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With P, very close! Aside from the hospital transfer at the very end I still got my natural vbac with practically zero intervention. I hope next time I can delivery at home like we planned!

My first birth couldn't have been farther than what I had wanted!

ETA: Ideally my labor wouldn't have been 2 days long! Hopefully next time I'll progress a bit faster & NOT have days of prodromal labor!

Hmm. Well ideally I would have been able to labor at home longer, would have labored on the yoga ball/in the shower/walking around at the hospital and hold off on the epidural as long as possible, but was completely open to it. I wanted to deliver vaginally and tear naturally.

In reality I had awful back labor that I wasn't prepared for. I think I would have had an easier time of it had I been dedicated to the idea of a drug-free birth. I was throwing up constantly, and I just couldn't get ahead of/around the pain. I actually went into the hospital and was sent home because I was just in early labor and not dilated/ing enough to be admitted. I lasted for 2 hours at home before I went in (and had progressed to 5cm). I asked for an epidural almost immediately, which meant I was constrained to the bed (although I truly didn't mind--by the time the epidural kicked in I had been awake and laboring for 22 hours. I was exhausted and desperately needed to rest.)

Unfortunately my epidural kept failing so I had to figure out how to breathe around/through the pain. So that part sucked, and was definitely not planned. They also ended up giving me an episiotomy, even though it's no longer standard practice at my hospital. The on-call OB did everything he could before he cut, though....oil, massage, oil, massage, hot compress...but my heart rate and BP were erratic, as was LO's (and the OB was trying to turn his head) so they wanted to get him out ASAP. DH and I trust that he tried everything he could before cutting.

Pretty close to what I wanted since my main goals were to avoid induction and no epi. I did both, but ended up on Pitocin and had to have an IV and internal monitor

@FutureMrsMcK: back labor is no joke.

I was pretty far off, I was admitted one night at only 1cm, and given morphine to help me sleep/ relax, then sent home the next day. Made it to 4 cm before going back in. Got an epi, started pintocin.

I had planned on med free, and laboring at home until I was much further along. Ultimately I feel extremely positive about the decisions I made, and felt empowered walking away from the birth process.

I have no idea what I will do next time, but my perspective on medication during delivery has definitely shifted

I wanted to try for no epidural but would take it should I really need it. Well, I reached that 7 inches mark and wow...I went for the epi! So I would say it was pretty close.

I didn't really have an ideal birth...I kinda wanted to go med free but didn't feel strongly about it. I think my birth was pretty great, short, easy, no complications, smooth recovery, and most important healthy baby and mama!

I wanted an all natural, med-free birth and to labor at home as long as possible. I ended up with an induction (due to high blood pressure) that didn't work and a c-section so I was in the hospital for 5 nights. Honestly though, it ended up fine, and other that being in the hospital for longer than I wanted I can't complain about the way things went. I actually think the anxiety and guilt I put myself through beforehand about not getting my 'ideal birth' was the worst part.

Not close at all!

I got the labor I wanted: went into labor naturally 2 days before my due date, was 7 cm within an hour (water broke so packed and went straight to hospital), got an epidural at 8 cm, got pitocin but was already 10 cm (contractions were no longer strong enough to push baby down), no episiotomy, minimal interventions, no c-section. In labor for 11 hours, pushed for an hour, and had a beautiful, healthy baby.

I had GD so I was especially concerned about being induced/needing a c section.

Pretty darn close. I went into labor naturally at 8am, contractions were 3 minutes apart by 9:30am, headed to the hospital got my epi, was dilated to a 5, got to a 6 and stalled so I got pitocin (which I didn't want), but then dilated to a 10 within an hour. I was in labor barely 9 hours but did have a 3rd degree tear which was a bummer. All in all though, I would do it all again the same way...it could have been much worse.

Beside the fact that I was induced at 42 weeks, it was exactly what I imagined and hoped for. Quick, intense, and not nearly as terrifying as I had psyched myself out to make it! Plus, I was able to labor in the tub and avoid pain meds (although I was still totally out of it when she was born...my body was plain worn out!).

I couldn't have hoped for anything better.

Wasn't too close since I was wanting to go into labor naturally, labor at home as long as possible, use the shower for pain relief etc. But I ended up getting induced at 38+5 which meant being hooked up to wires. Had horrible back labor and wasn't allowed an epidural. Went from 5-10cms in about 10 minutes and she was out with one small push (I pushed more for the placenta) and didn't tear, only a small labial graze. So it turned out well.

really close! went into labour naturally, did it without pain meds, only tore a tiny bit and was basically only at the hospital
for the pushing.

Got a healthy baby and that's all I really wanted. I didn't anticipate induction, 47 hours of labor, and a csection; but little girl is here and is our perfect ten.