Hellobee Boards

@night cheese: Wow! That's an awesome story! So glad you're here today to tell us!

@septca: That's so sweet!

I wish I knew my story, but I was adopted (and my birth mother passed a few years later), so there's no one to tell me!

I know bits and pieces of it!

My mom was 19 when she got pregnant with me and lived in a small town. She was so sick that she couldn't work and my grandmother had to take care of her when my dad was at work. The hospital where I was born was 45 minutes away and was a teaching hospital. They had to go there because they didn't have much money and the delivery was free.

My mom was overdue and labor started when her water broke. She was embarrassed about it and thought it was gross so she cried. They drove to the hospital and she had lots of contractions on the way. When she was checked in, she found out she was sharing her birthing and recovery room with a 14 year old girl. The girl was by herself and screamed during her entire labor.
My mom got an epidural and it made her shake so badly that my dad and grandmother climbed in the bed with her and tried to help her stop. Sometime later I was born. My dad went and told the very full waiting room, "it's a girl!"

My mom told me after she had me and the 14 year old had her baby she looked very shocked and wasn't sure what to do. My mom helped her the best she could. I often wonder what happened to that girl and her baby.

My mom was very overdue. I know the night I was born, she was in labor and went to start the car to warm it up. It was a stick shift and she forgot to put the parking brake on or something like that, and when they came outside to leave, the car had slidden down the icy hill and was sitting on the highway! They still laugh about it.

I was a scheduled C section so it wasn't a great story.

Some of it! I was pretty easy and standard. Third kid, about 12 hours of labor ish? Natural, no pain meds, came on my due date!

I was a huge surprise (my mom had been told she couldn’t conceive, went off bc and within weeks was pregnant!); my parents had been married for over 10 years and were undecided on children.

When my mom was around 37 weeks she and my dad went to Lamaze class (it was 1981, everyone did back then!) and the instructor told the class to not eat pizza around their estimate due date, because apparently thrown-up pizza is the worst smell in the world haha and the instructor said the nurses asked her to tell her classes this. So naturally, my parents went out to lunch and got pizza. For dinner my mom made liver and onions and then her water broke and labor started.

My mom was vomiting a TON at the hospital and according to both my parents, the nurses and her OB fled the room because it smelled so bad (lol!) and my dad was going to leave to get fresh air but my mom put the death grip on him and warned him he better not leave. After I was born my mom hemorrhaged and was bleeding out, but thankfully she was at a hospital where they could handle that.

My mom labored for more than 36 hours, and had me 3 weeks early. I was under 5 lbs. when I was born but didn’t have to go to the NICU or anything; I was fine, just a little peanut. She hasn’t eaten liver and onions since!

My birth story is really bizarre! From conception to birth! It must be how my mum tells it!!

I was conceived in 1980, on a Birds Eye Pea Farm in Norfolk. My dad has been working away on a 6 month summer season on the Island of Jersey (he was a musician - and a writer) but his "digs" (the place he has been staying) - a Chinese restaurant - was closed down because the owner had been caught selling cat (not sure if this it strictly true or if it was just non-compliant with hygiene!!) so my dad came home 2 months early. My mum took a 6 month break from her pill every summer and hadn't gone back on it yet. They went to stay with friends on this farm and while I was being conceived the film "Girl on a Motorbike" was on TV.

Anyway, my mum was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and high blood pressure in pregnancy. Around the same time, my dad was caught for welfare benefit fraud (for his previous script writing) and all their welfare hand outs stopped. They had no money put aside and he had no work at that point so they were destitute. My mum said that all they could afford to eat was cornflakes but they still had lots of cigarettes left that my dad had brought back from Jersey so they smoked 80 a day each. Hmm. Eventually, my mum became so ill, they took her into hospital.

While my mum was in hospital, she made a friend - a black lady called Jackie. Her colour is only significant because of the reason my mum went into labour..... They were in the TV room together and the TV series Roots was on. My mum and Jackie were joking with each other, calling each other outrageous racist words, and my mum laughed so hard her water broke - at 34 weeks! She thought she was peeing herself and then got really scared when it wouldn't stop!!

I was born the following morning, on a Sunday, weighing 5lb 13oz. It wasn't usual to call dads back then apparently, or at least my mum didn't until lunchtime on the Sunday. Her reason for not calling sooner was it was raining and my dad had holes in his shoes. At first, he said he couldn't come because he was cooking a chicken (??) but my aunt took the phone and shouted at him! Strange.

I was in an incubator for a little while and in hospital for a few weeks but was actually really robust. My mum, on the other hand, was so traumatized she refused to have any more children!!

I was 18 days overdue, my dad worked night shifts, and my mom went into labor in the morning. She didn't want to wake him up, so she labored alone most of the day (my older brothers were at my uncle's). She finally woke him up when her contractions were 2 minutes apart, and then they had to drive clear across town during downtown rush hour. My dad says he stayed in the right lane because he was scared he'd have to pull over and deliver me himself on the side of the highway! I was born all of 15 minutes after they got into a room!

I was the 3rd of 4 and my mom had to be induced with all of us. I was 2 weeks late. However, from the start of the induction to my being born took 45 minutes. I shot out! But the hospital didn't believe my mom when she said that she had hemorrhaged with her first two births so she bled a lot and almost died. Thankfully, she did not.

Mum's told me the gist of it; 36 hours of labour then emergency c-section because I got stuck and my heart rate had dropped. She likes to tell me how after they got me out she could hear the nurses counting and she was SO happy that I had 10 fingers and 10 toes... They were counting the instruments and sponges. She was pretty drugged, lol.

@Cherrybee: @2PeasinaPod: My dad actually did it twice too!!! My middle sister was another emergency cesarean (overdue, meconium, nuchal cord).

You better believe my mom was prepared for the third one, haha! She ended with an all-natural, non-complicated, VBAC after which she was happy to share the name she picked out with everyone!! My parents are crazy-adorable in love so it clearly all worked out.

My mom was TTC, and she missed her period, and felt off, but she kept getting negatives in the urine pregnancy tests (at the doctor's office). She requested a pregnancy blood test, but the doctor refused, so she found a new doctor. She was pregnant, and already in her second trimester.

I was born a 23 days early. My parents went out for pizza. That night, my mom's water broke. She wanted to take a shower, fix up, and put on a dress, because first labors are supposed to take a long time. When she got to the hospital, they didn't believe she was far into labor, until she said she felt like she had to push. I was the first born, and labor was 3.5 hours from start to finish. I was a little over five pounds, and had to stay in the hospital for a little while.

@thismustbetheplace: No way! That's crazy! Good for your mom for being prepared for the 3rd and having a med-free VBAC for #3!

My mom was in labor for a long time and failed to progress, so she eventually had a c-section. I don't really know many details though.

I know that my mom's labor progressed very quickly and when she told my dad they really needed to go to the hospital he tried to sit down and have breakfast. She was not amused.

@2PeasinaPod: my brother was born with a broken collarbone too. He was born fast (within 20 minutes of checking in) and big (+10lbs).
I just asked my mom about how she cared for him with his broken collarbone and I guess newborn bones have a cartilage-like casing around them so all they had to do was pin his sleeve in a position that would let it heal properly and my mom brought him for X-rats to make sure it did.

@brownie: that's crazy! So you and your twin have different birthdays? They were convinced my mom was having twins with me. . . But she did not haha

My mom just tells me she had back labor with me and I was born with a mop of black curls.

I'm very lucky that my dad enjoys writing as a hobby so he wrote my birth story for me when I was in college. It's really nothing unique in terms of the actual labor, but he added cute details from his point of view.
The main thing is that I was born on Labor Day and my grandparents were having their big annual party. So my dad had gone to bed hungry the night before in anticipation of all the food. Needless to say he was pretty hungry the next day He and my mom still playfully argue over whether he ate her sandwich that was brought post-delivery. And instead of calling multiple numbers he just had to call my grandparents. They had a phone out on their screened patio and he heard the cheers of excitement when my grandma announced to the crowd (they usually had 50-100 people over!)

I should ask my mom for her version of my birth story so I can hear about the actual labor part!