My Crazy Birth story...can I Hear Yours?

My third birth was kind of crazy -- I had been having mild contrations on and off all day, but never really labor -- never closer than 10-15 min apart and pretty mild. Then, after dinner -- maybe around 6:30-7, things suddenly picked up and they were about 2-4 min apart and VERY strong. We started getting our ducks in a row to head out to the birth center (45 min away), though my husband wanted to get a few things done first -- he was doing chores and laundry while I was moaning on the couch... I think he was in a bit of denial because it was just over 3 weeks early -- So, the woman who was going to follow us to the birth center with our older kids was on her way when I convinced my hubby to call a neighbor to watch them until she got there and we should just go. The neighbor got there when I suddenly felt the baby crowning (that unmistakable "ring of fire" feeling) and looked up and said "We're not going to make it!" at which point hubby said "We have to try!" and so I walked slowly to the car, shaking all the way. Our kid's babysitter who was driving them to the birth center arrived at that moment and grabbed them and was following us. About 20 min into the 45 min ride, my water broke, as we were getting off the highway. 5 min later, I reached down and cupped my hand over half of the baby's head, and said "He's coming. Pull over." Hubby had just enough time to park, run around to my side of the car while calling 911, open my door, drop the cell phone in the snow, help me get my pants half off. I looked up at him and said "It's too cold for a baby!" so he pulled off his sweater, held it out, and caught our son in it.

He handed our baby to me, picked up the cell phone, and talked to the 911 people. They were there in 5 min, and were rather disappointed that they missed the birth. They took us to the hospital, and everyone was absolutely fine.

We were on the news 2 days later.

about 75 min of labor and no pushing... I was trying to hold back and slow things down as much as I could because I really wanted my waterbirth!

I just want to add that I was fairly well prepared for this. I'm a birth doula and childbirth educator. I am very comfortable with the process of labor and birth. I have both a family and personal history of fast labors -- my first was 9 1/2 hours, my second 5 hours. I had a homebirth with my second child, and the only reason we were going to a birth center instead is that my insurance wouldn't cover a homebirth. I had always had a worry about everyone getting where they needed to be in time, and so I had had talks with my midwives about what to do if we didn't. Still I was panicky right up until the moment I realized that we really weren't going to make it to the birth center and the baby was coming NOW. At that point, suddenly I became very calm and just did what I needed to do, and all was well.

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I asked my husband to drive me to the hospital to see if i could talk anyone into breaking my water, i wasn't having any contractions, & i knew it was a long shot (my due date was on the 12th & it was the 6th but I was tired of being pregnant)....when the nurse checked me, she said i was only 1 cm.... 2minutes later my water broke & 30 minutes later i had a baby girl, she came out in 1 push.......so with driving time included it was 40 minutes...........it was absolutely terrible going from 1 cm to 10 cm in that short of time........

you are very fortunate :0 )

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First of all, congrats on the new baby girl!
My first birth (son) was the normal, long drawn out experience.
With my second, they sent me home, gave me a shot for the pain (which they basically said I was overreacting to.) A few hours later I suddenly woke up and before I knew it was giving birth on my living room floor, surrounded by firefighters, paramedics and a very freaked out husband.
Third child, again the hospital (different one this time) wanted to send me home, said I still had several hours to "labor on my own." I said um, NO WAY. My daughter was born before they could even give me the epidural, less than an hour later, the nurse was freaking out because there was no doctor in the room and the baby was coming out EVEN AS SHE WAS PRESSING ON HER HEAD trying NOT to deliver her!
With my first daughter it was surreal, I mean, who expects that?
With my second, I was pissed. I told them how quickly my previous birth was and yet they only looked at the monitor, they just didn't get/believe that I was going to go from 3 to 4 cm to fully dilated within a matter of MINUTES!!!

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I delivered my 3rd child within 9 minutes of getting to my hospital room. I remember yelling the baby is coming NOW and the nurse said it was too soon and not to push, she was concerned about my blood pressure. My husband looked down and said the baby is here. He could see her eyes. One more push and she was out. The doc caught her with one gloved hand. My total labor was about 2 1/2 hours. My blood pressure was fine too:)

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When I found we were pregnant with our first, I prayed for a girl, and that she comes a week early and that I would be too far along for drugs to be necessary.

My dd was born 8 days early. On the day of her birth, I was woken up by the urge to move my bowels (ick I know tmi). That was 737am. I went back to bed and felt like I had to go again. This happened a couple more times. It finally dawned on me that I may be have contractions. I woke my hubby up at around 820 and told him that today may be the day. He asked if he could mow the lawn. I said, "sure", I was told first borns tend to take their sweet time. I drew a bath, soaked a bit and the the next thing I know, I find myself running back and forth to the bathroom. It felt like GI cramps and I just wanted to push and believe me I was too. I called my hubby and told he we gotta go. We left around 915 am. My contractions were 2 speed lord prayers long. They had to be really close. I got to the hospital around 10 am. I felt like pushing really bad. The nurse said I was already 10 cm dilated so no drugs. They wheeled me to delivery. They told me to push, I said I was not ready. Then my hubby whispered, "The sooner you push, the sooner you'll meet her." That did it. I pushed twice and out she came at 1037 am. Exactly 3 hrs after I woke up that morning. I had 1 hr of active labor. The birth was so easy. The cramping eased up by the time she was crowning and when she was born, I was like, "Was that it?" I realized I can do it again...and so we had our second but that story was so different. Late arrival, induced labor and the the wonderful drug called epidural.

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My first delivery was crazy fast also. I woke up at 9:30 am with the worst heart burn by 10 am I riped the towel bar off the bathroom wall (accident: had a bad contraction and grabed what I could...lol) Called my hubby and he gets to he house at 10:30 brings me to the hospital (on the way my husband calls to tell them we are on our way...they say don't rush we have LOTS of time)...lol they were so, so wrong. Get to the hospital at 11. It took then 35 minutes to get me checked in all the while I am screaming for then to check me and get me some drugs...11:45 they finally check me and I was 7.5 cm dialated! Yikes they started swarming like bee's. Doctor gets into the room at 12:05 say time to start pushing 12:11 pm, 2.5 hours after the start of labor my sweet little daughter is born. "my husband actaully yelled at the doctor to catch...he did an epesiotomy and turned to put the tool down and had to quick turn back as her head came out in that short time.

My son was 7 hours but he had shoulder dystocia

My last was 3.5 hours and I was induced.

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My oldest was very similar to yours, only I was a month early, no progress prior and then BAM. Woke up like any other morning 36 weeks pregnant (due to start my birthing class that week) started the shower and used the bathroom, and my water broke. I called the doctor, still in no hurry, showered, ate, because we all know they won't feed you and first labors are LONG. Made a 45 minute car trip got into a room and was pushing by the time they had the IV in. No one really thought I was in labor because I wasn't even feeling the contractions till it was time to push.

Now if only the other 3 went that smoothly and easily.

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Well, not my story, but I have an aunt who gave birth very quickly. It was a terrible snow storm and my uncle was trying to rush to the hospital - but he skidded off the road and got the car stuck in a snowbank. Shortly after my cousin was born - in the cab of a snow plow that had stopped to help them!

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First let me say I was SOOOO happy to hear of someone that named their daughter Parker. I suggest that every time people ask for girl name suggestions! :)
Well, I was about 10 days out from my due date. I was sick as a dog with an upper resp. infection. My husband was out of state on day #5 of a guys golf trip. My mom was staying at my house for a few days helping me get the nursery finished up. I was missing work for a few days because I was up all night, every night coughing. Once again, I was up to pee, and coughing as usual. I noticed that what was in the toilet looked "odd" and only after I had gone back to bed did it dawn on me that my water had broken.
I woke my mom up and told her "I think my water broke, but I am SO tired, I'm going back to sleep." She told me to call the doctor and he told me no need to rush, but I should head in as soon as I got ready.
I had NO bag packed, as I figured I had time to do it later, so my om & I threw some stuff in a bag.
I called my husband, who made arrangements for the next flight home.
I insisted on taking a shower & washing & drying my hair. My mom was yelling at me to hurry up, as I was taking frequent breaks to bend over with contractions.
Her car (parked outside) was encrusted in thin ice and I told her I would drive since my car was in the garage! She refused and drove my car instead.
I spent the first 10 hours of labor with my mom, step dad and FIL watching from chairs lined up by the window of my room--not fun!
My FIL and stepfather left to pick yup my husband who had flown home with NOTHING--no luggage, toothbrush, etc. (His buds were going to drive it all back.)
He got there after the epidural, I was out of pain & basically happy.
He made it to the hospital in plenty of time!

Oh! And my in-laws? Two kids...two car breakdowns on the way to the hospital! Unbelievable!

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Okay, this was my crazy delivery story, but really had nothing to do with the baby, but my husband.

It was our 4th child total and the first son from our marriage. We had already had a girl and coming up with a girl name took about 15 seconds. But we couldn't figure out a boys name for anything. It took the entire pregnancy to come up with Noah Luke, but we had decided and told the family. Family made signs for his wall, quilts with his name, murals and everything. All for baby Noah.

I went into labor three weeks early and we did make it to the hospital in time. The only glitch we ran into is that once we got there, my husband decided he didn't like the name. He demanded a name change right there. While I was doing the work of delivering his son. The one who, apparently, had no name.

In true sports fan form, he decided there was only one way to come up with a name. I was busy so of course I had very little imput. But, he asked every doctor, nurse, assistant, cafeteria worker, visitor, our pastor, you name it - what he thought this child's name should be. He wrote all of the suggestions down and made a roster putting names head to head against each other and making everyone, then, vote. He put the vote winners head to head against each other until he had it narrowed down to two and finally had a winner. This took so long that our son had already made his debut by the time his name competition was over.

So, to make a long story short, 24 hours after his birth, the staff and visitors of Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City, OK named my 4th child Jackson Mark Cleveland.

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I'm envious! My deliveries were long & exhausting.

All 3 were pit drips. 1st was epidural/vaginal. 2nd was c-section & medically necessary since our daughter was under stress due to multiple heart/lung defects. 3rd was all natural!

1st was 21 hours. 2nd was ?16 hours before the emergency c-section. 3rd was almost 24 hours. Lots of pushing at the end for 1st & 3rd. 3rd got hung up at the very end & was heavily bruised for days.

Love your story & thanks for sharing!

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Love the stories!

My 2nd was kinda quick - wasn't yet registered in the hospital! Doc broke water to try to get labor to regulate - didn't work, had been *in labor* for about 3 weeks! He thought it'd be about 2 hrs - said, nope, she is coming NOW! He turned, sat back down on the bed, and caught her! LOL! Ex missed it - he had gone down to register us in since they rushed us up when we walked in the door!

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Mine wasn't THAT easy, but with baby #2, it was my due date and I woke up to my alarm at 7am, just in time for my water to break. I wasn't happy about that because I had a building inspection (I am a construction manager) at 9am. I had scheduled an OB appointment for 11am, so I figured, ah, what the hell, I'll deal with the building inspection and then I'll go to my appointment. So I got ready and headed to the job site (didn't occur to me to call my husband, because I figured since I wasn't having contractions yet, I had plenty of time). The building inspector was a young guy, late 20's, no ring on his finger, and was obviously a little freaked out that the construction manager was a gigantically pregnant woman. He was taking his sweet time with the inspection, being super picky, and by this point I could feel some contractions. I told him, "I don't mean to rush you, but my water broke and I need to get over to the doctor's office." He gave me a look of absolute terror, signed the inspection card and RAN. LOL - I guess now I know how to pass a building inspection in a hurry!

Anyway, at that point it was time for my doctor's appointment so I drove myself over there. Waited forever in the waiting room and finally got in to see the doctor. He walks in and learns that my water broke 4 hours ago, and flips out. "How come you didn't call?" Apparently my explanation about the building inspection did not amuse him. At that point I was 6cm dilated, although I had really not felt any consistent contractions. So I headed to the hospital and checked in around noon. Finally occurred to me to call my husband at that point! (I swear, when I'm in labor, I'm an absolute dingbat.) He showed up just when I was getting my epidural. About an hour later I was at 9cm, and about 30 seconds after that I was at 10cm, and they were telling me NOT to push because my doctor still hadn't arrived. I told the nurse and my husband that someone better get down there to catch the baby! About 2 pushes, and she was born!

...and for the rest of the construction project, the building inspector gave me wide berth. (You would think a lady with a baby in a Baby Bjorn would be approachable - I guess not! LOL)

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I went to bed at 12:20am. Woke up at 2:30am having to pee. Thought I pee'd on myself, went to th bathroom to clean up. Felt constipated, tried to go back to sleep. At 3:30am I went to the restroom and there was a tiny bit of blood, so I figured I should go to the hosp. and get checked out. Called my BF who lived 6 hrs away, and told him I would call him when I find out something. Took a shower and drove myself to the hospital (about 35 mins) away. I checked in at 4:40am and she was born at 5:20am.
I didn't have any pain, no time for drugs even if I was in pain. When I was checked they only felt her head. I called my bf who obviously wasn't going to make it, and I was being begged my nurses not to push and wait for the Dr. I called one of my good friends, who made it there just as they placed my baby girl on my tummy.
I delievered 4 wks early and was told by my dr not to wait or drive myself with the next one. I was known as the mom who drive herself while in labor...or the mom with the bruised baby (the dr's said my labor and delivery was so quick she hit my pelvis a few times....so she came out bruised). Seriously I felt fine the entire time, I just felt constipated.
Congrats on your baby girl! =)

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My son was 3 weeks early, so by the time I hit my due date with my daughter I was completely done in since I had never been that pregnant before. Due date came and went. Exactly one week after my due date I took my son to the park. While there my MIL was joking I should jump up and down and "shake the baby out". Well we'd tried everything else so....I did roundoffs in the grass (yes, I now know this is a bad idea and I'm lucky nothing bad happened, at the time I was desperate & ignorant). Contractions started on the walk home. To be sure I sent my MIL and dh to the store while I fed my son lunch; figured Murphy's law would set in and the contractions would speed up if I was home all alone with a 19 month old and no car. It worked. By the time they got home I was ready to go to the hospital. 2 hours of contractions at the hospital, 1 push, and out she came. Much better than the first time around with 10 hours of stalled labor and 30 minutes of pushing.

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My story is very similar to yours. My water broke at home. I called the hospital and let them know it had broken but was not feeling any contactions. They told me I still needed to come down to be checked. I went to the hospital only for them monitor me for a little while and tell me that this was my first baby and that they would probably see me the next day sometime. They didn't check me because they assumed my labor would be very slow moving. I went home and went back to the hospital a couple of hours later with much stronger contractions. I told them I really needed to lay down. They said, "Oh, don't worry. This is your first baby. It's gonna be a while. Let's just get you checked in and then we'll get you into your room." I kept telling them that I really, really needed to lay down. Finally, I got into my room and got checked. I was dialated to 9 centimeters, and they were very surprised and everyone started moving very, very quickly which sort of made me panic. My daughter was born about 40 minutes later.
You and I are both very fortunate. :)

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My second child birth was kinda crazy. My regular dr. couldn't delivery at the time and told me this a few weeks before I had my second daughter. So he prescribe me to go to this dr and meet him for my 38 week check up. My mom kept asking about bringing my over night bag in case he wanted to do my c-section that night.(had a c-section before and needed a repeat) I kept telling her no because it was to meet this dr and see what he wanted to do. Well my younger brother kept joking all the way down there and said you going to have this baby today. Well i get to his office and went over some stuff. He asked me if i been feeling the baby moved? No,i told him,I said I guess she's getting to big to move. Well they did a stress test and show the baby was in some kinda of stress. He said he would of done it tomorrow but he was busy. So he told me to go up to the next floor for delivery. My mom told them I ate before I came in,so they had to wait at least 2 hours later(to make it about 6 hours after I ate,where I didnt throw up during surgery) Needless to say while I was waiting in bed and trying to get my husband off work to be up there with me and call family. And me crying and worked up so bad. Needless to say I had my daughter that night around 7:50pm. lol... My brother and mom jinx me.lol..

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We induced about 4 days before my son's due date because I was going numb in both legs and he was sitting on my siatic (sp?). We got to the hospital at 5 that morning and had everything going by 5:45. All the nurses told that since this was my first that it could take a while and to be prepared for a long day. Ok no biggie. My OB came to check me at 8:15 and I was at 4cm and contractions were still somewhat irregular and he told me that he would be back at noon to break my water. Well he hadn't been gone 10 minuets and my water broke on it's own. Got the epidural at 9:15 and by 11:30 DS was born. Infact my OB barely made it back to the hospital in time to deliver my son. He was shocked that I went that fast with my first. I am kinda wondering how fast number two will get here once things get going.

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It sounds like you have fast labors like me! I had all three without meds too. Ok, so with my first I woke up at around 5 a.m. with period like cramps, didn't know I was in labor until my water broke at 9:45 a.m. Went to the hospital and my son was born at 11:15, I remember the nurses frantically calling for the doctor.

With my second my water broke at midnight so went to the hospital, had contractions on and off when she did decide to come out it was so fast the doctor wasn't even in the room. He left the room when I started pushing (guess he thought it would take a while) to check on another patient and the nurse ended up delivering her.

With my third my water broke around 11 p.m. and contractions were 8 minutes apart. When I talked to the doctor in triage he suggested that I go to bed and head to the hospital in the morning. Well, I know how fast my labors are so I wasn't taking that chance. We head to the hospital. So when we get there I'm dilated to 4 and they had me waiting in triage. A little while later I'm in pain and my hubby's saying he wants to call the nurse to check me again and I'm like well it hasn't been that long thinking I coudn't have dilated enough so fast. He calls the nurse in and I'm dilated to 9. They barely have enough time to rush me to the delivery room and again frantically calling for the doctor, he made it just in time. I remember the nurses saying "don't push honey, we can deliver babies but we don't get paid to" Ugggghh, hello, I can't just NOT push! LOL

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My first was short & sweet from the time my water broke to 4 pushes it was 6 hrs.My second was even better water broke ride to hospital was wheeled up I had to push but they told me to wait I changed hopped in bed & well was checked ready to push before doc came strolling in pushed a few times out she comes.My third water didn't break had the bloody show threw up & just was in labor went to the hospital I told my hubby to drive as fast as he could just get me there I was already dilated to a 6 then boom checked again because I had to push but my water hadn't broken yet so the OB was in the hospital came in told me she can break my water or hold off till it broke on it's own I said break it while the gush of water came out so did baby with 1 push I was so ready to have my babies.These nurses work so fast so for they don't have to deliver a baby on their own,now we will see what happens with my 4th.

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That's AWESOME! Congratulations! First delivery was a horrible, complicated induction lasting 30 hours. My second was very similar to yours--5 hour labor, got to the hospital 45 min before delivery, no epidural, no IV, nothing. Third was exactly the same except went to hospital earlier in the game because I cut it a bit too close on time with # 2 and husband and I were worried about a car delivery (EEEWWW!). Love to hear stories like this of beautiful, quick, uncomplicated, and even unmedicated deliveries. Nurse Midwife Mom of 3 of God's greatest blessings

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Gosh, good thing you walked into the hospital just in time!
And luckily it was, just across the street.

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What a wonderful birth story. Thanks so much for sharing. Mine was not a happy one, except that, most importantly, my son was OKAY, but everything else was a train wreck. So I won't spoil the happy vibe by sharing it.

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I had the opposite. I was induced on the day after my due date, but after 10 hours the induction wouldn't take and I was sent home. A couple of days later I went into labor on my own around 1:00am. I went to the hospital around 6:00am when my contractions were at 5 minute intervals, and got to 7 cm when I stalled out. The entire time I was there I was made to lay on my side because my blood pressure was through the roof and finally developed into preeclampsia. They decided to give me a pic. drip to speed things up (baby was starting to get stressed) along with a magnesium (to lower my bp) and fluids... I also had the antibiotics for group b strep, so I had IVs coming out of every which way. I made it to 4:30pm before I finally broke down and got an epidural. I started pushing around 6:30pm, and my DD was born at 9:40pm. (She was a bigun, 9lbs 12oz.) Her poor clavicle broke during delivery when her shoulder got hung up on my hip bone.

Then I had a big ol' hemorrhage, and things get a little woozy in my memory there. I lost a bunch of blood. My doctor said that I needed a blood transfusion, but it was too risky because of all the other meds in my bloodstream, so they pushed fluid instead. The plus side was that I got to spend almost a week in the hospital, which was nice because the nurses were an awesome help. (Especially when my DD was being extremely cranky-I'm guessing because her break was hurting...)

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