Hellobee Boards

@mrskansas: I'll try to make this short and sweet like my delivery
36w4d water slowly breaks. No contractions, zero signs of labor. Midwife gives me 2 Cervadil to loosen up the cervix BAM 8cm dilated. I get in hot tub for pain and involuntarily start to push. Nurses freak out, no time for epidural, Hemorrhage team. I'm wearing a sequined bikini top, on all fours. 20 pushes and one war cry later my 5lb12oz bundle of joy literally pops out. Total of 5 hours of labor, one hour of pain. Was walking and peeing within 30 mins. Baby was jaundiced but breastfeeding went great and he's a big fat shrieking 15month old love these days.

Here you go x2:

http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-pregnantbees-birth-story

http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-pregnantbee-2s-birth-story

Oh fun! I love reading these! I've never written mine out before so I'll try it now while DD sleeps on me.

TLDR: 20 hours of natural labor, 8 hours at the hospital with 4 hours of no dilation progress, a little over an hour of pushing, DH caught the baby.

Long version:

I was 39+3 and had been losing my mucus plug and having a couple hours of contractions at night for over a week. I hadn't had any cervical checks but my midwives kept saying they'd be surprised if I made it to 40 weeks.

That day I felt really tired and had a headache and a bit of an upset stomach, but nothing too unusual. My DH was working a late shift so at 6 pm I decided to try to lay down on the couch for a nap. About 10 mins later I felt a painful contraction and somehow just knew it was different than previous ones. I kept laying there trying to rest but every time I started to drift off I was woken by a contraction. I decided to get up and bounce on the birth ball. I considered calling my DH but wasn't 100% sure it was the real deal, so I started timing the contractions, which were about 6 or 7 minutes apart.

I alternated between the birth ball and pacing around for about 2 hours, and when the contractions were still coming at 5 to 6 minutes apart I started trying to get in touch with DH. I tried 4 or 5 different numbers at his company but couldn't reach him. Finally, after another hour of bouncing and pacing and hitting redial, I got in touch with him and told him I thought I was in labor. He was skeptical and asked if he should work the rest of his shift - it was 9 pm and he was supposed to work until 10:30. I said maybe he should wrap up and come home.

When he got home around 10 he tried to make me eat some applesauce and drink some Gatorade but I was getting nauseous. I decided to get in the shower to see if it made things worse or better. The shower felt good so I hung out in there leaning over a chair for about 30 minutes listening to music. I spent about 90 mins after that doing more pacing, swaying through contractions, while DH made sure we had everything ready to go to the hospital.

I called one of my doulas at midnight and told her what was going on. I told her I was going to be embarrassed if this wasn't the real deal, but she assured me it likely was, as I had to breathe through a few contractions on the phone with her and they were down to 4 to 5 minutes apart. She told me to let her know when I wanted her to come over.

DH and I started working on a puzzle for distraction but it was obvious he was really tired, so I told him to go lay down and I'd wake him up when I needed him. I put Friends on Netflix and just hung out in the living room moving from birth ball, to hands and knees, to standing and swaying through contractions.

At 2 am I had a bit of bloody show and told DH we might need to go soon. The next 3.5 hours are a bit of a blur, but I was still at home, still moving between positions. At one point I tried to lay down and rest and I drifted between contractions, which were still 4 to 5 minutes apart but getting stronger.

Finally at 5:30 am I got this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to go to the hospital, so I woke DH up and we got ready.

I called my doula in the car and told her we were going. We got to the hospital around 6:30 and I was put in triage and monitored for 20 minutes. The nurse I had in triage was awful - she said not to show my birth plan because people with birth plans always end up with c-sections and she kept talking about how she couldn't wait for her shift to end. Thankfully she was out at 7 am and the next nurse, Meg, who would be with me through delivery, was awesome. She said based on my contraction pattern she felt I'd be admitted, but let me wait until my midwife arrived to do a cervical check.

My doula got there before the midwife and I was able to get off the monitor and walk around a bit. She wrapped a rebozo around my belly and had me lean back against her and pull on the ends during contractions.

The midwife got there around 7:15 and checked me and said I would definitely be admitted. She didn't tell me how far along I was until I asked - 6 cm, 90% effaced, and -1 station. I was pumped and said to my doula I could totally do this med free.

We moved to a room and they started to set up the birth pool for me while I paced around with the rebozo on.

I got in the pool and basically just sat with my legs extended and swayed my hips during contractions for several hours. My doula kept telling me I could move into any position I wanted, but I just wanted to stay where I was. Somewhere in that chunk of hours my other doula (they were partners) arrived; the two of them alternated between rubbing my back and putting cool cloths on my forehead while I had DH's hand in a death grip. I got super nauseous and asked for Zofran and Tums.

Around 11 or so I started feeling a lot of pressure and one of my doulas went to find the midwife. She came back and said the midwife said I could bear down instinctually and she'd be in to check me shortly. I moved into my hands and knees in the pool and bore down a bit during contractions.

The midwife came to check me but said I needed to get out of the pool for it to be accurate. I moved to the bed and she did the check and said I was still only 6 cm dilated BUT 100% effaced and baby was at +2 station, which is why I felt pressure.

All I heard was I was still 6 cm and I started to freak out. I had labored for 4 hours with no further dilation and the contractions felt like they were on top of each other and hurt like hell. I flipped onto hands and knees on the bed and told my doulas I wanted an epidural. They reminded me I didn't want one and listed the reasons why, but I wasn't having it, and kept begging for the meds.

Finally, they told me to see if I could get through just 30 more minutes of contractions, and then re-evaluate. I don't think I answered, but I stopped begging for the epidural.

I didn't want to move off the bed again because I was exhausted, so they got a peanut ball to put between my legs and I laid on my side. I had lost all control by that point and just kind of thrashed around and growled during contractions. DH later told me he had to put his hand between my forehead and the bed rail to keep me from banging against it. My doulas just kept massaging my back, legs, hands and feet.

After the 30 minutes were up (I couldn't focus on anything but somehow knew it had been 30 mins) I asked to be checked and was 9 cm and baby was +3. I asked if it was too late for an epidural and was told yes. Less than 10 minutes later I felt a really intense urge to push and told the nurse I was pushing "by accident." She grabbed the midwife again and she checked me and said I was ready to go.

I pushed on my side for a while but wasn't pushing effectively. I flipped onto my back and tried pushing while holding my legs back, but it still wasn't effective. One of my doulas got out what was basically a resistance band and stood at the end of the bed holding one end while I held the other, which had a handle. When a contraction hit she'd pull on her end and I'd pull back on mine and bear down. At the beginning of every contraction apparently I yelled, "No, I can't do it!" before I started pushing, and at the end of every contraction I asked if she was out yet, LOL.

Finally, after a little over an hour of pushing, the midwife asked if I wanted to reach down and feel her head. I said no, but one of the doulas took my hand and guided it to her head. It was so crazy to feel and once I realized how close she was to coming out I had a renewed vigor for pushing.

I felt her crowning and I yelled at the midwife to "Stop doing that, it hurts!" because I guess I thought the pain was her manually stretching me? She told me it was the baby doing it. She called DH over and told him to help catch the baby.

Right after her head was out she told me to stop pushing because her shoulder was in a funny position and she had to manually readjust it.

Then, at 1:51 pm, almost 20 hours after labor started, with one huge push and scream, I got the rest of her body out and DH guided her onto my chest.

She promptly pooped all over me and then aggressively latched onto my boob.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

That's my novel of a birth story!

My two labors and deliveries were pretty similar! With my first son, I went to my ob for my 38 week appointment (at 38 weeks 4 days) and was 2 cm dilated. He went ahead and stripped my membranes and I headed home. That afternoon, I had a little bit of bleeding and lost some of my mucus plug, so as soon as my husband got home for work we went on a long walk around our super hilly neighborhood. I was having some mild contractions while on our walk, but nothing painful. We came home and I tried to eat but I had absolutely no appetite. We went for another walk hoping to get things going and continued to have mild contractions. The contractions continued throughout the evening but never really getting stronger or more consistent. I remember we were watching Downton Abbey and occasionally I would have to pause he show to stand up and walk around through a contraction because I didn't want to miss anything! We headed to bed around 10 and the contractions remained inconsistent but started to get more painful. Of course my husband was sound asleep (and snoring loudly) while I paced the room. Around 1 am contractions were 5-6 min apart so I finally woke up my husband and we packed everything up and headed to the hospital. I was 4 cm when we got there and contractions seriously spaced out. The one ob I didn't care for from my practice was on call and I seriously considered asking if we could just go home. They admitted us anyway and we called our parents (who we wanted in the room with us when I delivered) and settled in for the long haul. Although contractions were really inconsistent and not very painful, I was dilated to a 6 when the ob came to check me again around 11. He wanted to start pitocin and I decided to get an epidural because I had been told pitcocin contractions were no joke. Around 2, everyone left the room to let us get some rest, and I remember starting to feel so much pressure. The ob came back at 3 to check me and I was at a 10 and ready to push. The baby was posterior and the ob did an episiotomy after about 20 minutes thinking it would take me a long time to get him out. Did I mention he wasn't my favorite? Yeah...not thrilled about that one. The baby wasn't in distress and I had barely even started pushing. The baby was born in two more pushes and he seriously flew out at 3:23 pm. They put him on my chest for a few minutes before taking him to be weighed and do all newborn assessments. I got him back a few minutes later and tried to nurse him, but the nurses decided they didn't like the way his breathing sounded and took him to the special care nursery to be monitored. My husband went with him and it seemed like an eternity until I was taken up to recovery and finally got him back around 7 pm. After I finally had time to process everything, it really bothered me that he was taken for observation and wasn't able to stay with me. The episiotomy could have been the reason he came out so quickly and didn't have a chance to get all the fluid out on his own. But once he got a clean bill of health, he was good to go! He nursed like a champ and we were able to go home two days later. He was 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 3/4 inches long.

With my second baby, as soon as I got to the point that I had delivered in my previous pregnancy (38 weeks 5 days), I felt like I was 10 years overdue. My ob stripped my membranes at 38 and 39 week appointments and nothing happened. At 39 weeks 2 days I started losing tons of my mucus plug and really wanted to get things going. The next evening, I decided to try pumping to induce labor. It immediately started mild contractions that continued for a couple of hours and then stopped. We decided to go to bed and at 4 am I woke up to go the bathroom and realized I was having contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. I started to get nervous about when to call my in laws to come stay with our 2 year old and having enough time to get to the hospital. I timed the contractions for about an hour and when they got to 5 minutes apart, I woke up my husband and we called my mother in law to head to our house. She arrived around 6:30 and we left for the hospital. When we got there, I was 4 cm dilated and labor all but stopped again, just like my first labor. My favorite ob was on call, and she decided since I was positive for group b strep, they would admit me and start the antibiotics. I tried to walk around and bounce on an exercise ball to see if I could get things going again, but they kept losing my son's heart rate on the monitor, so I needed to stay in bed to be monitored. At 11 am by broke my water and contractions started picking up again. Around 12:30 we started pitocin because I was still at a 4. Contractions got even more intense and I got my epidural around 1:30. At 2:45 my ob checked me again and I was at an 8 and she told me she was heading into a c section and would come check on me again when she was done. The nurse put me on my side and had the peanut ball thing between my legs to help the baby drop into position. As soon as I got situated, I felt the baby drop a ton and felt so much pressure. I asked the nurse how much longer until my ob came back and I remember joking with her that she might be delivering this baby! I really started to feel pushy and like the baby was right there when my ob came back and said her c section had gotten cancelled! I was so relieved. She checked me and said the baby was almost crowning, and two pushes later, he was out at 3:45 pm, 8 lbs 11 oz (a full pound bigger than his brother!) It was such a fast delivery and I was so grateful my ob came back in when she did. We did immediate skin to skin and he nursed right away.

My two deliveries were so different.

DS1: My water spontaneously ruptured at 37w5d around 1am but it was a very slow leak. So I wasn't sure if I peed myself or what. My back hurt earlier that day but that is it. Sat on the toilet for about an hour and a half clearing everything out.... Woke DH up and said either I'm sick or it's time to have a baby. Called the hospital to see when to come in. Contractions weren't really consistent when I called. On call OB was in a c-section so they were going to return my call. An hour and a half later, still no call. By then contractions were one on top of another so I told DH lets just go. Got checked in and sure enough, my water did break, it was just a very slow leak.

I wasn't sure if I wanted an epidural so I told the nurse we would wait. Big mistake. By the time I said I wanted it the anesthesiologist was in a c-section! They gave me some IV drugs to help but they just made me sick. Finally got my epidural around 9am and it was heavenly. Nurse checked and I was 7cm at that point. By 11am I was 10cm but the baby was still high. My mom and sister finally arrived at this point (from out of town) so I labored down for awhile and visited with them.

Started pushing around 12pm. The baby kept coming down then going right back up. At the 2.5 hour mark the OB gave me 3 choices - vacuum, forceps or c-section. We discussed the pros and cons and decided on forceps. They got everything prepped (poor DH was holding a leg and is still traumatized by the forceps!). I was pretty out of it at this point. I really only remember DH holding one leg, a nurse holding the other, the doctor doing his thing with the forceps and two other nurses pushing on my stomach. They kept telling me to push harder but I was so tired it was hard! He finally came out but wasn't breathing so they had to rush him over to the table for the NICU nurses to do their thing (I did not know this until he was 3 months old! That is how out of it I was!). Luckily he was fine and started breathing on his own. I didn't get to do skin to skin though because of the issues when he first came out.

Also, I was so incredibly swollen they had to leave the catheter in because they were afraid I wouldn't be able to pee on my own. I had it in for about 24 hours and it sucked trying to get in and out of bed to get the baby. Plus my entire body felt like I had been run over by a truck.

From water breaking to baby was about 14 hours.

DS2: At 38w5d I was having contractions all day but they were never close together, at least 20 minutes apart. That night I laid in bed for 30 minutes but could not get comfortable. So I went to the couch to read on my phone. I had to pee and as soon as I got up I felt a gush. Thinking I peed myself I headed to the bathroom. It just kept coming. I did pee but I just knew my water had broken too. Every time I walked a little bit more would come out.

Woke DH up at 11:45pm and called my SIL who was going to stay with DS1. Took her about 30 minutes to get there and by then contractions were right on top of each other. Got to the hospital at 1am, checked into triage. Told them my water broke, they tested me and confirmed. Moved me to a room and I immediately asked for an epidural. Anesthesiologist came in around 2am and it took about 30 minutes to place it. They gave me the peanut to put between my legs since I was only 4cm. I tried to rest but his heart rate kept going up and down. My wonderful nurse went on her lunch at 3:30am and by 4:30 I was feeling a ton of pressure, just as she was coming back. I did not feel the pressure with my first son, it was intense! I started involuntarily pushing and everyone was telling me to not push, the doctor wasn't there yet.

The on call OB was on her way but they had to call the hospitalist to rush in there, OB wasn't going to make it on time. They rushed her in and in a few pushes he was out. The OB made it in time to deliver the placenta and give me a few stitches. He pooped sometime towards the end so they had the NICU nurses in there to check him out, but luckily he didn't swallow any. I got to do skin to skin right away and he latched on not long after and nursed for an hour! I was up and walking around just a couple hours after delivery.

From water breaking to baby was about 5.5 hours.

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with what I thought were probably contractions, but they weren't bad yet, so I went back to sleep. At around 5, I decided it was time to head to the hospital. I woke my husband up, and I've never seen him get out of bed faster lol. We arrived at the hospital at 5:45 and were sent to an evaluation room to see if I'd be checking in or not. They decided I would stay, so I got checked into an actual delivery room. By this time, the contractions were coming close together and very painful, so I decided to get an epidural. Instant relief, such a great decision! We watched a movie and my family arrived and was hanging out in the waiting room. I was checked probably around 9 or 10 a.m. and was still only 4 cm, so I figured it would be awhile. My doctor came in and said she was free all day except a mandatory meeting from 12 to 1, but we weren't that worried because I hadn't progressed too far. I sent my husband to go get lunch with my family. All of a sudden, things picked up very quickly and I started feeling like I would need to push. My water also broke at some point...I called the nurse, and she seemed a bit skeptical, but discovered I was fully dilated. This was around 12:30 p.m.. I started frantically trying to get ahold of my husband but the hospital had really bad service. I was texting him, emailing, calling, texting my family to tell him to come back NOW. That was stressful! He finally got the message and came rushing back up with his pasta in a to-go container. He ate that after our son was born, haha. They were also trying to see if my doctor would be able to make it, because she was in that mandatory meeting that we were sure wouldn't be a problem. While they prepped the room, the on-call doc was waiting right outside in case my doctor didn't make it. But she did and I started pushing right about 1. My son was born at 1:47 p.m. My husband watched the whole thing and was a total champ. He is super squeamish generally, so we'd made jokes about him passing out while I was in labor. But he did great and was so excited and amazed! I was shocked but happy about that. Only downside was that my epidural basically had worn off by the time I was pushing so that was not fun. But at least it was all done pretty quick overall! So I can't complain