Birth Stories???

I had a great pregnancy - no morning sickness the whole time. I was able to work my normal job until 38 weeks, which was at a feed store lifting heavy bags for people. I didn't really have any complaints at all.
I had a planned homebirth, and it was one of the greatest things ever! Around 8:00pm I noticed contractions actualy taking on a pattern, at 11:00pm I called my midwife when my contractions were 5 min apart and lasting for 1 min. She told me to give her a call when anything changed. It didn't all night, so it did make for a long night. My contractions weren't really that bad, they were just like really bad cramps. I was uncomfortable, but I didn't feel the need for any pain medications (even if I didn't have that option). I tried to eat breakfast, I ended up throwing it all up. Then around 1:30 I called my midwife and she came. Then I called my husband home, and after about 30 min or so (I really don't remember how long it took...) of pushing in the birthing pool, I had my beautiful baby boy. A great experience! I hope all my births can be at home!

My 3 births and pregnancies were all wonderful - not a breeze, but great all the same. I had horrible morning sickness with all 3 and needed medication, but it only lasted from the 6 week to 14 week mark. I had relatively uncomplicated pregnancies, just the normal gripes, with the first 2. With the third I had some minor problems with my blood pressure dropping but nothing that "taking it easier" and watching my food choices (more protein ad less carbs) couldn't solve. I had all 3 kids totally natural - the 1st was 1 week early, 2nd 2 weeks late, and 3rd right on time. I was strep B positive with the first and had IV antibiotics but no other pre-partum interventions. With all 3 I had minor tearing (2nd degree with first 2 and minor 1st degree - 2 stitches with 3rd). I was losing more than normal blood post-partum with all 3, I've always been an easy bruiser/bleeder, but it was easy to control with post-birth pitocin. I was up and walking around quickly (a little quicker each time) with all 3. I was in labor 16 hours with the first (pushing for 2 hours); in labor 8 hours with the second (pushing for only 2 contractions), and in labor 3.5 hours with the third (pushing for about 5 minutes). I had m first with a CNM in a birth center, 2nd OB in a hospital, 3rd CNM in a hospital. I felt well-supported in each situation, but the 1st at the Birth Center and 3rd at North Austin Medical Center had the best staff and those more used to natural births and willing to listen to my wishes, At no time was I seperated from my babies and I nursed all three right off before even their cords were cut. I also have an amazing husband who was a true coach and made my needs his number 1 priority.

I think the key to having a great birth experience is 1) educating yourself, 2) being sure to choose a medical professional (midwife or OB) and delivery place (home. birth center, or hospital) that suits what YOU want and will match YOUR birth wishes, and 3) having no major medical complications. We can only control the first 2, but I do think that if some women put as much thought and time researching 1 and 2 as they would another major life event (such as planning a wedding - you'll fight for the right event space, perfect person to ordain the service, spend hours and tons of money finding the right dress, flowers, bridesmaids outfits, etc.. for a wedding, but just randomly go to any OB listed on your insurance and go to the hospital where they have privileges?) then a lot more women would have better birth experiences. We can't control major medical problems and too many things can go wrong. But I truly believe that any birth which results in a happy healthy mom and baby is a success and a wonderful birth event, no matter how it happened.

Every pregnancy, every delivery, and every child is different. So just to get my story out there. My first son Collin was born the day after my due date which was also the day after my 18th birthday. I weighed 130 at delivery and he weighed 9'14. Three yrs later on feb 16th 2005 actually, my son Nicholas was born. I was induced 1 week early because I was in so much pain due to his large size 10'12. No gestational diabetes either. My son jasiah is my reason for this post. At my 20 week ultrasound they told me his heart was shifted and his left kidney was very small. So they induced me two weeks early to make sure all the docs were available. I delivered him and he was grey, and wheezing. They took him immediately to the nicu. About 2hrs later they brought me in to the nicu to see him. He was hooked up to a vent and had IVs everywhere. The doctor told me that he had a hole in his diaphram and his bowels were in his chest. His left kidney was small because of this, his left lung was underdeveloped, and his bowels had caused his heart to shift. He told me he was going to die and I should tresure what little time I had with him. They told me they were tranferring him to another hospital 2 hrs away. So if I wanted to go with him I would have to be discharged. So 3hrs after giving birth I was discharged. My mother took me to the other hospital. I was discharged with a pack of pads and NOTHING else. Jasiah had surgery on his diaphram at two days old, and spent 2mos in the hospital. He is now home and healthy. I so badly wanted to go to the hospital and give the doctor a piece of my mind. He told me my son would die, but when we got to the other hospital, he was on a fentynal drip. The doctor there said. He's really out of it, you can talk to him and touch him but don't expect a response. Well I put my finger into his hand while I sang to him, and he squeezed my finger. I knew then that he was a strong little fighter and would make it. Don't believe everything the doctor says. Luckily when I got to the other hospital they gave me darvocet, colace, pads, and anything else I needed. Sorry for the horror story, but to me the hospitals actions were the scary part.

I had a wonderful pregnancy and birth with my daughter! I would do it again any day... but we are both older, both work and I think that's it for us.
The only issues I ever faced were a bit of spotting at 8 weeks (no cause determined) and at 34 week my baby was breech.
I had an external cephalic version at the end of my 36th week, it was not painful and went without a hitch.
A few days later I had my daughter.
The birth was GREAT. I went all natural, no drugs, but some antibiotics for being GBS positive. My daughter came after 4 hours of active labor, I pushed for about two hours, since she had not "dropped" prior, but it was absolutely manageable.
She was born at 6 AM and we went home the same day at 8 PM.
Everybody was healthy and happy and it was a truly positive and life altering experience for me.
BTW, all throughout my pregnancy I had a midwife. I do believe that her care and the fact that she believed in me and my ability to birth made a huge different in my outcome. Had I had an OB, I would have ended up with a c-section for a breech baby!
Yay for midwives!

I heard only horror stories too, turns out I beat the odds. My pregnancy wasn't the greatest, nothing major, just sick all day every day. One night I woke up, really had to pee, didn't know it was my water breaking. After that I felt constipated, finially I notice a tiny bit of blood and thought I better go to the hospital to get checked out. I drove myself to the hosp. and arrived at 4:40am and delivered my baby girl at 5:24am, February 17.
I had almost no pain, light tearing (only 2 stitches), and I was able to get up and walk to my recorvery room an hour after delivery, I also had no pain medication. I didn't know those "constipation pains" were contractions. She was 4 weeks early, never expected it, and looking back the pain I can still remember was the needle used to numb me to give me the stitches. =)
The only drawback to it is, no one was able to make it to my delivery! My BF was 6 hours away, my family was 1 hr away, one friend was able to make it just as they placed her on my tummy. You are correct as far as I am concerned, that was the best day of my life!

I can't say much for my 3 c-sections, but I don't think the deliveries were bad, just my 3 week hospital stay before my oldest son was born (he was 12 weeks early). If you would like to read my some what lengthy birth stories you can go to my website: www.remembermepreemie.com . I don't have much on my website about my 3rd & last child because my pregnancy was very smooth & I had a scheduled c-section. The only bad part about his birth was my doctor & the peditrician said that I shouldn't have any more children because my uterus is too week to handle another pregnancy. Plus there was so much scar tissue that they couldn't find my tubes to tie them & my uterus is webbed in place by all the scar tissue.

God bless!

I'm sorry you didn't have the birth experience you were hoping for. My first delivery was also very scary due to high blood pressure and preeclampsia. It made me very nervous when I became pregnant again to say the least. However I found the ladies at the preeclampsia foundation a great source of information and support: www.preeclampsia.org.

I was watched much more closely during my second pregnancy because of my history, and we induced before I became sick again. My blood pressure stayed normal during my induction, and it was a cakewalk compared to my first delivery experience.

I copied and pasted this directly from my blog. It's my birth story from my last birth. (It was a surrogacy journey. He was born May 25th, 2009.)

I woke up this morning at 250am to a contraction. This contraction was much like all the other contractions I've had over the past few days. I got up, walked to the bathroom and found blood. I was shocked. I had two more contractions in the ten minutes I was in the bathroom.

DH was switching his schedule back to his work schedule (he works third shift), so he had just gotten up. I walked into the livingroom and told him I wasn't sure exactly, but he might want to let the guys at work know that he may not be in tonight. He told me he'd wait just a bit to find out if things fizzled. I told him I was going to lay down.

But I couldn't get comfortable in bed at all! So I put the birthing ball at the end of the bed, leaned on the bed, and tried to fall back asleep. I had my laptop to time contractions "just in case". After 45 minutes of contractions getting stronger, and closer together, I told hubby it was time to call the midwives. I called and she asked to meet me at the birth center in 45 minutes. This gave me 15 minutes to get things in the car, get someone to watch the kids, and then the 30 minute ride. I then called G & K and let them know what was going on.

This is where the fun began!

The person who was supposed to watch my kids was unavailable. We tried a few other friends, none of which answered the phone. I absolutely did not want the children there. My children are sensitive, and I was afraid I would scare them if I screamed. (Now that I think about it, this would have been a good time to talk with the older three about the dangers of sex! :D I missed a learning opportunity...oh well! ;) ) Because of the age of our children, DH decided they could stay alone. (We came back to a slightly cleaner house, and no one needed stitches...I'm impressed!)

We left for the birthing center. My contractions were 3 minutes apart. By the time we got there, they were 2 minutes apart. They checked me and said I was about 95% effaced...she said that she would have said 100% but you're never 100% so I was close enough. The baby was at 0 station. I told her I was shooting for a 5 or 6 dilation. I was a good 5 quickly heading to a 6.

I went to the bathroom again (the toilet was so comfortable to sit on!) and waited for the tub fill up. I decided shortly thereafter to get in the shower and wait. I kept asking DH if my IPs were there yet. In the shower, I began to feel the urge to push, but tried hard to ignore it. My IPs weren't there yet! I was getting out of the shower because I had to pee again. I made it to the toilet, and one of the midwives told DH that my IPs were there. I don't think I even said anything when my water broke and I announced that it was time to push.

I heard my IPs state of shock. It had been just over an hour since I called them to let them know I was in labor...and here I was ready to push.

EXCEPT!

I refused to leave the toilet. They had the birthing stool ready and I knew that if I delivered there G (my IM) could deliver her son. I also knew I could not deliver on the toilet. DH got rough with me. He took my arm, and told me to get up...it was the time I had waited for. Instinctively, I did what he told me to. When he had told me to relax, it helped with contractions. When he told me to try to move positions, it helped. This was only going to help me too.

I got to the birthing stool (sort of in shock that I was wanting to push already) and sat down. I pushed for what seemed like hours. I was told it was about 10 minutes because I would rest and wasn't pushing as hard as I could. (I don't think I was as comfy as I thought I would be!) I pushed the baby's head out and felt so much better! I went to rest before pushing his body out, and realized something didn't feel right. I had some pain about an hour earlier on my right side just over my placenta. My midwife told me to push. For the first time, she got forceful and told me to push harder. At this point, hubby leaned into my ear (which he had done several time before) and told me that I needed to start pushing had, and now. He hadn't steered me wrong, so I did. To this point, I hadn't cried out in pain, or screamed once. As I pushed that final time, I screamed. The pain seemed to split me in half. (I realize now that it was more of a release of all of the stress and frustration I had felt over the past hour or so coming out in that one symbolic scream. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself! :) )

Jason was in his mother's arms covered in blood, and staring at everyone around him. He wasn't crying, which made me nervous, but no one else seemed to care. I realized at that moment that something was wrong...but it was with me. I was told (or maybe they were telling DH...things were starting to get fuzzy) that I was getting a shot of Pit because I was bleeding heavily. I didn't even feel it...I saw it. I was told to push. I tried, but couldn't find the energy. I needed just a little break. DH again leaned into me, pushing me forward, held my hands and a little more forcefully told me to push. I started pushing. I knew it wasn't much...but I was trying. I don't remember a whole lot after that. I know I got another shot of Pit, and pushed a few more times. The placenta was delivered. I leaned back on hubby and the only thing I remember after that (for at least 20 or 30 minutes) was him holding me and telling me how amazing I was, and how proud he was of me. He held me there while we watched G & K fawn over their new son. I felt so content.

I was helped onto the bed, and laid there watching G nurse her son, while K cooed and grinned ear to ear. Hubby sat next to me holding my hand whispering affirmations and words of affection. I got to nurse little Jason for almost an hour. I'm shocked at how I feel about him. I just adore him...as though he were my nephew, or my best friend's baby. He and his parents hold a special place in my heart and always will. My husband, somehow, managed to get the picture I wanted. A picture of G mere seconds after the delivery of her son, grinning ear to ear. The picture makes me cry. The love in her eyes and joy on her face are the reason I did this. The emotions are so raw and so pure...nothing can compare.

When people shared their SCARY pregnanies stories with me while I was pregnant (including loved relatives) I would politely state that I wanted to surround myself with positive energy and didn't need to listen to anything scary while I was pregnant.
I think if they would stop for a second and think "is this something I really should be sharing" they probably would not of shared it.

First of all DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM!
Every one is different and every birth is different!

My first one, almost 20 years ago now was horrible. I'll spare you the details but my husband was told they were going to try to save one of us! Both of us are fine and healthy! And the soon to be 20 year old is over 6 foot and built like a line backer!!

Our second, 4 years later, was a breeze! Pregnancy, labor and delivery were a piece of cake. Labor was literally 4 hours start to finish and I maybe pushed 15 minutes!

Just do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery and leave the rest to God and the professionals.

In good health,

Lori K

I have to say both my births were a breeze. I saw no need to do it all natural, in the words of my doctor you don’t get a medal for going thru the pain & you'd take something for a head ache why not child birth? I went into labor with my daughter at 3:30 am on the 17th. It wasn’t bad just minor contractions & after being sent to the hospital so many times to get induced for pre-eclamsia I wasn’t going back till I could walk or talk. At 7pm my sister in law took me to the hospital where they left me in triage area for 3 hours. Once they got me upstairs gave me an IV followed by the epidural. Broke my water at midnight I slept the whole time @ 3am on the 18 the nurse came in to see how I was doing & saw hair, so the tore apart the table & I started pushing. Due to my daughter having a huge head she got stuck, but I didn’t feel a darn thing was cracking jokes the entire time, so the doctor pushed her back in Grabbed her & pop there was my baby at 3:39 am.
My son I was induced 4 days early. Had strep-b so had to be hooked up to some medication for awhile before the really kicked in the petozine. Went in at 7am chit chatted till around 3 when they kicked up the petozine & gave me the epidural, around 5 nurse came back because I had gotten stuck so I asked them to break my water & at 7:39 I had my son after pushing 3 times.

my pregnancy went pretty well until the end. i felt him move early, and he moved all the time. it was so reassuring. at 33 weeks i started to swell a little...no big deal. then a week later it was lot more, and each week i had an appointment i would have gained 5-8 pounds each time. i could barely bend my legs and hands. my blood pressure was up a little, but the water weight i gained (40lbs) concerned him so I was induced at 38 1/2 wks. Apparently the night before I delivered my blood pressure was high, so I had mag sulfate. I had cytotec that night and at 6am the next morning I started pitocin. At 6:45 he broke my water. I was in labor 3 hours, and pushed for less than 20 mins and my son RJ was born on July 12, 2010. I had him naturally. Overall a good experience.

My Story is much like something that would air on tv! i didnt know i was pregnant until i was about 30weeks....my son was then born at 32weeks and 2 days with a condition called Hydrops, the drs told me he had less then a 10% chance of survival...i was heartbroken....then after 2 days i was transefered to a different hospital, where they were much more hopeful, and my son Stephen James was born at 1030pm on may 15 2006, he was put on a breathing tubes, and lots of meds, his dr said it was a miracle he survived birth, and he had never seen a hydropic baby survive...but through Gods grace and the drs and nurses i brought my son home after 35 days!!

I had a pretty good pregnancy, except I'd had morning sickness whenever I brushed my teeth for the whole pregnancy and ended up just using mouthwash and brushing only my front teeth...thank goodness I didnt end up ruining them!

My daughter's birth was awesome. I opted to be induced for 2 reasons. 1: Pres Bush was going to be giving a speech at my hospital the week I was due and they wouldnt be admitting anyone knew. 2. my parents lived 8 hours away at the time, and my dad really wanted to be there for the birth of his first grandchild and we're really close, so when I found out about Bush and the opportunity to induce came up, I snapped at it.

I went in at 7, got an epidural at 12 when it started hurting (i have a low threshold for pain....) and at 5ish, right after my parents got there, after only a few pushes, we had a beautiful baby! I had some tearing so she gave me more epidural and lidocane, which was great. I had had a nap, finished the 2 books I was reading, and was well rested when it was time to push.

I've had great experiences with both births. That said, the first delivery was tough - 40 hours of labor, including more than 3 pushing - the epidural didn't work on 1 side so I felt everything the whole time. BUT, after thinking there was NO WAY I'd ever do it again, as soon as I saw that little cone head, I was hooked and signed up for number 2 immediately:) Now, pregnancy #2. Induced at 7, baby here at 12:12. Epidural worked, she was here in 3 pushes...yes, 3 pushes - not series of pushes and no practice pushes. So, either way, I'd do it again and again and again - even the tough delivery. My lesson: Don't worry about the next pregnancy - the experience with your 1st doesn't dictate the second!!

Not going to lie i had a great pregnancy! little sick and crammpy in the first trimester but after that i was good. my plug came out at 10 a.m., my first contraction was at 1:00 p.m. got to the hospital at 1:45p.m. was 5 centimeters when i got there so it was to late to get a epidural they stuck the needle in the IV to administer some pain meds. when she pulled the needle out she checked and i was at 10 centimeters and my son was born at 3:17 p.m.! the drugs didn't kick in until an hour later after i had him. i went to sleep with a big mack in my mouth lol. my due date was may 5 i had him on april 28th one week early. so i must say i had a great pregnancy, but i;m in no rush to do it again.!

My first 2 pregnancies and labours were text book , quick labour and delivery , no pain meds. The 3rd was a lot worse , appendicitis at 34 wks that ruptured and had to have emergency c section and surgery for the appendix , but she was still worth it all.