to stop running as they were running into DH and the wall. I basically had my butt out to the entire hallway with my baby on my back. It was absolutely insane and I absolutely didn’t care at all. I was so relieved she was out!! The OB came in maybe 5-10 minutes later and was like, what happened?! 🤪All in all, 2 hours of labor, from 4 cm to delivery in less than 20 minutes. Here's our sweet girl! She was just ready to join our crazy family! [attach=1362/18/p85r5q.450x600.IMG_9386.jpg] cyndistar3 on "Baby George's birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-georges-birth-story#post-2814390 Wed, 04 Apr 2018 19:03:54 +0000 cyndistar3 2814390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I have to start by saying the day before I went into labor my dear husband decided to take me down a dirt road and made sure to hit every single pothole on the way, he was determined I go into labor! Well the next morning on March 26th at 5 a.m. I woke up and started having cramping that was an average of 2 minutes apart, they weren't painful so I tried unsuccesfully to get some sleep. I got up to get water and pee a few times but wanted to get as much rest as possible. I couldn't just lay there anymore so around 7 I messaged my midwife and let her know that I was pretty sure I might be in labor and she let me know that my birth pool was at her house and that my husband should come get it because she had to check on another mom that was in labor. I didn't want to wake my husband just yet so I went out to the kitchen and got my girls some cereal for breakfast then spent some time on my exercise ball. I think my 3 year old could sense that something was going on because she was being sooo clingy. I couldn't handle her hanging on me so I went and took a shower then woke up my husband and asked him to go get the pool, he asked if I was in labor looking at me like I was a crazy person for waking him up like that, I told him yes and that I have been since around 5 and he shot out of bed real fast. As he was gone I had to use the bathroom and didn't want to have my 3 year old sitting on my lap while I was trying to use the bathroom while having contractions so I locked my door and that poor girl sat outside of my door screaming the whole time. Thankfully my husband got back at that time and called his mom to come get the kids. I spent some time contemplating having my midwife come check me because it would take some time for my photographer to get there, the contractions were still about 2 minutes apart and starting to get painful. At around 9 I decided it wouldn't hurt for her to come check because I'd rather be safe than sorry. She came and checked me around 10 and to both of our surprise I was at a 7! They started setting stuff up and filling the pool, I bounced on my ball and walked around listening to my worship station on Pandora, focusing on the lyrics and bouncing the contractions away. They got the tub filled but they had it way too hot so they bailed some of the water out and added some cold, then it was too cold so they had to boil water in pots to try to get it warm again. Around 11:30 I really wanted to get into the pool and it was finally barely warm enough to get in, they kept adding pots of water while I had a couple more contractions. Then my body decided to push and finally at 11:47 a.m. my not so little George came rocketing into the world and was delivered out of the water by my husband. He was my biggest baby weighing 9lbs 8oz and measuring a whole 23 inches tall. This is one of my favorite photos of his birth and one photo I took when he was 1 week old. [attach=1352/18/p6oxtn.450x600.20180404_102022.jpg] [attach=1352/18/p6oxtp.600x428.30051797_10208708091578963_6328647875484450118_o.jpg] petitenoisette on "Baby 2s (very long ) birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-2s-very-long-birth-story#post-2808796 Fri, 09 Mar 2018 15:28:30 +0000 petitenoisette 2808796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My first was born by c-section after 40 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing! Turns out she was sunny side up which was preventing her from descending. The plan for this baby was vbac with an epidural, in case anything happened and I needed an emergency c-section. I started having contractions a few days before this baby’s due date, but they would go away and then nothing on her due date or the day after. I went to bed at 40+2, and woke up around 12:30 with a contraction. They were about 30 or 45 minutes apart initially. I was careful to not get too jazzed up and tried to sleep and rest in between contractions. I mostly couldn’t sleep and had to get up and walk around for each contraction. My husband’s alarm went off at 5 at which point I told him I was having contractions and we discussed whether he should go to work or not. We decided he’d take our daughter to daycare when they opened at 6:15 and then go to work and he’d come home around lunch. The contractions were manageable at that point and I thought it’d still be a while and I just wanted to try to rest as much as possible. A little while later he came upstairs to tell me our daughter had drunk a bunch of water and then thrown up and I was like well this is a nightmare! She was acting normally and wanted to eat so we decided to let her chill for a while and see what she did. She didn’t get sick again and so we decided it was just a fluke (we were right and sorry for chancing it DC!) and he ended up bringing her to school around 8. Around 11 contractions started getting worse and some really close together, but not long. I needed my DH home so he left work and I called my OB who wanted me to come in and get checked out. By the time my DH got home I was really getting uncomfortable and also wondering why the heck we sent him to work and why we hadn’t at least finished packing the hospital bag! So we got ready to leave as quickly as possible and drove the ~25 minutes to the dr. On the way I was having contractions every 4 minutes but they were only 20-30 seconds long so I didn’t really think too much of them. At the office they hooked me up to the monitors and the midwife checked me - I was only 3 cm dialated but she said I clearly needed pain support and that I could head on over to the hospital but it wasn’t a rush. I kept having really strong contractions pretty quickly together as we walked out to the car. I was sooo ready to get the epidural at that point but nervous that things were progressing like with my daughter (contractions with little to no break but also little progress). Thank goodness the drs office was only 8 minutes away from the hospital. I think I had 3 really painful contractions or so in the car but again not super long. We pulled up to the entrance where they had valet parking which would have been great except we had no cash. So I went in and my DH went to park and would meet me inside. I had to stop and work through a few contractions walking to the elevator. We got to the L&D floor where I told them who I was and they started to bring me to do paperwork but they quickly realized that wasn’t happening and rushed to get me a wheelchair to bring me straight to the delivery room. A random angel lady (I think maybe she was a receptionist?) helped me work through a few contractions doing the “slow dance.” I was basically that lady yelling my way through the hospital. They got me to my room and thankfully my DH arrived. The midwife came in and checked me and to my grand surprise I was fully dialated - 3 cm to 10 in about half an hour. I was just kind of shocked but in retrospect it was clear that I was going through transition in the car and the way up to the hospital room. The midwife announced that I could push and that maybe we’d have a baby in 10-20 minutes. 😒 So I started pushing which did feel much better than doing nothing and made the contractions more manageable. They also stopped being one on top of another so I got a break and was able to rest between contractions. However, in the back of my mind I was worried about not having an epidural in case I needed an emergency c-sec and also just generally not feeling prepared to have an unmedicated labor. I pushed for about an hour but then asked for the epidural. Now I get why women get epidurals even at 10 cm! So they ordered the epi and I kept pushing during contractions but I wasn’t really trying too hard. I honestly didn’t feel a strong urge to push either besides it being less painful than not pushing. I had to wait about an hour for the epi so in total I pushed 2 hours. My hope was the epi would allow me a little rest and then also to push in some positions that might help the baby descend but that I found too painful to do without it. It took a little while for the epi to kick in and so the anesthesiologist gave me fentanyl too. I wish I had said no bc I could have waited longer for the regular meds to kick in. As soon as I got the epi I started shaking and I don’t think more drugs was the right call in retrospect. Anyway this did take away the rest of the pain and I told my DH that he should call my mom and update her but there was no service in the room so he left to call. While he was gone the baby’s heart rate dipped and they put me on oxygen and put a monitor on her head. Thankfully it came back up after a while and for some reason I was not panicking. Then once her heart rate came back up mine went up too high... suddenly the midwife came back with the OB and they told me we had to do the c-sec. They were so good about keeping calm that I didnt fully realize we were in emergency c sec territory. My DH told me after that he heard them assembling the team on the loudspeaker since he wasn’t even back in the room when all this was happening! They brought me down the hall to the OR and started to set everything up. At this point I was just focusing on remaining calm and not letting myself try to wiggle my toes bc that really freaked me out during my first c section. Finally my DH came in and just like my first c sec I clarified that I could still tell the OB was touching my skin but that I wouldn’t feel the actual incision, right? Once they started the baby was out in what seemed like 2 seconds. We had to finalize her name in the OR - Chloe was born at 5:53pm on March 1st. She weighed 7 lb 3 oz and was 19 inches long. She had also rotated to sunny side up (just like my first) so I don’t know if I’d have been able to push her out in any case. I ended up losing a lot of blood and it took the Obs another hour and a half to get me stitched back up and I needed a blood transfusion afterwards. They explained later the reason for the emergency c sec was that the heart rate issues with me and the baby indicated a possible uterine rupture. Again I really appreciated how calm everyone was through everything which allowed me to remain relatively calm too. We’re home now and everyone is doing well! I know this is very long but I just wanted to share my experience of a VBAC that didn’t work out bc the success rate is generally so high. [attach=6543/18/p5cbjj.433x600.C2131498-BDBF-4DC4-8C58-350C48D69514.jpeg] [attach=6543/18/p5cbjk.450x600.799B1C39-1A4B-4F35-B989-670AE46BBBF9.jpeg] DesertDreams88 on "She's here!! Pro-epidural 39-wk augmented L&D story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/shes-here-pro-epidural-39-wk-augmented-lampd-story#post-2804742 Sat, 17 Feb 2018 05:26:30 +0000 DesertDreams88 2804742@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Juliana was born yesterday at 2:07pm, 20.5 in, 7lbs 9 oz. Very peaceful baby. So thankful. Still so surprised about going into labor 39 weeks, water breaking first, and how amazing the epidural was. For reference, my son was 9 days late with a 24-hr induction with back to back contractions, stalled labor, and I wasn't allowed an epidural due to low platelets, and Birth timeline: 4:30pm: Cervical check at OB 1.5 cm, 6:00pm: nurse son for 10 min, got cramps, laid down 6:30pm: LO1 patted my belly saying "baby" and then my water broke 7pm-1am: not really contracting, chilling in OB triage, finished some grading while standing/rocking 1-7am: 2 cytotec doses got me to 4cm and effaced, but lots of pain and crying about being stuck in bed for monitoring and my water breaking putting the 24-clock on labor. Even though it was early labor, my contractions felt like a thick wooden pole being shoved through my vagina. 8am: luckily my platelets were high enough so I got the perfect epidural: even on both sides, could move and feel legs, having contractions but not feeling them. Seriously AMAZING and REVOLUTIONARY and PHENOMENAL. totally labor-altering element. 10am: started lowest level of pit, at 4cm still, rested, hazy sleep 1pm: 10cm, yeah! WHAT?! 2pm: baby born after 40 min of pushing. I could feel the pressure and the pushing but not pain. I had some low blood pressure after delivery but that was managed quickly. Small 2nd degree tear and some swelling. [attach=5393/18/p4aic6.471x600.FullSizeR.jpg] [attach=5393/18/p4aic8.532x600.IMG_2135-1.jpg] oldschooolmama on "What position did you give birth in?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-position-did-you-give-birth-in-1#post-2796231 Thu, 11 Jan 2018 09:10:32 +0000 oldschooolmama 2796231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Did you tear? matador84 on "Baby 3 Birth Story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-3-birth-story#post-2775965 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:32:47 +0000 matador84 2775965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I had a few minutes so I thought I'd type up this birth story. Not quite as exciting as the last one, but still pretty crazy! I was 39 weeks and had gone to bed around 9. I kept having to stand up and try and use the restroom and just felt generally unsettled. I kept asking DH if he felt as hot as I did. At 1115 something made me wake him up and tell him we needed to go (to the hospital) and to get dressed quickly. We left the house at 1121 and arrived at the hospital at 1131. We parked the car and I even walked in on my own but felt a little crampy and I knew I was going to have this baby. They took us right up to L & D. I signed in and the got us into a room by 1140. The nurse asked me some questions and then checked me and told me I was at a 6, so they were going to admit me and call my doctor. They moved me into a different room and told me my dr was going to come up and break my water. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart (or less, I wasn't even counting) and definitely getting more painful to where I couldn't talk through them. My doctor showed up, and broke my water at 1222am. He left the room and almost immediately I couldn't stop pushing. 8 minutes and maybe 3-4 pushes later, DS was born. My biggest baby at 8 lbs! Definitely a shock to everyone in the room. So glad I left when I did otherwise I wouldn't have made it to the hospital with this one either! maggierose on "Quick and Easy Second Baby Birth Story!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/quick-and-easy-second-baby-birth-story#post-2759567 Tue, 18 Jul 2017 14:10:46 +0000 maggierose 2759567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Preface: my son came pretty quick for a first baby (6.5 hours of contractions, 1/2 hour pushing) and I knew they say second babies usually come quicker but didn't want to get my hopes up. I also wanted to labor at home as long as possible this time around. Here is how I almost had an Uber baby! I started my maternity leave on Monday, February 6, although I wasn’t due until the 7th. My son was born a few days before his due date so I was convinced the same would be the case with this baby. I figured if I was wrong, at least I would appreciate having a day or two to myself and trying natural methods to get things started. On Monday, it happened to be a beautiful and unseasonably warm day, so I met friends for spicy Asian food for lunch, took some very long walks, and went for acupuncture. Nothing happened. On Tuesday, my due date, I went for some more walks and went for prenatal yoga, thinking maybe getting into some yoga positions would help baby engage. Nothing happened. On Wednesday, it was another unseasonably warm day. I kept my son home from daycare since I knew we might not have much 1-on-1 time left. We went to the zoo and walked all around for hours. Nothing happened. Even though I was only a day past my due date, I was starting to feel sure I would be pregnant forever and was getting frustrated as I saw the days of my limited maternity leave slipping away and no signs of labor. On Thursday, I woke up to a crazy snow storm and the temperature had dropped like 40 degrees in one day. I was hopeful because I had heard that sometimes the drops in barometric pressure from a snow storm can start labor. I had my 40 week checkup, and thought it might be canceled but they called me and just asked me to come in a little early. My midwife asked if I wanted a membrane sweep; I’d had one the week prior but it didn’t do anything other than make me a little crampy. I figured it couldn’t hurt to do it again. I think she said I was like 3 cm dilated? Up from 2 the week before, if I recall. So, there was some progress but I knew those numbers didn’t really mean much. I decided to walk home in the snow (I live in the city) rather than take a taxi, in hopes it would accelerate things. It was beautiful and quiet out. I did feel some light cramping, similar to the week before, but nothing that I thought meant anything. My son’s daycare was closed, so I got home and hung out with him. I had woken up with a nasty cold that day and thought “today would not be a good day to go into labor…I feel so crappy!” Hint hint, what do you think happened. Anyway, when my son went down for his nap I took a nap too because I felt so tired. I had some additional light cramping while I napped but slept great for like a solid two hours. I woke up when my son did and took him back downstairs. The cramping was still going on and felt a little bit stronger, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up that it was anything special. I still felt tired and not great with the cramps so I asked my husband, who was working from home, to take a break to hang out with our son so I could go get a shower and rest a little more. I figured if the cramps went away after a shower, I’d assume it was nothing. Well, the cramps were still there after the shower, so I started to think maybe this was something legit. We ordered pho for dinner (I figured the broth would help my cold and the spice couldn’t hurt things). As we sat down to eat, I started to notice a more define beginning and end to the ‘cramps’ and decided to time them. They were anywhere from about 5-8 minutes apart. This was around 5-6 p.m. I decided it was probably a good idea to put my son to bed early just in case this was the real deal. My husband and I went up to give him his bath and the cramps (which at this point I kind of recognized were contractions, which I had been unwilling to admit earlier!) amped up. When I went to read him his bedtime story, I had to take breaks from reading with each contraction, because they were pretty strong by that point. We said goodnight to him shortly before 7pm probably. We went downstairs and I bounced on my ball a bit and did some yoga on my mat to alleviate some of the discomfort. Contractions were 4-6 minutes apart but not particularly painful. I told my husband I wanted to go upstairs and take a bath to try to relax, and to come along and time my contractions. So I got in the tub probably around 7:30/8. My husband was being a champ, putting cold washcloths on my head, pouring water on my belly. I labored in the tub for probably about an hour and a half like that. Things definitely intensified and contractions were 2-4 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, but I felt like I was managing them pretty good and didn’t think I was that far along. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible and didn’t want to get to the hospital and not be very far, plus I wasn’t in terrible pain, so even though they were getting closer I didn’t feel it was time to go to the hospital. Then my water broke while I was in the tub – maybe around 9:45? As soon as I felt it, I knew things were probably going to amp up very quickly so I got out of the tub and got dressed and we called my mom to come over so we could leave for the hospital. My mom lives a mile away and should have been able to cab it to our place in less than ten minutes, but I don’t think she realized the urgency and it took her almost half an hour by the time she got her stuff together and got to our house. By the time she got there I was in transition, contractions were on top of each other, like 2 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. My husband called the Uber and we got in and left for the hospital around 10:30. The hospital is like 10 blocks away and really only like a 5 minute drive. About two blocks away, I felt the urge to push. I said “I have to push!” and the Uber driver said “we’re almost there, hang on!!” I did my best to resist the urge and it was so hard. We got out front of the hospital and I hobbled inside and told the security guard “I have to push!” It was a quiet night and he seemed bored but that shook him up He swiped his badge so we could go up the elevator and he told us he’d call L&D to let them know we were coming. As soon as we got up to L&D, I went up to the desk there and again said “I have to push!” They didn’t seem to believe me and were looking at their computer and taking their time…but by this point I could feel the baby right there, so I pulled my pants down and that’s when they took me seriously. They led me into a triage room and onto the bed and I started pushing. My daughter was out about two pushes later. 10:49 pm, probably less than 10 minutes after we pulled up to the hospital. It was a crazy, exhilarating experience! The funny thing is I wanted a home birth originally but ended up opting for the hospital primarily due to the way my insurance covers birth, but ended up almost getting a home birth anyway. Well…almost got an Uber birth, (which I’m glad didn’t actually happen!) :happy: Pumuckl on "A med free birth story - twin edition" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-med-free-birth-story-twin-edition#post-2755843 Fri, 07 Jul 2017 05:27:38 +0000 Pumuckl 2755843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I apologize in advance, this is really loooooong Backstory: DH and I had been on the fence of having a third child for some time and in May 2016 decided to just see what happens. Well two or three weeks later I got a BFP at around 13 DPO. That BFP looked like any other HPT I had ever taken so imagine my disbelief when at my first u/s we found out we would be having twins (and 4 under 4). My Pregnancy: My pregnancy was rather uneventful except for an early labor scare due to intense vomiting and diarrhea caused by an allergic reaction at 31/32 weeks. Luckily after 5 days in the hospital it was stopped and I got to go home a day before Christmas (best Christmas present ever). I had reduced my hours at work starting at 14 weeks since luckily that is possible without suffering financial or other consequences where we live. By 30 weeks I was fully staying at home (again without paycuts). The Birth: After that early labor scare we were just happy for every week that passed that kept the babies cooking. They had both turned into a head down position by the beginning of the third trimester. Before that they had been positioned all over the place often with baby B being traverse. By mid-January I started to feel very done with the pregnancy. I was incredibly uncomfortable and my skin was hurting so much. My belly wasn’t even that big considering that there were two in there but the weight was a lot. (My first was 22.75” and 8lbs 7oz so I was used to having a lot of baby in there). Well once I hit 36 weeks I was really feeling that we would be okay now if the babies came and started to sit up more again and generally moved around a little more. My sister came to visit on the weekend of the 1/21-1/22 and it somehow felt like a good time to have a baby. But you know there’s not much you can do so we just went about our day as normal. Sunday morning DS woke up in the middle of the night and since I hadn’t been sleeping much at that point in pregnancy anyway I got up with him and resettled him to bed. Once he was back in bed (4:30am) I went for a quick bathroom break too and just when I got back up that’s when my water broke. I got back on the toilet called for DH in a panic since it was pretty bloody. Now just a little background here; with my first my water broke during labor and it was about 20 minutes until he was born. With my second my water broke and she was out two pushes later, so I was really scared I was going to be in active labor really, really soon. My DH kept a really cool head and went downstairs to our guestroom woke my sister since I had totally woken up DS again and DD awoke from the frenzy too. Since baby A was head down but not fully engaged I had been advised to take an ambulance to the hospital. (Besides I really didn’t feel like walking in wet pants from the parking lot to L&D in 10°F weather). The kids were down in the guestroom with my sister so to this day they don’t know I went by ambulance. Once at the hospital I was wheeled into L&D and hooked up to monitors. I had contractions but they weren’t strong and long enough to warrant keeping me in L&D so we got sent to our room and told to head back once I felt contractions were getting stronger. So we had some breakfast and walked up and down the halls a bit. I was actually more comfortable than I had been in weeks since with the broken water the pressure on my skin was way better. By 9:30am or so my contractions had ramped up and we decided to go back to L&D. I was greeted by the midwife and led to a birthing suite. She checked me and ran another NST and again all was fine but with the very upright position in the birthing bed my contractions slowed down considerably. By 11:30am the doctor came in and told us that they would really like to hook me up to Pitocin since they wanted to have both babies out by late afternoon. That still felt an eternity away and I was really reluctant and I think both the midwife and the doctor noticed so they told they would set it to the lowest dose possible and that often just a little touch would do wonders. I was still really scared that I wouldn’t be able to handle the pain of oxytocin induced contractions well but agreed. So sometime between 11:45am and noon they hooked me up and my contraction began to come more frequently. My midwife then checked again pulled my cervix a little forward because baby was always moving back again once the contraction was over. That hurt quite badly but it did wonders. So before I even knew it she got me positioned on my side and got the doctor and a second midwife. I was still thinking that birth was probably a long time away. But then she was like if you want you can push with the next contraction. So that’s what I did and after a second push my twin A or DD2 was born and she was immediately crying. The second midwife then grabbed twin B in utero (from the outside) and DH cut DD2 cord. Once baby was wrapped up in a blanket she was passed to the doctor and they checked me and told me that if I wanted I could push again. I did and that broke twin B’s water and he was out. Honestly he was so easy to push out. I later learned that I didn’t even have a contraction so I just pushed him out without one. DH cut twin B’s or DS2 cord too and he was immediately wrapped up and handed to me. Emotionally it was probably the worst part that I wasn’t immediately able to hold DD2 once she was born. Even though I could see her at all times I still felt wrong. She was handed to me once DS2 was born and in my arms. So here’s the facts: DD2 was born at 12:15pm on 1/22/17 at 19.25” and 5lbs 9.5oz and DS2 was born at 12:19pm at 18.25” and 5lbs 4oz. I then just had to deliver my placentas but that was easy. I can tell you though that that thing was big but beautiful. The Aftermath: The babies were both declared healthy and got to go to the room with me. Later in the day they got some trouble maintaining their temperature and got moved into a warming bed. DD2 developed some jaundice and while under the lights they discovered she had some sleep apnea. Luckily for us they were able to do all of the therapies in the intermediate care center which was conveniently located in the room next to mine (talk about fate). So I got to nurse both twins. Since they were low in body weight they wanted us to nurse them but then give them some formula to make sure they were getting enough. Since after 10 days DD2 still showed sleep apnea and DS2 had a crash in body temp (he had maintained his temp for over 4 days at that point and he had slept in the ICC that day and got measured by the nurse - I still to this day don’t really believe she measured correctly) the decision was made to move both of them to the children’s ward to continue monitoring them. They did great there and were able to go home two weeks after being born. (We actually kept them in 2 days longer because a viral cold was running through our house and we (and the docs) didn’t want the babies exposed to that). Although I was crying some tears when we moved the babies to the NICU in the aftermath it was a blessing in disguise since they were put on a 4h schedule and we kept up with that when we moved them home. Once they were about a month old they had extended their first sleep cycle in the night so we cut one feeding, so they have been on a 5 feeds per day every 4h schedule since then. Both are BF and happy 5 months old now weighing around 15 pounds. My Recovery: My recovery has been a little harder than after my first two births. While I didn’t have any complications the PP contractions/cramping was really intense for a couple of days and I had some significant pain in my stomach. I actually asked one of my docs about it (who happened to be a twin mom herself) and she told it was due to the fact that my intestines were moving back into their original positions. My uterus was back to where it belonged in record time though and everyone was truly amazed just how fast it was remissioning. My bleeding lasted about three weeks. The one thing that was harder was that my core strength was all gone. It took me quite a while and my pelvic remission course (covered by universal health care here for every mom) to feel normal in that regard. Overall we are really happy with our family now and wouldn’t change having those two little people in our lives for anything. Clementine12 on "my birth story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-birth-story-2#post-2754661 Mon, 03 Jul 2017 17:59:58 +0000 Clementine12 2754661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It's been almost 2 months now since we welcomed our first baby. Reading and listening to birth stories was so helpful to me so I thought I'd share mine and hopefully help inform another mama! If you like hearing these stories, check out a podcast called The Birth Hour - super informative. We were team green and due May 11th. All of my mom's babies were late so I fully expected to go 1 week late or more. I planned for my last day of work to be Friday May 12th thinking if I felt OK I could keep working (ha). I ended up staying late on Monday the 8th to finish up a few things - late enough that I was the only one in the office. My commute is about an hour. I started noticing contractions at around 6 PM and hit the road. Not fun driving with cramps like that! They were every 10 minutes but I was stil thinking I would go post dates so maybe this was prodromal labor? Or if would go away? Got home and casually mentioned it to my husband (like, man these BH kinda hurt - oy :silly: ). He leaves for work super early so he went to bed at 9ish and I took a bath - and started to actually time the contractions. 7-8 minutes apart. He kept coming to check on me but I told him to go to bed, he had to be up soon. I tried to join him but sleep was not happening. Back to the bath I went (#2) :happy: . He just kept coming in to check on me. Sometime around 3 a.m. he asked if he should pack a bag (I had lists but NOTHING packed because I procrastinate and thought I had weeks still). I said yes and meekly told him he probably wouldn't be going to work that day - I think he suspected that lol. He got me set up in the massive pink jetted tub in the basement (bath #3), got my lists and tried to gather everything and get his work route covered. The water was so awesome in helping me handle the contractions. They never felt too much. I was able to relax my hips and legs and sway and float through them. Time was strange - I was up all night but it didn't feel that long. I wanted to try an unmedicated birth, had a midwife, and was GBS- so I wanted to stay at home as long as possible. Bags were finally packed and my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart around 5 a.m. My husband drove our dog to his parents, letting them know it was go time, while I called my mom. She called right back to confirm - did I really say contractions were 2 minutes apart? It took another 30 minutes for me to get upstairs and out if a robe and into clothes. I was making my husband nervous - he really wanted to go and even asked if I needed to go in the robe since it was so hard to get dressed while contractions were so close together. I asked him to bring me a bra and he brought a sports bra that goes over the head and nope-THAT wasn't happening. We called the midwife and headed to the hospital. I asked her to get a room with a tub if possible. The drive was 30 minutes of no fun. I couldn't keep on top of the pain at that point. My midwife met us there and checked me - 7 cms. Oh thank God! She thought we'd have the baby by lunch. I got in the tub (bath #4) and we sat in the dark bathroom for the next few hours. Things were primal. I tried to moan but sometimes it was a scream that came out. Lunch came and went and I was only 8 cms. No shame, I asked for the epidural. It was easy gong in, and a strange experience. I have bad vision and wasn't wearing my glasses or contacts so I was in a blurry bubble. I still felt pain but I could manage it. The midwife came and broke my water -meconium, but i was at 9.5 cms. The baby's heart rate dropped so I was given a drug to stop contractions. Once things evened out I was given pitocin to start up contractions again. The midwife came back at 6 p.m. for a heart to heart -baby was doing well but I was swelling (back to 8 cms) and she wasn't sure if there was a reason things weren't moving along. They suspected baby was 9lbs+ and wasn't descending. She recommended a cesarean. I didn't cry until that moment. I just felt like everything went the wrong way for me. All my goals for myself were crossed off the list one by one. It took some time but I finally agreed. I think there was a mental switch between "pregnant" and "mother" for me and it flipped the moment I heard the cry. My husband stood up to announce the sex -it's a girl :girl: :grin: They held her up for me to see and I thought she looked just like her dad - and there was no way in hell she was 9 lbs. Turns out she was 6.6 and 19 inches long - small and mighty. She was born at 8 PM on May 9th. The OB said I have a prominent sacrum and that's why my baby never descended. I already have plans to try a VBAC if we're blessed with another baby. Breastfeeding was a trial. Her latch was great and I had little pain, but my milk took 6 days to come in and I never felt it (nor can I feel a let down) -so I was never sure. She dropped to 5.11 lbs and we had lots of weight checks (while I was on a driving restriction and my husband had to go immediately back to work). I started going to a breastfeeding support group at the hospital led by lactation consultants (REALLY recommend this if you have one close by!) and things got easier. She's gained over 2lbs now and we haven't supplemented. My recovery has been great physically and I'm getting there mentally. I'm disappointed but I have this awesome baby to hang out with and I can focus on that! I did encapsulate my placenta (yummy :bummed: ) and that might have helped but then again, I have no comparison. My emotions are back on even keel now though! Thanks for reading! winniebee on "He is here!!!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/he-is-here#post-2750621 Thu, 22 Jun 2017 05:17:34 +0000 winniebee 2750621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ladies, he is here!! Grant Taylor was born on 6/20 at 38w. He was exactly 6lbs and is totally healthy. My labor was quick and we are doing well. Big brothers are very excited!! I want to thank you for your support and encouragement through our losses, especially through the loss of our son Dylan last year. This is a really special community. :heart: It has been a difficult road, but I would do it all again for the family we now have 🌈 BrandNewMom on "Brand New #2 Birth Story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/brand-new-2-birth-story#post-2733012 Sat, 06 May 2017 19:25:40 +0000 BrandNewMom 2733012@https://boards.hellobee.com/ On Wednesday April 26th I finished my 9:30 spin class and began having contractions. At their closest they were about 10 minutes apart, but not overly intense. That night at 8pm while giving Annabelle (our three year old) a bath I felt a small trickle run down my leg, but assumed I had just peed. The next day I continued to have contractions, first every thirty minutes, then growing closer. I walked at the gym while Annabelle took yoga and played with all her friends one last time. By the end of the day they were 15 minutes apart consistently and painful--I couldn't walk or talk through them, alarming our waitress at the Silver Diner that night. I was also feeling very damp, but asured myself it was just regular pregnancy discharge-- Even though in the back of my mind, I was pretty sure my water had a pinhole. Friday April 27th started with contractions still 15 minutes apart. I started frantically making sure the house was spotless, helped Ryan put together our rachet dining nook table, and went grocery shopping. By 11am contractions were 10 minutes apart. Annabelle and I went to visit our neighbor, Ellen, and we played with her dogs and went out to lunch. The dogs (Shiloh Shepherds, a fancy breed that's basically a German Shepherd mixed with a Malamute) realized I was pregnant and in labor, and gave me a head to toe tongue bath. Apparently it's a thing dogs do when they see a pack member in labor. So that was a pretty big honor, haha! We got home around 3:30pm, and my contractions were being weird. I'd have an hour where they would be five minutes apart, then they would space out to fifteen minutes, then to eight or ten minutes apart. Finally my Mom arrived at 6pm, my sister at 6:30, and we ordered in dinner. Contractions were still 5-10 minutes apart, but finally increasing in intensity. At around 8pm I went upstairs with Ryan so I could shower and he could time my contractions. After taking off my shorts, it became immediately apparent that my water had broken, and the leak was getting worse! So I showered, said goodbye to Annabelle, and we headed to the hospital. When we arrived at intake, the doctor confirmed broken waters with the words "yeah, that's a lot of gushing". I got my first cervical check at 11pm and was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. They moved us to our swanky labor and delivery room--decked out with a labor tub, birth ball, rocking chair, and they didn't require you to stay in bed for ittermittent monitoring! Best of all, they informed me they wouldn't start Pitocin based on a timeline. It would be based on baby's condition and my preferences! Definitely Crunchy Mama birthing heaven. I got my first dose of penicillin (GBS positive), then labored in the tub for 20 minutes, then walked the halls for twenty minutes, then twenty minutes on the birth ball during monitoring. Rinse and repeat. Around 2am my doctor came to offer me a cervical check, which I turned down because my contractions weren't coming very hard or fast. She offered me a Pitocin bump, which I turned down--I was desperately afraid of the "Cascade of Interventions". Husband asked what my plan was, and I said I'd get the Pitocin if I was still under 5cm at dawn. At 2:30am my husband was exhausted and I told him to go get some sleep. I did my monitoring, my walking, my tub. From 2:30am until 5am the contractions were 10-15 minutes apart and unpleasant, but I knew I wasn't dilating. I complained about the unfairness of it all on Facebook--Everyone told me second babies take half the speed of first babies, and Annabelle was 5 hours from first real contraction to holding baby! I did EVERYTHING right this pregnancy. I worked out 2-2.5 hours a day, 4-6 days a week. I gained a reasonable amount of weight. Why wasn't my body working?! My nurse comforted me and said that plenty of women took hours to get to 5cm, then shot to 10cm in an hour. I felt better, but I still wasn't dilating. My husband woke back up at around 6:30am. After my monitoring I bounced on the birth ball and told him about the night and my minor freak out. At 7am our doctor came and offered me a cervical check. I accepted. She turned to the nurse mid exam and said "2.5--" then realized I was listening and corrected to "3. Definitely three!" But I knew. I'd only dilated half a centimeter in eight hours. It was time to accept that 59 hours had passed since the pinhole in my water broke, and I wasn't going into active labor on my own. The doctor was very kind, and let me know that I could have the minimum dose and the nurse could turn it off any time. She said that a lot of people only "needed a whiff", and then bam! Baby. I felt really assured. Then the shift changed. My sweet nurse was replaced by a total hardass. Disclaimer, she was veteran and extremely knowledgeable. But at some point she also lost sympathy and compassion. I also got a new doctor, the only doctor in the practice I didn't like--and I despised this guy. With the shift change I didn't get started on the Pitocin and my last dose of penicillin until 8:45am. I got on the birth ball while the nurse started me at the minimum dose, 2mg/hour. Within five minutes I was starting to feel a difference. My contractions were coming much harder. The space between them shortened. Still, they were manageable. The nurse said she'd be back in thirty minutes to up the dose. It made me nervous--the doctor said I could be on the minimum. I didn't want more. Still, I'm tough--I've run a 50 mile ultra marathon, I did an indoor 70.3 triathlon 30 weeks pregnant. I was sure I could handle it. I was terribly mistaken. The nurse came back at 9:30, and doubled my dose. I asked if it was really necessary, my contractions were a minute long and less than five minutes apart. She said she wasn't sure I'd progress, that the monitor was showing my contractions as farther apart. So I accepted it. Five minutes later I was in the worst pain of my life. I could barely breathe through the contractions, they were two minutes long every two minutes. My water finally broke for real, and with every contraction water exploded out of me. It was unimaginably painful, like I was being ripped in half. Nothing else I've ever felt compared even slightly. After fifteen minutes I told my husband when the nurse came back I was going to ask her to turn it back down. He did one better, he called her back. She was obviously very reluctant to turn it back down, but did. She didn't think my labor was established yet (WTF, SERIOUSLY?!?!) And thought it was going to slow back down. I told her I literally couldn't handle contractions like the ones I was having, that I needed to lower the dose. The intensity lowered, but not to where they had been at my previous dosage. They continued to come every two minutes, lasting for two minutes. But between them, the pain never stopped. It felt like one long contraction with multiple peaks. When the nurse came back fifteen minutes later, I asked if it would be foolish to turn off the Pitocin and labor in the tub for a while. She gave me a look and said she'd ask my doctor but she thought my contractions would stop once I was in the tub. She came back at 10am and turned it off, then told me I needed thirty minutes of monitoring before I could get in the tub. The "thirty" minutes were torture. Baby kept falling off the monitor and it took closer to 40 minutes. I stood and swayed through the contractions that still wouldn't stop. The nurse asked between two contractions if it hurt, because I was breathing through it. I told her that it did, that it always felt like I was having a contraction. I almost started crying when I got in the bath--It was lukewarm. I clung to the handicap rail while the contractions kept coming. At their peaks I felt this intense pressure, like I had to push. I tried a gentle practice push, and the pain instantly lessened. I assumed baby must be sunny side up, because there was no way I was fully dilated, I was 2.5cm less than two hours earlier! After twenty minutes I told Ryan I couldn't do it any more. It hurt so much. He called the nurse back to discuss pain management. We talked about doing a partial dose of Nubain --which the nurse was vehemently opposed to-- or an epidural. I couldn't pick, I couldn't think. She offered to get the doctor and have him do a cervical check before I decided. I agreed. He came at 11am, and I hoisted myself out of the bath and to the toilet. I felt the urge to push again, but went to the bed to get checked. Now, I hated this guy. A year earlier he had given me some very patronizing running related advice. As I mentioned, I'm a 50 mile ultra marathon finisher. He identified himself as a "10k man" while giving said patronizing advice. Hated him. But he really did give the nicest cervical check, haha! I was at 8cm at 11:10. He also agreed with the nurse, he didn't like giving Nubain/etc because sometimes it made babies stop breathing after birth. He said I could keep laboring for another hour or two and see where it went. Or I could get the epidural. I definitely couldn't handle two more hours unmedicated. I agreed to get the epidural. As soon as they left the room, the Contraction From Hell started. I couldn't breathe through it, I moaned and shouted through it. It felt endless. I was being monitored in the bed, and I looked up at the monitor to see it had been going for eight full minutes. Even the nurse looked interested. She asked if something was different, or if I still wanted the epidural (which she was literally holding). I told her I wanted to push. She got the doctor, who checked me at 11:20. I was 10cm with a thin lip, but he was sure I could push through it. My reply was--and I wish I was kidding--"you know, I used to think you were the biggest douche in the world. But right now I love you. I would leave my husband for you right now." He looked surprised and responded with "The biggest douche in the world? That's not very nice." Then at 11:22 my next contraction started, and I started pushing. It was awkward, the nurse had me holding my own legs and she kept telling me to stop if I arched my back or puffed out my cheeks. At one point she said "Just think of how much you want this baby." I And I responded by yelling "I didn't even want this baby! My fucking husband did!" Yeah, yikes. Everyone in the room looked very uncomfortable. We got through the lip in two pushes, then baby started to descend. The doctor had to return something somewhere and left, and I asked the nurse if I could touch the head when the baby started crowning. On the next contraction I started pushing again. They were basically wasted pushes, baby got a little lower but mostly the nurse just told me everything I was doing wrong. As the next contraction began, we started to finally make progress. On the first push she was crowning. The nurse took my hands and put them on baby's head. It was cool feeling the head, but I could also feel how hugely spread my labia were. It was freaky, and I tried to pull back, but the nurse held my hands there. On the next push baby emerged to the shoulders, and they told me to stop pushing. I tried, the urge to push was incredible. After a few seconds it was like a dam broke and I couldn't wait any more and began to push again. I basically panicked and pushed as hard as I could. Baby emerged farther, I think about to the hips. She was all long limbs and squishy and wet, almost like a squid. I kept freaking out, the body felt so long and I just wanted it to be over. I yelled "Get it out!" as I pushed one last time, and baby had finally arrived. Immediately the panic subsided. Baby was born at 11:37am, after almost exactly 15 minutes of pushing, after less than three hours of active labor. I don't actually remember how I found out after nine long months that baby was a girl--Husband says the doctor didn't announce it, and baby wasn't held up, she was put directly on my chest. But in the truck driver vein of my delivery, my response was to shout "It's a girl! I fucking knew it!" I loved her the second she hit my chest. She was also grey. She cried three times, then went quiet. The doctor quickly cut the cord, and she started crying again as soon as the nurse picked her up to bring her to the warming station. While she was being suctioned and getting her Apgar scores (8&9), I asked the doctor about the condition of my undercarriage. To both of our surprise, no vaginal tearing and no stitches! I did have a very minor/superficial urethral tear. Then the doctor started trying to deliver the placenta. Unfortunately, it wouldn't budge. He apologized, then removed it manually. I'd heard a lot of horror stories about this procedure, but found it pretty painless. There was less than a minute of fairly intense pressure, then it was over. It certainly hurt less than contractions. I started shivering violently, and the doctor's assistant brought me some warm blankets. Soon after they brought me Rosalie for skin to skin, and my husband noticed the floor next to my bed was wet. Apparently the line from the Pitocin to my hand wasn't connected, which is why my placenta wouldn't detach. After that it was all very normal, the nurse wanted some people from the NICU to check out Rosalie when she wouldn't latch, but they never came and she latched once we got into our recovery room. We're one week pp and doing really well! She's an excellent sleeper and a great eater--when she's not falling asleep. Big sister loves her! And after a pregnancy that felt totally surreal, that I never really bonded with, I'm impossibly in love with her! Really hoping to avoid PPD this time. Fingers crossed! ❤ [attach=4468/17/opk3ut.450x600.20170506_091219.jpg] Kitkat on "Baby B's Birth Story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-bs-birth-story#post-2728712 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 09:44:25 +0000 Kitkat 2728712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I’ve been meaning to write my birth story for 6 months now, since, like everyone says, I enjoyed reading them while I was pregnant. So, here it is! (This ended up being a lot longer than I thought - tl;dr at bottom) My EDD based on LMP was October 7, 2016, but we had had some trouble getting pregnant so I was tracking my cycle through temping and was also on Clomid. Through temping, I knew when I ovulated, and this put my EDD at October 12. However, my doctor used the 10/7 date. The 7th came and went with no sign of baby. Throughout my pregnancy I kept the 12th in my head as the due date, hoping that it would make me less impatient, but I have to admit I was pretty disappointed when there was no baby on the 7th. I had weekly appointments from 36 weeks on, and I believe I was 1cm dilated at 36 or 37 weeks. When I had my appointment on October 11, I was 2 cm dilated and had my membranes stripped for the second time. An induction was scheduled for the 17th and my doctor seemed to think I would make it that far. I left that appointment so upset, not so much because I was uncomfortable (I actually enjoyed being pregnant), but because I wanted to meet the baby so badly and waiting 6 more days seemed like an eternity. I had an acupuncture appointment scheduled for that afternoon, and my acupuncturist had told me he would do everything he could to induce labor, but I was not feeling optimistic. I called my husband after my OB appointment sobbing (thanks, hormones) and he tried to talk me down, but there was no convincing me that 6 days was not a long time and that we would, in fact, actually have a baby at some point in the near future. I ended up driving to his office and we went out to an extremely spicy Thai lunch. After lunch, I left and went to the mall to pick up some makeup before my acupuncture appointment. The acupuncturist hooked electrodes up to the needles and told me if nothing happened within two days to come back in. I headed home, DH and I had dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. I woke up at 1:00am to go to the bathroom, and as soon as I laid back down I felt a huge gush. I jumped out of bed, ripped the sheets off in an attempt to save the mattress, and yelled at DH to wake up. As he groggily got up, I went back into the bathroom and my water continued to gush. I am still amazed at how much amniotic fluid was in there. It would not stop. Based on our childbirth classes, I figured we had some time before we actually had to go to the hospital, so I started straightening up the house (luckily my nesting instincts had ensured it was already pretty clean) and took a shower. My bag was already packed, but I kept thinking of random things to add to it. About an hour later (2:00am) I decided we should probably get to the hospital because contractions were starting to get uncomfortable. At that point they felt like bad period cramps. I don’t know how close they were or how long they were lasting because for some reason it never occurred to me to time them. Our hospital is only about 10 minutes away and my contractions were getting more uncomfortable. I told DH on the way there that I was definitely getting the epidural, but was going to try and wait as long as possible. We went to the ER and they wheeled me to the maternity ward while DH parked the car. When I got to the room, the nurse told me to change into a gown and she would test the fluid to make sure it was actually my water breaking. After seeing the giant puddle on the floor in the bathroom, she said there was no need to test. Seriously…I still can’t believe how much fluid there was. DH got to the room as they were hooking me up to the monitors and by that point my plans of waiting as long as possible for the epidural went out the window. I wanted it and I wanted it now. Unfortunately, at that hour, there was only one anesthesiologist, and he was needed for a C-Section. I was in so much pain that I was vomiting. They offered me Fentanyl and explained it wouldn’t take the pain away, but it would make me high enough that I wouldn’t care about the pain. This was not true; I still cared very much about the pain. Finally, around 5:00am, I was able to get the epidural. It took a couple of tires because I couldn’t stay still enough through the contractions, but once it was in, it was heaven. I was able to sleep for a little bit, but once I woke up, I started feeling pain again in one small area of my stomach. I kept pushing the button the increase the medicine, but it wasn’t working (I later found out this was because I had maxed it out. Oops). I called the nurse in and she said she said she would see if the anesthesiologist would give me more. He warned me that he could give me more, but I would probably be completely numb and unable to move. I was so terrified of feeling the pain of the un-medicated contractions again that I told him to do it. I was completely numb from my stomach down and it was wonderful. The nurses had me lay on my side with a peanut shaped yoga ball between my legs to assist with dilation and they would come in every so often to help me roll over to my other side because I could not move. This was so contrary to what I thought I would want, but at that point I didn’t care. I thought I would want to try pushing in different positions, like squatting or on all fours, but after feeling the pain I was in before the epidural, I could not have been happier with my choice. I’ve heard contractions are more intense after your water breaks, so I’m not sure if things would have been different if contractions had started before my water had broken. All I know is that was the most intense pain I had ever felt and I just wanted it to stop. We mostly spent the morning napping. My mom came around 8:00 and my MIL stopped by for a few minutes around 10:00. This was also something I didn’t think I want – I always said I just wanted it to be me and DH in the room and we’d call everyone after the baby was born, but I was feeling so good after the epidural that it was nice to have some company to visit with. At 11:00, the nurse came in to check me and I was fully dilated. This surprised me because I had heard horror stories about the pain of transition, but thanks to the world’s best epidural, I had not felt a thing. She said she was going to turn the epidural off so I would be able to feel when to push. I was not on board with this idea at all. We ended up compromising and she just turned it down instead of off. The nurse took one leg and DH took the other and we started the pushing process. DH would tell me when a contraction was coming because I still couldn’t feel them and then the nurse would count for me while I pushed. I was actually really good at pushing even though I was so numb, so they didn’t have to turn down the epidural anymore (thank goodness). After about 20 minutes, the nurse said they baby was right there and it was time to call the doctor. It ended up taking her 30-40 minutes to get there and I can’t imagine what it would have been like waiting that long with the baby was crowning without an epidural. Once my doctor (plus a ton of other people – I was amazed at how many people were there and amazed at how much I did care) arrived, I pushed one more time and the baby was out. He came out faster than she was expecting and my placenta came out immediately after. It was such a whirlwind that some had to ask if anyone had looked at the clock to see what time he was actually born. It was decided that he was born at 12:08, so it was almost exactly 11 hours from my water breaking to delivery. I had a second degree tear that has had some issues healing, but all in all, it was a great experience; much better than I expected and I can’t wait to do it again. Baby B was born 10/12/16 (his due date based on when I ovulated), weighted 8lbs 15ounces and was 21 inches long. He’s 6 ½ months old now and the happiest, most adorable baby ever. We were in the hospital for two nights. Because of his relatively big size, B had to have his blood sugar checked every 12 hours to make sure he didn’t have diabetes. They also kept getting conflicting jaundice readings – the head scan they did would come back high, so they would do a blood test which would come back normal. After this happened three or four times they decided that he did not have jaundice (or at least not enough to warrant being under billi lights. ****tl;dr: easy 11 hour medicated labor, possibly induced by a mixture of spicy food and acupuncture. mrskansas on "Share your labor & delivery story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/share-your-labor-amp-delivery-story#post-2727504 Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:38:29 +0000 mrskansas 2727504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I love reading birth stories and on a loooong Friday at work it would be even better :happy: So share your birth stories, either the condensed version or the long version! thepicklemonster on "My Scheduled C-Section Birth Story (maybe kinda boring)" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-scheduled-c-section-birth-story-maybe-kinda-boring#post-2695303 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 01:54:48 +0000 thepicklemonster 2695303@https://boards.hellobee.com/ DS is four months old and if I don't get his birth story down now, I'm scared I'll forget the details! So here goes. Throughout my pregnancy, I had a gut feeling that I would need a c-section. I don't know if it was because so many of my friends were having emergency Cs, or because my mom wasn't able to deliver me or my sister vaginally, but I just thought I would end up having one and it was always on my radar. At 37 weeks, the baby (we were team green) was measuring in the 95th percentile for all three measurements: weight, femur, and head size. This didn't shock us; my belly was enormous and DH was 12 lbs 5 oz at birth, lol. My OB acknowledged that ultrasounds that late are notoriously unreliable and usually overestimate the baby's size, but he basically said this was going to be a big baby, and he would support my decision to schedule a c-section. After much deliberation, we scheduled it for exactly 39 weeks but we agreed I could always cancel it. As the days went by, I became more and more confident to stick with the plan. If I had gone into labor, I would have tried to deliver vaginally, but it didn't happen and at that point I just wanted the baby out. It was really surreal to know my baby's birthday before I even knew whether it was a boy or girl. Oddly enough, even though I'm very anxious by nature, I woke up that morning feeling totally at ease. DH and I walked the dogs as if it was any normal day, and headed to the hospital around 10 am. I was admitted and sent to a prep room. A nurse named Nurse Jackie (ha) gave me an IV and set me up on a fetal monitor, which was the first time I was ever monitored. Apparently I was having some strong contractions but I didn't feel them, which surprised me. DH and I just kinda hung out for awhile and it was super chill. I eventually started to feel antsy, which is when my OB arrived and said "it's showtime!" So at noon on the dot, they wheeled me into the operating room. It was freezing and very bright. The nurses were friendly and loved that I was team green. I told them I thought it would be a boy and they were like "then it's probably a girl." A goofy guy came in and started chatting with me but didn't introduce himself. He was the anesthesiologist. I was suddenly overcome by nerves and he could tell. He started telling me some convoluted story/joke to try to distract me and it did NOT work. I was like "dude please stop with this story." He sat me up and gave me the numbing shot before the spinal. It was barely a pinch and did not hurt at all. The spinal just felt like pressure and was not bad. They laid me down and the anesthesiologist said "you're going to feel a bit dizzy for a second." As soon as he said it I got very dizzy and nauseous and thought I was going to puke. They brought a little pan over but the feeling passed right away. Next thing I know, DH was suddenly in the room next to my head and the screen was up. It all felt so fast. It was a few minutes of some buzzing type of noises and then my OB said "the baby is about to come out." The anesthesiologist made DH start taking a video on his phone, and then grabbed the phone and ended up taking a video of the actual birth. DH is very squeamish but watched the whole thing. I expected to feel pressure but I did not feel anything at all. They pulled the baby out and I said "is it a boy?" My OB said "a beautiful boy!" just as DS started crying. Best noise ever. They showed him to me in a mirror somehow then whisked him over the the corner where they quickly cleaned him up and weighed him. He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz. DH went over and watched that, and then watched them start to put me back together, which he said later freaked him out because they were "washing your insides outside your body." Then a nurse brought the baby over to my face and me, him and DH had kind of a 3-way nuzzle session. The anesthesiologist grabbed our phone again and took a video where he asked us to announce the baby's name -- Gideon! After that, DH and the baby were taken to recovery while the doc stitched me up. About 15 mins later, I was wheeled into the recovery room. DH was doing skin to skin and a nurse helped me try to get Gideon to latch. This part is hazy but I think he latched on right away. He was very sleepy. At that point we called our parents and texted other VIPs with the news from the recovery room. We hung out in that room for maybe an hour before they took us all to my real room. The first day/night was very calm and peaceful. I felt no pain whatsoever and DH was glowing and beaming. I had never seen him so happy. DH changed his first-ever diaper and Gideon peed in his face immediately. The nurses helped us with everything and I felt like we were in such good hands. The next day, I felt a lot of pain and stayed on top of the meds. We stayed in the hospital for four nights. We didn't have any visitors and I just remember feeling so cozy in my new little family of three. Things later got a little rocky. It took a long time for me to recover, BFing ended up not working for me and made me miserable, and I think I had undiagnosed PPD for at least the first 6 weeks after coming home. But the first 24 hours of Gideon's life were so amazingly peaceful and serene, and I never, ever want to forget those moments. Here is Gideon at about 2 hours old :heart: [attach=7022/17/ol5cjc.320x320.IMG_4754.JPG] LBee on "Three Sentence Birth Stories" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/3-line-birth-story#post-2291108 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 08:22:41 +0000 LBee 2291108@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've recently gotten really into reading birth stories (so if you are thinking about posting one, DO IT). Anyways, I saw an old post where people wrote their birth story in three sentences - I thought it was very interesting what people identified as the highlights. What's yours? Mine: Baby was stubbornly breeched and I had bleeding issues. Planned c-section at 39 weeks. Healthy baby and healthy Mama! RonjaL7 on "Birth stories for my kids (super long)" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/birth-stories-for-my-kids-super-long#post-2689893 Tue, 31 Jan 2017 15:27:14 +0000 RonjaL7 2689893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ These are copies of the letters I wrote both my kids when they were born.... I put them in the comments for readability as they are pretty long. WinterBee on "Anyone had a Planned Vaginal Breech Delivery?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/planned-vaginal-breech-delivery#post-2660497 Fri, 02 Dec 2016 06:03:06 +0000 WinterBee 2660497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Has anyone planned a term vaginal breech delivery with their health care provider? If yes, and you're willing to share... How did you come to that decision over csection? Was the vaginal birth successful or did it result in an emergency csection? Did you use any pain management? General thoughts/experiences appreciated. Thank you! FaithFertility on "#2 and Labor flew..." https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/2-and-labor-flew#post-2641144 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:14:00 +0000 FaithFertility 2641144@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Baby AJ was born on Oct 19th at 6:08 a.m. I came home from Walgreens and walking to the door my water broke :) DH and I went to hospital and I was put on my IV and Meds for GBS around 10 p.m. at that point I was barley 1 cm I sat there from 10 p.m-about 5 a.m. with barley a contraction that made me flinch! Somewhere in that time frame I was given Pitocin. Around 5:30 my contractions came hard and like lighting. I asked the nurse if she could check me again I was 6 cm so she put in my order for the epi and called my MW who lives 5 minutes away to come! I walked into the bathroom to put my hair up since I knew the epi was coming I couldn't get up anymore. I had a few other contractions and felt the pressure, the pressure to push, I told DH to call that nurse I knew this wasn't a normal contraction! She came in and I told her I had to push I literally couldn't breath! She layed me down checked me again and well baby was coming.....this was no more than 10 mins from my last check I had no epi coming and well after about 3-4 pushes AJ was born at 6:08 a.m.! The L&D nurse delivered him and my MW came in just as he was on my chest! It was lighting fast, I was petrified DH literally just stood next to me in shock.....lol He felt so bad after saying I am so sorry I didn't hold you or help! It was crazy! Definitely not what I was expecting, but I had no rips and he was 9.4 oz! Recovery is going better than with my DD who I pushed with for almost 3 hrs and had 1-2 stiches! I am just glad my water did break and I had GBS so I went right in because if I would have waited for contractions to get uncomfortable he would have been born at home or in the car.....lol AnnabelleG on "Do you like telling your birth story?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-like-telling-your-birth-story#post-2638664 Tue, 18 Oct 2016 16:00:45 +0000 AnnabelleG 2638664@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've been assuming that mothers like to tell their birth stories, but maybe this isn't always true? What about you? pregnantbee on "Baby Pregnantbee #2's Birth Story" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-pregnantbee-2s-birth-story#post-2602603 Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:33:25 +0000 pregnantbee 2602603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ TL;DR version: Under 4 hours from start of obvious labor to baby. No meds or IV. 2-5 pushes. Healthy baby and mama. DONE! Grab your favorite snack and settle in for this one: I had my last pregnancy check-up on Thursday, July 28 (39w 5d), and my doctor told me that I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced (up from 2 cm and 60% from the previous week). She did a light membrane sweep to try and help get labor started. I felt fine the rest of the day and even went on a mile-long walk with a friend (K) (a slow walk/waddle, but doable) with strong Braxton Hicks much of the time. I started experiencing what I thought were fairly regular Braxton Hicks contractions as I was falling asleep that night. They didn’t turn into anything, and I woke the next morning and felt fairly normal. Friday morning, July 29, I dropped my son off at school and then hung out with a friend (S) who was in the process of waiting through her own glucose tolerance test at the lab. We went to Starbucks after, and while we were there, I had a couple stronger than usual Braxton Hicks contractions. I was going to try to go to Costco after Starbucks to get the popsicles everyone in the August birth group was raving about, but decided it sounded better to go home and nap! Nap it was. I talked to my sister on FaceTime around 4p, and every once in awhile, I again had a stronger than usual Braxton Hicks contraction. My sister was the one to point out that it seemed like I was having that experience every 7 minutes or so. Uh….. Could this actually be the real thing? They weren’t that painful, but every 7 minutes was fairly close together already. I was chatting with her for about 45 min. After we hung up, I started gathering last-minute items for our hospital bags just in case. Good thing we had already packed most things weeks earlier! I alerted my doula and husband in case this was the real thing. I will say that it was challenging not to compare this labor to that of my first. For him, contractions started around 30 min. apart and increased in intensity and decreased in spacing for 8 hours before I went to the hospital! This is why I wasn’t panicking or believing I wasn’t in true labor yet. I just didn’t want to get turned away from the hospital. Anyway, around 4:30p, a friend (another S) happened to text and let me know she would be in the area soon. She wanted to drop off my favorite cookies – yes, please! So she stopped by around 5:15p. I answered the door and told her that I might be in labor. Just in the short time she was at the house, she noticed that I was contracting every 4 minutes or so. She said that they seemed like actual contractions and that I should really consider heading to the hospital as soon as possible. In the meantime, I was waiting for my husband to pick up our son from school. They usually arrive home around 5:40p. They got home, and my friend who brought the cookies walked our son to our other friend’s house (K) since that’s where we planned for him to stay once I went into labor. My husband dropped the dog off at doggy daycare. As soon as my husband returned home – around 6:10p, he loaded the car with all of our hospital gear (I always over pack no matter what I do to avoid it!). Just as we were leaving the house, I felt a little trickle like I either peed myself or my water started leaking. We took off for the hospital, and I sat on a towel in the car. The ride wasn’t terrible as the contractions weren’t that bad. Maybe a 5 on a pain scale of 1-10. We had to look a little for parking, and then when I got out of the car, I felt a gush. YUP, water broke! We walked (and waddled) as fast as we could into the building and took the elevator up to Labor & Delivery. My hospital allows us to pre-register, so there wasn’t much paperwork to do when we got there. By 6:38p, they got me into a room right away and checked me: 6 cm and 90% effaced! They asked me to change and to try peeing and then they wrapped a monitor around the bump for the baby. Luckily I was GBS-, and since I knew I didn’t want an epidural, I declined an IV. I realized right away that I had an amazing Labor and Delivery nurse, and the doctor that I met before the 7p shift change was nice. A different nurse asked us questions once I was settled in bed – mostly about birth preferences and medical history, but this part was a blur for me. My doula arrived at some point during this time, and by 6:56p, they checked me again, and I was at 8 cm. My husband, doula, and nurse helped me get through the next contractions, which were a combination of manageable and painful. After one of the contractions, the rest of my water came gushing out! I realized that the most comfortable position was simply in bed on my back, and I closed my eyes and tried to be as Zen as possible through the contractions. My doula suggested a TENS unit on my back for pain management, so she asked me to sit up and move to the side of the bed. Once it was on, it felt terrible, so I had to ask her to take it off. She said that even that minute of sitting up may have helped baby descend further. At one point, my fingers started tingling, and the nurse and doula told me to hold my hands over my nose and mouth and breathe between contractions. During some of the more painful contractions, I felt like I was losing my cool, and the more you tense up during contractions, the more painful they are. My guess is that this was “transition,” as the pain increased significantly. My doula held up a finger and told me to blow on it like I am blowing out a candle – the imagery helped me regain a more Zen and less out-of-control feeling. She also kept spraying lavender around me, and that helped me calm down and picture myself in a spa and not in the middle of labor. Around 7p, my new doctor introduced herself to me. I could tell immediately how amazing she was. She was kind, believed in me and my body, and let me do what I needed to do to get the baby out. Before too long, the nurse checked me again and was at 9 cm. Not too many contractions later, and I was at 9.5 cm. The last .5 cm seemed to take an eternity. The nurse said there was a bit of cervical lip over baby’s head. I kept feeling the urge to push, and she told me not to. Stopping that feeling was so challenging! So to help me along instead, for the next several painful contractions, the nurse kept her hand on the cervix opening and tried to help move the lip away so that I’d be at 10 cm and able to push. Obviously this wasn’t comfortable, but actually it was a bit better than just being told to hold back from pushing when all I wanted to do was push. FINALLY, at about 7:40p, the dr asked if I’d like to push. I didn’t have to think twice about it. YES, yes, I wanted to push. Two (dr’s version) to five (my version) huge pushes later and a pause after her head, and baby girl came flying into the world. My husband cut the cord. My first words were, “IS SHE STILL A GIRL??” followed by “Does she have all of her fingers and toes??” Since they had seen meconium in the fluid, a NICU team had already set up a station to check baby girl and make sure everything was ok. Luckily, everything was great. Her Apgar scores were 8 and 9. The hardest part for me was when the team was examining her and the dr still had to deliver the placenta and stitch up two minor tears. The nurse also gave me a shot of Pitocin to help the uterus contract and limit bleeding, and it felt like an eternity before I got to hold baby girl. I thought it was hilarious when the nurse apologized that the shot might hurt. I mean, really? After an unmedicated birth?! Besides being thrilled with an ideal labor and delivery experience, my other highlights included watching my husband see and hold our daughter for the first time. He’s already wrapped around her littlest finger. I also loved when my 4 yo son visited us in the hospital and met baby girl for the first time. He was in awe. Now that we’re home, he has been a great big brother. Baby Girl M: 7/29/2016, 7:46 p.m. 7 lbs 14 oz, 20” long I generally don’t post pics or share names of the kids online, but here are some adorable newborn fingers for those who made it to the end! [attach=2313/16/obrcvq.450x600.IMG_3445.jpg] ModernDayJibarita on "Baby Enzo's 12 hr unmedicated birth" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-enzos-12-hr-unmedicated-birth#post-2564514 Thu, 09 Jun 2016 14:09:07 +0000 ModernDayJibarita 2564514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Baby Enzo was born May 21 at 12:15pm after a 12 hour med-free labor. I was at 3cm and 80% effaced on my due date of Wednesday, May 18, same as I had been since 38 weeks. I had everything to naturally induce labor but this past week I said I was done, that baby would come when he wanted to and spent all week sleeping 15-18 hrs a days On Friday night (40w2d) we took our parents, who had just arrived in town, to dinner and out for drinks. My husband and I arrived home around midnight and had sex; cramps started immediately after. Cramps turned into contractions that were 5 min apart around 2am. By 3am, contractions were 3 min apart so I woke my husband, we both took quick showers and headed to the hospital. At 4am when we got to triage, I was 5cm and 80% effaced with contractions 3 minutes apart so we were admitted and given a room. For the first 3 hours laboring in the hospital, I would spend 20 min on the birth ball for monitoring and 40 min on all fours in the tub with the stream of hot water hitting my back, my birth affirmations hypnobirthing recording playing in the background. The anesthesiologist showed up around 7am saying that if I was even considering an epidural I had to get it now since both Dr.'s were going to be tied up in c-sections for a while. I asked the nurse to check me ( We had been taught in Med-free birth class to ask to be checked before deciding on an epidural- the progress or lack there of might help you decide you want to push through med-free or want the pain relief) We were surprised to discover I was at 7cm, 90% effaced and baby was at 0 station. 7cm to me meant it was only 1-2 intense hours until completion… So I said no to the epidural and my nurse guessed that I would have the baby by noon. From 7:30 to 9am, at the suggestion of my nurse I walked in circles around the room, stopping on every contraction so that my husband could put some counter pressure on my sacrum. Around 9am, contractions got INTENSE I got on all fours on the floor and was moaning so hard the nurse came back in and said that by the sound of me I must be just about done. On to the bed I went and I was 9cm, 100% effaced, baby at +2 and in the middle of transition. Nurse had me lay on my right side with my left leg all the way over so that I was almost face down. I gripped the side of the bed and “tried” to breath through the contractions. Tried and failed because there was a lot of “somebody please help me” and “why are you doing this to me” and “please give me something” screamed at this time. Sometime during transition my water burst. Towards the end of the hour I remember asking where the Dr. was and getting an intensifying feeling to push. I panted through contractions until the Dr. finally arrived. They asked me if I wanted a different position to push but there was no way I was moving so I ended up pushing sitting up in bed with a huge mirror between my legs. Around 10am I started pushing, my husband had one leg and the nurse had the other. I would let them know when a contraction was starting and I got about 4 pushes out on ea contraction. Pushing felt great because I was so glad to finally be doing something other than just feel contractions. I pushed for 2 hours, the mirror being a great asset since I could see I was making progress and I could see results of the corrections the nurse would make. Dr. came in for the last hour of pushing. He poured mineral oil on baby's head and smoothed it around the vaginal opening, he also applied counter pressure on the area as I pushed to help baby squeeze out. Baby slid out, was lightly patted down with a towel and placed on my chest. I will never forget the look of amazement on my husband's face when our son was born. I was pretty sore downstairs and the tugging and pulling of the stitches kept me distracted from my beautiful baby ( I've heard the opposite; they are so entranced with their baby that they don't realize they are being stitched Overall; Achieving the unmedicated birth I wanted and planned for made me feel like a superhero but the biggest takeaway from the experience is how little control I had. My only contribution was saying no to the epidural, managing the pain and pushing effectively. As my nurse said, I was a textbook example of the ideal circumstances for a med-free birth. I went into labor already pretty dilated, labor progressed gradually, great length (12 hrs), ideal fetal positioning and a baby that tolerated it all like a champ none of which I had control over. mfa_lady on "BabyMFA's Birth Story! (17 months later)" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/babymfas-birth-story-17-months-later#post-2557333 Thu, 26 May 2016 15:03:50 +0000 mfa_lady 2557333@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Yes, it took me 17 months to get this to a point where I want to share. Ha! Beware: it's VERY, very long. If you want to get to the good stuff, skip to "And then my water broke." :silly: E’s Birth Story Here’s the good thing about having a baby right after the holidays: you don’t have time to wonder when you’re going to go into labor! So January 3rd was a perfect due date for me, because I was really anxious about labor and could have worked myself into a tizzy if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in all the holiday hoopla. I’ve never considered myself a physically tough person—I’m kind of wimpy when I’m sick and I’m not the type to push through injuries. I really didn’t know how I would do during labor and childbirth. Because of the back surgery I had to correct my scoliosis, I knew I couldn’t have an epidural. That was scary, but I’d known it for so long that it was just kind of a fact of life. Because of this, we’d taken care to prepare well. We worked with an awesome team of, hired a doula, and attended a Bradley birthing class. We knew what to expect. And you know what that means: it was nothing like we expected. So, I knew didn’t want her to come early, because we were hosting DH’s whole family for Christmas Eve (at 38 weeks, 4 days) and so I needed her to stay in at least until then. But I was starting to wonder if I’d ever have any signs of labor. Lots of my friends, family members, and coworkers had been asking if there was any progress, and as far as I knew, there hadn’t. Looking in the mirror, I sometimes thought she’d dropped a little bit, but even that was hard to say for sure. I wasn’t having any contractions in my belly—in fact I never even had Braxton Hicks—or losing bits of my mucous plug (sorry), and my midwives don’t check dilation so I had no reference point there either. I made up my mind that I’d probably go past my due date, and started focusing on the 42-week mark: the longest my practice would let you go before an induction. In my mind, that became my new due date. I knew it would help me be less disappointed when January 3rd came and went, so I went with it. It was so much fun to have everyone over for Christmas, although being on my feet for so long during the cooking and cleaning in preparation turned out to be a lot tougher than I expected. (I know, I know…you’d think I would have expected it.) My feet got really swollen and I was completely exhausted, but it was worth it. And I didn’t have a baby before I hosted (or while hosting) a huge holiday dinner, so I’d call that a win. The week after Christmas, I got a weird cough. It was just a cough, but a really intense, chesty one. There were absolutely no other symptoms. Unfortunately, a terrible cough is not great for a very pregnant lady who has been mourning the loss of bladder control for weeks already. But there’s no need to get into all that, is there? I stayed home from work for a couple of days just in case it was contagious, and then went to work on New Year’s Eve. Throughout the day, I started to get a little stuffy, and hoped that it wouldn’t turn into a full-blown cold. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed and I rung 2015 with my good pals Kleenex and Vicks Vaporub. DH and I were both off work on New Year’s Day. We stayed around the house all day and got a ton of stuff done—we took down the Christmas tree and all of the holiday decorations, and cleaned the house really well. We knew we needed to do all that before the baby came, but we’d been exhausted from Christmas and finally got around to doing it. I was feeling worse and worse and grateful for the day off work. That night, we went on a long walk on Monument with SIL and her BF. We walked about 4 miles, and it felt awesome to be moving, and to be outside even though it was freezing. I was still certain that I’d go overdue, so I wasn’t even thinking about all of my friends who used long walks to get labor started. We had a great time on our walk, and we headed back home as usual. It had been such a nice day—productive but relaxing at the same time, and I sat around for a couple hours wishing my cold would go away. Finally, I gave in and texted my manager at 6:30PM to tell her I was keeping my germs to myself and would work from home the next day. Around 10PM, I started to feel really grumpy. It’s hard to explain, but after my enjoyable day, all of a sudden I hated everything. Hindsight’s 20/20, but at the time I just hated everything and then got mad that I hated everything. I was a real joy at that point. When we were finally getting into bed at around 11:30, I had a horrible coughing fit. I was sitting on the edge of our bed, hacking and hacking and hacking. When I finally got through it, I turned around and looked at DH. I said “I am MISERABLE.” He reached over my side of the bed and squeezed my arm and told me it wouldn’t be like this forever. He said “You won’t be sick forever, and you won’t be pregnant forever. It’s going to get better.” I was momentarily pacified (and so grateful for my level-headed husband), and so I took a sip of water and lay down in bed. And then my water broke. I was pretty sure that’s what it was, right off the bat, because even though it wasn’t a huge crazy gush, it was definitely a flow and I was laying flat on my back. Without saying anything, I got up and went to the bathroom. Sure enough, something was still happening. No color, no odor. I called out to DH. “Babe? I think my water broke.” He was in the bathroom in about half a second. We wondered if this was really it, we talked about what to do, and at one point I actually said “This isn’t pee, right? This can’t be pee?” I was still sitting on the toilet with my water just trickling out. Oh, the dignities of pregnancy. He asked me if it felt like pee. I said I didn’t even have to pee, and he told me to call the midwife. I talked to the midwife on call, who was miraculously the person who I’d seen most throughout my pregnancy, and she said it did sound like my water had broken. Since I hadn’t had contractions yet, she told me to try and get some sleep, and call back in the morning if I hadn’t progressed by 8:30 or 9. By this time, it was just before midnight. Looking back, her instructions were funny—spoiler alert! While I was still in the bathroom, I also texted S, our doula. She told me the same thing K had—get some rest. I was going to have a baby! I sent her lots of excited emojis and planned to follow her instructions. I went back into our room. As I sat down on the edge of the bed again, I felt some back pain. It happened again pretty quickly, and this time I felt my belly. It was rock hard. I told DH I thought I was having contractions. And contractions they were. Immediately after those first two, active labor started hard and started fast. The next contractions that came had me bent over the bed, in the shower, and walking as fast as I could around our house. DH downloaded a contraction timer and I would yell out from wherever I was in the house (I needed to move A LOT) when they started and stopped. At one point, when I was in the shower, I remember crying out “They seem too fast! Are they happening really fast?” He told me they were 2 to 2.5 minutes apart. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, DH kept texting S throughout the night/early morning hours. Because of the baby’s positioning at my last appointment a few days prior, we were all afraid that these were just turning contractions—meaning they wouldn’t be dilating me, just getting the baby into the right position. Truth be told, after all DH and I had learned about natural childbirth, we were expecting a much slower start to the whole labor-and-delivery business. Even though neither of us would admit it until later, we both thought I was in “early” labor and was just turning out to be really bad at it. We were both terrified that I wouldn’t be able to make it through the whole process if it was this bad from the outset. I remember wondering if something was wrong, because I wasn’t feeling anything in my belly. All of my contractions were in my back, and I had heard it before, but man. Back labor is no joke. None of the positions on our Bradley handouts or in our doula packet (yes, we were looking at the them while I was moaning and groaning and yelling and running around our house in pain) felt good to me. Everything made me hurt more. DH tried some of the counter-pressure techniques that had been suggested. His efforts were met quickly with a “Nope! Nope! Nope!” from me, at which point I went back to my brisk walking around the house. I was in serious pain from the time that third contraction started until E was born. I was amazed by how my body just knew what to do, but because I expected to be in labor for such a long time, I kept saying I didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t think I could birth her. I didn’t think I could handle it. DH was amazing, and kept encouraging me and helping me in and out of the shower and following me around the house. At about 2:30ish, he told me that S thought I should get in the tub and have a glass of wine. Sounds nice, right? Well, it sent me over the edge. We had talked about this—and so I knew that that was what you do if you want to slow things down, and it confirmed my suspicions that S thought these were probably turning contractions, not active labor. I told DH I would crack the bottle over his head if he brought me any wine (note to self: if Pinot Noir doesn’t sound good, it’s most likely the real deal) but that I would try to get in the tub. You can guess what happened next. The tub situation did not turn out well. Let’s just say our tiny little tub could not handle what I had to offer just then. I was huge, I was hurting, and once I got in there, well, I didn’t have a whole lot of space. So, when a contraction came, I was trying to work through it but ended up flailing around and crying because I couldn’t move. Needless to say, I didn’t last long in there. Around 3:30, things were not getting better. The contractions were still coming hard and fast, and I was having to moan really deeply to make it through them. I wasn’t saying a whole lot to DH by that time, and he was perfect. He was letting me do my thing, and keeping the right distance. Somehow he knew—when I needed him close, he was there. When I needed some space, I had it. Finally, he told me S wanted to talk to me. She called his phone, and he handed it to me. I was upset, and right after we started to talk I felt a contraction coming. “I have to give you to DH!” I said. “There’s one now!” S told me to put her on speaker. She wanted to hear me work through the contraction. When that one was over, I asked her what I we should do. “I really can’t tell," she said. "I think you need to call K. You sound to me like you’re in transition—which, for your sake, I hope you are!—but I just can’t quite believe it’s true.” I understood. I had only been in labor for 3.5 hours. I agreed to call the hospital again, and K wanted to hear me during a contraction, too. It wasn’t hard to grant that request, since they were still coming so frequently. After the first one she heard, she asked me if I wanted to come to the hospital. “I don’t know!” I told her. “I want someone to tell me what to do.” Right after I said that, the worst contraction yet hit me. “Here’s another one!” I yelled. In Xena, Warrior Princess-fashion, I pushed our huge, heavy coffee table away from me and got on all fours in front of our couch. “They’re getting worse,” I groaned to K. When I was done, K addressed me first. “I think you need to come in,” she said. “I think you need to get here.” Then, she spoke directly to DH. “How soon can you get her to the hospital?” she asked him. He promised her 20 minutes, and we all agreed. We were going. Okay, true confessions here. This is humiliating for a planner like myself, but OUR BAGS WERE NOT ALL THE WAY PACKED. I know, I know. So ridiculous. But I had been so certain this baby was going to be late. And the holidays, you know? And it was still a whole day before her due date! Anyway, we threw a bunch of random stuff into a duffel bag and got into DH’s car. Anyway, we got to the hospital. I remembered S telling us early on that when you’re in labor, you should keep walking and moving around as long as you could. So, we parked, and I started walking. I walked to the stairwell, up one flight of stairs, and into the main doorway. Just through the motion-activated doors, I had a huge contraction. I stopped to breathe and probably made more noise than I’d like to remember, and I could tell the desk guy was giving me the side eye. In his defense, I had on cropped sweatpants, moccasins, and DH’s t-shirt and coat (because it was January, after all—and I didn’t have any coats that would close all the way). When we got to the desk, we told him we were headed to L&D, as if he couldn’t figure that out already. He asked if we wanted a wheelchair. I grunted “Nope! I’ll walk!” and waddled to the escalator. He was giving DH this look, like “Dude, you are crazy. Put that woman in a wheelchair.” When we got to the sixth floor to check in, I kept having strong contractions. It was about 4:30AM by this time. I wish I could see the papers I signed to be admitted….I was having contractions in the middle of my signature and I have no clue if I even hit the line! While DH was figuring out the paperwork, a woman and her husband got in line behind us. She was super pregnant, too—and snapping her fingers and dancing. “It’s go time!” She was singing. I’ll be honest, she totally got into my head. At this point, I was still afraid that these were really tough turning contractions, and that I’d get into the room and be told I was 2cm or something. I just kept thinking “If that’s go time, I MUST be doing something wrong!” The nurse came to the waiting room to get us, and I was almost in tears walking down the hall holding onto her arm. “These are some serious contractions, honey!” she told me. Her name was Lorna and she was awesome. DH was small-talking with her, in the amazing and perfect way that he always does, and I was glad. I didn’t want to think about how much it hurt anymore and I was afraid I’d have hours and hours more time for that. I told her I hoped they were doing something—the contractions, that is. “Doing something?” she said. “They’re making you have a baby!” It was the first time someone had come out and said I must be in active labor—probably because she was the first medical professional who’d actually laid eyes on me. Seems silly now, but I appreciated it more than she knew. When we got into the room, I ripped my clothes off. That sounds dramatic, but really, I did. I couldn’t help it. I suddenly couldn’t stand them anymore! I remember leaning over the bed, moaning. I’m still surprised by the noises I made in labor. Lorna came over and asked me if I could pee in a cup to check hydration. The look I must have given her when I looked at that cup, and then at my belly, and then moved into another contraction was enough to make her toss the cup in the trash can. “We’ll just keep you sipping the Gatorade,” she told me. A few seconds later, mid-moan, I heard her tell DH: “Your wife is laboring like a crazy woman!” I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing—but I couldn’t change it either way. I’ve never been happier to see K than when she walked in. She helped me onto the bed so she could do a cervical check. I wasn’t ready to lay on my back yet, and it was really uncomfortable. My contractions had never slowed down, and they were killing me. I remember writhing all around as she waited for a break in contractions so she could check me. So she did, and she didn’t say anything while she was, ahem, in there. But then, in her matter-of-fact way, she pulled her hand out, snapped her latex glove off, and smiled. “You’re fully dilated,” she said. “Baby just needs to move down a little bit!” “What?” I said. I thought DH’s head would snap off his neck. “How many centimeters?” he asked her, to double-check. “Ten,” she said. “Baby girl just needs to move down.” I was freaking out. “Well?! How do I get her to do that?!” “Keep doing what you’re doing,” K said. “Keep laboring, and she’ll come.” Admittedly, that wasn’t the answer I wanted. And to be honest, I never knew before that you could be 10cm dilated and not ready to push. But there I was! And hallelujah—I was already dilated and would be having a baby soon and, well, probably should have taken the desk attendant up on his offer for a wheelchair. Hindsight’s 20/20, right? Right after we found out I was fully dilated, S arrived. She was such calm presence, and made DH and I feel proud that we’d come so far already. While she filled up the labor tub for me, DH came into the bathroom with me while I stood in the shower. All I wanted was hot water on my back, because the contractions were still hard and fast. I wasn’t in the shower long before the tub was full. I don’t know what I would have done without that tub. It was a life saver! During contractions, I held onto the edge or to DH’s arm. S helped him keep a cool washcloth on my face, because I wanted the water super hot. During my short breaks between contractions, I leaned back against the corner of the tub. Finally, I started feeling like I needed to poop. When I said that, S said I should probably get out. K, having felt how high the baby was before, I guess, let me stay in a teeny bit longer. At one point, S told me to reach down and feel the baby’s head. I told her I didn’t want to. She had me try anyway. “Is that it?” I asked, feeling around down there. “If you feel something, it’s the baby!” she assured me. “I don’t believe you,” I said. “I just feel a lot of wet puffy stuff.” Nice, right? Hopefully I’m not the first dummy to not be able to tell! Finally, I got out of the tub and got wrapped up in the warmest, biggest towels ever. At least they felt that way! Weirdly enough, at this point, I could only really handle laying on my back, despite not being able to handle that position just a little while prior. I’d planned to labor in all kinds of creative positions, but I was so worn out by that point that my back was the best I could do. DH and Lorna helped me hold my knees and I started pushing. Honestly, I loved pushing. Since labor started so hard and fast for me, I got the biggest break I’d had so far during my pushing contractions. They were almost 5 minutes apart, and since I hadn’t slept at all, I was falling asleep in between them! It was just after 5AM by this point. Everyone was telling me I was doing great pushing, which started to get on my nerves because, well, I had no baby yet. Ha! K asked me if I wanted the mirror. I said no. And, in her infinite wisdom, she yanked it over in front of me anyway. “It’ll help,” she said simply. And she was right. They’d been telling me they could see the baby’s head. When I saw that they actually meant a tiny sliver of the baby’s head, I was all “You’ve got to be kidding me!” And I got motivated. I remember thinking “If they want to see a head—I’m going to show them a head!” S was taking pictures this whole time, and I’m so grateful for that. Even though they’re kind of hard to look at now—my goodness, you can see the pain on my face—they are my best, proudest, most priceless memories. At one point almost an hour and a half into pushing, I asked Lorna and K how many more pushes they thought it would take. Lorna said five. I said that was too many. K said two. I said I liked that better. After two pushes, I was apologizing because she wasn’t out yet, and K was cracking up at me for saying sorry. But, her head was out on the next push! K had used olive oil to keep me from tearing, which was a big concern since labor was so fast and it was baby #1. When E’s head was out, K told me to reach down and get her. “She’s here!” she said. “Reach down and get your baby!” And, in DH’s favorite part of the whole thing, I reached down, just after 6:30AM, grabbed her under the arms, and pulled her up onto my chest. I looked hideous, I sort of had no idea where I was, and I was happier than I’d ever been in my life. Within minutes of her being born, I said “DH! I just had a baby!” immediately followed by “Babe! I’m not pregnant anymore!” And then, as he was examining E while she laid on my chest, he said “For the next one, let’s not find out if it’s a boy or a girl.” I gave him an evil eye severe enough for him to know that I needed, you know, maybe at least an hour before I started thinking about number two. regberadaisy on "What's the craziest birth story you've ever heard?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-the-craziest-birth-story-youve-ever-heard#post-2409237 Mon, 04 Jan 2016 19:30:20 +0000 regberadaisy 2409237@https://boards.hellobee.com/ The craziest I've ever heard is definitely the side of the road birth story by our very own @matador84! She had her baby on the side of the road and her friend caught the baby! :heart: In case anyone wants to read it: <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-side-of-the-road-birth-story" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/my-side-of-the-road-birth-story</a> Eveyone else I know IRL have had very "normal" birthing experiences. ;)